Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P28 pdf

204
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
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with organisational change, it is important to
establish a clear indication of what is meant by
change and how these concepts might be applied
to the context of change in Web sites. Levy and
Merry (1986) suggest that organisational change in
organisations can be viewed in three dimensions:
the process of change, the content of the change,
and the reasons for change (Figure 1).
Each of these dimensions provides a particular
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concerned with how change occurs, for example
continuous (incremental) versus episodic (dis-
continuous) changes in a sequence over time
(Weick & Quinn, 1999). The second dimension
focuses on what the changes are, examining the
empirically observable differences in the form,
quality or state of an entity over time (Van de Ven
& Poole, 1995). The third dimension examines
why change occurs, focusing on the forces and
sources for change (Pfeffer, 1982). These dimen-
sions were utilized to create the framework and
pose the research questions, as follows:
• How do SMEs change their Web sites (pro-
cess of change)?
• What kind of changes do SMEs make to
their Web sites (content of change)?
• Why do SMEs change their Web sites (driv
-

ers of change)?
These dimensions form the core of the frame-
work, with the categories of each being examined
next.
Process of Change
Web site evolution can follow a number of dif-
ferent patterns over time. For example, Web sites
may disappear, they may remain stagnant for long
periods of time, their content may be regularly
updated, they may be enhanced with additional
features or functionality, and they sometimes
undergo sudden wholesale redesign or redevelop-
ment (Alonso Mendo & Fitzgerald, 2005b). The
framework described here adopts a comprehensive
Content updates: represents common maintenance of Web content without changes in the functionality, look
and feel or features of the Web site. For example, addition of news about the company, changes in prices etc.
Dormant sites: corresponds to cases where there were no apparent changes or updates during the monitoring
period.
Incremental changes: characterizes upgrades that occur with the normal maintenance of a Web site that does
not entail a major redesign (Ryan et al, 2003). For example, adding a privacy policy page, adding a sitemap
or deleting some pages.
Major redesigns: denotes sudden and major shifts in a Web site that involve more than mere alterations in
look and feel. They usually imply changes to the number and organization of pages and functionality of the
site (Ryan et al, 2003).
Dead sites (click off): represents Web sites that have disappeared and no longer exist at the end of the
monitoring period. Their domain was found to be unavailable or their URL produced an error.
Bought sites: companies that were found to have been bought during the monitoring and now redirect to a
different company.
Under construction: displayed at the end of the period an under-construction page, while the Web site was
being redesigned.

Table 1. Evolution strategies
205
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
set of categories as to how Web sites evolve (or
evolution strategies) (see Table 1).
Content of Change
Web site evolution can also be characterized
by considering the observable differences that
Web sites experience over time. Two evaluation
approaches were adopted in this study with this
aim. Firstly, an automated evaluation approach
that deploys software tools to analyse Web sites
and collect information on key quantitative char-
acteristics of a large sample of Web sites (e.g.,
Ivory & Hearst, 2002). Secondly, a product-based
approach that measures the presence, absence,
or quantity of certain features or components
in a Web site. Such content analysis intends to
measure the development of a Web site focusing
Navigability (NAV): relates to features that facilitate simple, intuitive and consistent navigation on the site
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and in-site search (e.g. Barnes & Vidgen, 2001).
Accessibility (ACC): refers to features that make the site and its content more accessible in different
browsers, connection speeds, for users with disabilities and from various locations. For example text only
versions, links to plug-ins required and search tags. (e.g. Loiacono and McCoy, 2004).
Design & aesthetics (DA): these features measure that the design of the site is aesthetically pleasing and that
its ‘look and feel’ is appropriate for the content and purpose of the site. For example, correct space allocation,
choice of colours, readability, scannability and consistence of layout. (e.g. Barnes and Vidgen, 2001).
Design & use of multimedia (DUM): this category points to the appropriate use of multimedia content, such
as graphics, images, audio and animations (e.g. Barnes and Vidgen, 2001).

&RQWHQWIRU,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ,PDJH&,, comprises the content to identify the company and promote its
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values, customer’s testimonials, press releases etc (e.g. Boisvert, 2002).
Content for Promotion & contract (CPC): comprises the content to promote the products and/or services
of the company, build brand identity and informs the customers of conditions related to a transaction. For
example, electronic catalogue of products, product promotions, services offered, conditions regarding
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Content for Relationship Enhancement (CRE): UHODWHVWRVSHFL¿FLQIRUPDWLRQWRFXVWRPHUVDQGRWKHU
stakeholders in order to maintain relationships, in particular technical support and professional after-sales
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careers information (e.g. Boisvert, 2002).
Relational Interactivity (RI): includes any features to develop personalised relations with stakeholders, build
interest and a sense of community, and promote user/organization communication. For example adaptive
messaging/alert on company information or product/services, customization of the Web site, discussion
groups, guest books, login pages and chat. (e.g. Barnes and Vidgen, 2001).
Transactional Interactivity (TI): embraces features that enable users to carry out transactions like online
ordering facilities, direct sales and payment, and real-time order-processing. (e.g. Adam et al., 2002).
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of information received and the respect for people’s wishes regarding the processing of personal information.
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Site management & maintenance (SMM): includes features that indicate how current the content is, avoid
broken links and provides contact details to advice of Web site problems and other issues. For example, last
update date and webmaster link (e.g. Barnes and Vidgen, 2001).
Table 2. Categories of Web site evaluation
206
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
on externally perceivable aspects of the potential
functions accomplished by the Web site (e.g.,
Azzone, Bianchi, Noci, & Giovanni, 2001). Con-
sequently, eleven categories relevant to Web site

evaluation were selected based on an analysis of
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introduced in Table 2.
Drivers of Change
The third dimension examines why change oc-
curs. There are different forces or factors that
drive these changes and a previous phase of this
research entailed the development of a categoriza-
tion of these reasons, elaborated from previous
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on a qualitative content analysis of secondary
Web site redesign case studies (Alonso Mendo
& Fitzgerald, 2005c). The resulting categories of
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This section describes the research methods of
a pilot application of the framework. Firstly, an
empirical and quantitative approach was adopted
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Table 3. Drivers of Web site redesign
User-oriented drivers: this driver refers to the necessity of accommodating user needs (Benbunan-Fich
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audience by creating a better online experience and/or responding to user feedback/demand. For example,
taking into account user characteristics and preferences to improve overall usability or build more intuitive
navigation.
Maintenance drivers: the evolution and uncontrolled growth of the content of a Web site may lead to a
number of maintenance problems (e.g. site architecture erosion, outdated information, broken links etc).
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design shortcomings.
Internet/eCommerce strategy changes: in order to better accomplish the organization’s strategic objectives,

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sales, provide better customer relations or support, etc).
Business requirements changes: Web site redesigns may also be undertaken due to the company undergoing
fundamental alterations, such as changing focus, combining/dissolving divisions, applying a new business
model, re-branding process or otherwise altering its products/services.
New technological possibilities:WKLVFDWHJRU\ZRXOGH[SODLQ:HEVLWHUHGHVLJQLQWHUPVRI¿UPVWU\LQJWR
take advantage of the rapid advances in Internet-related technologies (Benbunan-Fich and Altschuller, 2005)
(e.g. the evolution of backend technologies, web presentation technology and formats, security services etc).
Fit with peers/competitors: this driver would explain Web site redesigns in terms of organizations trying
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themselves (Ryan et al., 2003). In this way, when enough number of peers and/or competitors incorporate
particular functionalities or design then the organization changes in the same way so that it can be seen as
belonging to the same group of organizations.
'HYHORSHU¶VLQÀXHQFH other potential drivers include the role of Internet consultants or Web developers,
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also be in response to the creativity of developers or their desire to mature and develop new skills.
207
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
Web sites over time. The advantages of this method
are that it allows a non-obtrusive data acquisition
of actual changes in the Web sites without explicit
interaction with the organisations and does not
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as a stage model) on the subjects of study. A
sample of 192 Web sites was monitored over a
10-month period and the changes recorded. This
data was collected in order to study the types
and characteristics of changes on these Web sites

(process of change). A content analysis was then
performed based on the differences between the
versions of the same Web site over time (content
of change).
Secondly, for studying the drivers of change
a qualitative approach was adopted, so that the
circumstances around these changes could be
investigated. This entailed contacting the com-
panies that had their Web sites redesigned during
the monitoring period and enquiring them for the
main reasons for their redesign.
Monitoring of Web Sites
The sample Web sites were selected from two small
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co.uk and www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk)
under the following business sectors: advertising,
aerospace, agricultural, automotive, builders,
business services, chemicals, dating services, and
Web design. One reason for choosing this group of
sites was that it consists of small businesses with
Web sites that had to register themselves into the
above directories, what implies a proactive use of
their sites and their importance for their strategies.
This sample does not intend to be representative
of the total SMEs population in the UK as the
aim of this pilot study is not making inferences
about such population as a whole. However, it
was deemed to provide enough variety in terms
of company sizes, locations and industries for an
exploratory study.

