Availability of E-commerce Support for SMEs in Developing Countries

Although research indicates e-commerce offers viable and practical solutions for organizations to meet challenges of a predominantly changing environment, the few available studies related to SMEs in developing countries reveal a delay or failure of SMEs in adopting ICT and e-commerce technologies. The various factors identified as causes for the reticence can be broadly classified as Internal Barriers and External Barriers. This paper presents a model for barriers to adoption of ICT and e-commerce based on the results of an exploratory pilot study, survey and interviews of SME intermediary organization. It identifies support for SMEs in Sri Lanka with regard to ICT and e-commerce. It also determines a strong need for necessary support and discusses the availability of the support.

Keywords: e-commerce, SME, adoption, developing countries, barriers, support.

doi: 10.4038/icter.v1i1.447

The International Journal on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions 2008 01 (01) : 3 - 11