ABSTRACT
Business-to-business e-commerce adoption has become increasingly important for small and medium-sized enterprises, allowing them to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Business-to-business adopted at different levels based on different resource endowments leads to competitive advantage being gained and sustained in proportion to that level of adoption. This study uses structural equation modeling to investigate how levels of business-to-business e-commerce adoption affects and contributes to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage in both U.S. and Egyptian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises. The key finding is that small and medium-sized enterprises can achieve growth in market share and sales that helps them to improve their position in the global market through higher levels of business-to-business e-commerce adoption. Implications of the study, its limitations and directions for future research, are also discussed.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ibrahim Elbeltagi
Ibrahim Elbeltagi was a lecturer in the Faculty of Business at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom. He held a PhD in Management Information Systems from Huddersfield University, United Kingdom. Ibrahim published widely in the areas of e-commerce, e-government, ICT adoption, IS in developing countries, social networking, and knowledge management.
Haseba Hamad
Haseba Hamad works at Salahaddin University in Iraq. She holds a BSc and an MSc in Business Administration from this university and also received her PhD in e-commerce from Plymouth University in 2014. Haseba’s research interests include the use of e-commerce in small to medium sized enterprises.
Jonathan Moizer
Jonathan Moizer is an associate professor in the Faculty of Business at Plymouth University. He holds a PhD in System Dynamics Modeling from the University of Stirling. His research interests include simulation modeling, simulation gaming, and systems thinking. Jonathan has published widely in these fields.
Mohamed A. Abou-Shouk
Mohamed A. Abou-Shouk is a lecturer in the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Fayoum University, Egypt. He holds a PhD in Tourism and Hospitality from Plymouth University, United Kingdom. His research interests include technology adoption behavior in SMEs. His work has been published widely in this research area.