Adoption of internet in Malaysian SMEs

Emerald - Tập 16 Số 2 - Trang 240-255 - 2009
Syed Shah Alam1
1Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebansaan, Bangi Selangor, Malaysia

Tóm tắt

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate empirically the decision of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt the internet in their businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a survey of 465 sampled SMEs from Klan valley area in Malaysia, this study tests seven hypotheses about the factors that influence internet adoption.

Findings

The findings show that manager's characteristics, perceived benefits, organisational culture, technological competency and cost of adoption have significant relationships with internet adoption. The results of the study of highly educated managers of SMEs also revealed a non‐significant relationship between language, growth of web and internet adoption.

Originality/value

The study provides more understanding of managers' perceptions about internet adoption in their businesses. Those interested in promoting the web may find these results helpful in guiding their efforts.


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