1、 外文翻译 原文 E-commerce and SMEs The Need for Caution Material Source: Prometheus, Vol. 27, No. 2, June 2009 Author: Noor Azuan Hashim Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has emerged as a significant topic in the literature only since the Internet started to be used commercially in the 1990s.Many authors i
2、nsist that e-commerce has a significant and positive impact on businesses everywhere. Policymakers and managers seem certain that e-commerce conveys undisputed benefits, insisting that companies which eschew e-commerce will be left behind in the global marketplace. Yet, e-commerce is not being adopt
3、ed readily by small and medium-sized enterprises. In the US, e-commerce use among SMEs is generally limited to e-mail and the company webpage. Few SMEs engage in online transactions. In the UK, trading online in small businesses is stalling and in some cases has declined. Elsewhere, too, few SMEs ha
4、ve adopted e-commerce and very few have ever traded online. This result is surprising and important, given the role that SMEs play in all economies. They are considered to be the life blood of modern economies. The disinclination of SMEs to adopt and use e-commerce deserves serious attention;yet, th
5、ere is little systematic research that explores the relevance of e-commerce to SMEs. E-commerce and SMEs E-commerce There is no consensus on the definition of e-commerce. However, there are two common elements to most definitions. First, e-commerce concerns business activities that occur by electron
6、ic means, such as sharing business information, and buying and selling. The second element is the technological means that enable these activities. The difference lies in how some researchers define these two elements. Some define e-commerce broadly, including all business activities carried out ove
7、r any electronic media. Others define e-commerce more narrowly by focusing on certain business activities or technological means. In this study, Zwasss definition of e-commerce is used, focusing on Internet-based technology: E-commerce is sharing of business information, maintaining business relatio
8、nships and conducting business transactions by means of Internet-based technology. The literature of e-commerce and SMEs suggest that there are at least three ways in which e-commerce is perceived. Some researchers see e-commerce in terms of Internet applications, such as e-mail, website and intrane
9、t. Some investigate the use of e-commerce in terms of business activities; for example, communicating with customers and suppliers. Others see e-commerce as a mix of Internet applications and business activities. Regardless of which views researchers hold, there are onlythree general e-commerce comp
10、onents usually used to demonstrate the prevalence of e-commerce: e-mail, websites (for online selling), and online buying. These three components will be the measures used in this study. In addition to recording the existence of such technologies in companies, this paper also discusses the actual us
11、e of e-commerce in SMEs by looking at the business activities for which SME managers use e-commerce. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) SMEs have an extreme range of forms. They differ in type of business and management style, as well as in capabilities, resources and business requirements. S
12、MEs have little ability to influence their wider environment and their activities are usually dictated by the market. They lack capital and credit facilities, skilled labour and infrastructure. Yet, SMEs are very important in the economic activities of most nations. They constitute more than 90% of
13、businesses and contribute to job opportunities (most new employment), and social cohesion, as well as regional and local development. SMEs are less bureaucratic than large firms, and decisions can be made quickly. They are more responsive to market needs and they have the flexibility to try new appr
14、oaches. In Malaysia, SMEs (commonly called small and medium-sized industries, SMIs) form the bulk of companies and they play a critical role in the countrys industrialisation. There are two common ways of defining SMEs: definitions based on financial turnover and definitions based on numbers employe
15、d. Definitions based on numbers employed are more popular, and most commonly used by policymakers and researchers. Employment is more objective, transparent and less confidential. For this study, SMEs will be defined by an employment range from 10 to 250 employees. Very small firms (with fewer than
16、10 employees) will be excluded since these are likely to approach IT issues differently, and because their numbers would swamp those of larger SMEs. E-commerce of SMEs There is substantial interest in the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. Part of the reason is that many researchers believe that SMEs c
