TECTAM, a Modified Technology Acceptance Model to Assess E-Commerce Technologies adoption by Thai SME

摘要

In 2002, the Thai government has endorsed an information technology policy framework entitled "Thailand Vision towards a Knowledge-Based Economy (IT 2010)". The policy emphasises the roles of information technology for the enablement and facilitation of economic and social development One of the objectives is to develop the ability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete in the world market. Although there are successful cases, majority of the companies among the Thai SMEs sector are still in an early stage of utilising E-commerce technologies to reap benefits from new opportunities. Therefore, there is a need to understand, to extract and to acquire knowledge about the adoption and use of the e-commerce technologies by SMEs in Thailand. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been applied to many studies on the adoption and use of innovation and technologies. This proposed study intends to use a modified TAM named, TECTAM (Thai E-commerce Technology Acceptance Model), as a research tool and model to study e-commerce acceptance among the Thailand's SMEs sector. The predominant dimensions of this study are based on TAM perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). In terms of PU, the near-term and long-term usefulness are considered. On the other hand, the PEOU will be concerned with the social influence processes and the cognitive instrumental processes. In addition, this study will investigate how to increase the benefits from the relationship between TAM and other approaches. Finally, the study aims to apply the use of TECTAM model in terms of e-commerce technologies acceptance and how they could be used. While the project is in a preliminary stage, the paper will detail the proposed methodology and approach of this project.