An Electronic Readiness Assessment Model for More Efficient Electronic Commerce Adoption by Iranian Small and Medium Contractors

Journal of Optimization in Industrial Engineering

مقاله 29، دوره 15، شماره 2 - شماره پیاپی 33، آذر 2022، صفحه 21-43   

نوع مقاله: Original Manuscript

شناسه دیجیتال (DOI): 10.22094/joie.2022.1925315.1848

نویسندگان

Kianoush Naserolmemar^{* 1}؛ Atosa Bayat²

¹Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran

²Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

چکیده

More than 90% of companies in Iran construction Industry are small and medium sized contractors. Only 5% of them are using the electronic commerce services and facilities for their businesses. SMCs must re-evaluate every aspect of their strategies and quickly move to a working model where the e-commerce is essential for their success. The concept of electronic readiness assessment for SMCs has received limited attention in the literature. This paper proposed developing a valid model for assessing the capacity and capability of SMCs to adopt e-commerce in Iran construction industry. The research involved a comprehensive review of related literature and the collection of data to identify the indicators and criteria by means of documentary analysis and using a combination of more frequent e-readiness factors in current models and SMCs obstacles in e-commerce implementation. Focus discussion group was conducted by using interviews with SMCs’ stakeholders for e-commerce to understand the contextual factors that influence the norms and attitudes prevailing in SMCs that affect their adoption of e-commerce. To test the conceptual model, a questionnaire was used to collect data from larger sample of SMCs in Iran. The collected data were analysed using a combination of “hermeneutical analysis” and Structured Equation Modelling. The findings confirmed that IT infrastructure, human resources, financial investment, owners or top management attitudes and cultural issues were the most important indicators that measure in detail the level of the e-readiness of SMCs to adopt e-commerce in Iran construction industry.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Small and Medium Sized Contractors؛ electronic readiness؛ electronic commerce adoption؛ Iran construction Industry

مراجع

Abbasi,  A.,  Niaraki,  A.and Dehkordi,  B. (2008). A review of the ICT status and development strategy plan in Iran. International  Journal  of Education and Development using ICT. 4(3), 143-154.

Abdallah, S.and  Fan, I. S. (2012).Framework for e-government  assessment in developing countries: case study from Sudan. Electronic Government, an International Journal.  9(2), 158–177.

Afsharipour, A., Afshari, A. and Sahaf, L. (2016).E-procurement in automotive supply chain of Iran.Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences Division of Industrial Marketing and e-Commerce.334-367.

Amani, N., Alipour, M. (2021). Managing operational strategies to standardize contractors’ decisions in construction projects’, Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering, 8(8).

Ahuja, V., Yang, J. and Shankar, R. (2009).Study of ICT adoption for building project management in the Indian construction industry. Automation in Construction.  18,415–423.

Al-Omari, A. and Al-Omari, H. (2006).E-Government Readiness Assessment Model. Journal of Computer Science. 2(11), 841–845.

Alaghbandrad, A., Nobakth, M., Hosseinalipour, M. and Asnaashari, E. (2018). ICT adoption in the Iranian construction industry: Barriers and opportunities. Journal of Construction. 12, 45-60. In Persion.

Alshawi, M. and Ingirige, B. (2003). Web-enabled project management: an emerging paradigm in construction. Automation in construction. 12(4), 349–364.

Azab, N. A., Kamel, S. and Dafoulas, G. (2009). A suggested framework for assessing electronic government readiness in Egypt. Electronic Journal of e-Government.7(1), 11–28.

Bagherinezhad, A., Ali Ahmadi, E. and Hosseini, S. (2007). E-commerce in content of Iranian SMEs.Journal of Fine Arts. 17(2), 165–176.

Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2006). Gaps and bits: Conceptualizing measurements for digital divides. The information society, 22(5), 269-278.

Bruque,  S. and Moyano,  J. (2007).  Organizational determinants of information technology adoption and implementation in SMEs: the case of family and cooperative firms. Technovation. 27(5), 241–253.

