E-commerce implementation process framework for business-to-customer Malaysian small and medium enterprises

Abstract

Many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have recently decided to implement electronic commerce (e-Commerce). This requires them to successfully implement e-Commerce systems, since an inefficient implementation may lead to endangerment of the company's survival. However, despite the extensive benefits of e-Commerce, there is still a lack of e-Commerce implementations among SMEs in Malaysia. Therefore, this research aims to develop an e-Commerce Implementation Process Framework for Business-to-Customer (B2C) Malaysian SMEs. A collection of the actual experiences of SME e-Commerce champions who were involved in the implementation of e-Commerce, can facilitate the identification of the activities and the primary determinants for inclusion in the implementation process. This research adopted a positivist qualitative research approach, using case studies of Malaysian SMEs in the fashion and apparel sector, who have implemented B2C e-Commerce. In-depth interviews of e-Commerce champions were conducted over the course of three and six interviews for the pilot and primary case studies, respectively. The analysis of the data collected was divided into four phases. The first phase involved both within and cross-case analysis of the pilot cases. The second and third phases involved within and cross-case analysis of primary cases. The fourth phase involved the verification of the framework with four experts in the related field. Thematic analysis method and NVivo software were employed for data analysis. The findings from this research consist of a set of implementation activities and their main determinants featuring the B2C e-Commerce implementation process based on Kotter’s eight-stage framework. Finally, these results provide an appropriate framework for the B2C e-Commerce implementation process for Malaysian SMEs in the fashion and apparel sector. The framework is beneficial for e-Commerce practitioners as well as researchers who have similar interests in this field.