Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the firm characteristic drivers that
influence e-commerce usage in the Kenyan banking industry. Despite clear
evidence showing that e-commerce usage is moderated by local environment, drivers influencing e-commerce usage remains under-researched particularly in Kenya. This objective of the study was to determine the influence
of market share, number of employees, Top management support, organization learning ability and bank ownership on e-commerce usage in the Kenya
banking industry. Grounded on the Technological, Organizational and Environmental model (TOE), five hypotheses were tested in the study to determine the drivers of e-commerce usage.
A descriptive cross- sectional survey was carried out and the population of
the study was all the 43 commercial banks operating in Kenya as at December 2013. A sample of 32 banks was selected using stratified random sampling, while purposive sampling was used to select 96 respondents who participated in this study. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire that
was administered to the heads of ICT, Operation and Finance departments of
the selected banks. Data analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) and coefficient of determination and regression analyses was undertaken to test the hypothesis.
Results showed that Top management support, organization learning ability
were significant factors determining use of e-commerce while firm size, bank
ownership and number of employees were not. The study adds to existing
innovation literature suggesting that firm characteristics influence usage of ecommerce applications in Kenyan banking industry and confirms effectiveness of TOE framework for conducting studies on actual technology usage at
the firm level
