An Empirical Study of Factors that Influence the Extent of Deployment of Electronic Commerce for Small- and Mediumsized Enterprises in Australia

The purpose of this paper is to present the perceptions and experiences of Electronic Commerce (EC) implementation in Australia. The study is investigated from the perspective of Smalland Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the framework of implementation is represented by the extent of deployment. Based on the sample of about 115 small businesses in Australia, this paper uses regression modelling to explore and establish the factors that are related to the extent of deployment in EC. A multiple regression analysis shows that seven factors: perceived relative advantage, trialability, observability, variety of information sources, communication amount, competitive pressure, and non-trading institutional influences, significantly influence the extent of EC deployment by SMEs in Australia. The results and interpretations have some implications for managers in determining the appropriateness of deploying EC strategies to achieve profitability and operational efficiency.