Antecedents Of Business-To-Business E-Commerce Adoption Among Manufacturing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Malaysia

Abstract

E-Commerce research in Malaysia is developing, particularly among manufacturing SMEs, as it includes issues on business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce adoption. In general, manufacturing SMEs play a significant part in the SMEs gross domestic products (GDP) and nation’s export. Past scholars had performed many related studies on developed countries as compared to developing countries, especially Malaysia. The elements of Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) were measured as determinants for B2B e-commerce adoption. The study acquired the respondents’ details through the 49^th edition of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Directory of Malaysian Industries. A total of 381 manufacturing SMEs across Malaysia had participated in this study. The data were collected using online survey method and were analysed using the Smart Partial Least Square Analysis (SmartPLS) under the Structural Equation Model (SEM). This study demonstrated that relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and technology readiness were identified as TOE determinants, which influenced the B2B e-commerce adoption. The study brought some new determinants into the TOE framework, such as perceived risk, innovativeness, normative pressure, and mimetic pressure.