Are the standard drivers for e-commerce adoption in regional SMEs really standard: a comparison of Australian, Swedish and US regional SMEs

The sluggish pace of E-commerce diffusion in the SME sector is well documented. In response to this, one area that has given rise to continued research is the development of criteria (drivers) for Ecommerce adoption in the SME sector. This research has given rise to a 'standard' set of drivers that has become the basis upon which research into E-commerce adoption in SMEs is carried out. While a number of studies have attempted to develop models of E-commerce adoption, little has been done to discover whether, indeed, these criteria are universal to the sector. This paper presents the findings of three studies of regional SMEs located in Australia, Sweden and the US to determine whether the drivers of adoption are perceived differently in different locations. The results show that the grouping of criteria, together with the priorities of those groupings, is substantially different across the three locations. The results raise the question as to whether criteria (drivers) of 6- commerce adoption in regional SMEs can be thought of as universal or whether they are location specific.