经济学英文论文

A qualitative study of business-to-business electronic commerce adoption within the Indonesian grocery industry: A multi-theory perspective

Abstract

This study explores the business-to-business electronic commerce (B2B EC) technology adoption experience of organizations within the supply chain of the grocery industry in Indonesia using a multi-theory perspective. Through a multiple case study with eight organizations, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the influence of adoption factors. This study shows the usefulness of complementarily deploying several adoption theories and offers important theoretical and practical implications for organizations as they extend their supply chains globally.

Keywords

• Electronic commerce;

• Technology adoption;

• Grocery industry;

• Developing country;

• Supply chain management;

• Qualitative study

1. Introduction

Electronic Commerce (EC) is a broad concept that refers to the exchange of products/services and information via computer networks, including the Internet, Extranet and Intranet . Within the B2B EC context, a diverse range of technologies and initiatives have been introduced. Examples of technologies include Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), automatic product identification (barcode, RFID tags), and Electronic Funds Transfer, and examples of initiatives include cross docking, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Continuous Replenishment Program (CPR), and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) . Organizations can obtain substantial benefits from their investment in EC technologies, as EC generally enables organizations to improve reach, richness and affiliation . Due to the potential of EC, many countries worldwide have rapidly adopted it , resulting in a significant growth of EC in developed countries during the last two decades and, more recently, in developing countries .

In the era of globalization, developing countries have played an important role in world trade and commerce because of their large market potential and low cost of labor . Developing countries are defined as countries with a low to middle income level, a low standard of living, restricted technology infrastructure and limited access to products and services . With advancements in information and

communication technologies (ICT), large global organizations are increasingly extending their supply chains across multiple continents in order to cut costs and increase their reach . Through ICT adoption, developed countries can trade with developing countries more efficiently and, in turn, help those developing countries achieve more sustainable economic growth.

However, due to differences in their social, cultural, economic, political, legal and technological conditions, developing countries encounter a set of problems and concerns that vary considerably from those faced by developed countries For example, Hofstede's national culture theory suggests that developing countries and developed countries differ greatly in their characteristics, which may affect their organizational behavior toward technology adoption . Cultural differences captured by Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance dimensions suggest that organizational technology adoption behavior is constrained socially as a result of the attachment of meanings and interpretations relevant to that cultural context. Thus, organizations operating in developed countries (with a low Uncertainty Avoidance index) tend to stress both technological development and technological adoption more than organizations operating in countries with a high Power Distance and low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty . In another study, Guo et al. find that the way organizations use e-mail, phone and fax in China (a developing country) and Australia (a developed country) is largely influenced by the difference in the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension of cultural difference between these two nations. As a result, different sets of approaches to technology adoption are required to suit the cultural and contextual conditions of developing countries .

However, at this stage, there remains a relatively limited number of in-depth studies and understanding regarding the adoption of EC technologies by developing countries, despite a growing number of technology penetrations that have taken place in these countries in recent years An understanding of the adoption of ICT, in particular EC technology, by developing countries is thus important for both researchers and practitioners. Moreover, the contextual situations of countries are arguably different in nature. For example, the maturity of the ICT infrastructure, e-commerce readiness, degree of government support, and extent of business competitiveness vary greatly, not only between the developed and developing countries but also among developing countries. Furthermore, it would be inappropriate to assume that various dimensions of national culture remain somewhat similar across all developing countries. In fact, distinct cultural differences are noted among developing countries. Hence, it could be argued that qualitative studies focusing on e-commerce adoption in some developing countries are not necessarily reflective of the e-commerce trends and adoption dynamics of all developing countries across the globe.

In addition, some noticeable gaps have been identified in the existing EC literature. First, in the context of developing countries, there are limited empirical studies on EC technology adoption by large organizations. By contrast, many studies explore the diffusion of EC technologies among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), primarily using surveys. Second, most of these studies, especially in the Southeast Asia region, explore only general EC technology and practices (including Business-to-Customers EC and general e-mail practices). Only a handful of studies assess a broad range of EC technologies such as EDI,

e-auctions, EFT, and other B2B EC initiatives . Furthermore, due to the exclusion of the study context, there have been some conflicting findings regarding the impact of adoption factors on actual adoption . In addition, several existing studies aggregate the adoption experience across multiple industries within a country using

quantitative

methods.

Therefore,

a

detailed

understanding

of

organizations’ adoption experience is lacking . Only a few authors focus on a specific industry and employ a qualitative method, for example, Utomo and Dodgson , who concentrate on Indonesia's manufacturing of industrial products, and Kurnia , who focuses on the Chinese grocery industry. The existing qualitative studies on EC adoption are also generally descriptive in nature. Typically, they identify a number of adoption factors, which are often grouped into technological, organizational and environmental contexts but generally lack theoretical explanations of the underlying mechanisms of the influence.

