External Factors Affecting the Adoption of E-procurement in Saudi Arabian's SMEs

This paper investigates and discusses external factors for the adoption of e-procurement. The research has modified Gunasekaran and Ngai(2009) model to fit external factors and has been used as a theoretical foundation for the research. An extensive literature review has been conducted to evaluate external factors and Qualitative methodology (interview) has been adopted to get an insight into the external factors specific to Saudi Arabian perspectives. The study found nine external factors relevant to adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs which are government Support, own postal addresses and delivery service, providing secure and trustworthy online payment options, low cost and high speed internet connection, IT-related educational programs, supplier's willingness and readiness to participate or exert pressure, competitor's pressure, policy and regulations and Business and national culture of the country.