Thursday, November 6, 2014
Ballroom B (Convention Center)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Recognizing the potential of information technology for micro-enterprise development, public and non-profit organizations are operating different types of programs to help micro-enterprises appropriately adopt and utilize information technology for their businesses. However, the programs are somewhat fragmented; some programs provide mentoring or consultation services; some simply deliver discounted hardware and software; and some offer training services. Meanwhile, it is uncertain which type would be more effective for micro-enterprises in appropriately adopting and continuously using information technology because it is unknown what factors significantly affect micro-enterprises’ decisions to adopt and utilize information technology for their businesses effectively. The purpose of this research is to examine relevant factors and theories and empirically test their significance and fitness to the context of micro-enterprises’ information technology adoption. A national mail survey was conducted for data collection, and partial least square structural equation modeling was conducted for data analysis. Findings reveal that factors such as awareness, compatibility, observability, and perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward behavior, trialability, anxiety, self-efficacy, business social influence, and technical facilitating condition are significantly associated with micro-enterprises’ information technology adoption, while resource facilitating condition and perceived behavioral control are not statistically significant. In addition, the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model are found to be significant while the Theory of Planned Behavior is limited in explaining the context of micro-enterprises’ adoption and continuous use of information technology. The findings suggest that simply addressing resource constraints by providing discounted hardware and software would be limited in effectively promoting micro-enterprises’ information technology adoption. An effective information technology intervention program would be one that provides micro-enterprises with consultation services that appropriately inform information technology solutions and address compatibility issues relevant to the individual micro-enterprise business context. Findings also suggest that enhancing opportunities to observe how other micro-enterprises utilize information technology solutions would contribute to micro-enterprises’ information technology adoption and continuous use. These findings provide significant implications for policy makers in public and non-profit organizations in terms of designing and implementing an effective form of information technology support programs for micro-enterprises.