Castello, O. (2005). Best Practices in Quantitative Methods. California: SAGE Publication.

Chong, S. and Pervan, G. (2007).   Factors Influencing the Extent of Deployment of Electronic Commerce for Small-and Medium Sized Enterprises. Journal  of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO). 5(1), 1–29.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method(2nd ed.). California: SAGE Publications Ltd. US.

Da Costa, E. (2001). Global e-commerce strategies for small businesses.The MIT Press.US.

Dada, D. (2006). E-Readiness for Developing Countries: Moving the Focus from the Environment to the Users, The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 27, 1-14.

Dansoh,  A. (2005).  Strategic planning practice of construction firms in Ghana.Construction Management and Economics. 23(2), 163–168.

Deputy President in Strategic Planning and Control (2013), Annual Report.Available in www.tec.mporg.ir.

Dholakia, R. R., & Kshetri, N. (2004).Factors impacting the adoption of the Internet among SMEs.Small Business Economics, 23(4), 311-322.

Eric C.W. Lou, Angela Lee, Jack Goulding (2019), E-readiness in construction (ERiC): Self assessment framework for UK small and medium enterprises building service providers, Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 16(1), 3-22.

Emamgholi, A. (2018).  Small business characteristics in Iran construction industry, contractors perspective. Journal of Business Management. 3(5), 39–47.

Fathian, M., Akhavan, P. and Hoorali, M. (2008). E-readiness assessment of non-profitICT SMEs in a developing country: The case of Iran. Technovation.28(9), 578–590.

Ghorishi, M. (2009).e- Commerce Adoption Model in Iranian SMEs. Master Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.

Gloor, P. (2000). Making the e-Business Transformation. London: Springer. UK.

Grau, D., Caldas, C. H., Haas, C. T., Goodrum, P. M. and Gong, J. (2009). Impact of Fast Automated Tracking of Construction Components on Labor Productivity. 26th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), 544-557.

Gretzel, U. and Fesenmaier, D. (2001). Defining internet readiness for the tourism industry: concepts and case study. Springer, US.

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006).Multivariate data analysis (Vol. 6). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Housing, Road and Building Center (2010).Annual Report.Statistics in Construction industry.Ministry of Road and Housing, Iran.

Hourali, M., Fathian, M., Montazeri, A. and Hourali, M. (2008).A model for e- readiness assessment of Iranian small and medium enterprises.Journal of Faculty of Engineering.41(7), 969–985.

Iran Statistics Center (2011).Construction Industry Employment Report.Retrievable at http://www.isc.ir/.

Iran´s Ministry of ICT (2018).Iranian  Internet Infrastructure  and Policy Report.Retrievable at http://www.ict.ir/.

Iran´s Ministry of Road and Urban Development (2011).Research Bolton of Building and Housing.Annual Country Report.

Iran´s Ministry of Road and Urban Development (2018).Research Bolton of Building and Housing.Annual Country Report.

Karanasios, S., Sellitto, C., Burgess, S., Johanson, G., Schauder, D. and Denison, T. (2006). Theroleof the Internetin building capacity: small businesses and community based organizations in Australia. 7th Working for E-BusinessConference.

Karimi, T., Fathi, M., & Yahyazade, Y. (2020). Developing a Risk                Management Model for Banking Software Development Projects Based on Fuzzy Inference System. Journal of Optimization in Industrial Engineering, 13(2), 267-278.

Kothari, T., Hu, C. and Roehl, W. S. (2005).e-Procurement: an emerging tool for the hotel supply chain management. International Journal of Hospitality Management.24(3), 369–389.

Kreindler, M. L., Maislish, R. and Wang, S. (2004). An empirical test of the impact of electronic commerce on organizations. Human Systems Management. 23(1), 59–68.

Kurnia, S. (2008).Exploring e-commerce readiness in China: The case of the grocery industry.Proceedings of the41st Annual International Conference on System Sciences.67-81.

