An Analysis of e-commerce (B2B) awareness in manufacturing industries of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to discuss the potential of e-commerce in Sri Lankan manufacturing industries by reviewing the awareness and readiness. This study reveals the present level of awareness and readiness of e-commerce applications in manufacturing industries. Further the study is to find out the potential constraints to implement the e-commerce applications and the initiatives that they are planning to invest in next few years. Also it explores the relationship between the e-commerce awareness and the firm based characteristics of the manufacturing industries. It is important to note that the focus of this study is on Business-to-Business (B2B) in manufacturing industries. The methodology used in this study, a database of manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka developed by Ministry of Industrial Development was used to develop the sample for survey. Out of 531 large scale manufacturing companies 100 companies were selected at random. The questionnaire was developed based on information collected from the literature review and the analysis of similar studies performed abroad. Thereafter the questionnaire was distributed to the senior executive in their respective companies. The resulting response rate was 40 %, with 40 total usable responses out of the 100 companies which is an expected rate for the surveys. The results indicate the awareness of e-cornmerce technologies among the Sri Lankan manufacturing companies and it is very high. But future investment to develop ecommerce application is very low according to the survey. Most popular e-commerce applications are e-mail, Internet and the company website. E-mail still seems to be the prevalent methods of communication with business partners and their suppliers. The results show that there are no relationship between the e-commerce awareness level and the business type with p_value (0.391). But another result show there is a significant relationship between e-commerce awareness level and company age with p_value (0.009), also there is a significant relationship between e-commerce awareness level and company size with p_value (029), further more there is a significant relationship between e-commerce awareness level and annual turnover with p_value (012).