The impact of leadership on eCommerce system success in small and medium enterprises context

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of leadership as contributing factors for eCommerce systems (ECS) success in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Based on the eCommerce in SMEs literature, this conceptual research postulates that leadership influence the success of ECS in SMEs.

While ECS can be regarded as one form of Information systems (IS) the concept of success is recognized as one of the problematic issues that can interpreted in many ways. Attempts to measure the success of information system with single or multiple variables has been the focus of many researchers. Very few SMEs actually undertake any formal measure of their ECS performance. In fact the literature does not present any concept of ECS success developed specifically for SMEs. DeLone and McLean (1992) conducted a comprehensive review of IS literature and proposed the concept of an IS success model which has been argued and validated by many researchers. This paper uses this model to identify the dimensions of ECS success when applied to New Zealand SMES. There appears to be no such study conducted to examine the applicability of this model in a SME setting. The present study seeks to extend DeLone and McLean IS success model and adapt it for the SMEs setting by identifying and incorporating dimensions of success relevant to SMEs.

At issue, the isolation between what is part of success and what is causing it and measure the possible interaction among them. The literature has referred to these as dependent and independent variables. Many researchers have suggested a variety of factors influence the success of eCommerce in SMEs, yet few studies have addressed ones that are correlated with the success of ECS in SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of one organisational factor, namely leadership for ECS success in SMEs. Thus, the research question can be articulated as “ What is the contribution of leadership for ECS success in SMEs”. The output result of this paper is a conceptual model identifying the relevant dimensions and the resultant hypotheses that require empirical research to validate the proposed model. This would help manager/owners assess their eCommerce initiatives by focusing on the dimensions of success for their ECS as identified in this study.