Evaluation of barriers in the adoption of E-commerce technology in SMEs: A fuzzy DEMATEL approach

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine barriers towards e-commerce platforms in developing countries using specific analytic techniques. The present empirical analysis has its main objectives of detailed study of barriers that keep deferring them to adopt an e-commerce platform. To achieve this, the barriers were selected from an extensive literature review and expert advice from this field. Then the responses were studied using a fuzzy DEMATEL approach. The causal relationship graphs provide detailed structural interdependencies of the barriers. In this exploratory study, benchmarking has come out to be the most influential barrier that needs to be practiced while adopting an e-commerce platform. Furthermore, a lack of top management commitment has also been a significant barrier in the organization while initiating an online real-Time business. The result also showed that higher turnover and poor planning are the most influenced barriers among the other parameters. The sensitivity analysis of the method is conducted to validate the robustness of the results.