B2C E-Commerce Adoption in Organizations

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Factors Influencing B2C E-Commerce Adoption in Organizations

By: Thanaporn Sundaravej

College of Business Administration

University of Missouri at Saint Louis

Saint Louis, MO 63121-44001. IntroductionA study on information systems (IS) innovation and its adoption has a long history on the IS literature. Due to a rapid growth of the Internet and World Wide Web, many researchers and business entrepreneurs have recently paid greater attention to the adoption of the innovative electronic market channel. Unfortunately, a review of prior research does not find an exhaustive view of factors in the electronic commerce (e-commerce) adoption in organizations that conduct online transactions with customers. Even though several categories of factors were identified and have the potential to influence the business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce adoption in organizations, qualitative and quantitative research to strengthen knowledge in this domain has been spare. This study attempts to gather information underlying factors in the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations on current literature in multiple disciplines, develop a research framework based on analyzed information and a studied theory, and produce useful guidelines for subsequent researchers who are interested in the investigation of IS adoption and e-commerce domains and for practitioners who are considering implementing an innovative online transaction channel to their customers. 1.1. Theories of Information Technology Adoption and Innovations The first comprehensive view of diffusion of innovations has been proposed by Everett M. Rogers (Raho et al., 1987). Several studies in innovations are examined and categorized into diverse disciplines such as anthropology, social sciences, education, industrial, etc (Rogers, 1962). Rogers (1962) defined an innovation as an idea perceived as new by the individual. Viewing an innovation as any new idea assigns a wide scope to this definition. To restrict the definition of an innovation for the current study, an innovation is perceived as the B2C e-commerce that an organization plans to make an effective use of. Diffusion, according to Rogers (1962), is defined as the process by which an innovation spreads. As such, the diffusion process is the spread of a new idea from its source of invention or creation to its ultimate users or adopters. In this context, the ultimate adopters are defined as organizations that currently do not have but plan to adopt the B2C e-commerce to their organizations. No matter how organizations will accept or reject the technology of B2C e-commerce, the diffusion process or the spread of a new idea from sources to ultimate users has existed.Within the IS literature, the diffusion of innovations theory has been embraced into IS research in 1970s to determine the adoption of a diffused information technology innovation. Several subsequent researchers put their efforts to develop and modify different models and theories of information technology acceptance such as Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis (1989), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by Ajzen (1991), Model of PC Utilization (MPCU) by Thompson et al. (1991), Motivational Model (MM) by Davis et al. (1992), Social Cognitive Theory in IS (SCT) by Compeau and Higgins (1995), Combined TAM and TPB (C-TAM-TPB) by Taylor and Todd (1995), Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) by Venkatesh and Davis (2000), and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model (UTAUT) by Venkatesh et al. (2003). These models or theories together provide overview picture of determinants to the adopted IS usage and acceptance.1.2. Information Technology Adoption and Innovations in Organizations

The number of research studies on IT innovations in organizations, as well as the attention paid to these investigations, has been increased in the last few decades. Diffusion of IT innovation theories have been applied to various technologies, for instance, administrative Electronic Data Processing or EDP (Moch and Morse, 1977), computer applications (Perry and Danziger, 1980), modern software practices (Zmud, 1982 and 1984), Asynchronous Transfer Mode or ATM (Hannan and McDowell, 1984), new information technology (Huff and Munro, 1985), intelligent telephone (Manross and Rice, 1986), database management system (Ball et al., 1988), data administration (Hsieh, 1987), electronic scanners (Levin et al., 1987), expert system (Leonard-Barton and Deschamps, 1988), software engineering technology (Bayer and Melone, 1989), spreadsheet software (Brancheau and Wetherbe, 1990), general purpose individual computing (Burkhardt and Brass, 1990), Material Requirements Planning or MRP (Cooper and Zmud, 1990), database design tools and techniques (Nilakanta and Scamell, 1990), IS services (Lind and Zmud, 1991), personal work station (Moore and Benbasat, 1991), Computer-Aided Software Engineering or CASE (Ramiller, 1991), business computing (Attewell, 1992), information center (Fuller and Swanson, 1992a and 1992b), IT outsourcing (Loh and Venkatraman, 1992), electronic scanners (Zmud and Apple, 1992). The list of these selected empirical research in IS innovations was summarized by Swanson (1994). Swanson (1994) claimed that IS innovations and their diffusion at organizational level until that year had been relatively little studied by researchers.However, recent IS literatures show that a variety of IS innovations has been studied by many researchers after the study by Swanson (1994). Several examples consist of Computer-Aided Software Engineering or CASE (Orlikowski, 1993), Executive Information System or EIS (Watson and Frolick, 1993), personal computer (Thompson and Higgins, 1994; Venkatesh and Brown, 2001), Electronic Data Interchange or EDI (Iacovou et al., 1995; Wang and Seidmann, 1995), expert system (Gill, 1996), electronic mail (Gefen and Straub, 1997), electronic cash (Szmigin and Bourne, 1999), group support systems (Dennis et al., 2001; Dennis and Garfield, 2003), online banking (Bradley and Stewart, 2003), Internet (Lyytinen and Rose, 2003; Oh et al., 2003; Forman, 2005; Hovav, 2005; Lymperopoulos and Chaniotakis, 2005), corporate portal (Benbya et al., 2004), electronic brainstorming technology (Dennis and Reinicke, 2004), Electronic Patient Record or EPR (Leonard, 2004), wireless technology (Fang et al., 2005), Information and Communication Technologies or ICT (Lapierre and Denier, 2005), Real-Time Business Reporting Technology or RBRT (Li and Pinsker, 2005), and electronic payment (He et al., 2006). This incomplete list of instances remarkably implies how the research in IS innovations have gained attention from researchers over the last five decades.

In considering the study of aforementioned information technologies before and after the study by Swanson (1994), we can see that the research trend in IS innovations recently moves from standalone applications to electronic, Web-based, or wireless network technologies. Thanks to the global, rapid diffusion of the Internet since 1990s (Wolcott et al., 2001), many organizations take advantage of it to gain or sustain competitive profitability over their competitors (GoldBerg and Sifonis, 1998). 1.3. Electronic Commerce and Its TypesIn the broadest sense, e-commerce refers to all online transactions. E-commerce is a kind of innovative technologies that takes advantage of the Internet growth to allow organizations to conduct business with improved efficiencies and productivity (Sharma and Gupta, 2003). Additionally, e-commerce can enhance company image, enable access to new customers, and generate new business opportunities (Chan, 2003). Even with the excessive optimism of e-commerce in 1990s and collapsed dot-com enterprises in 2001, e-commerce continues to grow today. E-commerce is differentiated into three types: business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C), and customer-to-customer (C2C) e-commerce. This paper discusses the first two types of e-commerce due to their richness of literatures. The B2B e-commerce occurs when companies conduct an online transaction with other businesses. The B2B transactions are complex and require high security needs. The B2B e-commerce is frequently utilized for automating workflows or supply-chain processes, lowering costs, and improving productivity (Timmers, 1999). In contrast, the B2C e-commerce applies to any business or organization that sells its products or services to consumers over the Internet for the consumers own use. More specifically, B2C e-commerce includes the activity in which consumers get information and purchase products or services using Internet technology (Pavlou & Fygenson, 2006). As a result, the definition of the B2C e-commerce could range from static product catalogs on a Website to dynamic interaction between consumers and Web vendors.

One business may conduct both types of e-commerce. For instance, Walmart uses electronic data interchange (EDI) to electronically exchange business documents such as purchase orders or invoices with its suppliers, while Walmart opens an alternative, online channel to sell products to its customers. As more and more companies and customers get connected to the Internet, e-commerce is becoming increasingly important as an easy mechanism for companies and individuals to buy, sell, and trade information, products, or services.1.4. Business-to-Customer Electronic Commerce Adoption in Organization LevelThe adoption of e-commerce has been extensively studied in the IS literature. In an early age of the e-commerce adoption, researchers put their concerns on the study of B2B e-commerce. EDI was claimed as a key technology in 1980s and 1990s (Swanson, 1994). Several evidences can be found from the following articles. Hansen (1989) provided an overview of control architectures and concerns associated with EDI. Ferguson et al. (1990) outlined the foundations of EDI and presented the survey result of the EDI use by U.S. firms in 1988. Iacovou et al. (1995) identified critical factors in adopting and integrating EDI for small businesses. Mukhopadhyay et al. (1995) examined the business value of EDI usage at the assembly centers of Chrysler Corporation. Wang and Seidmann (1995) studied positive and negative effects of EDI on the trading partners and evaluated policy options for buyers. Massetti and Zmud (1996) measured the EDI usage in seven organizations. Kaefer and Bendoly (2000) developed a model to identify the EDI cost effectiveness.

In the last decade, recent researchers have started paying more attention to the study of the B2C e-commerce. Due to the increasing growth of estimated sales generated from the B2C e-commerce channel (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005), businesses are heavily investing in information technology (IT) infrastructures to conduct digital transactions and to capture more market segments, even though the effect of a high IT investment on the businesses performance has not been proved (Bharadwaj, 2000). Non-profit organizations also use this innovative channel to enhance their services to their clients. Evidences to support the current trend of B2C e-commerce study can be witnessed from several articles studied in the following sections.

Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive view of factors in the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations provided on the current IS literature. The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: (1) what factors influencing the adoption of the B2C e-commerce in an organization appear on current literatures; and (2) which factors have been studied or still lack attention and need more exploration from researchers. In order to solve the addressed problems, this study attempts to gather, study, and analyze significant factors influencing the adoption of the B2C e-commerce in the organizational level. An integrated framework is developed based on prior research on the B2C e-commerce adoption. The current study can benefit subsequent researchers when conducting experiments or case studies to confirm or reject the adoption factors in order to obtain complemented and validated determinants of the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. Additionally, the study is useful for practitioners who are considering a novel, global, and digital business channel to gain awareness of the present e-commerce phenomenon. 1.5. Scope of the Study: Structurational Model of Technology

Organizations are complex social systems. Hence, organization and management theorists have developed theories to explain phenomenon in organizations and to understand such complicated systems. Orlikowski (1992) develops a theoretical model, called the Structurational Model of Technology, to examine the interaction between technology and organizations. The model comprises the three main components: human agents, technology, and institutional properties of organizations. Two premises of the Structurational Model of Technology, which are duality of technology and interpretive flexibility of technology, are elaborated. The duality of technology refers to the recursive notion of technology, which means that technology is created and changed by human action, and in the meantime it is also used by humans to accomplish some actions. The interpretive flexibility of technology is a corollary of the first premise, which refers to the interaction of technology and organization or a function of the different actors and socio-historical contexts. Based on these two promises, four main concepts of the model are classified as follows: (1) technology is the product of human action; (2) technology is the medium of human action; (3) institutional conditions influence humans in their interaction with technology; and (4) interaction with technology influences the institutional properties of an organization. Figure 1 represents the relationship among these concepts, including their definitions in Table 1. Summarily, the three main components of the Structurational Model of Technology, which are human agents, technology, and institutional properties of organizations, are not independent, but correlated to each other. The scope of this study is bounded by the Structurational Model of Technology so as to provide a comprehensive view of factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations.

Institutional Properties

d

c

Technology

a

b

Human Agents

Figure 1: Structurational Model of Technology

ArrowType of InfluenceNature of Influence

aTechnology as a Product of Human ActionTechnology is an outcome of such human actions as design, development, appropriation, and modification

bTechnology as a Medium of Human AgentsTechnology facilitates and constraints human actions through the provision of interpretive schemes, facilities, and norms

cInstitutional Conditions of Interaction with TechnologyInstitutional Properties influence humans in their interaction with technology, for example, intentions, professional norms, state of the art in materials and knowledge, design standards, and available resources (time, money, skills)

dInstitutional Consequences of Interaction with TechnologyInteraction with Technology influences the institutional properties of an organization, through reinforcing or transforming structures of signification, domination, and legitimation

Table 1: Type and Definition of Influence in Structurational Model of Technology

2. Research MethodologyThe research starts from gathering information from literatures in IS and other disciplines that relate to the area of the current study. Then, a research framework is proposed based on the findings in prior studies and the adopted theory. Factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption have been analyzed. Based on these analyzed factors, the framework has been revised until it explicitly explains the factors that drive the adoption of the B2C e-commerce in organizations. Finally, a discussion of the findings and contributions from this study is provided at the end of this paper. 2.1. Research CollectionThe research collection within this study comes from both IS and business journals such as MIS Quarterly, Communications of AIS, Communications of ACM, Electronic Markets, Journal of Marketing Management, Information & Management, Journal of Global Information Management, and Journal of Small Business Management. Articles relating to the area of this study have been searched and carefully reviewed to extract main factors influencing the B2C adoption in organizations. Those studied factors are analyzed based on the scope of the Structurational Model of Technology. A new framework emerges from data gathered from prior literatures and the applied model.2.2. Proposed Research FrameworkTo apply the theoretical model to the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations, several factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations, appearing on existing literatures, have been determined as the properties of the model elements. Figure 2 demonstrates the Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce Technology. Properties of each element in the model are shown in Table 2.

Business Properties

d

c

B2C E-Commerce Technology

a

b

Decision Makers /

ConsumersFigure 2: Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce TechnologyArrowType of InfluenceNature of InfluenceAuthorPublication

aB2C E-Commerce Technology as a Product of Decision Makers and ConsumersDecision Makers:

CEOs InnovativenessChatterjee et al. (2002)

Al-Qirim (2005)MIS Quarterly

Electronic Markets

Age, Education, and CosmopolitanismChing and Ellis (2004)J. of Marketing Mgnt.

Managerial Perceptions on Productivity and Strategic Decision AidsGrandon and Pearson (2004a)

Grandon and Pearson (2004b)Information & Mgnt.

Communications of AIS

Consumers:

Knowledge, Familiarity, and SkillsPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

TrustGefen et al. (2003)

Pavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

MIS Quarterly

Perceived UsefulnessPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

Perceived Ease of UsePavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

Time and Monetary ResourcesPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

bB2C E-Commerce Technology as a Medium of Decision Makers and ConsumersDownload DelayPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

Web NavigabilityPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

Information ProtectionPavlou and Fygenson (2006)MIS Quarterly

cBusiness Conditions of Interaction with B2C E-Commerce TechnologyExternal Properties:Competition or Industry PressureChing and Ellis (2004)

Grandon and Pearson (2004b)

Al-Qirim (2005)

Looi (2005)J. of Marketing Mgnt.

Communications of AIS

Electronic Markets

Communications of AIS

Government SupportSeyal et al. (2004)Electronic Markets

Pressure from CustomersChing and Ellis (2004)J. of Marketing Mgnt.

Internal Properties:Firm SizeVan Beveren and Thomson (2002)

MacGregor and Vrazalic (2005)

Al-Qirim (2005)

Hong and Zhu (2006)J. of Small Business Mgnt.

J. of Global Information Mgnt.

Electronic Markets

Information & Mgnt.

Industry TypeChatterjee et al. (2002)

Hong and Zhu (2006)MIS Quarterly

Information & Mgnt.

Web ExperienceChatterjee et al. (2002)MIS Quarterly

Organizational AgeChatterjee et al. (2002)MIS Quarterly

Organizational CultureChatterjee et al. (2002)

Seyal et al. (2004)MIS Quarterly

Electronic Markets

Organizational ReadinessChatterjee et al. (2002)

Grandon and Pearson (2004b)

Hong and Zhu (2006)MIS Quarterly

Communications of AIS

Information & Mgnt.

dBusiness Consequences of Interaction with B2C E-Commerce TechnologyTechnology IntegrationShih et al. (2005)

Hong and Zhu (2006)Communications of the ACMInformation & Mgnt.

CompatibilityChing and Ellis (2004)Grandon and Pearson (2004b)J. of Marketing Mgnt.Communications of AIS

Table 2: B2C Factors Based on Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce TechnologyAccording to the Structurational Model of Technology, three components, which are institutional properties, human agents, and technology, are equally crucial. When applied to the Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce Technology, all adoption factors which are properties of each component are critical. Without one of them, the B2C e-commerce adoption rate is expected to be lower or the adoption may be prohibited. This study attempts to implement a new completed paradigm of the B2C e-commerce adoption in IS research for subsequent researchers. The study also attempts to benefit IS practitioners in learning which areas they should be concerned about before making a decision to launch an innovative business channel on the Internet. Omitting one of these factors may cause a failure in the online business. Each component of the proposed model is explained as follows.Arrow a: B2C E-Commerce Technology as a Product of Decision Makers and Consumers

Orlikowski (1992) defined human agents as one component in her Structurational Model of Technology. Technology is viewed as an outcome of human actions as design, development, appropriation, and modification. Based on existing studies, decision makers and consumers appear to be the human main factors of the B2C e-commerce adoption in organization. Even though decision makers and consumers are not technology designers or developers, we cannot deny that they significantly influence the design, development, appropriation, and modification of the technology in organizations. Decision makers are defined here as a group of people or an individual employed in the organization and making the decision to adopt or reject an innovation. Decision makers have powers to direct the organization and use organizational resources in order to serve consumers needs. Customers in B2C transactions refer to existing or prospective clients who purchase or plan to purchase products or services for personal, family, or household purposes from a business seller or an organization. As a result, decision makers and consumers are accounted of human agents in the Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce Technology. Their actions are believed to have a great impact on the B2C e-commerce technology adoption in an organization. Therefore, in the proposed model, B2C e-commerce technology is viewed as a product of decision makers and consumers. Several factors of decision makers and consumers influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations are found on existing studies. Examples of decision makers factors are CEOs innovativeness, age, education, cosmopolitanism, and managerial perceptions on productivity and strategic decision aids. Examples of consumers factors are their knowledge, familiarity, skill, trust, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and time and monetary resources.

Decision Maker Factors1. Decision Makers' Attitude

In this context, the decision makers attitude refers to a feeling or emotion of managers toward an introduction of new idea, method, or device to organizations. Al-Qirim (2005) summarized a list of prior studies suggesting that the CEOs innovativeness, attitude towards adoption, and knowledge are necessary factors influencing the extent of e-commerce adoption into organizations. The results of the empirical study support the view that the greater the managers (CEO) innovativeness, the more e-commerce technologies will be adopted.

Chatterjee et al. (2002) used the term top management championship to define managerial beliefs about e-commerce initiatives in firms and participation in those initiatives. The definition could be counted on as an aspect of CEOs attitude toward an adoption of B2C e-commerce. The results of quantitative research by Chatterjee et al. (2005) prove that top management championship positively influences extent of organizational assimilation of Web technologies in e-commerce strategies and activities.2. Age, Education, and Cosmopolitanism

Ching and Ellis (2004) argued that several studies have found e-commerce adoption to be correlated with the decision makers age, level of education, and degree of cosmopolitanism. Generally, research found that adopting decision makers tend to be young, educated, and cosmopolitan. The study of Ching and Ellis (2004) to determine factors driving e-commerce adoption was conducted at Hong Kong small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The findings confirmed the similar results in prior studies.3. Managerial Perceptions on Productivity and Strategic Decision Aids

Managerial productivity and strategic decision aids are defined in the article of Grandon and Pearson (2004a) as important factors in e-commerce adoption in organizations. Managerial productivity refers to managers perception that e-commerce provides better access to information, helps in the management of time, improves communication among managers, etc. The strategic decision aids is defined as managers perceptions that e-commerce supports strategic decisions. Grandon and Pearson (2004a) validated the managerial productivity and strategic decision aids constructs in their study to determine that the perceptions of strategic value of e-commerce were associated with the decision to adopt e-commerce by managers or owners of SMEs. This finding is consistent with the results of prior literatures that they studied. Grandon and Pearson (2004b) also conducted a different study to determine perceptions to adopt e-commerce of managers or owners of SMEs in Chile. The findings confirm that managerial productivity and strategic decision aids were found to be a good discriminator between e-commerce adopters and non-adopters. It implies that adopters perceive that e-commerce helps their decision-making.Consumer Factors1. Knowledge, Familiarity, and Skills

Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) employed the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and offered numerous variables to explain and predict the process of e-commerce adoption by consumers. The empirical experiment in their study proves that consumers skills can be counted as indicators influencing the e-commerce adoption. Consumer skills are defined as the knowledge and expertise that a consumer has to undertake a behavior. It is, therefore, a potential predictor of whether a certain behavior can be accomplished. Applied to e-commerce, consumer skills refer to the consumers knowledge and ability to purchase online products or services.

2. Trust

Trust is ones expectation, assured reliance, dependence, or belief in another party. Gefen et al. (2003) studied trust and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in online shopping. The results of the study show that consumer trust is an important element to online commerce, especially in an interaction with an e-vendor. Trust results in an explanation of the consumers intended behavior. Trust in the empirical study of Gefen et al. (2003) was proved to be a crucial component to retrieve information and to purchase online products or services by customers. Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) also adopted trust into their study of the B2C e-commerce adoption to predict consumer behaviors. The results of the study confirm that trust predicts B2C e-commerce adoption by customers.

3. Perceived Usefulness

In addition to TPB, Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to determine factors of e-commerce adoption by consumers. Perceived usefulness is the extent to which a person believes that using a system will improve his performance. In the study, perceived usefulness is shown to positively influence customers attitude toward getting product information and product purchasing from a Web vendor.

4. Perceived Ease of Use

Perceived ease of use is another TAM determinant used in the study by Pavlou and Fygenson (2006). It is defined as the extent to which a person believes that using the system will be effortless. Similarly to perceived usefulness, perceived ease of getting information and product purchasing is shown to positively influence attitude toward getting product information and product purchasing from a Web vendor.

5. Time and Monetary Resources

Consumers time resources refer to the time needed to browse for production information, while monetary resources are identified as financial prerequisites to purchase products or services from a Web vendor (Pavlou and Fygenson, 2006). Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) employed these two constructs in their empirical experiment. The findings from the study indicate that these resources are indicators to the intention and behavior to get information and to purchase goods online by consumers.

Arrow b: B2C E-Commerce Technology as a Medium of Decision Makers and Consumers

Besides an outcome of human actions in the Orlikowski (1992) Structurational Model of Technology, technology is viewed as a medium of human agents that facilitates and constraints human actions through the provision of interpretive schemes, facilities, and norms. In the Structurational Model of B2C E-Commerce Technology, B2C e-commerce technology refers to a computer programming system, application, or technology that creates a transaction on the Internet. It can be perceived as a medium of consumers that could facilitate or constraint their purchasing actions through the provision of interpretive schemes, facilities, and norms. Therefore, properties of the technology influence in the B2C e-commerce adoption must either facilitate or constraint the consumers purchasing actions. Download delay, Web navigability, and information protection are found on existing studies as the factors influencing an organization to adopt the B2C e-commerce. Such factors can be seen to either assist or impede consumers purchasing, depending on the design, development, appropriation, and modification of the B2C e-commerce technology in the organization.

B2C E-Commerce Technology Factors1. Download Delay

As mentioned earlier, Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) employed TPB to explain and to predict the process of e-commerce adoption by consumers. Download delay is defined as one technological characteristic to predict e-commerce adoption in organizations on their study. It refers to the amount of time it takes for a Website to display a requested page from a Web server. Based on previous research, download delay is expected to negatively impact attitude toward getting online information. Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) claimed that download delay is a key e-commerce barrier. Thus, organizations planning to adopt e-commerce as a transaction channel cannot avoid the impact of download delay to their customers attitude. The findings of their empirical study also support this argument.

2. Website Navigability

Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) also defined Website navigability as a significant factor influencing controllability over getting product information from a Web vendor. Navigability in the study by Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) refers to the natural sequencing of Web pages, well-organized layout, and consistency of navigation protocols, enabling consumers to find the right products and to compare among alternatives completely under the consumers control. Similar to download delay, Website navigability is another critical factor that organizations must pay attention in adopting e-commerce because it can either facilitate or impede the consumers online purchase.

3. Information Protection

Information security and privacy receive more attention in recent literature. Information protection refers to an ability of Web technologies to fulfill security requirements of personal information from unauthorized use or disclosure (Pavlou and Fygenson, 2006). Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) proposed that when consumers feel comfortable with the way a Web vendor protects their personal information, they are willing to purchase products or service form that vendor. The findings of their study support this argument.

Arrow c: Business Conditions of Interaction with B2C E-Commerce Technology

Institutional properties are another component of the Orlikowskis (1992) Structurational Model of Technology. These properties influence human agents in their interactions with technology. Examples of the institutional conditions of interaction with technology are intentions, professional norms, state of the art in materials and knowledge, design standards, and available resources such as time, money, and skills. The current study applies this Orlikowskis (1992) influence into business conditions of interaction with B2C e-commerce technology. Existing studies have extensively discussed this influence in several properties. These properties can be classified into two main groups: external and internal components. External properties of business conditions of interaction with B2C e-commerce refer to social context, surroundings outside the organization, or external conditions that affect the B2C adoption in an organization. Such properties in current studies are competition or industry pressure, government support, and pressure from customers. On the other hand, internal business properties refer to organizational characteristics, structures, or arrangements that affect the B2C adoption in an organization. Internal properties found in existing studies are firm size, industry type, Web experience, and organizational age, culture, and readiness.

External Business Property Factors1. Competition and Industry Pressure

Based on the prior work of Davis (1989), Grandon and Pearson (2004b) defined the definition of external pressure to an organization as direct or indirect pressure exerted by competitors, social referents, other firms, the government, and the industry to adopt an innovation in an organization. By this description, competition, industry pressure (Al-Qirim, 2005), competitive pressure (Looi, 2005), and competitive intensity (Ching and Ellis, 2004), defined by different researchers, are counted as the environment factor driving an organization to adopt the B2C e-commerce. From the empirical study by Grandon and Pearson (2004b) on the e-commerce adoption in Chile SMEs, external pressure is found as a significant factor influencing the e-commerce adoption.

Moreover, Al-Qirim (2005) summarized that most prior research found the high intensity of competition as a significant factor to drive an e-commerce adoption. Partially consistent with those prior studies, Al-Qirims (2005) empirical study represents mixed results of competition as a factor of an e-commerce adoption in New Zealand SMEs. Competition is found significant only in the case of extended adopters, neither starters nor innovators.

In contrast, the findings from Ching and Ellis (2004) case studies identified the opposite result from Grandon and Pearson (2004b) and Al-Qirum (2005). Ching and Ellis (2004) observed no relationship between the e-commerce adoption and the intense competition within industries or inter-firm rivalry. Based on these different findings, more investigation in this factor is crucially needed.2. Government SupportUnlike Grandon and Pearson (2004b), Seyal et al. (2004) differentiated government support as a separated factor from the competition and industry pressure. Their study proves that the impact of governmental policies and initiatives is shown to have stimulation to the e-commerce adoption in Pakistan SMEs. The greater government incentives are perceived by an organization, the higher is the likelihood of an organization to adopt e-commerce. Further studies that explain the government support as an e-commerce driven factor in general contexts other than in Pakistan are encouraged.

3. Pressure from Customers

The pressure from customers seems to be neglected by most prior researchers. Not many studies concern pressures from customers as a factor to adopt an e-commerce into a business. Pressures from customers are found significant in Ching and Ellis (2004) qualitative research in the investigation of factors driving e-commerce adoption in Hong Kong SMEs. In their study, existing customers appear to motivate the switch to the Internet for conducting business in organizations. However, Ching and Ellis (2004) do not specify types of pressure from customers in further details. The consumer factors studied by Pavlou and Fygenson (2006) may explain the pressure from customers defined by Ching and Ellis (2004).Internal Business Property Factor1. Firm Size

Van Beveren and Thomson (2002) conducted a survey of manufacturers in Australia to investigate if firm size could be a possible factor in determining whether businesses got involved in e-commerce adoption. The study reveals that smaller firms are less likely to adopt e-commerce than larger firms. This outcome could be traced to a lack of the human resources needed to manage Web-related tasks of small firms. However, there are few sample sizes in some firm size categories and no case studies or empirical evidence to support the argument.

In contrast, MacGregor and Vrazalic (2005) presented the opposite result from Beveren and Thomson (2002). The findings from their study show that Swedish and Australian small businesses, especially old small businesses, tend to implement e-commerce due to the affordability. Additionally, the findings from the study of Al-Qirim (2005) represent mixed results, based on types of adopters. For starters, firm size appears insignificant in the e-commerce adoption in New Zealand SMEs. However, firm size plays a major role on the adoption of e-commerce technologies for innovators and extended innovators.

Hong and Zhu (2006) presented a different aspect of firm size as a control variable instead of an independent variable as Al-Qirim (2005). They developed a framework based on an earlier theoretical model of technology adoption called technology-organization-environment or TOE framework to study the adoption of technology innovation proposed by Tornatzky and Fleisher (1990). Three core aspects of a firm that influence it to adopt an IT innovation are defined as technological, organizational, and environmental contexts. Firm size is perceived as one factor in the organizational context and believed to have some effects on the IT adoption. Hong and Zhu (2006), however, do not apply firm size (by total number of employees) as a predictor but control variable. In their study, there is no explanation on what e-commerce type they intend to study. Assumptions on the e-commerce type can be perceived from some defined factors used in the study such as the EDI use and partner usage which are considered as factors of the B2B e-commerce and these are beyond the scope of the current study. Most importantly, the findings from Hong and Zhu (2006) empirical study indicate that firm size is found to be negatively related to the e-commerce adoption. This can be interpreted to mean that both small and large firms adopt e-commerce into their business. Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that the scope of Hong and Zhu (2006) study may cover both the B2B and/or B2C e-commerce. Further investigation should be strictly to the effect of firm size on the adoption of the B2C e-commerce.2. Industry type

Industry type is used in empirical studies by Chatterjee et al. (2002) and Hong and Zhu (2006) for e-commerce adoption in organizations as another control variable. The results of both studies suggest that the differences among industries influence the e-commerce migration, especially for firms in service industry, including marketing, sales, order processing, delivery, customer support services, and recruiting (Chatterjee et al., 2002). 3. Web Experience

Web experience is identified by Chatterjee et al. (2002) as an extent of experience in using the Web technology. It is used as a control variable in the experiment and Chatterjee et al. (2002) concluded that the assimilation of Web technologies to e-commerce activities is influenced by cumulative organizational learning and experience. Firms that have gained Web adoption for a prolonged period of time have a great likelihood of achieving a high level of maturity in e-commerce technology.

4. Organizational Age

Organizational age is defined by Chatterjee et al. (2002) as another control variable in the experiment. The results of the experiment demonstrate that organizational age has slight influence on Web assimilation. It was explained by Chatterjee et al. (2002) that older firms have embedded structures of signification, legitimization, and domination. Thus, they are likely to favor the structural inertia and have a difficulty to adopt a new business structure.

5. Organizational Culture

As mentioned earlier, Seyal et al. (2004) investigated factors predicting the e-commerce adoption among SMEs in Pakistan. These factors are distinguished into technological, organizational, and environmental types, similar to the categories proposed by Hong and Zhu (2006). Seyal et al. (2004) claimed that organizational culture was one of the organizational factors influencing the e-commerce adoption in Pakistan SMEs. Organizational culture was described as a coherent set of beliefs with a set of shared core values. Several prior studies were summarized by Seyal et al. (2004) to presume that organization culture affected the e-commerce adoption in Pakistan SMEs. The results of their empirical study prove that organizational culture is a significant factor in determining the e-commerce adoption. Again, an application of this factor to different contexts should be undertaken.

Chatterjee et al. (2002) viewed the organizational culture in the aspect of coordination within an organization. It is believed that firms must shape consensus around applications or projects that will focus Web deployments on e-commerce strategies and activities through the use of a variety of coordination mechanisms. The results of the study also prove such an assumption. 6. Organizational Readiness

Organizational readiness was defined by Iacovou et al. (1995) and adapted to the e-commerce study of Grandon and Pearson (2004b) as availability of the financial and technological resources to adopt e-commerce. Grandon and Pearson (2004b) summarized different aspects of organizational readiness found in previous studies, for example, organizational compatibility, technical compatibility, cost, etc. Their empirical study indicated that organizational readiness emerged as the best discriminator between organizational adopters and non-adopters of e-commerce. This proves that technological and financial resources engage in the adoption of this IT innovation.

In earlier years, Chatterjee et al. (2002) defined strategic investment rationale as value propositions that guide the identification of promising organizational opportunities and justification of resource commitments toward the implementation of e-commerce projects. The results of the study show that a well-developed explicit strategic investment rationale positively influences extent of organizational assimilation of Web technologies in e-commerce strategies and activities.

Additionally, Web spending was defined as a technology factor driving e-commerce adoption in the article by Hong and Zhu (2006). Web spending refers to the portion of financial resources devoted to Web-based initiatives, including hardware, software, IT services, consulting, and employee training. Findings from the study confirm that Web spending is one of the factors influencing e-commerce adoption. However, Web spending, defined by Hong and Zhu (2006) should be considered as organizational readiness which is one element of organizational factors driving e-commerce adoption rather than technological factor, because Web spending can be considered of financial and technological resources of an organization, determining e-commerce adoption into an organization.

Arrow d: Business Consequences of Interaction with B2C E-Commerce Technology

Finally, Orlikowski (1992) suggested institutional consequences of interaction with technology in her Structurational Model of Technology. This interaction with technology influences the institutional properties of an organization through reinforcing or transforming structures of signification, domination, and legitimation. The current study applies this concept as business consequences of interaction with B2C e-commerce. That means, the interaction with B2C e-commerce influences the business properties of an organization through strengthening or renovating structures of signification, domination, and legitimation. Examples of such consequences are technology integration and compatibility.

Summarily, based on existing studies and Orlikowskis (1992) Structurational Model of Technology, main influences of the B2C e-commerce adoption can be distinguished into four groups: business properties, decision makers, consumers, and B2C e-commerce technology. Business properties, decision makers, and technology are perceived as the letter B or business in B2C transactions. In contrast, consumers are perceived as the letter C or customer in B2C transactions. The interactions occur among four groups of influences as depicted in Figure 2.B2C E-Commerce Technology Factors1. Technology IntegrationTechnology integration is defined in the Hong and Zhu (2006) article as the extent to which various technologies and applications are represented on the Web platform. The study proves that the more integrated these existing applications are with the Internet, the more capacity the organization has to conduct its business over the Internet.

Shih et al. (2005) argued that transaction facilitators such as credit card or debit card payment conducted electronically for remote purchasing is a key determinant of e-commerce activities. In some countries, the credit card usage is not widely available, resulting in less positive association with the adoption of e-commerce technologies. 2. Compatibility

Ching and Ellis (2004) studied prior research and assumed that technology compatibility was a propensity to adopt a technology innovation. This propensity is argued to reinforce the innovation if the technology is compatible with the existing values, needs, and experiences of the potential adopters. The results of their study are found consistent with the results of prior studies, which reveal that innovators were likely to adopt e-commerce that is compatible with their existing business values and practices. This could support the assumption that compatibility can strongly affect the adoption of e-commerce in organizations.

Grandon and Pearson (2004b) also summarized prior research on compatibility as a factor determining e-commerce adoption. Compatibility defined in their study is similar to Ching and Ellis (2004) definition. It refers to consistency of e-commerce with the existing technology infrastructure, culture, values, and preferred work practices of the firm. The results of the study confirm that compatibility of the firm with e-commerce is a strong factor on e-commerce adoption in Chile SMEs.

3. DiscussionThere is no comprehensive view of the factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. Some studies concentrate on a single or few particular factors. Gefen et al. (2003) studied trust as a main factor of online consumers intended behavior. Pavlou and Fygensen (2006) paid their attention to the factors of consumers and technology. Even though these studies provide useful quantitative research to prove their assumptions, a complete analysis on the factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations could produce more valuable outcomes from many separated studies. In many occasions, several studies concentrate on a specific type of organizations, especially SMEs, in particular countries and do not explain the applicability to organizations elsewhere. For instance, Van Beveren and Thomson (2002) conducted a survey in Australia. Ching and Ellis (2004) conducted a study at Hong Kong SMEs. Grandon and Pearson (2004b) conducted a study at Chile SMEs. Seyal et al. (2004) studied the impact of government support and organizational culture at Pakistan SMEs. Al-Qirim (2005) presented a study at New Zealand SMEs. It is skeptical that the findings from these studies are applicable to the B2C e-commerce adoption in any organization.Additionally, some studies offer conflict results. Ching and Ellis (2004) identified an opposite result from Grandon and Pearson (2004b) and Al-Qirim (2005) in terms of competition and industry pressure factors. MacGregor and Vrazalic (2005) presented the opposite result concerning the firm size from Beveren and Thomson (2002) and Al-Qirim (2005). Hong and Zhu (2006) presented a different aspect of firm size from Al-Qirim (2005). Hence, a research should be conducted to prove the validity of those results.

Lastly, there is no specification of the type of e-commerce on most studies. Some researchers discuss either B2B or B2C e-commerce or both of them. Hong and Zhu (2006) study includes EDI use and partner usage as indicators for the e-commerce adoption in organizations. As such, it might be assumed that their study covers both the B2B and B2C e-commerce. As mentioned earlier, the B2B e-commerce is not in the scope of this study. B2B factors, as a result, are not counted as parts of the current analysis.4. ConclusionsBased on a founded theory and analysis on current works, this study shows that the factors driving the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations can be viewed in several categories: decision makers, consumers, technology, external business properties, and internal business properties. Each factor comprises different properties. Some of these properties have been theoretically or empirically proved as influences on the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. However, some properties need further experiment and investigation. In the future, these categories may need to be redefined and examined in further details, eventually to establish a comprehensive understanding and validity of factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. 5. Implications to Researchers and PractitionersThe current research proposes a new framework studying the adoption of B2C e-commerce in the organizational level. The framework introduces a comprehensive list of factors influencing such adoption. The findings from the current study are encouraged to be further investigated so as to confirm the previous results or to solve some contradicted outcomes. The current study should be extended into a qualitative or quantitative research to prove assumptions of each component on the proposed framework and overall factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. The result of the future research is believed to offer a significant progress in the IS discipline, especially in the area of IT adoption and its innovation and e-commerce.

Based on the findings from the current study, practitioners learn that several factors influencing the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations can be seen in four different components: decision makers, consumers, business properties, and technology itself. It is believed that each of these factors plays an important role in the B2C e-commerce adoption in organizations. Therefore, practitioners should pay their attention to every component if they consider adopting the B2C e-commerce technology into their business.

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IS 7890: IS Research Seminar

Spring 2006