Factors influencing firms to sell online in e-business challenging environment

The adoption of e-business always is associated with the promise to increase sales and operational efficiencies, but a surprising number of firms have not adopted it. This number of non-adopters is higher in sectors that are not normally selling online and thus challenging such adoption. Interestingly, there are some firms in those challenging sectors that have used online selling innovatively and succeeded in their adoption. While the literature addressed external business factors as an explanation for the adoption of online selling, it lacked in addressing the internal organizational factors that influence such adoption in sectors with lower adoption rates. Thus, the objective of this research is to identify and understand the internal organizational capabilities that helped those firms to adopt online selling and take advantage of the associated opportunities. This research is based on Wheeler's [1] Net Enabled Business Innovation Cycle (NEBIC) theoretical framework which utilizes both dynamic capability and absorptive capacity theories. The data was collected from Canadian sectors characterized as having below average adoption rates. The results are expected to reveal the internal capabilities needed for online selling adoption which would help both business owners and future research.