Authors :
Panca O. Hadi Putra
Volume/Issue :
Volume 4 - 2019, Issue 8 - August
Google Scholar :
https://goo.gl/DF9R4u
Scribd :
https://bit.ly/38Th5US
Abstract :
For many countries, their economic
sustainability often chiefly relies on the growth of their
small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For the
proponents of “people’s economy” concept among those
countries, especially the developing ones such as
Indonesia, cooperative enterprises (cooperatives) have
similarly been regarded as the cornerstone of economic
resilience. Confronted with rapid and unprecedented
shift towards preference for digital commercial activities,
cooperatives and SMEs seem to be caught off guard
catching up with the global market that has, to an
increasing extent, gone digital. The lack of adoption of
information and communication technology and the
Internet to conduct business or so-called e-business
among cooperatives and SMEs is despite e-business’ self-
evident potentials. E-business could facilitate, among
others, access to larger markets, cost reduction in supply
chain through disintermediation, increased productivity
and potentially a competitive advantage. These potentials
may also be applicable to cooperatives and SMEs as
already demonstrated in large enterprises. This study
presents the current understanding surrounding the e-
business phenomenon in the context of cooperatives and
SMEs. As competitive pressures scrape away
cooperatives and SMEs’ scarce resources, our analysis
suggests the need for them to be empowered by e-
business in order increase their ability to grow in today’s
e-business-dependent environment. As cooperatives
share several common characteristics with SMEs such as
mainly in their limitation of readily available resources
and enterprise diversity, the analysis further suggests a
potential approach to the lack of adoption problem and
spur uptake by adapting and extending a particular e-
business framework used by SMEs. Finally, given the
importance of cooperatives and their limited use of e-
business, the analysis also implores scholars to address
the currently minimal research in this area.
Keywords :
Cooperatives; Co-op; Small and Medium Enterprises; SMEs; E-business Information and Communication Technology; ICT; Internet; People’s Economy.
For many countries, their economic
sustainability often chiefly relies on the growth of their
small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For the
proponents of “people’s economy” concept among those
countries, especially the developing ones such as
Indonesia, cooperative enterprises (cooperatives) have
similarly been regarded as the cornerstone of economic
resilience. Confronted with rapid and unprecedented
shift towards preference for digital commercial activities,
cooperatives and SMEs seem to be caught off guard
catching up with the global market that has, to an
increasing extent, gone digital. The lack of adoption of
information and communication technology and the
Internet to conduct business or so-called e-business
among cooperatives and SMEs is despite e-business’ self-
evident potentials. E-business could facilitate, among
others, access to larger markets, cost reduction in supply
chain through disintermediation, increased productivity
and potentially a competitive advantage. These potentials
may also be applicable to cooperatives and SMEs as
already demonstrated in large enterprises. This study
presents the current understanding surrounding the e-
business phenomenon in the context of cooperatives and
SMEs. As competitive pressures scrape away
cooperatives and SMEs’ scarce resources, our analysis
suggests the need for them to be empowered by e-
business in order increase their ability to grow in today’s
e-business-dependent environment. As cooperatives
share several common characteristics with SMEs such as
mainly in their limitation of readily available resources
and enterprise diversity, the analysis further suggests a
potential approach to the lack of adoption problem and
spur uptake by adapting and extending a particular e-
business framework used by SMEs. Finally, given the
importance of cooperatives and their limited use of e-
business, the analysis also implores scholars to address
the currently minimal research in this area.
Keywords :
Cooperatives; Co-op; Small and Medium Enterprises; SMEs; E-business Information and Communication Technology; ICT; Internet; People’s Economy.
