Determinants of the adoption of e-business technologies

The results show that variables such as size of operation and wage rates differ significantly between portal using firms and others, and suggest that the firms managed by informed and qualified entrepreneurs have adopted more advanced e-business tools.

Abstract

The paper identifies and analyses factors that discriminate firms using different types of e-business technologies in the manufacturing sector in India. The study is based on primary data collected from 51 firms located in the National Capital Region. Entrepreneurial characteristics, historical data of firms, and other firms-specific factors such as size of operation, export intensity, international orientation, wage rates, and profit margins were included in the analysis. The findings of the study suggest that the firms managed by informed and qualified entrepreneurs have adopted more advanced e-business tools. The study captures the role of bandwidth in diffusion of e-business. The results show that variables such as size of operation and wage rates differ significantly between portal using firms and others. International orientation of firms represented by variables such as exports intensity and technological collaboration with foreign firms have also emerged as significant factors that distinguished advanced e-business technology using firms from the rest.