Content area
Abstract
Based on the substantial body of literature in information systems (IS) research and in the diffusion of innovation, and building on emerging concepts in electronic commerce, this thesis measures the influence of various factors (i.e. those that relate to the technology itself, to organizational characteristics and to business relationships) on firms' innovativeness with respect to electronic commerce. The measure of innovativeness is comprised of the future rate of adoption and future level of use of electronic commerce applications and of three types of electronic platforms: those administered by the responding firms, those administered by their business partners and those administered by intermediaries—also called electronic marketplaces. This measure departs from those used in previous studies since it includes eight variables, instead of only one, and allows therefore to better define the pursued electronic commerce strategy of a firm. The factors retained in this thesis better explain the future level of use than the future rate of adoption, and this for electronic commerce applications and for each of the three types of electronic platforms. A firm's past experience in electronic commerce ultimately affects its future strategy. This self-reinforcing phenomenon has also been observed in the case of various types of innovations not related to electronic commerce.
The factors that relate to business relationships exert an important influence on the future rate of adoption and future level of use of electronic commerce applications and of each of the three electronic platforms.
The consultants and others external experts play an essential role in the implementation of the pursued electronic commerce strategy of firms. The size of the firm, the sector of economic activity in which it operates, and the level of its exports need to be retained as control variables when examining the relation between the factors and the variables used to define the pursued electronic commerce strategy of the firms. The firms that will be in a leadership position with respect to electronic commerce show distinctive characteristics. They already use electronic commerce to buy and to sell; they are more dependent toward their strategic customers and collaborate more with them and they undergo the strongest pressures from external groups, namely suppliers, competitors, consultants and other experts. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)