Le Compte, M. D. and Goetz, J. P. (1982). Problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research. Review of educational research. 52(1), 31–60.

Moath Al Yahya, Martin Skitmore, Adrian Bridge, Madhav Nepal,                 David Cattell (2018). E-tendering readiness in                                     construction industry: an e-periori model. International journal of procurement management, 11 ( 5), 608  

Molla,A., Peszynski, K. and Pittayachawan,S.(2010). The Use of E-Business in Agribusiness: Investigating the Influence of E-Readiness and OTE Factors .Journal of Global Information Technology Management.13(1),56–78.

Mousavi, H. (2017).  A system for recording, processing and managing information on construction projects. Proceeding of First engineering and project management conferences, 124–131.

Nabavi, A. and Davidrajuh, R. (2009).Designing an  assessment tool for measuring e-readiness of Iranian ICT companies. Journal of Information Systems.48. 132-148.

Naserolmemar, K., Bayat, A. and Rashid, R. A. (2011).  Challenges Due to Current Business System in Small and Medium Size Construction in Iran Construction Industry. Engineering Science and Technology: An International Journal. 3(1), 43–49.

Peansupap,V., Walker, H.T. (2005). Factors  enabling information and communication diffusion and actual implementation in construction organization. IT Com. 10, 193-119.

Ramayah, T., Yan, L. C. and Sulaiman, M. (2011).  SME e-readiness in Malaysia: Implications for Planning and Implementation. Sasin  Journal of Management. 11(1),103–120.

Rizk, N. (2004).Venturing the unexplored: e-readiness assessment of small and medium enterprises in Egypt. Hershey, P and A. Idea Group Publishing.US.

Ruikar, K., Anumba, C. J. and Carrillo, P. M. (2006). VERDICT- an e- Readiness assessment application for construction companies. Automation  in Construction.15 (1), 98–110.

Salah (2006).Toward Innovation at the  Intersection of Software Engineering and Art. Information Systems  Development. Springer. US, 809–827.

Salehi, R. (2006). Electronic Commerce: What has been Happening in Construction Industry? Journal of Fine Arts. 5(2), 123–137.

Salma. S. Abed (2020). Social commerce adoption using TOE framework: An empirical investigation of Saudi Arabian SMEs, International Journal of Information Management, 53, 111-134.

Sanayei, A., Torkestani, M. and Ahadi, P. (2012).Readiness Assessment of Iran Construction Industry for E-Commerce and E-Construction Success. International Journal of Information Science and  Management (IJISM). 7(1), 91–105.

Sapsford, R. and Jupp, V. (2006).Data collection and analysis. London. SAGE Publications Limited. UK.

Shafaghi, S. (2017).Electronic  Business  in  Small  Businesses  in  Developing Countries, Case Study: Iran. Journal of Strategic Management. 1(8), 12–25.

Sharma, S. (2008).Principal component analysis (PCA) to  rank countries on their readiness for e-tail. Journal of Retail and Leisure Property. 6(7), 87–94.

Stephen Akunyumu, Frank D.K. Fuger, Emmanuel Adinyira, James Cofie Danku (2021), A review of models for assessing readiness of construction organization for innovate, Construction Innovation, 58(3), 212-236.

Straub, Detmar, Boudreau M., and Gefen D. (2007).Validation guidelines for IS positivist research. The Communications of the Association for Information Systems.MIS Quarterly. 13(1), 63-72.

Straub, D. W. (1989). Validating Instruments in MIS Research.MIS Quarterly. 13(2),147–169.

Tan, K. S., Chong, S. C., Lin, B. and Eze, U. C. (2010). Internet-based ICT adoption among  SMEs: demographic versus  benefits,  barriers,  and  adoption intention. Journal of Enterprise Information Management. 23(1), 27–55.

Vaezi, S. K., Sattary, H. and Bimar, I. (2009).Comparison of E-readiness assessment models. Scientific Research and Essay. 4(5), 501–512.

Zakaria,F.(2011).The Post- American world. WW Norton and Company. Canada.