مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد تجارت الکترونیکی و کارآفرینی در شرکت کوچک و متوسط – امرالد 2017

1.1 Definitions and rationale

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are a significant component of many economies in the world (Ahmedova, 2015; Alyoubi, 2015; Dahnil et al., 2014). This is because of the contribution they make in creating employment and facilitating regional development and innovation ( Jones and Beynon, 2011), thus impacting positively the economic status of their countries (Ghobakhloo et al., 2011). Electronic commerce (e-commerce), which is described as the buying and selling of goods and products, services and funds through computer networks, especially the internet (Turban et al., 2008, p. 8) has taken centre stage in recent times. Additionally, the definition of e-commerce does encompass other telecommunications networks such as wireless internet as adopted in Marcelo et al. (2014). E-commerce has been viewed as a catalyst and an innovation that can enhance SMEs entrepreneurial characteristics in developed and developing countries (Alyoubi, 2015; Kurnia et al., 2015). E-commerce activities have usually been categorised as business to business (B2B) when business organisations engage with business, and business to consumer (B2C), when businesses engage with consumers (Turban et al., 2008). These definitions will lay the foundation for discussion in this study. Social media networks (SMNs) such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Skype and other similar technologies have assisted to re-define e-commerce due to their mobility features and the versatility of mobile devices. The term mobile commerce, or m-commerce, has been defined when products and services are transacted online (Hajli, 2015), and when the emphasis leans on the social activity, the phenomenon has been defined as social commerce or s-commerce. Researchers (Liebana-Cabanillas and Alonso-Dos-Santos, 2017; Hajli, 2015) treat s-commerce as a subset of e-commerce, thus this study draws from this definition. Bocconcelli et al. (2017) argue that SMN can be a significance resource for improving the SMEs sales process. Other than using SMNs for communication, organisations use them to create new markets, innovate and achieve efficiency (Marcelo et al., 2014). They further argue that e-commerce has been conceived as evolutionary and is a key strategy for reaching global markets for SMEs (Marcelo et al., 2014). E-commerce adoption in SMEs has attracted research in developed countries (e.g. Liebana-Cabanillas and Alonso-Dos-Santos, 2017; Grant et al., 2014; Scupola, 2009; Pickernell et al., 2013) as well as developing countries (Kabanda and Brown, 2017; Al-Bakri and Katsioloudes, 2015; Kurnia et al., 2015; Shemi and Procter, 2013; Zaied, 2012; Olatokun and Kebonye, 2010; Molla and Licker, 2005), just to name a few. Although several studies have been undertaken and have informed current practice in certain directions, most research has explained e-commerce behaviour based on the technology aspects of e-commerce adoption (Kurnia et al., 2015), neglecting other important aspects such as the social-cultural issues that encompass SMNs.