Understanding web site redesigns in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): a U.K.-based study on the applicability of e-commerce Stage Models

Abstract

Despite the efforts of governments and the various support programmes, achievement of advanced stages of e-commerce by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is still very low. There have been some attempts to study the dynamic nature of websites, but there is still little research evidence to explain why and how SMEs evolve their web presence. This paper aims to develop a comprehensive classification of drivers for web site redesign based on interviews with various members of staff from SMEs in the U.K. that have recently redesigned their web sites. A sequential mixed-methodological analysis, involving the use of qualitative and quantitative data analysis, was used to develop the classification. This enabled the development of a framework that classified seven main categories of drivers for web site redesign. The drivers identified were: changing business requirements, evolving internet strategies, addressing user needs, maintenance, changing technology, pressure from peers/competitors, and the influence of developers. However, only the first four were found to be significant in the study. The categorisation and the findings suggest a number of key determinants not explicitly addressed by other work. In addition, the findings provide little support for the staged approach to e-commerce progression as few companies reported the implementation of sophisticated internet technology features as a main reason for their web site redesigns. The contributions of this paper are firstly, to provide an instrument to the academic and practitioner communities interested in the topic of web site evolution. Secondly, the categorisation of drivers for redesign and the individual reasons found in this study are expected to provide assistance to SME managers to justify, plan and strategise internet investments realistically and effectively.

Keywords:

• web site redesign
• Stage Models
• SMEs
• change framework
• eCommerce
• internet investment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fernando Alonso-Mendo

About the authors

Fernando A. Mendo is currently a human resources analyst at the Open University. He gained a Ph.D. from the School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics at Brunel University, West London. He attended The University of Salamanca in Spain, where he earned his degree in Business Administration and completed his M.Sc. in Computer Science and applications from Queen's University Belfast. His professional experience includes development of accounting database systems with the Spanish Territorial Army. His current research interests are in e-commerce and SMEs, IS Development, web site evolution, and e-learning. Fernando has published in the Journal of Computing and Information Technology, the Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Software Maintenance and Re-engineering and the European & Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems. Fernando has also served as a reviewer for several conferences, journals, and book chapters.

Guy Fitzgerald

Guy Fitzgerald is Professor of Information Systems at Brunel University in the Department of Information Systems and Computing. He is currently Director of the Centre for Information Systems Research (CISR). He was, until recently, Head of Department, and has also been Director of Research. Prior to Brunel he was the Cable and Wireless Professor of Business Information Systems at Birkbeck College, University of London, and before that he was at Templeton College, Oxford University. As well as being an academic he has also worked in the computer industry with companies such as British Telecom, Mitsubishi and CACI Inc, International. His research interests are concerned with the effective management and development of information systems and he has published widely in these areas. He is well known for his work in relation to development techniques and methodologies and is author, with David Avison, of a major text in this area entitled Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools, now in its fourth Edition. He is also known for his research in the areas of IS strategy and alignment, outsourcing, and executive information systems. His most recent research is concerned with the development of flexible information systems to enhance organisational agility. He is founder and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Information Systems Journal (ISJ), an international journal, from Wiley-Blackwell. He has been a member of many international Programme Committees, including the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). He is currently the Vice-President of Publications for AIS (Association for Information Systems).

Enrique Frias-Martinez

Enrique Frias-Martinez is a researcher at Telefonica Research in Madrid, Spain. Before joining Telefonica, Enrique worked at the Biomedical Engineering Department of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), from 2006 to 2008. Previously he worked at the Department of Information Systems & Computing of Brunel University, London (UK) as a research fellow (2003–2006) and as a postdoctoral researcher at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York (2001–2003). His current research interests include soft computing, data mining, web mining, personalisation, machine learning, and human–computer interaction, areas in which he has published extensively.

He has received a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, in 2000, and a Ph.D. degree in Information Systems from Brunel University, London, U.K., in 2007. Dr. Frias-Martinez was the recipient of the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award of the School of Computer Science 2001, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid.