STEPHEN DREW, University of East Anglia
Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are
emerging as significant Internet users and like their
larger counterparts increasingly adopting e-commerce.
This research suggests that SMEs in different
industry sectors may adopt different strategies
for e-commerce and have different needs for training
and support. It also explores the possibility that
the Internet may not be an unmitigated blessing. It
can pose both a threat and an opportunity for SME
business strategies. Survey results in the eastern
England region of the UK show that despite recent
setbacks to the dot-com sector, SMEs are placing ecommerce
at the centre of their technology and corporate
strategies and plan to use the Internet as a
means for achieving transformational change