The Use of Internet for Business by Malaysian Firms

"Opportunities and Challenges"

 

Research Rationale

The success stories regarding the use of Internet by many businesses has seen many Malaysian firms following suit by setting up their web sites. However, if we spend some time to visit some of the local firms’ web sites, we can see many of them are yet to take full advantage of the Net. In addition, many of the sites are poorly designed and maintained reflecting the problems that faced by many companies which has adopted Internet.

I hope this research will help us in finding out the opportunities that Malaysian firms has capitalised or hope to capitalise; and the challenges and concerns that they are currently facing or will expect to face when they start to add more business processes into their web sites.

Research Objectives

  1. To analyse the extent of the use of Internet for business by Malaysian firms
  2. To examine the relationship between the business Internet usage (by the Malaysian firms for business) and variables such as type of industry, and company size.
  3. To examine the benefits/advantage desired by the Malaysian firms which prompted them to use Internet for their businesses.
  4. To determine the general sentiments of Malaysian firms regarding e-commerce involving on-line cash transaction.
  5. To identify the challenges/concerns regarding the use of internet for business and the barriers/concerns preventing them from expanding into other aspects of business process, e.g. such as e-commerce.

Survey

  1. The Use of Internet for Business by Malaysian Firms

 

Research Methods

Approach:   Survey
Instruments:   Questionnaires
Contact Method:   e-mail (by embedding a web page with questionnaire form) or mail
Sampling Unit Using search engine such as Yahoo, Infoseek and Alta Vista to list the Malaysian firms in 7 main categories - computer/IT, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, travel, publishing, banking, and others which have web site or home page in the Internet
  Size by e-mail - as many as possible

by mail - Randomly chose 25 firms from each category

 

List of References

Christina Soh, Quee Yong Mah, Fong Jek Gan, Daniel Chew and Edna Reid (1997), "The use of the Internet for business: the experience of early adopters in Singapore", in Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, volume 7, number 3, 1997, pp217-228, MCB University Press

Paula J. Haynes, Richard C. Becherer and Marilyn M. Helmes (1998), "Small and mid-sized business and Internet use: unrealised potential?", in Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, volume 8, number 3, 1998, pp229-235, MCB University Press

Donna L. Hoffman, Thomas P.Novak and Patrali Chatterjee, "Commercial Scenerios for the Web: Opportunities and Challenges", see web site- http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/

 

Prepared by: by Chuah Toon Hong (EGC96021)

Supervisor:  Dr Ainin Sulaiman