Information Systems Research
Vol. 16, No. 1, March 2005
Post-Adoption Variations in Usage and
Value of E-Business by Organizations:
Cross-Country Evidence from the Retail
Industry
Kevin Zhu*
and Ken Kraemer
Abstract
Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature and
the resource-based theory, this paper develops an integrative research model for
assessing the diffusion and consequence of e-business at the firm level. Unlike the typical focus on adoption as found in the
literature, we focus on post-adoption stages, i.e., actual usage and value
creation. The model thus moves beyond dichotomous “adoption vs. non-adoption” and
accounts for the “missing link” – actual usage – as a critical stage of value
creation. The model links technological,
organizational, and environmental (TOE) factors to e-business use and value,
based on which a series of hypotheses are developed. The theoretical model is
tested by using structural equation modeling on a dataset of 624 firms across ten
countries in the retail industry. To probe deeper into whether e-business use
and value are influenced by economic environments, two subsamples from
developed and developing countries are compared. The study finds that technology
competence, firm size, financial commitment, competitive pressure, and regulatory
support are important antecedents of e-business use. In addition, the study
finds that, while both front-end and backend capabilities contribute to e-business
value, backend integration has a much stronger impact. While front-end functionalities
are becoming commodities, e-businesses are more differentiated by backend integration.
This is consistent with the
resource-based theory because backend integration possesses the value-creating
characteristics of resources (e.g., firm specific, difficult to imitate), which are strengthened by the
Internet-enabled connectivity. Our study also adds an international dimension
to the innovation diffusion literature, showing that careful attention must be
paid to the economic and regulatory factors that may affect technology
diffusion across different countries.
Key words:
Technology diffusion, innovation, e-business, IT investment, usage, value, backend integration,
firm performance, resource-based
view, international perspective