Relationships Among Owner-Manager Characteristics, E-commerce Adoption and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia

This study examined the relationships among owner-manager characteristics, e-commerce adoption, and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Although the growth of e-commerce was encouraging in many countries, studies of e-commerce adoption among SMEs in developing countries such as Malaysia are insufficient. Furthermore, studies that investigated individual characteristics and e-commerce adoption are still low in number. This study specifically employed the technology-organization-environmental (TOE) framework to develop its research model. The sample was selected by using a non-probability judgmental sampling technique because the desired population frame was unavailable. A total of 111 owner-managers of SMEs were surveyed using online self-administered questionnaires. Subsequently, the data was analyzed through partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed significant relationships between owner-manager characteristics and e-commerce adoption, as well as between e-commerce adoption and the performance of SMEs. The findings suggested that owner-manager characteristics played an important role in determining e-commerce adoption among SMEs. Moreover, e-commerce adoption was crucial in affecting the performance of SMEs. This paper provided new insights into factors affecting e-commerce adoption and firm performance. It could further benefit the government and SMEs in strategizing e-commerce adoption and development, especially in the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) and the post-COVID-19 pandemic.