Document Type

Article

Abstract

The eCommerce Innovation Centre (eCIC) at Cardiff University has a central role in Opportunity Wales, a programme providing e-business support to over 9000 Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) during the last five years. Uptake of advanced e-business adoption has been low during the programme as well as throughout Wales in general. This paper reports on the findings of a pilot study that was undertaken in the fifth year (2006) of the programme. The approach taken to identify the key barriers to adoption was through interviews with a cross section of expert delivery partners and a sample of SMEs that advanced e-business was relevant to. The key objectives were to understand the barriers to adoption in respect of the current programme as well to help planning for future support initiatives. In addition, the research would help identify and overcome certain barriers in relation to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. The paper concludes that varying definitions of e-business inhibit our understanding of uptake when comparing to other studies or initiatives. Also, the strategic planning of ebusiness, where relevant, will reduce barriers to advanced ebusiness adoption, as will the lessons learned from SMEs who have successfully made the transition.

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