In November of 2003, a copy of each of the
Web sites was made by downloading Web pages
using WebCopier v.3.5 (www.maximumsoft.com),
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sites and stores them locally allowing them to be
analysed and compared (even when they have been
replaced or changed in the Internet). To ensure
d a t a c o n s i s t e n c y, o n c e d at a c o l l e c t io n h a d s t a r t e d ,
no new Web sites were added. Another tool, Web-
Site-Watcher 3.50f (www.aignes.com) was used
to compare the content of the companies pages
with those downloaded to detect any changes.
This tool allows the automatic monitoring of Web
pages for updates and changes in menus, links
and content. In order to monitor the evolution,
data was collected monthly, from November 2003
to August 2004. Those sites where change was
detected were then downloaded again to detect
any further changes.
Content Analysis
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of a number of Web sites that had been redesigned
during the monitoring period. Subsequent analysis
explored the content of these changes by evaluat-
ing the same Web site before and after a redesign
to check whether it experienced any growth in
functionalities and/or technical sophistication.
The method applied surveyed the new Web sites
in detail and mapped all changes detected. The
detected changes were mapped to the eleven

categories of evaluation proposed in the frame-
work. For each case, the categories were assigned
a binary numerical code of ‘1’ when there were
features of that particular category affected and
‘0’ when there were not. The categories of the
framework were found to be comprehensive and
relevant as all the changes were able to be placed
in one or other of the categories.
Telephone Interviews
In order to complement the previous analysis
and get a more complete picture of the motiva-
tions behind the Web site redesigns, telephone
208
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
interviews were undertaken between December
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post and e-mail, to the owners or directors of the
companies that were found having redesigns dur-
ing the monitoring period (18) to invite them to
participate in the research. Follow-up calls were
made and a questionnaire of eight open-ended
questions used to obtain information about the
reasons for the redesign, the objectives of the
Web presence and other Web maintenance and
planning issues. Whenever the respondent had
no time to answer on the phone, the alternative
option for replying by e-mail was offered. In total,
reasons for redesign were obtain from 10 out of 18
companies that redesigned their Web sites (55%
participation rate).

RESULTS
Monitoring of Web Sites
After the 192 Web sites were monitored for a 10-
month period, a number of different categories of
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research proposed a number of evolution strate-
gies: (1) no evolution, (2) minor corrections, (3)
managed redesign, (4) multi-developer main-
tenance, and (5) database (Boldyreff, Gaskell,
Marshall, & Warren, 2001). For the purpose
of this study a number of these strategies were
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the types of changes for the sample Web sites in
order of magnitude.
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was found in previous research as second in im-
portance (Boldyreff et al, 2001). It is interesting
to note that the second most common category of
change found in the sample is actually the absence
of any change. Around 18% of the sample Web
sites did not have any change or updates during
the monitoring period (dormant sites). Previously,
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changes” is the third category in our list, account-
ing for around 10% of the sample (this category
was not contemplated in the previous research).
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redesign”) was found in the previous research as
third in importance. Curiously, a similar propor-
tion (9%) of the sites disappeared along the way
and no longer existed at the end of the monitoring
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the permanence and mortality of Web sites, this
was found to be much larger: 18% by Koehler
(1999) and 27% by McMillan (2001). Finally, three
sites (2%) were found to have been bought and
now redirected to a different company. Further
four sites (2%) hold at the end of the period an
under-construction page, while the Web site was
being redesigned.
It is important to note that in some of the Web
sites several evolution strategies appear to have
taken place during the study. For example, the
same site having content updates, incremental
changes and redesigns. This indicates that the
maintenance process itself appears to evolve over
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purposes, in Table 4 each Web site was allocated
to only one category, that exhibiting the greatest
degree of change. For example, when a site was
found to have content updates and later a redesign,
the site was counted in the redesign category.
Figure 2 shows the detail of the evolution strat-
egies found broken down into business sectors.
Given that the number of companies belonging to
the sample sectors in this preliminary study were
different, a 100% (percentage) stacked column