17、an gain considerably from using the Internet. There are also suggestions that SMEs can compete with large organizations by adopting e-commerce because the Internet can provide equal access to both. Many studies suggest a range of business activities for which SMEs use e-commerce. Daniel et al. for e
18、xample, state that SMEs in the UK are adopting e-commerce in four stages as: (1) developers; (2) communicators; (3) those with web presence; and (4) transactors. Developers are developing their first e-mail and website; communicators are using e-mail and exchanging documents and designs electronical
19、ly with customers and suppliers; web presence means websites with online ordering facilities; and transactors are those using online ordering and payment capabilities. This stage approach has been criticised because firms can leapfrog the stages. Other studies also use a range of business activities
20、 to investigate e-commerce adoption among SMEs. Drew finds that SMEs which have had websites for a number of years use e-mail to communicate, and their websites for advertising and promotion. Far fewer use websites for sales, recruitment and procurement. Brown and Lockett find SMEs generally engaged
21、 in only simple e-commerce activities, such as e-mail, web-access and websites. Few SMEs are buying and selling online. Pool et al. claim that e-commerce usage among SMEs is not as pervasive as among large firms. Many SMEs use e-mail and have websites, but very few engage in more complex integration
22、, such as online sales and supply chain management. The rate of adoption of online ordering and payment is so slow among SMEs that the UK government has not even tried to measure engagement of SMEs in more complex applications. This situation is evident elsewhere, and so this study does not include
23、any complex website activities beyond online payment to investigate what SMEs are actually using e-commerce for. E-commerce Adoption by SMEs There is a growing body of literature specifically looking at SMEs and their use of ICT. However, most studies examine the outcomes of the innovation process,
24、focusing on the variables that influence or inhibit the decision to adopt. Table 1 summarises some of the prominent studies that have examined predictors of ICT adoption among SMEs. Table 1 displays quite a mixed picture of what may influence IT adoption among SMEs. More than 20 items can be selecte
25、d as relevant predictors for ICT adoption among SMEs. Many are relevant in some studies, but not in others. For example, Iacovou et al. find that organisational readiness is not a significant predictor of EDI adoption among SMEs, but Ordanini finds that it is the most significant predictor of all. T
26、he sample sizes of SMEs that have been used in these studies range from two to 686. Data gathering methods are mainly semi-structured interviews (three studies), case studies (one study), postal questionnaires (four studies), and telephone interviews. Studies using large sample sizes and combining p
27、ostal questionnaires with semi-structured interviews are rare in the literature. Studies of why SMEs use e-commerce in their businesses are also very sparse. 译文 电子商务与中小型企业 -需要谨慎 资料来源： Prometheus, Vol. 27, No. 2, June 2009 作者： Noor Azuan Hashim 自从 20 世纪 90 年代开始互联网被应用到商业活动中，电子商务在学术界便成为了一个重要的课题。许多学者坚持认
28、为，电子商务对企业而言在各方面都具有重要而且积极的影响。决策者和管理者似乎可以肯定，电子商务带来了无可争议的好处，他们坚持认为若避开电子商 务公司就将落后于全球市场。 然而，电子商务是不容易被小型和中小型企业所采用。在美国，电子商务在中小企业使用一般仅限于电子邮件和公司网页。很少有中小企业进行网上交易。在英国，小企业的网上交易量因为时间拖延或着某些情况的发生而有所下降。在其他地方，也有一些中小型企业采用电子商务，但很少有过交易。这个结果令人惊讶同时非常重要，因为中小型企业在经济体中扮演着重要角色。他们被认为是现代经济的命脉。中小企业不愿采用和使用电子商务值得认真关注 ;然而，很少有系统的研究和
29、探讨电子商务与中小企业的相关性。 现在还没有关于电子商 务的定义达成共识，然而这有两个最常见的元素定义。首先，电子商务涉及的商业活动以电子方式出现，如共享商业信息，购买和销售。第二个因素是启用这些活动的技术手段。不同之处在于研究者如何界定这两个元素。一些电子商务的定义较广泛，包括所有通过电子媒体进行的业务活动。其他电子商务的定义较狭义以某些商业活动与技术手段为重点。在这项研究中，使用较多的是 Zwass 对电子商务的定义，以因特网为基础技术作重点： “ 电子商务是以商业信息共享，保持业务关系并进行基于互联网为技术手段的商业交易 ” 。 在电子商务与中小企业有关的文献表明，至 少有三种观点。一些
30、研究人员认为，电子商务是互联网方面的应用，如电子邮件，网站和内联网。一些研究人员认为，电子商务是商业活动方面的应用，例如，沟通客户和供应商 .另外的研究人员认为电子商务是互联网和商业活动应用的混合 .无论研究者支持哪种观点，只有这三个电子商务组成部分可以用来证明电子商务：电子邮件，网站（网上销售），和在线购买。 中小企业有一个极端形式的范围。他们 有 不同类型的 商业 和管理 模式 ，以及在能力，资源和业务需求 也有所不同 。中小型企业几乎没有能力去影响他们的大环境， 而他们的 活动 则 通常 是由市场决定的。 他们缺乏资金和信贷服务， 及熟练的 劳动力 和 基础设施。然而，中小型企业 对 大
31、多数国家经济 发展是 非常重要 的。它们构成超过 90的企业， 促进 就业机会（大部分新的就业），社会凝聚力，以及区域和 地方的发展。 中小企业 与 大企业 相比少有 官僚作风 ， 可迅速 做出 决策。他们能更好地响应市场需求，他们可以灵活地尝试 各种方法。 中小型企业（俗称中小规模的行业 ，中小工业）他们大部分 为 国家工业化的 起 关键作用。有两种常见的方式确定中小企业： 一 基于 金融 营业额和数字为基础的定义 ，二有关 就业人数 为基础的定义，后者更被 决策者和研究人员 所认可 。就业是较为客 观，透明。 在这项研究中， 中小企业将被定义为一个由 10 至 250 名员工的就业范围。
32、非常小 的 企业将被排除在外（少于 10 名雇员） 。 目前在中小企业对电子商务的应用有极大的兴趣。部分原因是，许多研究人员认为，中小企业可以通过使用互联网获得更大的收益。也有意见认为，中小企业可以依靠电子商务与大机构竞争，因为互联网给双方提供的机会是均等。 许多研究表明了中小企业应用电子商务的过程。例如丹尼尔等人的研究，在英国的某些州中小型企业应用子商务分成四个阶段（ 1）开发（ 2）传播（ 3）网络建立（ 4）交易。开发人员开发他们的第一个电 子邮箱和网站 ;传播者通过电子邮件交换文件，与客户和供应商进行沟通， 网络的存在促进了网站与网上订购的发展 ;实现网上订购和支付的可能。但是这个阶段方法已被批评，因为这些是公司可以跨越的阶段。 其他也是通过研究业务活动范围，调查中小企业电子商务的应用。德鲁认为，有的中小型企业建立了网站多年只是用于电子邮件的沟通，广告并推广网站，然而很少使用网站进行销售、招聘和采购。布朗和洛基特发现中小型企业一般只有简单的电子商务活动的，如电子邮件，网络接入和网站 .很少中小企业进行网络购买和销售。 Pool 等表示，电子商务在中小企业 的应用并不像大型企业那样普遍。许多中小企业在使用电子邮件和自己的网站，但很少从事更复杂的活动，如网上销售和供应链管理。对网上订购和付款的采用率是如此之低，英国政府甚至没有试图更进一步研究调查中小型企业其中原因。
