B2B E-commerce Adoption amongst manufacturing SMEs: An Evidence from Ghana

Abstract

Electronic commerce (EC) has considerable potential to nurture the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developed and developing nations alike. However, e-commerce growth among SMEs in developing countries are still in entry adoption level and not moving beyond this stage. The aim of this study is to examine the factors affecting e-commerce adoption in SMEs in developing countries. A questionnaire survey technique was used to collect the data from a sample of 209 manufacturing SMEs in Ghana. This study uses structural equation modeling to investigate how different factors affects different levels of e-commerce adoption. The key findings revealed that each level of e-commerce adoption was affected by different factors from another level of adoption. Also, relative advantage and intensity of competition have a significant effect on adoption behavior in Ghanaian manufacturing SMEs. Implications of the study, limitations and future research directions are also discussed. Keywords: E-commerce adoption levels, B2B, TOE framework, SMEs, Structural Equation Modeling, Ghana