| Because e-commerce plays an increasingly important role in the way firms exchange information, and because e-commerce capabilities are becoming a key element in the selection of trade partners, it is crucial that firms, and especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are able to evaluate their e-commerce practices. It is also important that SMEs have access to models allowing them to analyze their practices and to plan their e-commerce strategy.; In order to reach these goals, we propose the introduction of a model in which the nature of e-commerce business processes can be analyzed. In this model, we classify the processes according to a double criterion: the technological complexity associated with the optimization of a business process and the nature of optimized operations.; We have also examined the adoption of the technological paths adopted by SMEs in order to illustrate the importance of sequential paths (the adoption of processes associated to every level between the highest level reached and the first level). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
