Information sharing requirement model in online purchasing system among small medium enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

The innovations within the small and medium-sized (SME) companies in Malaysia are inspired by the utilization of e-business. Since this industry relies on online business, a good and effective platform should be used in order to gain customers’ trust. Information sharing plays a main role in this business platform. Slow response time, information availability, and security attacks on users’ information are the factors that bring weakness to the system. Hence, a good information sharing practice in implementing an online purchasing system amid the SMEs should be adopted in order to encourage innovation among SMEs. The primary aim of this research is to propose an information sharing model to support the implementation of an online purchasing system in the SME industry in Malaysia. A theoretical study is conducted to analyse several prominent information sharing models to identify the appropriate information sharing practices in delivering the online purchasing system. The case study of SMEs in Malaysia has been applied to explore the current practices of information sharing models in the online purchasing system. Data has been collected from online surveys from 300 active users of an online purchasing system. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Partial Least Square (PLS) techniques to examine the relationships between the identified factors which were grounded on the IS Success Model. Result indicates that System Quality (SQ), Information Quality (IQ), Service Quality (SVQ), Intention of Use (IU), and Perceived Net Benefits (NB) are the important factors in a successful purchasing system. The findings suggested that, IQ, and SVQ positively correlate with IU, while IU positively correlates with NB. These outputs are also expected to formulate guidelines and procedures to best guide the information sharing framework to support the implementation of online purchasing system in the SME industry in Malaysia. It is very crucial for business organisations in order to obtain maximum profit and expand businesses in the future.