Between romance and application of electronic endeavor: exploring Malaysian SMEs track 1

It is easy to be seduced by the benefits and supposed logic of an emerging technology such as the Internet and the World Wide Web. In reality however, many small and medium sized enterprises, which have invested in the Internet applications, experience shortfalls between the promised utopia and their business achievement, so far. What factors directly link to such a critical phenomenon? What preparations have the small and medium enterprises made before engaging in such process of technology adoption? This paper is the first of a two-part research project exploring the motivations, behaviors and characteristics of small and medium enterprises, which directly relate to their adoption of the Internet applications. Within the boundary of this paper, the evolutionary process of adopting the Internet applications into the business processes among small and medium sized enterprises is conceptualized as electronic endeavor. Drawing on the unique background of Malaysia, this first part of the major study consists of in-depth interviews, in which the sample includes entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises, and directors of government bodies who are responsible in national projects concerning the Internet technology. The findings reveal organizational context, entrepreneurial characteristics, and external environment which may affect the adoption of electronic endeavor among Malaysian SMEs. This study also views the capacity to change, as a path for small and medium sized enterprises to prepare themselves for technology adoption