Business-to-business electronic commerce (B2BEC) represents the largest growth sector, that is, 80% of revenues—in e-commerce (Pires & Aisbett, 2003). IDC predicts that Australian B2BEC spending will grow at 70% annually and is likely to reach $166.25 billion by 2006 (Pearce, 2002). ICT investments in B2BEC are used to assist in the interorganization acquisition of goods into the value chain and
... [Show full abstract] to provide interfaces between customers, vendors, suppliers, and sellers (Barua, Konana, & Whinston, 2004). Although B2BEC provides organizations a wealth of new opportunities and ways of doing business, it is extremely difficult to evaluate and therefore, have yet to prove enduring sources of profit (Laudon & Laudon, 2004). Research studies and practitioner surveys report contradictory findings on the effect of the ICT expenditures on organizational productivity (Thatcher & Pingry, 2004). In particular, measurement of the business value of ICT investment has been the subject of considerable debate among academics and practitioners (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2003; Sugumaran & Arogyaswamy, 2004). Although some ICT productivity studies have produced inconclusive and negative results (Zhu, 2004), other research indicated that spending in ICT is directly related to organizational performance (e.g., Hu & Quan, 2005). Some researchers (e.g., Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2003; Zhu, 2004) suggested that the confusion over ICT productivity is due to, among other things, the lack or inappropriate use of ICT evaluation and benefits realization methodologies or processes.
