Success depends on strategic choices, organizational capabilities ( e.g., innovation capability) and market characteristics (Polatoglu, 2007 Weltevreden and Boschma, 2008 Nikolaeva, 2007 Fruhling and Siau, 2007). In developed countries, researchers have analyzed why some companies successfully adopt e–commerce while others fail. Most merely achieve communication improvements and may even suffer from increased competition from companies in developed countries (Molla and Heeks, 2007 Wresch and Fraser, 2006). Research has also shown that companies in developing countries realize far less benefits of e–commerce than expected. However, the mere adoption of e–commerce does not ensure superior performance because it is a challenge to translate IT–related organizational resources into collaborative process capabilities (Zhao, et al., 2008). These benefits have been assessed in a number of studies of large and small businesses. According to the Organization for Economic Co–operation and Development (2005), “it is the method by which the order is placed or received, not the payment or channel of delivery, which determines whether the transaction is an e–commerce transaction”.Įlectonic commerce is believed to benefit businesses by reducing transaction costs, facilitating the development of geographically dispersed markets and improving coordination between cooperating parties (Robey, et al., 1990 UNCTAD, 2001 UNECA, 1999). Zwass (1998) uses a similar definition, i.e., “the sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships, and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks”. Wigand (1997) defines e–commerce as “any form of economic activity conducted via electronic connections”. This paper investigates the impact of industry structure on two small companies in Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island republic in the southern Caribbean.
Industry structure plays a powerful role in determining success or failure of e–commerce efforts. However, merely adopting e–commerce will not produce these benefits. The impact of industry structure on e-commerce initiatives in the developing world: Two case studies from Trinidad and TobagoĮ–commerce promises benefits for businesses in developed and developing countries, such as the ability to reach new international markets.