SME adoption of electronic commerce technologies: implications for the emerging National Information Infrastructure

Compares models of technology adoption for small manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) and notes that a learning model captures much of the research findings across a wide range of settings. The paper reviews the implication of such a model for SME adoption of electronic commerce technology (ECT). Adopting this technology is necessary if SMEs are to participate in the emerging National Information Infrastructure (NII) and its defense counterpart (DII). These systems are expected to provide US SMEs with competitive advantages, but only if SMEs implement technology that enables them to use this network. Evidence suggests that small firms are currently ill-equipped to realize benefits from the NII. Because SMEs contribute significantly to the creation of jobs and payrolls for the US economy, their contribution could be at risk unless they are able to participate in the emerging electronic network. The paper concludes with a suggested strategy for accelerating the adoption process.