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shake of its readability. This chart displays what
percentage each evolution strategy comprises of
the total cases for each sector so all values from
the same column (sector) add up to 100%. These
percentages will allow us to realize the sectors
209
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
that differ most from the general averages given
in Table 4, in terms of the evolution strategies
found.
As shown in Figure 2, chemicals and dating
services Web sites seem to be subject to more
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Table 4. Evolution strategies
Type of change Sites Percentage
Content updates 96 50%
No change (dormant sites) 34 18%
Incremental changes 20 10%
Major redesigns 18 9%
Dead sites (click off) 17 9%
Under re-construction 4 2%
Bought sites 3 2%
Total 192 100%
Figure 2. Evolution strategies by sector
210
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
WLPHDJULFXOWXUDODQGEXLOGHUVDUHVLJQL¿FDQWO\

the less updated. These considerable differences
may indicate that different kinds of business are
subject to different maintenance needs, in terms
of currency of content.
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be more commonly found in the builder sector and
less in automotive, dating services, chemicals, and
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frequent in agricultural, aerospace and automo-
tive, whereas they are not present in advertising,
chemicals, dating services, and Web design.
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Designers while agricultural, builders, chemicals,
and dating services happen to lack them. Sites that
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and agricultural sectors, while automotive is the
only sector which has none.
Content Analysis of Web Sites
Table 5 shows the analysis of the frequency of the
Web site dimensions changed during the redesigns
(i.e., the absolute and percentage number of Web
site redesigns collected, where a given category
was altered). In this way, we can see that most of
the redesigns in the sample incorporated changes
in DA (75%) and NAV (70%) features. Around
half, affected CII (50%) and RI components (45%).
The least affected dimensions are DUM (5%), TI
(10%), and SC (15%). Counts and frequencies per
variable are presented in Table 5.
Five out of the nine business sectors selected for

the study presented Web site redesigns. They were
explored and analysed to investigate whether dif-
ferent kinds of SMEs incorporate different types
of features when redesigning their Web sites.
Table 6 shows the relative frequency of each
category broken down by business sector. These
percentages show how the categories by sector
differ most from the total sample averages given
in Table 6. For example, in the case of Web de-
signer sector the RI dimension was affected in
all their redesigns (100%) while NAV was only in
half of them (50%). In the case of the advertising
redesigns features, ACC (40%) and DUM (20%)
were more frequent than average. For Aerospace
redesigns NAV and DA dimensions were affected
in all their cases (100%), CII and CRE were so
in half of them (50%) while all the other dimen-
sions were not present. For Automotive sector the
CPC (60%), SC (40%), SMM (40%) and TI were
Table 5. Frequency of categories changed
Evaluation categories Frequency Percentage
Design & aesthetics (DA) 15 75%
Navigability (NAV) 14 70%
&RQWHQWIRU,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ,PDJH&,, 10 50%
Relational Interactivity (RI) 9 45%
Content for Relationship Enhancement (CRE) 7 35%
Content for Promotion & contract (CPC) 6 30%
Site management & maintenance (SMM) 5 25%
Accessibility (ACC) 4 20%
6HFXULW\&RQ¿GHQWLDOLW\6& 3 15%

Transactional Interactivity (TI) 2 10%
Design & use of multimedia (DUM) 1 5%
211
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
more frequent than average. Finally, for business
services TI (25%) is more frequent while DA,
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than the average.
Telephone Interviews
The responses of the companies, relating to their
main reasons for redesigning their Web site, were
collected and coded according to the a priori clas-
VL¿FDWLRQLQWURGXFHGEHIRUH7DEOHVKRZVWKH
analysis of the frequency of the main drivers of
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(i.e., companies A, B, etc.). The last column in-
dicates the number of times that a given category
of driver was mentioned as being a key reason
for the redesign. The results show that the most
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DQG ³0DUNHWLQJHFRPPHUFHVWUDWHJ\´ 2Q WKH
RWKHU KDQG ³1HZ WHFKQRORJLFDO SRVVLELOLWLHV´
DQG ³'HYHORSHUV LQÀXHQFH´ DUH IRXQG RQO\ LQ
one case each. Even more, a seventh category
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in any of these cases. It is important to note that
in most cases more than one main category of
drivers was found, as it can be seen in the last
row of the table.
In order to get a more detailed insight into

