Internet Issues in Smes Malaysia

E-COMMERCE ISSUES AMONG SMEs IN MALAYSIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 Internet Commerce – An Overview 3

3.0 The Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia 5

4.0 Issues of e-Commerce among SMEs in Malaysia 6

5.0 Advantages e-Commerce for SMEs in Malaysia 9

6.0 Advantages e-Commerce for SMEs in Malaysia 12

7.0 Barriers to successful e-commerce application by SMEs in Malaysia 14

8.0 Conclusion 16

References 17

1 Introduction

    Information and communication technologies (ICT) are radically changing the competitiveness of organizations (Cohen and Kallirroi, 2006). Brian (1998) defined electronic commerce as the use of electronic methods, means and procedures to conduct various forms of business activity in cyberspace, which he stated has become a priority for many corporations within the context of ICT, since managers see it as a way to overcome certain limitations of the traditional distribution channels.

        There are many studies which showed that e-commerce development offers a promising way for business to meet the challenges of this dynamic environment. Electronic commerce provides effective and efficient ways such as gathering information rapidly about the availability of the products or services, evaluate or negotiate with vendors and so on (Jetol, Obit, Asing and Tanakinjal, 2005).

        SMEs face many challenges especially in a globalized environment, including a lack of financing, low productivity, a lack of managerial capabilities, access to management and technology, and a heavy regulatory burden. In the Malaysian context, APEC Survey (1994), the SMI development Plan, 2001-2005 (SMIDEC, 2002), Ting (2004), the UPS survey (2005) and others showed that SMES face major problems such as lack of access to loans, limited adoption of technology, lack of human resources and competition from MNCs and globalization.

        The purpose of this paper is to highlight issues pertaining to e-business,... [continues]

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