Title: Achieving advantages from business-to-business electronic commerce: an empirical validation of an integrative framework

Authors: Koffi N'Da, Francois Bergeron, Louis Raymond

Addresses: Department of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems, E. Philip Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14623, USA. ' Departement Travail, Economie et Gestion, Tele-universite, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, 455, rue du Parvis, Quebec, Quebec, G1K 9H5, Canada. ' Departement des sciences de la gestion, Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, G9A 5H7, Canada

Abstract: This study aims at contributing to a better understanding of business-to-business Electronic Commerce (EC) advantages and determinants of these advantages. A research model was empirically tested on a sample of 143 Canadian companies. Key findings indicate that the most important advantages of EC are increased productivity, increased quality of products and services, competitive advantage, and to a lesser extent, sales growth and increased revenues. Cost reductions were marginal. The main determinants of EC advantages include the type of EC use, and the internal and external integrations of EC applications. The strategic orientation of the firm and the organisational context exert only an indirect effect on EC advantages.

Keywords: electronic commerce; e-commerce; electronic business; e-business; B2B; business to business; advantages; strategy; usage type; integration; organisational context; Canada; productivity; quality; competitive advantage; sales growth; revenue increase.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2008.021185

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2008 Vol.6 No.5, pp.516 - 549

Published online: 09 Nov 2008 *

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