The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business

Korea Distribution Science Association (한국유통과학회)
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Relationships Among Owner-Manager Characteristics, E-commerce Adoption and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia

  • KOE, Wei-Loon (Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka) ;
  • WULANDARI, Ririn (Management Department, Universitas Mercu Buana)
  • Received : 2022.10.10
  • Accepted : 2023.01.15
  • Published : 2023.01.30
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Abstract

This study examined the relationships among owner-manager characteristics, e-commerce adoption, and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Although the growth of e-commerce was encouraging in many countries, studies of e-commerce adoption among SMEs in developing countries such as Malaysia are insufficient. Furthermore, studies that investigated individual characteristics and e-commerce adoption are still low in number. This study specifically employed the technology-organization-environmental (TOE) framework to develop its research model. The sample was selected by using a non-probability judgmental sampling technique because the desired population frame was unavailable. A total of 111 owner-managers of SMEs were surveyed using online self-administered questionnaires. Subsequently, the data was analyzed through partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed significant relationships between owner-manager characteristics and e-commerce adoption, as well as between e-commerce adoption and the performance of SMEs. The findings suggested that owner-manager characteristics played an important role in determining e-commerce adoption among SMEs. Moreover, e-commerce adoption was crucial in affecting the performance of SMEs. This paper provided new insights into factors affecting e-commerce adoption and firm performance. It could further benefit the government and SMEs in strategizing e-commerce adoption and development, especially in the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) and the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Universitas Mercu Buana under the International Joint Research Fund [02-5/302/B-SPK/II/2021].

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