Small firm e‐business adoption: a critical analysis of theory
Journal of Enterprise Information Management
ISSN: 1741-0398
Article publication date: 13 February 2009
Abstract
Purpose
The paper critiques a range of theories and evaluates their ability to provide a lens for explaining the idiosyncratic nature of small firms and their e‐business adoption decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review firstly summarises the existing research evidence that shows that small firms are idiosyncratic when it comes to e‐business adoption. It then critiques theories commonly used in the literature in this field to examine the extent to which they take this small firm idiosyncrasy into account when explaining e‐business adoption decisions.
Findings
The critical analysis shows that no commonly‐used theory adequately explains small firm adoption of e‐business because each omits important aspects of small firm idiosyncrasy. The analysis suggests that an integrated theoretical framework is needed. Preliminary ideas on this framework are provided.
Originality/value
Existing research generally applies a small number of selected theories and formulates research models of adoption factors. However, there is no systematic analysis of theories in this field and no consensus about theoretical frameworks. This paper addresses this limitation of the literature by critically evaluating the commonly used theories in terms of their individual suitability as lenses for explaining small firm e‐business adoption.
Keywords
Citation
Parker, C.M. and Castleman, T. (2009), "Small firm e‐business adoption: a critical analysis of theory", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 22 No. 1/2, pp. 167-182. https://doi.org/10.1108/17410390910932812
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited