‘SMEs in South Africa 124 Chapter VII SMEs in South Africa: Acceptance and Adoption of E-Commerce Eric Cloete University of Cape Town, South Africa ABSTRACT The chapter reports on research that was done in information systems at the University of Cape Town on the benefits of Internet utilisation and the barriers to its adoption amongstsmall businesses in South Africa. Itaddresses how these small businesses in a developing country perceive the potential benefits of e-commerce and look at their consequent adoption of e-commerce activities in their own organizations. Comparisons are made between studies conducted in first world countries, particularly regarding the role of government initiatives. A secondary aim of this research was to determine the current level of e-commerce adoption by small businesses in South Africa. This was achieved by circulating a questionnaire to test the perception of e- commerce benefits and e-commerce adoption levels amongst small businesses from various sectors in South Africa. If the global usage of the Internet for electronic commerce by small businesses is compared to the South African situation, this research clearly indicates that the available technologies are not adopted to the extent that is necessary for survival in a rapidly changing environment. Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distbuting in print or clestonic forms without writen pemssion of Idee Group Inc. is probbied122 Cloete INTRODUCTION This chapterreports onresearch that was done in Information Systemsatthe University of Cape Town onthe benefits of Intemet.utilizationandthe barriersto itsadoptionamongstsmall businesses in South Africa. Itaddresses how thesesmall businessesina developing country perceive thepotential benefits ofe-commerce and look at their consequent adoption of e-commerce activities in their own. organizations. Comparisons are made between studies conduetedin first world countries, particularly regarding therole of governmentinitiatives. A secondary aim of this research was to determine the current level of e= commerce adoption by small businesses in South Africa. This was achieved by circulating a questionnaire to test the perception of e-commerce benefits and e- commerce adoption levelsamongstsmall businesses from various ectorsin South Africa. Ifthe global usage of the Intemetforelectroniccommerceby small businesses iscomparedto the South A frican situation, this research clearly indicates thatthe availabletechnologiesarenotadoptedto the extent that is necessary forsurvival in arapidly changing environment, One ofthemost important features ofusing the World Wide Web is definitely theability to conduct business overthe Intemet. The evolution ofthe Internet from. amilitary tool to one thats available to organizations and individualshas opened ‘many ways of doing e-commerce for SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises). With thebenefitofusing the Intemet tout costs, improving efficiency andreachamuch wider market, productivity and profit margins can be improved dramatically. Unfortunately, many South African SMEsarenotutilizing the Intemetadequately and therefore numerous excellent and unique business opportunities are nev. discovered or exploited for commercial gain (Courtney & Finch, 2001). Although the classification of enterprisesis normally basedonsize, turnover and number of employees, the definition of an SME differs in the literature; therefore,no fixed definition exists. An SME for the purposes of thisresearch will be one that complies with the requirements of the South African National Small Business Act, No.102 of 1996. E-commerce canbe definedas thebuyingandselling ofinformation, products andservices with theassistance ofcomputertechnology andthe Intemet(Greenstein, ctal., 2000). Thisbasically involvesthe exchange of electronicinformationbetween parties, normally followedbby the exchange of goods and paymenttransactions. In the conduct ofcommerce, many differing activities might occur, suchasmarketing, interaction with clients and suppliers, interaction with governmentandacquisition products and the sales forthcoming of these events, Akkerenand Cavaye (1999) state thate-commerceimprovesan SMEsability tocompete with larger organiza Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. Copyiag or distributing in priat or clectonie forms without writen emission of Idea Group Ine. is prohibited‘SMEs in South Attica 123, tionsand operate onan intemational scale. They also see e-commerceasa tool for providing cost effective ways for SMEs to market their business, launch new products, improve communications, gather informationand identify potential business partners. South Africa, asa developing country, faces many problems such as high ‘unemployment, low levels of working skills, poverty and rampant crime. The encouragement ofthe developmentofSMEsmighthelp toelevatethese problems and improve the levels of skills in the country. This should contribute towards economic growth and assist in reducing poverty and unemployment levels in general. Information and communication skillshave been proposed asmeans of increasing the productivity levels of SME’s (Harrison et al., 1997). Yet the perception, implementation and the utilization of the Intemet by South A rican SMESisstill relatively unknown (Cloete, 1999). Electronic business, as an area of research, is still evolving with many researchers disagreeing to the benefits or boundaries. Many benefits from the utilization of e-commerce for SMEsare suggested (Davies, 2002), howeverits adoption seems to be low fora variety ofreasons that are reported in this paper. Research performed on SMEs since the dotcom crash in 2000, indicates that perceptionsandattitudes towards e-commerechave changed toquiteanextentand people often lookatpotential benefits ina more pessimistic manner (Courtney & Finch, 2001). The Internet and SMEs Many SMEssare forced into using electronic business due to their dominant clients forcing them to adopt or depart when the clientimplements anelectronic purchasing system. Theresultis that SMEs that do notkeep up with the e-evolution arein danger ofbeing left outoftenders, particularly where larger corporations have electronic tender processes that might be attractiveto SME Poonand Swatman (1997) identified short-term and long-term benefits for companies using e-commerce. Short-term benefits should be realized within months whereas long-term benefits may take longer and are normally fairly unpredictable. Theirresearch showed that SMEs are not reaping significant short- termbenefits frome-commerce and forthose that did, the benefits were marginal and inconsistent. They identified long-term benefits as being the key motive for ongoing Intemnetactivities. (Chanand Swatman (2001) found thatthe Intemetasane-commercemedium for EDI transactions is cheaper than traditional EDI, even afterall the costs of implementing an Internet EDI solution was taken into account. They suggest the following Intemetbased B2B applications altemativesto traditional EDI Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distbuting in print or clestonic forms without writen permission of Idee Group Inc. is probbied124 Cloete . EDI formatted documents over the Internet (the use of FTP or e-mail applications to place the EDT messages into formatted documents and ‘ransmitthem to the intended recipients) + XMLEDIor XML document exchange (the latest development in EDI translation, which aims to lower the barriers to e-business for SMES). * Web-based EDI (use ofa web based form or intelligentinteractive formto exchange business over the Internet). Ducto the ownership and decisionmaking power of SMEsbeingheldby one ortwopeople, adoption of e-commerce into their organizationisheavily relianton these people’s acceptance of the technology. The following factors are primary to the acceptance of e-commerce (Perry etal., 2001): + Usefulness-The individual mustbe convinced of therelevantadvantage of using e-commerce. Embracing e-commerceshould be perceived as easier, faster, and cheaper than the current manual processes of doing business. E- commerce would need to be understood and considered to be useful by the individual + Intention -The individual mustintend embracing e-commerce. They must haveapositiveattitude towardsit. A person that views e-commerce asatool that has no potential role in what they are doing is unlikely to accept the potential ofe-commerce. + EaseofUse-Theindividualmustbe comfortable with theuse of technology. Aperson thatis frightened to embrace technology will notbe willing toaccept e-commerceasatradingtool, Iftheappropriate skillsand understandingof the technology are in place, then theuse of e-commerce will be easier, thus makingits acceptance more likely. + External Variables -These are the factors affecting aperson’s acceptance ofthe technology that is beyond the control of the individual. Itisimportant orecognize that e-commerce activities range fromentry-level activities such as having web browsers, web sites, and email, to sophisticated activities suchasonlinepayments, making purchases online, customer servicesand video conferencing. Akkeren and Cavaye (1999) state that the adoption of e~ commerce practices isaprogressionand sophisticated technologies areunlikelyto beadoptedbefore those at the entry level have been successfully adopted. These entry-levelactivities provide thenecessary technological infrastructure fromwhich more sophisticated e-commerce activities canbe developed. According to the predictions of the Gartner Group, average European SMEs with ICT budgets of the order of $150,000 perannum would be unable to afford Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. Copying or distsbuting in print or clectonie forms without writen emission of Idea Group Ine. is prohibited‘SMEs in South Attica 125 an e-business application. According to Mandel (1999), SMEs in the USA are more likely toutilize Internetbusiness strategies than their counterparts in Europe, duetothelargehomogeneous U.S. market. A ‘static’ advertising Intemet website, foran SME in South Africa can start at the order of £10, 000 (Trialogue, 2000). This cost coversessentially marketingpresence, with prices increasingas function- alityisbuiltin. Asan organization progresses up the ladder it must undergo change and become more sophisticatedin its use of technology. While business implements these new changes, itisultimately able to improve business efficiencies. The five progressive e-steps that business may potentially advance through are summa- rized by Courtney and Finch (2001)as follows: E-mail: Thisisdefinedas the use of e-mail tosend messages, eitherto provide internal communication betweenstaff, ortoallow communication between businessesand theirsuppliersand customers. Ine-commerce, the focus ison the external use of e-mail. Some elements of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) can also be regarded as messaging, such as sending a request fora quotation. 2. Website: Thisisthe establishment bya business ofa website ore-maillistto publish informationabout productsand services, so that their customerscan access thisinformation online. It gives the business an opportunity to create agreaterawareness ofits products to its customers and itplacesthebusiness intoa worldwide market. The website can publish marketing information, prices, andstock levels. Inrelation to supply-side activities, thisis theuse of otherbusinesses” websites to identify suppliersandtoacquireinformationon productsandservices. Checking the availability ofproductsandservicescan also be done online; 24 hours a day, seven days a week. E-commerce: This is the online interaction between a business and its customers, ora business and its suppliers, for the placement of an order. Online activities include issuing orreceivingan invoice andan electronic payment. E-business: Thisis the use of e-commerce to support the businessrelation- ship betweenacustomeranda supplier, forexample through the provisionof interactive order progress tracking or online support, An integration of the supply chain links suppliers, manufacturing, and delivery, thus improving efficienciesandminimizing waste. 5. Transformed Organizations: The final outcomeistheintegrationofallthese activities with the internal processes of a business. The focus is customer servie! Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distibuting in print or clestonic forms without writen permission of Idee Group Inc. is probbied126 Cloete Factors that Affect E-Commerce Adoption The factors that affect e-commerce adoption are useful in determining the reasonwhy an SME isata certain level. These adoption factors are aresult ofthe owner’s business outlook as wellas the organization’s characteristics. Courtney and Fintz (2001) summarizesas follows: . Owner’s Characteristics Adoption of e-commerce is heavily reliant on the acceptance of e- commerce technology by the business owner, Ifthe owner does not perceive thetechnology tobeuseful, norunderstand its potential, then he/she will bereluctantto adoptit. The level of computerliteracy ofthe ownerandalackofknowledge on how tousethe technology will result inthe business being less likely toadopte-commerce (Kirby & Turner, 1993). If the owner is subjective and refers to the opinions of experienced people who recommend the adoptionofe-commerce into the organization, then he is also more likely to accept their opinions (Harrison etal., 1997). SME owners are also concerned with return on. investment. The pressure to show areturn often leads to small firms ‘being more concemed withmedium-termsurvival ratherthanlong-term viability (Akkeren & Cavaye, 1999), Asa result, owners are often hesitanttomakesubstantial investments when short-termretumsarenot ‘guaranteed. + Organization’s Characteristics Theamountof technology currently inuse inthe organization, suchas PCs with modems and the use of email can make adoption easier (lacovauetal., 1995). Businesses mightadoptthe use of e-commerce asaresultoftheircompetitorsusingit, so asnotto lose their competitive advantage. Ifan organization has large amounts of dataand transactions itislikely toinfluenceits decisiontoadoptIT asthis canhelpstreamline operationsand offerprocess efficiencies within the organization (Thong & Yap, 1995), In their research on small businesses, Akkeren and Cavaye (1999) foundtwo factorsaffecting IT adoption that had previously notbeen recognized, The first was mistrust ofthe IT industry as some owners perceivedtheIT industry tobe ‘over-selling” the benefits oftechnologies and misinforming them. The second factor was a lack of time to get acquainted with the opportunities and challenges of the Intemet dueto its quick evolution rate. Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. Copyiag or distributing in priat or clectonie forms without writen emission of Idea Group Ine. is prohibited‘SMEs in South Attica 127 . Contextual characteristics The economic benefits of moving business transactions from fax, telephone and post to the Internet are well documented in many publications (Davies, 2002), Wilde and Swatman (2000) also noted thatthe forces ofeconomicrationalismand globalismhaveenhancedthe marketasthe final arbiter of priceand service with the balance of power tilting fromthe manufacturertowardsthe consumer. Giventhis erosion ofmargins, companies need to reduce costs, both in production and transaction, in order to make their products and servicesmore competi- tive. Thisagain points o the Interetasa vehicle toreducecostsandto assistin obtaining a competitive advantage inthe short term ‘The traditional value chain hasbecome virtualizedtoa greatextent due to the fact that users of the Intemet are able to order products and servicesonline, withoutintervention ofthepurchasing department, while paymentismade electronically usingelectronic funds orpurchase cards. The primary activities in the Porter Value Chain, namely incoming logistics, outgoing