Managing Modern Organizations With Information Technology 651 Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. A Framework for Identifying the Conditions for Effective Collaborative Commerce Adoption Michelle Rowe, Helen Cripps, Janice Burn, Craig Standing, Beth Walker and Shirley Bode Edith Cowan University, Australia, h.cripps@ecu.edu.au ABSTRACT This paper examines collaborative commerce (c-commerce) in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). C-commerce poten- tially provides opportunities for SMEs to access new markets, yet this opportunity has not been realized at least in Australia. This paper proposes a framework to identify the conditions that facilitate the adoption of c-commerce by SMEs. This framework is three dimensional – depth of inter-organisational relationships (IORs), degree of integra- tion of IT within organisation strategy and organisational resources. This proposed framework, after validation, may provide a framework to better explain and predict c-commerce adoption. INTRODUCTION Technology increasingly pervades the business world and society gen- erally. According to Walters (2004, p.219) ‘markets have globalised, technology has become all embracing, and relationships with suppliers, customers and competitors are undergoing constant change’. These developments potentially raise considerable opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enter into the global marketplace and form ‘partnerships’ including alliances, networks and collaborative commerce (c-commerce) (Jarrett, 1998). Though exemplars of c- commerce exist in Australia it has not been widely adopted by SME’s. Generally, Australian SMEs have been slow to adopt more complex forms of electronic commerce. The primary reason given for lack of adoption amongst many small businesses is that they see no real benefit in having a web presence, that is they perceive their businesses to be too small, or they had not factored in the on-going maintenance of webpages (ABS, 2003; van Beveren & Thomson, 2002). Fear of the unknown and lack of skills have also been suggest as reasons why the uptake of technology is less for small businesses (Barry & Milner, 2002; Darch & Lucas, 2002). The different size definitions for SMEs varies according to country however the definitions used in this paper are the standard Australian Bureau of Statistics classifications, which are micro business being 0-4 persons, small business being 5-19 persons and medium being 20-200 persons (ABS, 2002). If firms have been slow to embrace e-commerce, then it is little wonder that the uptake of c-commerce and its requirement to collaborate, has been slow. This paper looks beyond e-commerce and identifies the antecedents and inhibitors to c-commerce adoption. WHAT IS C-COMMERCE C-commerce consists of all of an organisation’s information technolo- gies (IT) bases, knowledge management and business interactions with its customers, suppliers and partners in the business communities in which it interacts (McCarthy, 1999; GartnerGroup, 1999; Burdick, 1999) and can be horizontal competitive co-operation or co-opetition (Levy, Loebbecke & Powell, 2003) as well as vertical collaboration along a supply chain. Essentially this means that firms, including competitors, come together to exploit an opportunity that arises, as and when appropriate. C- commerce signifies an organisational shift in focus from transactions and exchange, characteristic of electronic commerce, to one of rela- tionships between firms (Sheth, 1996). As global competition intensi- fies many organisations are forming partnerships as an expeditious way to keep up or to access unique or ‘pioneering’ resources (Ring & Van de Ven 1992, 1994). BENEFITS OF C-COMMERCE FOR SMES C-commerce is concerned with obtaining sustainable competitive ad- vantage from the maximisation of value adding benefits obtained by working collaboratively with others via IT. The adoption of IT has been identified as a possible source of strategic competitive advantage for SMEs (Yetton, Johnston & Craig, 1994), collaboration using IT can generated innovation resulting in further competitive advantage (Ryssel, Ritter & Germunden, 2004). SMEs are better able to compete in an increasingly dynamic marketplace via the exploitation of the advantages of the web (Grover, Teng & Fiedler, 2002). C-commerce enables small firms to ‘grow’ their assets, which is important for Australian SMEs due to their size and access markets not previously possible (Holsapple & Singh, 2000; Tetteh, 1999; Ring & Van der Ven, 1994). C-commerce also facilitates innovation and information, knowledge and systems sharing and ex- change (Holsapple & Singh, 2000). Internal efficiencies can be gener- ated by the sharing of information via IT within inter-organisational relationships (IORs) (Ryssel, et al., (2004). Bitici, Martinez, Albores & Parung (2004, p. 266) concluded that collaborative enterprises or networks ‘create new and unique value propositions by complementing, integrating and leveraging each other’s capabilities and competencies’. To enable SMEs to make the most of the opportunities afforded by c- commerce, SMEs need to ‘adopt an entirely different approach to strategic planning and management which can enable them to deploy an extensive infrastructure network based on shared resources with other firms’ (Tetteh & Burn 2001, p.171). This requires strategic thinking, trust and a realization of the importance of co-opting rather than competition which typically exists amongst individual firms. There- fore, c-commerce requires firms to develop a strategy, both short and long term; adopt appropriate business models; develop and sustain appropriate collaborative cultures engendering trust; invest in ICT to facilitate information and knowledge sharing and set in place appropri- ate organisational structures to enable collaboration (Kalakota & Robinson, 1999). Inter-organisational systems (IOS), which include c-commerce, repre- sent one use of IT and allow the transfer of information across organization boundaries. SMEs in Australia have tended not to adopt these systems due to the previously mentioned barriers. In the past electronic data interchange (EDI) and electronic funds transfer (EFT) have been the technologies used to enter into IOS. The standards 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITP5273 IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This paper appears in Managing Modern Organizations Through Information Technology, Proceedings of the 2005 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour. Copyright 2005, Idea Group Inc.