E-commerce adoption model in Iranian SME's : investigating the causal link between perceived strategic value of e-commerce & factor of adoption

E-commerce can be an important source of competitive advantage for most business organizations, especially small and medium sized (SME) businesses. Recently, researchers have focused on e-commerce adoption both in the developed and developing countries. This study examines the factors that influence e-commerce adoption in Iranian SMEs active in IT industry. By studying two independent research streams, the strategic value of e- commerce to top managers and factors that influence the adoption of e- commerce, this study proposed and validated a predictive model. The research model of this study suggested three factors that have been found to be influential in previous research in the perception of strategic value of e-commerce: strategic decision aids, managerial productivity and operational support. Inspired by the technology acceptance model and diffusion of innovation theory and other relevant researches in the area, eight factors that influence electronic commerce adoption in Iran were also identified as follows: entrepreneurial orientation, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, political pressure, organizational readiness, compatibility, managers’ attitude and soci-economic pressure. In addition the causal link between the perceived strategic value of electronic commerce and electronic commerce adoption was investigated. To validate the research model, 142 questionnaires were collected from top managers/owners of SMEs active in IT industry.Validerat; 20101217 (root