logistics, marketingandsales,arebeingredefinedin terms of how they are carried out and interact with each other, as, technology provides formore sophisticatedmethods ofbusiness inter actions (Walton & Miller, 1995; Porter, 1985). ‘Thesechainshave become virtualizedas the Internetwasinereasingly usedasa ‘binding agent’ (Davies, 2002). John Dobbs of Cambridge Technology partners describes ‘value chain integration ‘as aprocess of collaboration that optimizesall intemalandextemalactivitiesinvolved indelivering greater perceived value to the ultimate consumer(Feono- mist, 1999). Inthe process, whole portions of the previous chainare beingremoved, redefined or disintermediated. tis, however, necessary to note thatthe integration of valuechains does notsolveall problems. JIT (Justin Time) productionisamethodology of reducing inventory stock that has been used for many years and servesasan example to prove this point. Critics of this method have pointed out that it merely forces the lower level manufacturertohold stock and deliverto the clientasneeded, This method doeshowever reduce stock holding costs throughout the higher levels ofthe value chain. Itis also interesting to note thatthe Internetplays an increasingly important role with JIT ordering due to the ease of ordering at short notice Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distbuting in print or clestonic forms without writen permission of Idee Group Inc. is probbied128 Cloete Researchers have further identified anumber ofadditional issuesthatimpact theadoption ofe-commerce. These are summarized by Courtney and Fintz, 2001: + Lowuseofe-commerce by Customers and Suppliers. Thismeans that there islittleincentive forSME’s to engage e-commerce until theircustomersand suppliersarealsousingit. * Concerns about security aspects. + Concemsaboutlegalandliability aspects. + High costs of development and computer and networking technologies + Limited knowledge of e-commerce models and methodologies. + Unconvinced of henefits to the company. ‘The South African SME business sector in 1996 was estimated to number in. theorder of 800,000 (Darrol, 1996). Viviersand Sootinis (1999) suggestthatthis, groupaccounts forapproximately 46 percentof the total South A rican economic activity Survey Results ‘The study by Davies (2002) concentrated on trade, manufacturing and construetionsectors, mainly in the Johannesburg-Pretoriaarea, while the study by Courtney and Fintz (2001) was aimed atthe manufacturing sectorin he Wester Cape. Bothsurveys encountered low responserates, mostly due toresistanceandto certain extentunhelpfulnessby potential survey companies. While both surveys supported the findings ofthe other, only the study by Davies will becommentedon. inthispaper. + ICTusage ‘Twohundredand fifty three SMEs weretargeted from the Gaffney’s Business Directory, Gaffney (2001), with aresponserate of 19.4 percent. The first part of the survey, questions one to four, determined the economic sector and ICT utilization. In the response, 80 percent of the organizations that retumed survey forms (39) claimed their PCs were connectedto the Internetand 35 servers were utilized, with ten connected o the Internet. Only fivemainframes were used, of which one was connectedto the Internet. One company used total ofsix stand- alone Point of Sale devices, withno Intemet connection. Six notebooks were listed by the 49 organizations, with only two of these connected to the Internet. Two companies claimed to have no Internet access and one possessed no computer facilities. A total of 20 organizations had websites, withamere five utilizing EDI. Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. Copying or distsbuting in print or clectonie forms without writen emission of Idea Group Ine. is prohibited‘SMEs in South Attica 129 Table 1: Perception of Industry Participant’s Utilization of the Internet Clients Partners ‘Suppliers 8% 31 aI% + Level of Internet usage Questions fiveto sevenattempted to discoverthe level of Internetusage. The 49 organizations’ perception of Intemetusage is shown in Table | ‘Question seven determined the type of Intemet usage by the respondents: Table 2: Responses to Question 7 of Questionnaire Percentage of | Q7: What docs the organization utilize the Internet for? respondents, 7%. Electronie mail 8%. Document transferring % Financial: paying bills, salaries, Invoicing, el 37% TB2B transactions 9% ‘Marketing 41% Submitting tenders to customers 37% Purchasing raw materials, office supplies, ete 35% “Making order information available to customers 29% ‘Order placement by customers. 