Thus, in summary, we argue that there is currently a lack of rich understanding of the B2B EC adoption phenomenon in developing countries due to the dominance of quantitative studies and the limited application of adoption theories . In fact, the adoption process involves dynamic interactions among social, legal, economic, political and technological factors that call for more studies involving several theoretical perspectives to better understand the adoption phenomenon in different contexts of developing countries. Each developing country may have specific contextual factors involving different dynamics and interplays, which may have differing effects on the adoption phenomenon. In-depth studies of how B2B EC technology is adopted in a context that has not yet been thoroughly investigated thus contribute to the current knowledge in this

area.

2. Overview of the Indonesian grocery industry

Indonesia has many natural resources, and its economic position has developed rapidly. The Indonesian economy is ranked 16th on a global scale based on GDP, and its purchasing power is ranked 15th. Indonesia has been an important trading partner for many countries, including China, India, Australia and many other developed nations . In particular, foreign retailers quite naturally seek to develop a presence in any country with a large population base. In addition, given years of continuous impressive and sustained economic growth in Indonesia during the 1990s, the grocery industry presented tremendous potential for future growth in the eyes of foreign retailers .

Strong growth in Indonesians’ personal disposable income has led to steady escalation in grocery retail sales since the end of the 20th century. This reflects a substantial increase in the minimum wage, high inflation rates, and recovery from the 1998 crisis. Indonesia is viewed as a market that is closely associated with continuous economic recovery and steady adoption of consumerism. In 2002, retail sales in Indonesia amounted to nearly US$ 7 billion, and the sector employed approximately 17.7% of Indonesian's total labor. In 2012, grocery retail sales in Indonesia amounted to approximately US$ 36 billion and are estimated to increase to US$ billion by 2016 . These figures show the potential impact of the grocery industry on Indonesia's overall economic situation for years to come.

The current Indonesian grocery retail market can be divided into the traditional market format, which includes traditional stores and wet markets, and the modern market format, which includes mini markets (convenience stores), supermarkets, and hypermarkets. In urban areas, the high concentration of different retail types has intensified competition. Hypermarkets, with their large product offerings of approximately 60,000 items, are strongly competing with supermarkets for market share, and both are in tight competition with the traditional market format. The traditional market format, however, continues to dominate the rural market, where competition is much less intense .

In the last five years, the modern market format has been the fastest mover in the modern grocery retail sector in Indonesia. During the period of 2004–2008, the modern market grew by as much as 19.8% per year, the highest among the retail types . Supermarkets continued to have the largest share of the modern market up until 2004, with up to 42.5% of the total market share. However, since 2005, the Indonesian modern market has been dominated by hypermarkets, which are the most profitable type of modern market. In 2008, supermarkets accounted for only 26.2% of the market share, following hypermarkets, which had 41.7% of the market share, and minimarkets, with a 32.1% share . Of the three different types of modern market formats, the hypermarket is predicted to be the strongest retail model for the next 5 years. The hypermarket, also well known as Mass Grocery Retail (MGR), is estimated to grow from the starting position of US$ 2.4 billion revenue in 2008 to US$ 3.9 billion in 2013 . The influence of these modern market formats and MNC has generally driven technology adoption within the industry.

3. The study findings

In this section, we describe how the adoption factors captured in our research framework drive or inhibit the adoption of various B2B EC technology initiatives currently adopted by the organizations involved in our study. Table 4 summarizes factors affecting the adoption of B2B EC by the participants. Each factor is discussed below.

3.1. Technological context

Within the technological context, the study findings highlight three salient factors that affect adoption: perceived benefits, compatibility and cost of technologies. Each factor has a different influence on EC adoption. Other characteristics, such as complexity and risks, do not appear to significantly affect the B2B EC adoption by the participants and, hence, are not discussed in this section.

3.1.1. (+) Perceived benefits

Within the technological context, our study indicates the positive influence of the perceived benefits of the adopted B2B EC technologies. Most organizations find that this is a very crucial factor in every technology initiative that they decide to pursue. Some of these perceived benefits include accuracy, speed and efficiency, which all finally lead to cost savings for the organizations. These benefits are the main drivers behind the pursuit of B2B EC initiatives such as barcode, EDI, and

cross docking. B2B EC initiatives such as the handheld PDA system are perceived to have additional benefits. Apart from speed and efficiency, participants acknowledged other benefits of implementing these initiatives, including the following: (1) ability to control and monitor human factors, imposing discipline and strict policy to ensure a sufficient level of salesmen performance, (2) ability to increase information visibility for both its own employees and external customers, and (3) ability to maintain good relationships with trading partners by maintaining face-to-face interactions. According to the Managing Director, Manufacturer (Company C):

We need to do things more efficiently and faster. Automation [the use of PDA] reduces human errors, which results in efficiency and speed, leading to more sales. It increases our speed of processing data. Also, it helps to control and impose discipline on our salesmen. We can track down all their activities in the field.

Managing Director, Manufacturer (Company C)

As technology adoption would typically require substantial investment capital, it is very important for organizations to foresee the perceived benefits to be gained from such an investment.