Factors Influencing e-Commerce

Annotations:

• Few of the African organisations are embracing e-commerce RSA accounts for 90% of Africa’s E-Commerce marketThe African websites were found to be generally informative but lacked interactive facilities for online transactions.

1. What is it?

   Annotations:

   • Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce), is a subset of electronic business, that involves the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services with business partners and buyers over computer networks
   • It is a form of innovation in which parties interact electronically rather than physical exchanges or direct physical contact to perform business transaction and maintain business relationships
2. 6 Phases of e-Commerce

   Annotations:

   • no E-Commerce; connected E-Commerce; static E-Commerce; interactive E-Commerce; transactive E-Commerce; integrated E-Commerce.
3. Categorization of e-Commerce

   Annotations:

   • Initial Adoption Institutionalization

Annotations:

• Perceived External Factors Perceived Innovation Factors Perceived Organizational Factors

1. Governance

   Annotations:

   • The strategic, tactical and operational model organization in developing countries put in place to govern their business activities and E-commerce initiatives
   1. Challenges

      Annotations:

      • Setting up the business structure Access to finance Lack of separation of ownership from control: directors and managers cannot be distinguishes, especially in SMEs that are family owned Internationalisation – competition clear policy development and good practice for IT control throughout organizations
2. Organizational
   1. Technology Resources

      Annotations:

      • ICT base of an organization and assesses the extent of computerization, the flexibility of existing systems and experience with network based applications
   2. Business Resources

      Annotations:

      • This covers a wide range of capabilities and most of the intangible assets of the organization
      • Patents/intellectual property openness of organizational communication; risk taking behaviour, existing business relationships, funding to finance E-commerce projects.
   3. Human Resources

      Annotations:

      • the availability (accessibility) of employees with adequate experience and exposure to ICT and other skills needed to adequately staff E-commerce initiatives and projects.
      1. Owner Support & Commitment

         Annotations:

         • Reflects enough energy and support for E-commerce from organizational owners. It refers to having a clear-cut E-commerce vision and strategy championed by top management
      2. Awareness

         Annotations:

         • Represents perception of E-commerce technologies, business models, requirements, benefits and threats and projection of the future trends of E-commerce and its impact
3. Innovation Factors

   Annotations:

   • Cost Relative advantage Ease of use Prior experience Risk Result demonstrability Image Reliability Accessibility Trust Complexity Usefulness Associated risk Compatibility Trialibility Quality of service
4. Environmental Factors

   Annotations:

   • application and use of E-Commerce by a firm’s competitors, customers, suppliers, and other business partners (Zhai, 2011)/ The assessment that business partners such as customers and suppliers allow for electronic conduct of business
   1. Customers

      Annotations:

      • pertains to demographics, measured by population composition and income (Xu, 2008)/consumer demand to buy online
   2. Market Forces

      Annotations:

      • Competitive pressure from Suppliers/Customers
      • The following impact the competitive rivalry within an industry. *Bargaining Power of Customers *Threat of New Entrants *Bargaining Power of Suppliers *Threat of Substiture Products
   3. Supporting Industries

      Annotations:

      • Banking & Finance Education Institutions
   4. Institutional

      Annotations:

      • Institutional trust is needed for consumers and business to have confidence in the rule of law to ensure successful secure online transactions
   5. Socio-Cultural Issues

      Annotations:

      • Language : The majority of the content of the World Wide Web is produced in the English language, creating a barrier for many potential users, especially those in African states whose first and second languages are not English
      • Socialising effect : websites in Vietnam are perceived as being ‘merely places for promotion; not for purchase’ because ‘Vietnamese consumers are used to the practice of seeing and touching before buying’ (Van Huy et al., 2012
      • Culture: ICTs is not culturally neutral (Sagi et al., 2004). Individualism–collectivism uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, power distance, and masculinity
      1. Individualism & Collectivism

         Annotations:

         • Individualism–collectivism Individualism is the degree to which a society emphasises the role of the individual. The members of such societies tend to be independent (Yoon, 2009), more competitive and goal-oriented (Frost et al., 2010). In contrast, a collectivist society is concerned with affiliating closely with others, maintaining connectedness, and blending the self/other boundary (Park & Jun, 2003). Individualism–collectivism is seen as the most significant cultural dimension that impacts and explains trust-building web strategies across cultures and is a major predictor of Internet shopping rates (Sia et al., 2009) because social factors like social pressure and social expectations can be an important positive influence on Internet use and online behaviour (
      2. Uncertainty Avoidance

         Annotations:

         • It is the ‘extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations, and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these’ (Hofstede, 1984, 419). Uncertainty avoidance had the most direct bearing on E-Commerce adoption intentions in Chile because E-Commerce brings structural changes and requires the redesign of organisations which most collectivist societies may not be as comfortable with as may individualistic societies (Grandón et al., 2011).  Similar findings reported by Singh et al. (2008) reflect that uncertainty avoidance is one of the cultural values that affect U.S. Hispanic web content preferences.
      3. Long Term Orientation

         Annotations:

         • long-term orientation is ‘the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic, future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short-term perspective’ (DeMooij & Hofstede 2002, 64). As a result, societies with higher long-term orientation values tend to persist and persevere and are reluctant to adapt to new circumstances (Kao, 2009). Cultures with long-term orientation place emphasis on building relationships and, thus, trust is a core factor in forming those relationships and a prerequisite to the acceptance of E-Commerce (Yoon, 2009).  According to DeMooji & Hofstede (2002, 64), ‘longterm oriented cultures are particularly found in East Asia and value acceptance of change, perseverance, thrift, and pursuit of peace of mind.
         • For example, Yoon (2009) indicates that long-term orientation impacts E-Commerce acceptance in China. Cultures with long-term orientation place emphasis on building relationships and, thus, trust is a core factor in forming those relationships and a prerequisite to the acceptance of E-Commerce (Yoon, 2009). According to DeMooji & Hofstede (2002, 64), ‘longterm oriented cultures are particularly found in East Asia and value acceptance of change, perseverance, thrift, and pursuit of peace of mind. Short-term orientation is found in the Western world’.
      4. Power Distance

         Annotations:

         • Societies with higher values of power distance are ones in which there is a considerable dependence of employees on bosses and where employees are unlikely to approach and contradict their bosses directly (Gupta et al., 2010), thereby breeding a culture of low trust in others due to this inequality in power distribution (Lie et al., 2010). In Saudi Arabia, for example, authoritarian decision-making styles are likely to dominate (AlShohaib et al., 2009), and this could affect expert system-based trust which is important in online operations