27% B2C transactions 16% Tnteraction with government 16% Link into outside computerized systems to perform orders 10% 'B2Gov transactions a ‘Voice/Audio communication (VOIP) 0% Video conferencing + Perceptions of the Internet Questions 8 to 20 were focused on the effect of the Internet and the perceptions ofthe Internet. The values 1-4 were divided into four options: strongly disagree (11.6), disagree (1.61-2.2), neutral (2.21-2.8), agree (2.81-3.4) and strongly agree (3.41-4). A similar grading method was used for values onthe 1-5 scale. + Reasons for not using the Internet Question21 wasaimed to identify the top tenbartiers fornon-Internetusage. Copyright © 2008, dca Group Inc. Copying or distbuting in print or clestronic forms without writen emission of Idee Group Inc. is probbied130. Cloete Table 3: Responses to Questions 8-15, 17-20 ‘Question Now| Q 21: Barriers Tor now Taternet usage Response 7 The [can asi making my organization more Taree cfficienvreduce costs 7 Tie Ts adequately used by my organization for our us} Neutral 0 “The Tis able to ais inte type of business ay Tae ‘organization operates with 7 More usage of could help make miy organization more Taree competitive, TE ‘Our knowledge ofthe Tis sulicent for our sine Neaiad a ‘Oar supplieveusiomers do nol require Interaction roms | Dimgice 7 Ty cuntomers are using the To onder produswsservices im | Neuial ‘our industry 5 Ty competitors are using the To improve air Tar competitiveness 7 “The [enables us to manage our business more oisavely | Neutral 1s “The Tha altered the way in which we do Business ARR 7 The T enables us fo improve our Customer sence Neatar cy The T enables us fo iaprove our Supplier relationships Neate Table 4: Top 10 Barriers Discouraging Internet Usage Ranking __| Q21: Barriers for non-Internet usage T Tack of ime to investigate options z Tack of knowledgeablelqualifed staff 3 Tack of information on options z Not enough business partners use i 3 No weal business needino benelit e Tack of ARE sks 7 Poor tlecommunicatons iafrastractare ¥ Tack of taining on e-commerce 7 Poor security on the Internet fraud 10 is too high Copyright © 2003, dea Group tne. Copying or disubuting in print or clesuonie forms without ween ermission of les! Group Ine. i prohibited,‘SMEs in South Africa 131 + Problems experienced by those using the Internet ‘Question 22 attempted to identify the problems experienced by those who claimed to be using the Internet fore-commerce: Table 5: Problems Experienced by Those Using the Internet Ranking | Q22: Problems experienced by those who used the Internet T Tasufficient cheap bandwidth z Not enough companies use 7 Technical bariers z Expensive hardware 3 Tack of e-commerce information e Trimature e-commerce technologies 7 Tack of online guarantees ¥ Tack of knowledgeablelqualifid sal a Tack of imporexpor information 10 Tegal issues + Benefits experienced by those using the Internet Question 23 asked for the top ten benefits experienced asa result of Internet usage. Table 6: Benefits of Internet Usage Ranking (Q 23: Benefits of Internet usage T Financial reasons; such as online banking z Speed of communication response rales 3 Reduction of communication costs 7 ‘Researchigathering of information 5 Tmprove produciviiyeompetitivenss o Global reach 7 Tmprove CRI ¥ Transfer documents 5 Saves time 0 Marketingadvertising Copyright © 2 Idea Group Ine. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without writen pemssion of Idee Group Inc. is probbied132 Cloete CONCLUSION ‘The findings ofthissurvey indicate that many issues from overseasresearchare both pertinentand valid for the South A frican environment. Information on the benefitsofe-commerce utilization and the barrierstoitsadoption from this survey and the survey from Courtney and Fintz (2001) show some correlation to one another, as well asto the results obtained by overseas surveys. The Internethas. been shown to be a disruptive technology that has influenced the business environment, Although respondents indicated that greater usage of the Internet, would improve their businesses’ competitiveness, costs of implementing and running e-commerce business are perceived to be strong barriers to greater adoption by South African SMEs. Insummary, iteanbe said that the following objectives wereachievedby this research: + Agoodindicationofthe Africa has been perceived. + Thebartierstotheadoption, implementationand utilization ofe-commerceby South African SMEs have been highlighted. + The benefits of e-commerce adoption by South African SMEs have been pointedout, evelof .doptionby SMEsin South ‘ommere Theroleofthe governmentin the greater adoption of electronic commerce cannot be understated. The introduction of a competitor to Telkom is a very important factorif greater competition can reduce communication costs. fthenew bill for e-commerce isto further introduce barriers to Internet usage, the South African government will needto reassess their policy towards e-commerce for South Africa to be competitive in the global market. REFERENCES Akkeren, J. & Cavaye, A. (1999), Factors Affecting the Adoption of commerce Technologies by Small Business in Australia —An Empirical Study. Retrieved October 1999 from the World Wide Web: www.acs.org.au/ actlevents‘io1 999/akkem. html Chan, C. & Swatman, P. (2001). Management and Business Issues for B2B e- Commerce Implementation. Deakin University, Australia, Retrieved May 12, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://mis.deakin.edu.awesearch’ working_papers_2001/2001_09_chane.pdf. Cloete, E. (2001) E-commerce: A Contemporary View. Pardus Publ Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. 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Studying Telecommunications En- hanced Communities: An Economic Lens. Deakin School of Management Systems, Victoria, Australia, Retrieved July 2001 fromthe World Wide Web: hitp://mis.deakin.edu.au/research/working_papers_2000. 2000_07_wilde.paf. Copyright © 2008, dea Group tne. Copyiag or distsbuting in print or clectonie forms without writen emission of Idea Group Ine. is prohibited