E-Commerce for Smes: Empirical for Smes Insights from Three Countries Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi and Stephen X

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E-commerce E-commerce for SMEs: empirical for SMEs insights from three countries Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi and Stephen X. Zhang Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, 849 Pontiﬁcia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, and Alexander Brem School of Business and Economics University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany

Abstract Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to study the benefits that an Asian company can achieve by using e-commerce. Another objective is to identify and rank the barriers influencing the application of e-commerce by innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India, Malaysia, and Iran Design/methodology/approach – The survey design uses a sample of 601 SMEs from three countries. In this study, data were collected by sending out questionnaires electronically and by mail. The Friedman test is used to analyse questionnaire data in conjunction with SPSS 16 software. Findings – The results indicate that an “enhanced company brand and corporate image” is the most important e-commerce advantage from the perspective of East Asian SMEs, whereas “doubts about the security and privacy” is the most important barrier. Research limitations/implications – Differences between the three countries in terms of electronic structure and infrastructure are the most important limitations for the study. Practical implications – As the company brand and the image of the company are very important in this region, companies should strategically invest into these areas. Nowadays, in times of social media, this is not as cost intensive as it was ten years before. So particularly, SMEs have a good chance to succeed in this area. Originality/value – This paper offers researchers a broader and more comprehensive view of the benefits of and barriers to electronic commerce application by SMEs. Researchers, educators, and practitioners will benefit from this paper. The analyses are more complex and varied than the methodologies used in most of the limited previous research. Keywords E-commerce, SME, Benefits, Barriers, Business, India, Malaysia, Iran Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction Electronic commerce (e-commerce) plays a unique role in contemporary small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With the advancement of e-commerce, people using the internet for their purchases no longer need to be physically present when their transactions occur. E-commerce has created major changes in the retail and service industries. Today, customers can purchase products from their homes or offices. They are also able to see goods and products on their computer monitors and view information about how the products are manufactured. Journal of Small Business and Since one of the main objectives of SMEs is to take advantage of development Enterprise Development Vol. 20 No. 4, 2013 opportunities in foreign international markets, an e-commerce strategy is necessary pp. 849-865 and cannot be developed without organisational goals and strategies for short- and q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1462-6004 long-term gain. E-commerce is still considered a new idea for SMEs, consumers, and DOI 10.1108/JSBED-03-2012-0039 JSBED governments. Today, through the creation and deployment of web sites, SMEs have 20,4 relationships with the external environment that constantly change according to the situation. The benefits of e-commerce include reduced costs (e.g. for transactions and marketing), increased accessibility for end users, improved business process flow, and increased efficiency in dealing with suppliers (Afshar Jahanshahi et al., 2011; Fenech and O’Cass, 2001; Khatibi et al., 2003; Magutu et al., 2011). Another advantage involves 850 smart, or genuine, negotiations conducted in the internet environment, through which suppliers may offer different prices in various conditions. Products that produce less profit or no profit may be reasonably priced and sold based on these negotiations. Presence in a global market makes suppliers visible to all buyers, which has many advantages. However, there are also disadvantages, including unsolicited e-mail, the high cost of user support, and a lack of security and privacy (Lee, 2001; Watson et al., 1998; Zhang and von Dran, 2001). E-commerce enables buyers to compare the products and pricing offered by competitors, creating a monopoly for buyers and generating extra software and hardware costs for SMEs. Like previous technologies, e-commerce presents benefits and disadvantages for innovative SMEs. The present paper conducts a literature review of e-commerce and the perceived benefits and barriers for SMEs. This is followed by a research approach description. Finally, the results are reported and discussed.

2. Literature review 2.1 The impact of e-commerce on SMEs The current period is termed the era of “thorough electronic phenomena”, as it has seen the introduction of several electronic phenomena, such as e-learning, electronic banking, electronic government, citizen electronics, electronic customer relationship management, electronic procurement and e-commerce, and, finally, electronic life. E-commerce, owing to its diverse applications, has different definitions. Some of them are described below. E-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities involving products and services (Rosen, 2000). It is more than just ordering goods from an online catalogue. It involves all the aspects of an organisation’s electronic interactions with its stakeholders, the people who determine the future of the organisation (Watson et al., 2008). E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the internet or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network (Mesenbourg, 2001). Innovation is recognised as an essential component of the economic growth process, and in this context, it can be broadly defined as the development, deployment, and economic utilisation of new products, processes, and services (OECD, 2001; Brem, 2008). As world economies become more integrated and interdependent, the ability of entrepreneurs and firms to seize global business opportunities by commercialising new products and processes faster than their competitors is critical in raising the economic wealth of a nation (OECD, 2004). SMEs form a very heterogeneous group, which include a wide variety of firm types, such as grocery stores, restaurants, small machine shops, and computer software firms. A subset of SMEs is the dynamic, innovative, and growth-oriented group. They are generally considered flexible, innovative, and adaptive firms, and these characteristics, in turn, make them a good fit for e-commerce (Al-Qirim, 2007). E-commerce technologies have the potential to lead to significant productivity gains at the firm level (OECD, 2000). Through e-commerce applications, E-commerce firms within supply and distribution chains that were not previously connected can for SMEs establish direct contact. Zhu and Kraemer (2002) argue that e-commerce improves information flow and decreases inefficiency and transactions costs. However, despite the perceived advantages, the application of e-commerce by SMEs has been hindered by a number of barriers and constraints. The major barriers include doubts about security and privacy, the high cost of user support, and the running and 851 maintenance costs exceeding the expected levels (Lee, 2001; Watson et al., 1998; Zhang and von Dran, 2001). To maximise the potential of e-commerce, businesses must be aware about the benefits of and barriers to trading electronically (Kuzic et al., 2002). This research examined these factors among innovative SMEs in East Asia.

2.2 Benefits and barriers related to e-commerce Access to the internet around the world and the spread of e-communications between individuals and organisations has provided a suitable base for establishing trade and economic exchange. The rapid growth of the internet in India, Malaysia, and to some extent Iran has increased the potential of e-commerce. Table I shows the number of internet users as a percentage of the population in these countries. Previous researchers have noted that the internet is an inexpensive, flexible, and efficient means through which businesses can trade and communicate (Nath et al., 1998; Raman, 1996; Senn, 2000; Zwass, 1996). According to Ratnasingam (2002), the internet has revolutionised the capacity to share information across organisations, resulting in radical transformations of organisational practices for procuring supplies, delivering goods and services, and conducting financial transactions. Organisations around the world are capitalising on new technologies such as the internet and the world wide web to develop e-commerce. E-commerce is the major achievement of the application of information communication technology (ICT) on economic grounds. The use of this technology has led to business development, facilitated communication on economic factors, improved productivity, reduced costs, and saved time. ICT enables firms to increase competitiveness capability and has led to the creation of new jobs. For suppliers, presence in global markets, where they are visible to all buyers, has many benefits. On the other hand, however, this visibility enables buyers to compare competitors’ offers, removing supplier monopolies. Another benefit involves smart and intelligent negotiations in the internet environment through which a supplier can offer different prices in different conditions, and the products that yield lower profit or no profit may be priced and sold appropriately. E-commerce provides customers with more choices and customisation options by better integrating design and production processes with the delivery of products and services (Richardson, 2007). It decreases the time and cost

Number of internet users as a percentage of the population (2010) Population Table I. India 7.8 1,210,193,422 Number of internet users Malaysia 55.3 28,334,135 in India, Malaysia, Iran 13.0 76,213,000 and Iran JSBED of shopping and expands the marketplace from local and regional markets to national 20,4 and international markets with minimal capital outlay, equipment, space, or staff. It permits just-in-time production and payments. Businesses reduce overhead and inventory through increased automation and reduced processing times (Al-Kibsi et al., 2001). E-commerce is potentially the most immediate of these services because it offers SMEs the opportunity to cut the costs of transactions and trade globally rather than 852 locally. Sengupta et al. (2005) summarised the benefits of e-commerce for business entities: e-commerce can increase sales and decrease costs. A firm can use e-commerce to reach narrow market segments that are widely scattered geographically. EDIM (2000) argued that even though SMEs might have difficulty developing a sophisticated web site owing to lack of expertise and funds, they still need e-commerce to prosper and ensure on-going survival. The definition of an SME varies depending on the nation and region (see Tables II and III). Apparently, companies and suppliers that possess the capacity to apply e-commerce can enjoy great benefits. Although the potential benefits and problems associated with e-commerce applications in SMEs are vast, the present study focuses on some specific benefits and problems of e-commerce (Table IV). According to previous research, the benefits of e-commerce adoption include improved customer service, better inventory control, lower marketing and distribution costs, reduced cycle time, improved business processes flow, increased market reach, and reduced operation costs (Nath et al., 1998; Ratnasingam, 2002; Riggins and Rhee, 1998; Senn, 2000). Other benefits include global connectivity, high accessibility, scalability, interoperability, and interactivity (Rayport and Jaworski, 2001; Turban et al., 2000). According to Fraser et al. (2000); De et al.(2001); and Turban et al. (2000), retention and expansion of the customer base is another benefit of e-commerce application. To extract benefits from e-commerce, it is important for businesses to overcome e-commerce barriers and problems (Kuzic et al., 2002). According to the results of Watson et al. (1998), Zhang and von Dran (2001), and Lee (2001), web site issues are an important problem when using e-commerce in enterprises.

Deﬁnition of SMEs in India by investment ceiling for plant machinery and equipment

Table II. Classiﬁcation Service enterprises Manufacturing enterprises Deﬁnition of SMEs Small US$40,00,000 US$1 million in India Medium US$1 million US$2 million

Deﬁnition of SMEs in Iran and Malaysia by number of employees Classiﬁcation Service enterprises Manufacturing enterprises

Small (Iran) Between 10 and 49 employees Between 10 and 49 employees Medium (Iran) Between 50 and 250 employees Between 50 and 250 employees Table III. Small (Malaysia) Between 5 and 19 full-time employees Between 5 and 50 full-time employees Definition of SMEs in Medium Malaysia and Iran (Malaysia) Between 20 and 50 full-time employees Between 51 and 150 full-time employees E-commerce E-commerce benefits E-commerce barriers and problems for SMEs Reduced costs, for example, transactions, Slow access/downloads marketing Increased return on investment (ROI) Lack of knowledge and understanding of E- commerce Enhanced company brand and corporate image Internet connection failures 853 Increased accessibility for end users Unsolicited e-mail Increased responsiveness from end users Service reliability Increased efficiency for dealing with suppliers Problems between ISP and telecom suppliers: Who takes responsibility for service failures/ problems? Improved customer service Difficulty using finding web sites Increased customer loyalty and retention Doubts about security and privacy Improves business process flow Poor advice from user support representatives Increased market share Lack of user support Increased profit High cost of user support Increased productivity Running and maintenance more costly than expected Sources: Afshar Jahanshahi et al. (2011); Alridge et al. (1997); Anckar (2003); Anckar and Walden (2002); Coulson (1999; Fenech and O’Cass (2001); Furnell and Karweni (1999); Hoffman et al. (1999); Table IV. Khatibi et al. (2003); Lee (2001); Magutu et al. (2011); Rao et al. (2001); Reedy et al. (2000); Stockdale and Barriers to and benefits of Standing (2004); Udo (2001); Vijayasarathy and Jones (2000); Zwass (1996) electronic commerce

3. Research methodology 3.1 Population and sample In this study, we used stratiﬁed random sampling to collect the necessary data. The population for this research comprises all the SMEs that are using e-commerce applications and own internet web sites, that is, an estimated 601 units, in Pune (the eighth-largest metropolis in India, the second-largest in the state in Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats), Bandar Abbass (a port city and capital of Hormozga¯n Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf), and Putrajaya (a planned city located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur that serves as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia). Of these 601 units, according to Krejcie and Morgan (1970), a sample of 234 SME units is required to obtain the primary data (conﬁdence level ¼ 95percent), margin of error ¼ 5percent). As we can observe from Table V, the survey sample consists of representatives from two major groups, the

India Iran Malaysia Number of Number of Number of Percentage firms Percentage firms Percentage firms

Small 57.5 69 62.3 50 60.9 25 Medium 42.5 51 37.7 23 39.1 16 Manufacturing sector 53.3 64 54.8 40 65.8 27 Services sector 46.7 56 45.2 33 34.2 14 Sample size 120 73 41 Table V. Total population 395 160 45 Population and sample JSBED manufacturing sector and the service sector. The results show that most ﬁrms in the 20,4 sample belong to the small size category and are in the manufacturing sector. From Table VI, it can be seen that IT/software services ﬁrms make up the largest percentage of respondents, with 35.8 per cent, 28.9 per cent, and 36.6 per cent for India, Iran, and Malaysia, respectively. This is owing to the global information revolution, which has made the internet a part of everyday life and IT a basic requirement for 854 every business. The demand for IT-related products is increasing; therefore, naturally more and more companies are investing in the IT sector.

3.2 Research instrument Questionnaires are one of the most popular methods of conducting scholarly research (Walonick, 1993). They provide a convenient way of gathering information from a target population. The questionnaire for this research is divided into four sections. Section I is designed to collect information related to the benefits of using e-commerce applications. It comprises 13 items, and the respondents choose one answer for each item, similar to Likert-type scale. Section II is designed to collect information related to the problems of e-commerce application in SMEs. Section III is designed to collect information related to company profile. There are eight questions, and respondents are required to tick one answer or fill in the blank. Data was collected by sending out questionnaires either directly, electronically, through friends, or by mail. A Friedman test is used to analyse the data derived from the questionnaire using SPSS 16 software.

4. Results and discussion 4.1 Friedman test for analysing the benefits of using e-commerce E-commerce applications are effective for various business areas. In this section, we use the Friedman test to prioritise the benefits of e-commerce applications in terms of influence percentage. The Friedman test compares three or more related samples and makes no assumptions about the underlying distribution of the data. It involves ranking the data in rows, and then comparing the mean rank in each column. As seen in Table VII, “Enhanced company brand and corporate image” is the most important advantage from the perspective of Indian and Malaysian SMEs. This means that this factor received the highest number of votes as an important benefit of the application of e-commerce in SMEs. After the rapid growth of e-commerce in world business, brands and branding have become increasingly important components of the economies of India and Malaysia. Currently, the marketing of a company involves creating ideas or making promises rather than describing product and services. Branding has become an essential part of expanding and running a business successfully. In India and Malaysia, SMEs are spending enormous amounts of money on research, branding, and proper positioning of their brands in the market. “Reduced costs, for example, transactions, marketing, advertising” was ranked second with a mean score of 7.80. Businesses and consumers that use e-commerce benefit from a reduction in costs in terms of the time and effort required to search for goods and services and to complete transactions. The third-ranked factor is “Improved customer service”, with a mean score of 7.23. According to McKnight and Chervany (2002) and Ratnasingam (2002), improved IT– Software Institute– Placement/HR/ Ancillary auto Electrical and Management Services Medical Engineering Training services electronics consultants Others

India 35.8 10.0 7.5 7.5 5.8 5.8 4.2 23.3 Iran 28.9 5.3 20.2 5.3 4.8 9.6 5.3 21.5 Malaysia 36.6 7.3 19.5 2.4 0.0 17.1 4.9 12.2 usinarsb sector by questionnaires E-commerce itiuinof Distribution o SMEs for (percentage) al VI. Table 855 JSBED Mean rank 20,4 Beneﬁt India Iran Malaysia

Increased market share 5.32 6.25 6.05 Increased profit 6.45 5.30 5.42 Increased productivity 6.30 6.48 6.85 856 Reduced costs, for example, transactions, marketing, advertising 7.80 8. 59 7.05 Increased ROI 5.62 6.93 5.23 Improved customer service 7.33 8.04 7.75 Increased accessibility for end users 6.49 7. 93 6.74 Increased responsiveness from end users 5.63 5.63 7.53 Increased efficiency in dealing with suppliers 6.07 5.75 5.80 Table VII. Enhanced company brand and corporate image 8.32 8.07 8.01 The benefits of Increased customer loyalty and retention 5.83 5.26 6.67 e-commerce Improved business processes flow 6.85 6.55 7.95

customer service refers to the quality of tasks that an organisation performs to increase sales, retain its customers, and improve the quality of services provided. In Iran, as seen in Table VII, “Reduced costs, for example, transactions, marketing, advertising” is the most important advantage from the perspective of SMEs, with a mean score of 8.59. The costs experienced by SMEs in their daily business operations from paperwork, paying bills, and making products or delivering services are largely reduced due to the automation processes of e-commerce applications in Iran. E-commerce in Iran currently represents a very small share of overall commerce; however, it is expected to continue to expand rapidly in coming years. In this regard, Kent and Lee (1999), Grover and Ramanlal (2000), Kare-Silver (2000), and Ferguson (1999) found that “Reduced operation costs” is a unique beneﬁt of using e-commerce for companies (see Figure 1).

4.2 Friedman test with respect to the problems of using e-commerce The application of e-commerce is influential in various businesses areas. In this section, we use the Friedman test to prioritise the problems of e-commerce in terms of influence percentage. The Friedman test is used for one-way repeated measures analysis of variance by rank. As seen in Table VIII, “Doubts about security and privacy” is the most important problem or barrier from the perspective of Indian and Malaysian SMEs. Customers and enterprises are concerned about the security of providing sensitive information online (Warrington et al., 2000), and they will use e-commerce only when they develop a certain level of trust regarding security (Ferraro, 1998). E-commerce poses additional security problems (Watson et al., 2008). First, the intent of the internet is to give people remote access to information. The system is inherently open, and traditional approaches of restricting access using physical barriers are less viable, though organisations still need to restrict physical access to their servers. Second, because e-commerce is based on computers and networks, these same technologies can be used to attack security systems. Hackers can use computers to intercept network traffic and scan it for confidential information (Watson et al., 2008). They can use computers to run repeated attacks on a system to breach its security (e.g. trying all words in the dictionary for an account’s password). E-commerce for SMEs

857

Figure 1. Ranking of e-commerce beneﬁts

E-commerce involves potential security threats, such as data transaction attacks and misuse of ﬁnancial and personal information (Cheung and Lee, 2006). Thus, security is needed to provide protection against such threats (Belanger et al., 2002). From a privacy standpoint, trust can be viewed as the customer’s expectation that an online business will treat the customer’s information fairly (Shankar et al., 2002) (see Figure 2). The second- and third-ranked factors for Indian SMEs are “Lack of knowledge and understanding of e-commerce” and “Running and maintenance more costly than expected”. On the other hand, “Running and maintenance more costly than expected” is the most important problem or barrier for to Iranian SMEs, with a mean score of 8.13. One of the main reasons for the high cost of e-commerce for SMEs in Iran is the sanctions applied by international organisations against Iran, which affect the various hardware and software requirements for e-commerce. Both buyers and sellers should be given assurance regarding the security of electronic trades/transactions to avoid any JSBED Mean rank 20,4 Problems and barriers India Iran Malaysia

Slow access/downloads 5.92 7.34 5.03 Unsolicited e-mail 6.99 5.58 7.02 Running and maintenance more costly than expected 7.23 8.13 7.49 858 Internet connection failures 5.66 6.54 7.21 Reliability of service 6.13 5.89 5.65 Lack of knowledge and understanding of e-commerce 7.27 8.06 7.35 Difﬁculty using/ﬁnding web sites 7.00 5.69 7.05 Doubts about security and privacy 7.40 7.52 8.24 Lack of user support 6.35 7.15 5.90 Poor advice from user support representatives 5.89 6.42 6.22 Table VIII. High cost of user support 5.90 5.69 6.25 Ranking of problems Problems between ISP and telecoms supplier: who is related to e-commerce responsible for service failures/problems? 6.26 7.83 5.47

problems and the provision of efﬁcient security services, resources, and communication should be considered.

5. Conclusion Despite the many perceived benefits and high degree of optimism, the level of e-commerce adoption by SMEs is low. This could be a result of a number of barriers and constraints, such as internet connection failures, difficulty using/finding web sites, and lack of user support. In the present research, the three most common problems in e-commerce for SMEs in India, Malaysia, and Iran are indicated in Table IX. From Table IX, we can observe that Indian and Malaysian enterprises are more concerned about the level of security present when providing sensitive information online and will use e-commerce only when they develop a certain level of trust. On the other hand, “Running and maintenance more costly than expected” is the most important problem or barrier for Iranian SMEs, with a mean score of 8.13. Dial-up internet in Iran costs approximately USD 0.10-0.15 per hour. ADSL is more expensive and only available in select cities. The cheapest ADSL service costs ,$15 a month for a 128 kbps connection with maximum usage of 3 GB in Tehran (similar service is more expensive in other cities). The fastest connection available outside of Greater Tehran is a 1 Mbps connection costing approximately USD 450 per month. The cheapest connection outside of Tehran is a 68 kbps connection with 8 GB usage limit at approximately USD 20 a month. While these are the internet service providers’ (ISPs) charges, the telecommunication company also charges a fee for both dial-up and ADSL connections, which is approximately 10-15 per cent of the ISP fees, depending on the type of service. Every ISP must be approved by the information and communication technologies and the Data Communication Company of Iran and adhere to the strict guidelines specified by the Iranian government. Failure to comply with these guidelines result in heavy penalties. In addition, internet users must give a written promise that they will not visit non-Islamic sites and will register their web sites with the government. Despite these controls, the high costs of internet access are the primary barrier to internet proliferation within the country, rather than political or technological controls. E-commerce for SMEs

