E-business and SMEs in the Otago Region of New Zealand

Murray Wilson MBA (Otago), Consultant, Dunedin, New Zealand. EMail: murwil@xtra.co.nz

Dr Kenneth R Deans, Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. EMail: kdeans@commerce.otago.ac.nz

Keywords

e-commerce, e-business, e-marketing, small business, World Wide Web.

Abstract

Several industry sectors were identified by a local authority as having the potential to spearhead the continued development of the region. There was however, some concern that many smaller or more isolated organisations within these industries were not taking advantage of the opportunities that developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) were making available. The focus of this research was to gather information on the current usage and understanding of e-business by Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), as well as an examination of their level of planning and intended use of e-business in the short to medium term. Results indicate that whilst the uptake of some aspects of ICT e.g. establishing a Web based presence may be high, the underlying knowledge of how to use them effectively is lacking. The paper concludes with some reasons for both the current level of understanding and involvement with ICT.