Empirical study on the factors affecting the adoption of EProcurement by SMEs in India

Abstract

In todays highly competitive environment it is vital for company to maintain an effective and efficient material procurement system to cut procurement cost and be in line with the market condition to procure materials at the right price quality and time With emergence of Internet and information and communication technology applications like electronic procurement are quickly transforming the way in which the procurement processes are carried out Eprocurement helps in improving the efficiency and transparency of a business transaction by automating and simplifying the procurement process in business organization and thereby reducing the operational cost within and between businesses The small and medium scale enterprises sector is of growing importance for its contribution to the Indian economy Even though EProcurement is expensive business proposition they may reduce their operational cost and improve competitiveness by adopting EProcurement Their adoption behavior will benefit the economy in terms of the employment generated and the wealth created Therefore it is important to study the factors associated with the adoption of EProcurement Earlier works indicate that a vast amount of research has been carried out on the factors affecting the adoption of EProcurement However few works have been carried out in Indian context It is in the above context the research problem has been formulated This research is an empirical effort to gain insight into the current procurement practices prevailing in this sector and explore the factors influencing the adoption of EProcurement by SMEs The findings reveal that SMEs adoption behavior is influenced by trust on supplier trust on information technology and perceived value