Critical factors influencing the performance of e-business in SMEs

E-business technologies have significantly affected business processes of companies. As a result, it is critical for organizations to have an effective and efficient e-business performance, particularly, for small and medium sized enterprises due to their lack of financial and human resources. The purpose of this paper is to study the factors influencing the performance of e-business in Malaysian small and medium sized enterprises. Quantitative method was used for this study and data were collected through survey questionnaire from managers working in SMEs performing in Malaysia. E-communication, e-intelligence, e-collaboration, knowledge sharing, IT employee, and External IT are the examined factors. All six hypotheses were supported by results of the study. Knowledge and expertise of IT employees and external IT were reported to be the most influential aspects on the performance of e-business in SMEs. Theories used in this study include resource-based view, knowledge-based theory, and competence-based theory