B2B E-Commerce Progression using Stage model in Malaysian SME

The implementation of businesstobusiness electronic commerce (B2B e-commerce) is being categorized as a system with high degree of difficulty since it involves complexity of the multiple relationships and interactions between trading partners. Thus, for Small Medium Enterprise (SME) to partake in the B2B e-commerce activities, they need to have attained some reasonable level of e-readiness measures. Measuring the e-readiness and identifying the elements that influenced the B2B e-commerce implementation are initial steps towards a better understanding of the technology successfulness and reduce the risk of its failure after introduction. Drawing from this, we present the ereadiness stage model which contains multi-dimensional perspectives of B2B e-commerce readiness influence factors. A well considered selection of individual, organizational and environmental indicators provides a more comprehensive understanding on the important elements of B2B e-commerce implementation success. Through survey on ereadiness assessment of 123 SME, the current state and position of an organization with respect to B2B ecommerce readiness has been analyzed and identified. The results explained the ereadiness progression characteristics at each stage, which can be used to provide practical guidance for SME to improve the adoption level as well as provide road map towards a better B2B e-commerce direction for business organizations.