The economic and financial factors are another constraint, including large investment
requirements, the implementation costs, managing and maintenance costs, as well as the
unfavourable financial conditions of relevant companies (Evangelista and Sweeney 2006;
Hollenstein 2004; Zeimpekis and Giaglis 2006; KOMODA 2009). Evangelista and Sweeney
(2006) examined 153 firms from the Italian transport and logistics industry where high
investment costs and high running costs rank as the top two factors inhibiting ICT adoption.
These barriers are more obvious in the SMEs, especially for those with a relatively low
turnover and inadequate resources.