E-business adoption in micro business in NSW, Australia : does the government tick the right boxes? A qualitative multiple case study

This research aims to gain a deeper understanding of the adoption factors behind New South Wales (NSW) micro enterprises owners’ decision to implement e-business and their perception of the government induced factors that may influence them to adopt the technology. The overarching factors that influence the adoption of e-business are examined through the technology diffusion theory proposed by Rogers (2003), and then further enhanced through the conceptual Technological-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework developed by Tornatsky and Fleischer (1990). This framework together with the Institutional Theory, Task Technology Fit and User resistance theory were used to study three aspects of business that could influence the adoption of technology: technological, organisational and environmental. The research focused on the external factors of the framework, then identified and examined the internal organisational factors being stimulated by a number of government induced factors through the Government Support e-business model proposed by Jutla, Bodorik, and Dhaliwal (2002). Five research questions were formulated to help focus the collection of data for this research. Question 1 examined relevant factors that affect the decision of micro businesses to adopt e-business. Question 2 investigated the leadership role of the government’s e-government initiatives. Questions 3 to 5 examined the regulatory framework, financial, human and information and communications technology infrastructure to support micro businesses in adopting e-business. A multiple single-case studies methodology was used to conduct this research. Eleven micro business entrepreneurs in NSW were interviewed. An interview with a government official was also conducted to verify if the key determining factors of micro businesses were similar to those of the government. The research confirmed that the perception of benefits of e-business, the industry-type of the business and the IT skill of the owner are significant adopting factors. The research also found that the government is a trusted source for information; however, it found that government messages in promulgating the benefits of e-business to micro enterprises will need to be industry-specific and easy to understand. Furthermore, the research found that an unsophisticated supply chain remains the most significant barrier to the adoption of e-business. It also showed that there is no significant linkage between the government support services and the rate of adoption in Australia and NSW in particular. The research also found that stages of adoption have an insignificant influence on the adoption of technology. The research detected a measured support of micro businesses for e-government and a positive relationship between the “perceived industry standards” (Alzougool & Kurnia, 2008, p. 7) by business owners and the intention to adopt e-business. The research also yielded a surprising finding from the interview participants that instead of the government spending funds and expanding effort to help small business, the government should use that funding and effort to address the disconnectedness of government systems, as well as fund and monitor industry peak bodies to define common standards and best practice in their own industry. As far as human infrastructure was concerned, the research found that skilled resources in IT, vocational and trade sectors are diminishing and the education system is no longer providing training for these skills. The research indicated that the capability of the government’s telecommunications infrastructure and the availability of its information systems have a negligible impact on the adoption of e-business. The research also found that the state government’s activities have a less significant impact on adoption compared to those of the federal government. This finding suggested the need for a stronger emphasis on inter-governmental communication between the State and the Commonwealth government. The outcome of this research will help fill the knowledge gap needed for future research on the effectiveness or the impact of government induced factors on the adoption of technology. This research can be used as a foundation to conduct future quantitative and qualitative research on a nation-wide basis or abroad, given each jurisdiction may have its own idiosyncratic environment and regulations.