Factors Influencing Adoption Of E-Commerce Within Small And Medium Enterprises

Abstract

This is a research report on factors influencing adoption of e-commerce within SMEs.The case of selected SMEs in Kamukunji constituency Nairobi county Kenya. Technology acceptance model was developed in this study. Five Objectives were proposed; Cost of ICT, ICT knowledge and skills, access to ICT, perceived benefits and Firm size context. The study adopted the following research methodology; First, the use of survey research design to collect data using a well-developed questionnaire. The target population was 1569 SME employees within SMEs in Kamukunji constituency Kenya. In this research the researcher used purposive sampling which allows the researcher to hand pick the respondents having information relevant to the study. Data was collected using a questionnaire, the collected facts were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential analysis applying statistical package for social science (SPSS) and correlation analysis and data presented in tables. The research concludes that majority of the entrepreneurs in Kamukunji constituency in Nairobi, Kenya have adopted e-commerce to improve organizational performance. The findings further point to the strong influence of ICT cost, ICT skill and perceived benefits, concerns on adoption of e-commerce. Firm size and Access to ICT influence but not as strongly as the other three attributes. It was evident that cost of ICT remains a key determinant of decisions made. The entrepreneurs expressed their concerns technical capabilities that could lead to deficient views of technical management, technical. The study recommends that SME‟s in Nairobi need to incorporate all the e-commerce components into the ICT system to enable them to improve the overall performance of their firms. The study also recommends that future research will need to be carried in other financial industries and countries in order to show if the link between e-commerce components and SME‟s can be generalized.