SMEs Adoption and Implementation Process of Websites in the Presence of Change Agents

Abstract

E-business, through the exploitation of Internet technologies, is frequently associated in the literature with improvements in business performance and service delivery enhancements particularly apparent for the potential competitive advantage of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Recent research has focused on the benefits gained from adoption and barriers to adoption. This chapter considers a similar aspect, but identifies a gap in the literature, namely, SME implementation practices of a Web presence in the Northwest of the United Kingdom, and the role of perceived change agents in the overall adoption process. It also provides a comparison between the adoption practices of two groups of SMEs: Need Pull SMEs that identified a need to adopt a Web presence, and Technology Push SMEs that are mainly pushed into adoption due to the change agents’ efforts. It is argued that this approach is unique within e-business activities, and provides a valuable contribution to best practice and further research efforts to improve SME performance.