An investigation of internet adoption factors in New Zealand's small - and medium-sized enterprises - from an industrial perspective

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Management
Degree name
Master of Commerce
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Management
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2006
Authors
Chung, Kathy Nai-Wen
Abstract

This thesis aimed to investigate the impact of firm- and industry-specific factors on the decision to adopt Internet technologies among SMEs in New Zealand's retail and tourism industries. A mail survey was sent to 500 retail SMEs and 1,000 tourism SMEs, with response rates of 26.4 percent and 33.4 percent respectively. The results indicated that, in a comparison of perceived benefits, organizational readiness and external pressure, the most important factor in determining the adoption decision was the perceived benefits. Overall, the level of Internet support, business size, international business, and years on the Internet were the most important structural factors in determining Internet technology adoption. When comparing retail and tourism SMEs, the level of Internet support within a firm, business size, and years on the Internet were more important factors for the tourism SMEs than for their retail counterparts. On the other hand, business type and international business were more important factors for retail SMEs than they were for tourism firms. The research also found that tourism SMEs experienced greater pressure from the external environment to adopt Internet technologies than did retail firms.

Description
Citation
Keywords
E-commerce, New Zealand small and medium enterprises, technology adoption, Internet adoption model
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Kathy Nai-Wen Chung