Survey Shows More SMEs Adopt Higher Levels of e-Business

Local SMEs adopting higher levels of e-business are on the increase, according to a survey jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government.

The "Survey on e-Business Adoption in Hong Kong" was conducted annually to study the development and deployment of e-business in the local business sector, in which 98% of the establishments are SMEs. In this survey, a total of 2,014 local companies were interviewed by telephone from July to December 2004. Their e-adoption mode was classified into six ascending levels ranging from 0 to 5, representing 'No Intention', 'Show Intention', 'Basic Adoption', 'Prospecting', 'Business Integration' and 'Business Transformation' accordingly.

Ms Wendy Wong, Principal Consultant (Strategic Information & Intelligence) of HKPC, said, "It is encouraging to see that the percentage of companies adopting higher levels of e-business ('Prospecting', 'Business Integration' and 'Business Transformation' levels) has increased to 21%, compared to 17% in the last survey (December 2003). The increase was mainly recorded in the 'Business Integration' Group (increase from 6% to 9%) where web applications are used for on-line transaction or business integration, an indication that more SMEs are now willing to further enhance their e-business capabilities."

According to Ms Wong, the survey also showed that the number of companies with a webpage and e-mail accounts (level 3 of 'Prospecting') has slightly increased from 11% to 12%, while companies having e-mail communications only (level 2 of 'Basic Adoption') recorded a decrease of 3% (from 38% to 35%). This indicates that more companies have moved up to higher levels of e-business adoption.

"In addition, realising the importance of response time in e-communication, more SMEs have shifted from using dial-up method to broadband to ensure faster connection to the Internet. In this survey, SMEs using the broadband and dial-up connections were 94% and 5% respectively, as compared to 86% and 15% a year ago," she said.

The survey also found that companies are more aware of the importance of providing timely information in e-channels, with 46% of SMEs updated the content of their company websites within one month. In addition to posting 'company information' (100%) and 'product/service catalogue' (99%) on the web, SMEs also use their websites for other purposes, including 'online inquiry service' (71%), 'intranet'(16%) and 'online ordering service' (9%). "Among them, 63% said that their websites help generate revenue for their business," Ms Wong added.

Of the key benefits SMEs experienced in adopting e-business, 'build up image' (92%), 'enhance work efficiency' (74%), 'enhance customer service and relationship' (61%) and 'enhance internal and external integration'(59%) were cited.

The survey, on the other hand, found that 44% of the establishments* in Hong Kong do not have any plans to adopt e-business within the next six months (level 0 of 'No Intention'). Majority of them (97%) cited 'no business need' as the main reason for not adopting e-business.

For details of the "Survey on e-Business Adoption in Hong Kong", please contact HKPC's Ms Wendy Wong at (852) 2788 5825 or (852) 2788 5815.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications & Events
Tel: (852) 2788 5036
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
E-mail: emilyc@hkpc.org

10 March 2005


* This survey covers local establishments that are active in business operation.