Factors influencing corporate web site adoption: a time-based assessment
Introduction
Few topics have received as much attention as the World Wide Web (Web) in the IT field. The Web has quickly become one of the most important mediums for the sharing of business information among firms (business-to-business, B2B) and between firms and their customers (business-to-consumer, B2C) [16], [63]. Organizations are now able to share information and process transactions electronically with organizations and individuals without the need for a formal business relationship. The steady growth and development of the Web has prompted many firms to reassess and redesign the way they share critical business information [25], [49]. Existing business assumptions and practices are often transformed to address the opportunities available through this new technology [64]. The speed and connectivity that are an inherent part of doing business on the Web can provide firms with both operational and administrative benefits that can improve the firm’s overall competitive position [3], [24], [50].
Web sites offer an array of potential benefits to firms, including reduced transaction, advertising, and distribution costs, elimination of third party intermediaries, reduced time to complete transactions, and the ability to monitor customer choices and gather market intelligence [19]. Other benefits include the ability to deliver timely information to stakeholders and to offer customized advertising, promotion, and customer services [34], [52]. Finally, Web sites provide certain operational benefits related to reduced clerical errors, overhead costs, and faster response to new market opportunities [35], [59]. The emerging importance of this technology has resulted in a growing volume of research about Web innovation [15], [17], [31], [33], [47]. Because the Web is a relatively new vehicle for sharing information, much of the research is descriptive, often anecdotal, accounts of the technical development and application of Web sites [43], [48]. Other work has provided a conceptual overview of the potential impact that Web sites have on both organizational information sharing and established business practices.
Recently, several empirical studies have focused on individual consumer preferences and organizational perceptions of the Web, particularly with regard to information acquisition and Web utilization [53]. These studies have made valuable contributions to our understanding of Web utilization and implementation, yet they provide little insight into the extent to which specific factors impact the decision to establish a corporate Web site. Even though organizational Web sites are common, there are still a large number of firms that do not have one [11]. Because the Web is rapidly becoming a routine way of providing information and establishing links to customers, firms that do not have sites may be at a distinct disadvantage in the near future [27]. Insight into the factors that have influenced other firms’ decisions to adopt at distinct points in time may provide useful information to firms that have not yet adopted or who are reassessing their original decisions.
This study examines the organizational and marketplace factors that influence organizations to establish a presence on the Web. Specifically, the research question that guides this examination is whether the importance of these factors is related to the time that a firm established its Web site. A primary objective is to provide firms with insight into why other firms have adopted the technology. In addition, because theory indicates that after adoption, adopters seek reinforcement of their decision [46], another objective is to provide firms that have a Web site with a basis on which to assess their original adoption decision. For example, firms considering whether to expand their existing site may be able to use these findings to help them determine what was important in the initial adoption, and thereby help target areas of strength for support of the expansion. The last objective is to provide a basis on which future research about Web innovation can be conducted.
Section snippets
Theoretical background
Because Web adoption has occurred over time, firms may have decided to use it for different reasons. For example, firms that adopted early may have recognized the benefits sooner, and may have seen the Web as a way to gain competitive advantage. However, theory indicates that, as time goes by, an organizing vision or ‘focal community idea for the application of IT in organizations’ is formed [51]. As a larger number of firms adopt a technology, the technology becomes legitimized, and rather
A model of web site adoption
Five factors were identified as potential facilitators of corporate Web site adoption. These are perceived benefits, compatibility (organizational and technical), complexity, and management support.
The constructs that were selected were chosen because of their relative importance in other studies on electronic commerce technologies, and articles that discuss the potential benefits of Web adoption. Table 1 provides a summary of such prior research. Possible relationships between these constructs
Methodology
The survey shown in Appendix A was used to collect the data. The questions are derived from other research that has examined the same constructs (refer back to Table 1). Questions were modified to fit the Web context where appropriate. Measurement properties of all items, except for perceived benefits, had been shown to be reliable in the studies from which they were adopted. Although the perceived benefits items had not been validated, they had been widely used in electronic commerce studies.
Profile of respondents
Firms participating in the study represented a broad spectrum of industry sectors. Firms were well-established medium to large organizations. Firms with less than 1000 total employees made up 34% of the respondents and firms with more than 1000 up to 5000 employees comprised 41% of all respondents. These two categories represented the largest portion of sample participants, while organizations that had more than 50,000 total employees comprised 5% of the respondents. A majority of the
Identification of adopter categories
Respondents were classified into the five categories based on the number of months that their organization had an operational Web site. Analysis of frequency of responses for each month indicated there were natural groupings over a 36-month-period (see Table 3).
Commercial Web use is estimated to have started around 1993. Firms that had an established Web site for three years or longer were placed in the pioneers category. Based on the clustering of responses and the position of natural breaks
Data analysis
Although the sets of items used to measure each of the constructs in this study are grounded in theory, they are derived from a variety of sources and some items are modified from their original scales to fit the Web adoption context. Thus, their individual measurement properties, such as dimensionality and internal consistency, may have changed in our context. For example, some items that measure one construct when examined as a single set might measure an additional construct when considered
Results of hypotheses tests
MANOVA was used to test the research hypotheses. The Wilks’ Criterion for the test of overall statistical effect had an F-value=4.35 (p=0.0001), indicating the means for the adopter categories contain significant differences at α=0.05 (Table 8).
The results provide support for hypotheses relating to perceived benefits (Hypothesis 1), organizational compatibility (Hypothesis 2), technical incompatibility (Hypothesis 3), and organizational support (Hypothesis 5); but not for complexity (Hypothesis
Exploratory assessment of adopter categories
Although the findings indicate that there are statistically significant differences among adopters with regard to the constructs of interest, there are not as many differences among categories as expected. For example, perceived benefits for pioneers differ only from those for laggards (not for others). Furthermore, the differences for each of the other significant constructs seem to be between the extremes of the categories, and they are quite limited among the other categories. May be the
Summary and discussion
By examining when they adopted, a picture of differences in the rationale for producing a Web site begins to emerge. Findings from our work indicate that the earliest adopters placed significantly more emphasis on perceived benefits for having a Web site than the latest. Earliest adopters also viewed using the Web as being more compatible with their current organizational processes and systems; and viewed it as being more compatible with their existing technological infrastructure. They also
Robert C. Beatty is an assistant professor of Electronic Business in the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. He holds a DBA from Mississippi State University in Management Information Systems, a MBA from Mississippi State University, a MCSM from Creighton University, and a BA in computer science from Texas Christian University. He also has 9 years of professional experience as a project manager in the areas of applications systems development and electronic business
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Robert C. Beatty is an assistant professor of Electronic Business in the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. He holds a DBA from Mississippi State University in Management Information Systems, a MBA from Mississippi State University, a MCSM from Creighton University, and a BA in computer science from Texas Christian University. He also has 9 years of professional experience as a project manager in the areas of applications systems development and electronic business strategy development. His articles have appeared in Information and Management, European Journal of Information Systems, and the Journal of Computer Information Systems. His major research areas are technology assessment and adoption, strategic information systems, and international information systems.
J.P. Shim is a professor of information systems at MSU and visiting scholar at Chinese University of Hong Kong for 2000–2001. He received his PhD from University of Nebraska and completed Harvard Business School’s Executive Education. He has published over 40 journal articles. His research interests are streaming technology in e-commerce. He has received numerous grants and is seven-time recipient of outstanding faculty award at MSU.
Mary C. Jones is an associate professor of information systems at the University of North Texas where she teaches systems analysis and design. She received her doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests are in the management and integration of electronic commerce technologies and in organizational factors associated with ERP systems.