E-business adoption trajectories of SMEs in Scotland

This paper investigates two related aspects of e-business in Scotland. Firstly the research provides an overview of the complex pattern of adoption of e-business among small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) in Scotland since 2001. To bring clarity to an evolving industry sector, an e-business model (CPIT) has been used to measure where and how SME’s have introduced online technologies to their business. Following on from this overview is analysis based on empirically tested and validated metrics that capture the gradual adoption of e-business by SME’s in Scotland. This secondary aspect of the research pursues the objective of analysing empirically-based evidence of e-business adoption trajectories of SME’s in Scotland. The results are intended to reveal the extent to which SME’s in Scotland follow a deliberate and path-dependent adoption trajectory towards e-business.