859

Figure 2. Problems of using e-commerce

Moreover, other studies (Alexander, 1998; Czerniawska and Potter, 1998; Koved et al., 2001) have shown that security and privacy are the most important problems associated with e-commerce applications in companies. Hoffman et al. (1999), Abeyesekera et al. (1999), and De et al. (2001) argue that technology issues including maintenance costs, software, and infrastructure are important barriers to the use e-commerce in organisations. Table X indicates that “Enhanced company brand and corporate image” is the most important benefit for Indian and Malaysian SMEs. “Reduced costs, for example, transactions, marketing, advertising” is the most important advantage for Iranian SMEs, with a mean score of 8.59. SMEs comprise 90 per cent of all enterprises in Iran. By creating a web site, an SME can introduce its products and enable customers to become fully aware of and familiar with its brand, leading to a reduction in advertising and marketing costs. According to Kuzic et al. (2002), the most common benefits of e-commerce include increased sales, business efficiency, competitive advantage, automation of processes, and retention and expansion of the customer base. 860 20,4 JSBED n Iran and Malaysia, India, in SMEs for problems e-commerce common Most IX. Table

Mean Mean Mean India rank Iran rank Malaysia rank

Doubts about security and privacy 7.40 Running and maintenance more costly 8.13 Doubts about security and privacy 8.24 than expected Lack of knowledge and understanding 7.27 Problems between ISP and telecoms 8.06 Running and maintenance more costly 7.49 of e-commerce supplier: Who is responsible for service than expected failures/problems? Running and maintenance more costly 7.23 Lack of knowledge and understanding 7.83 Lack of knowledge and understanding 7.35 than expected of e-commerce of e-commerce Mean Mean Mean India rank Iran rank Malaysia rank

Enhanced company brand and corporate 8.32 Reduced costs, for example, transactions, 8.59 Enhanced company brand and 8.01 image marketing, advertising corporate image Reduced costs, for example, transactions, 7.80 Enhanced company brand and corporate 8.07 Improved business process flow 7. 95 marketing, advertising image Improved customer service 7.33 Improved customer service 8.04 Improved customer service 7.75 Msi ni,Malaysia, India, in SMEs -omrebnfisfor benefits e-commerce E-commerce o SMEs for otcommon Most al X. Table n Iran and 861 JSBED For managers and project leaders, the most important factors identified can be used as 20,4 a checklist to assist firms in their effective adoption of e-commerce and the maximisation of opportunities.

6. Limitations of the study 862 We experienced some difﬁculties in collecting the questionnaires owing to non-co-operation from some ofﬁcials and employees of the SMEs. Many SME managers did not respond to the questionnaires by mail. This study is limited to three countries, Iran, Malaysia, and India; therefore, the differences among the three countries in terms of their electronic structures and infrastructures is another limitation of this study.

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Further reading Doherty, N.F. and Ellis-Chadwick, F.E. (2003), “The relationship between retailers’ targeting and e-commerce strategies: an empirical analysis”, Internet Research, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 170-182. Molla, A. (2001), “E-commerce systems success: an attempt to extend and respecify the Delone and MacLean model of IS success”, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 131-141.

About the authors Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi received his BA and MA degrees in Public Administration from the University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran, in 2003 and 2006, respectively. He was among the ten top accepted students in the Master’s entrance exam. While studying for his Master degree he used to teach at university as an instructor of more than three courses related to business, for example, management information systems, human resource management, international marketing. He was accepted as a PhD Scholar at Pune University on January 2009. He has done research for three years on electronic commerce. Recently, he accepted a postdoctoral position in the National Science Foundation of Chile (FONDECYT). Stephen X. Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Management of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Pontiﬁcia Universidad Cato´lica de Chile (Catholic University of Chile). His research interest includes empirical analysis of real options in innovation and entrepreneurship; open innovation; valuation of technology; and entrepreneurial strategies. Stephen is also the director of Innovation Certiﬁcate, which provides courses to 600 students per semester on topics related to innovation and entrepreneurship. Lastly, Stephen enjoys living in Chile both as one of the few expat professors in the top university and as an Asian venturing in South America. Webpage: www.ing.puc.cl/szhang Alexander Brem is an Assistant Professor of Idea and Innovation Management at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He received his Diploma in Business Administration and PhD from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 2004 and 2007, respectively. Moreover, he is the Founder and Partner of VEND Consulting GmbH, Nuremberg. His current research interests include technology and innovation management as well as entrepreneurship. He is author, reviewer and editorial board member of various international journals such as Technovation, Journal of Business Venturing or International Journal of Innovation Management. Alexander Brem is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]

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