Have SMEs Benefited from E-Commerce?

Abstract

Recently there has been a surge in research projects on how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use E-Commerce/E-Business for business purposes. These include a mixture of academic, industry and government studies. The outcomes have presented a mixed message. While there are anecdotal success stories, SMEs found their E-Commerce/E-Business endeavours successful to a point but face difficulties in achieving many speculations portrayed by the media and visionaries. In this paper, I try to address the issue based on published works in the domain of E-Commerce/E-Business 6 adoption among SMEs. The answer may lie in a more refined research strategy and consolidation of research outcomes. Lessons from EDI adoption might be useful to formulate impetus to further adoption.