Adoption of E-Commerce in the Construction Industry
Adoption of E-Commerce by SMES in the Construction Industry
Introduction
The internet has been growing in recent years at an alarming rate. It has revolutionised how businesses communicate and interact and opened new opportunities which ten years ago were almost inconceivable. With the help of the internet, technologies such as e-commerce make it possible to conduct international business transactions almost instantaneously and for a fraction of the cost of using traditional methods.
Many businesses have recognised the possibilities the internet has to offer and the benefits available to the construction industry are just as worthy of consideration. E-commerce makes it possible to buy and sell equipment and materials as well as bid on-line for jobs. In terms of collaboration, it has drastically changed the way industry professionals communicate. Online project collaboration allows contractors to save hundreds of thousands of pounds by slashing the wait time for responses to Requests for Information (RFI). This translates into huge time savings and shorter completion times. However the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs in the construction industry in the UK is still in its infancy, with the majority of uptake being by larger companies.
The research carried out in this study is based on the premise that, in order for construction companies to adopt e-commerce tools there is a need to undertake an analysis of their business processes and working methods to ensure successfully implementing, and benefiting from these tools.
E-commerce Definition Electronic commerce or e-commerce has been defined in several ways. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines e-commerce as ‘the electronic exchange of information that support and govern commercial activities including organisational management, commercial management, commercial negotiations and contracts, legal and regulatory frameworks, financial settlement arrangements and
Introduction
The internet has been growing in recent years at an alarming rate. It has revolutionised how businesses communicate and interact and opened new opportunities which ten years ago were almost inconceivable. With the help of the internet, technologies such as e-commerce make it possible to conduct international business transactions almost instantaneously and for a fraction of the cost of using traditional methods.
Many businesses have recognised the possibilities the internet has to offer and the benefits available to the construction industry are just as worthy of consideration. E-commerce makes it possible to buy and sell equipment and materials as well as bid on-line for jobs. In terms of collaboration, it has drastically changed the way industry professionals communicate. Online project collaboration allows contractors to save hundreds of thousands of pounds by slashing the wait time for responses to Requests for Information (RFI). This translates into huge time savings and shorter completion times. However the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs in the construction industry in the UK is still in its infancy, with the majority of uptake being by larger companies.
The research carried out in this study is based on the premise that, in order for construction companies to adopt e-commerce tools there is a need to undertake an analysis of their business processes and working methods to ensure successfully implementing, and benefiting from these tools.
E-commerce Definition Electronic commerce or e-commerce has been defined in several ways. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines e-commerce as ‘the electronic exchange of information that support and govern commercial activities including organisational management, commercial management, commercial negotiations and contracts, legal and regulatory frameworks, financial settlement arrangements and