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EHHQDSSOLHGWRWKH¿UVWIRXUFDWHJRULHV7DEOH
presents the breakdown of the four more relevant
categories into several subcategories
Dimensions
Total
sample
Web
designer
Advertising Aerospace Automotive
Business
Services
Design & aesthetics (DA) 75% 100% 60% 100% 100% 25%
Navigability (NAV) 70% 50% 60% 100% 80% 75%
&RQWHQWIRU,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ
Image (CII) 50% 50% 60% 50% 60% 25%
Relational Interactivity (RI) 45% 100% 40% 0% 40% 25%
Content for Relationship
Enhancement (CRE) 35% 50% 20% 50% 20% 50%
Content for Promotion &
contract (CPC) 30% 25% 40% 0% 60% 0%
Site management &
maintenance (SMM) 25% 25% 20% 0% 40% 25%
Accessibility (ACC) 20% 0% 40% 0% 20% 25%
6HFXULW\&RQ¿GHQWLDOLW\
(SC) 15% 0% 20% 0% 40% 0%
Transactional Interactivity
(TI) 10% 0% 0% 0% 20% 25%
Design & use of multimedia
(DUM) 5% 0% 20% 0% 0% 0%

Table 6. Categories changed by sector
212
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
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SMEs change their Web sites), a number of dif-
ferent evolution strategies were studied. Firstly,
incremental changes and redesigns were found
to occur in similar proportions (10% and 9%
respectively). However, according to Hudson,
major redesigns could be counterproductive, as
users generally do not like rapid, drastic changes
Table 7. Analysis of the frequency of the main drivers of redesign
Drivers of redesign / Respondents A B C D E F G H I J Frequency
Business requirements x x x x x x 6
Marketing/eCommerce strategy x x x x x x 6
User-oriented drivers x x x x 4
Maintenance drivers x x x 3
New technological possibilities x 1
'HYHORSHUVLQÀXHQFH x1
Number of drivers 4 1 5 1 2 3 1 1 2 1
Table 8. Analysis of the frequency of the subcategories of drivers of redesign
Subcategories / Respondents A B C D E F G H I J Frequency
Subcategories of Business requirements
Refresh dated looking site x x x 3
New services/products x x 2
Change branding x x 2
Subcategories of Marketing/eCommerce strategy
Search engine optimization x x x 3
(QKDQFH¿UPLPDJH xxx 3

Improve eCommerce functionality x x 2
Improve customer service/support x 1
Marketing/branding awareness x 1
Subcategories of User-oriented drivers
Improve accessibility x x 2
More user friendly site x 1
Audience/user needs x 1
Subcategories of Maintenance drivers
Improve site management/
maintenance
xx x 3
Security/Login x 1
Site architecture/design
shortcomings
x1
213
The Evolving Web Presence of SMEs
to their interfaces (Hudson, 2000). A completely
new Web site can frustrate users by depriving them
of a familiar system and forces them to relearn the
site, reading content and scanning links for the
material they need. Therefore, further research
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redesign is inevitable and a better option than
incremental changes. In addition, dormant sites
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and may indicate possible maintenance problems
or barriers in SMEs. Thus future interviews with
these companies will be undertaken to try to ex-
amine the circumstances in which they occur.

In relation to the second research question
(what kind of changes SMEs made in their Web
sites), it was found that most of the redesigns in
the sample involved the improvement of features
³GHVLJQ  DHVWKHWLFV´  DQG QDYLJDELOLW\
(70%). The second most relevant categories af-
IHFWHGZHUHWKH³FRQWHQWIRULGHQWL¿FDWLRQDQG
LPDJH´ RI WKH FRPSDQ\  DQG ³UHODWLRQDO
interactivity” (45%). These frequencies suggest
that the majority of companies evolved their Web
sites to refresh the image and change navigation
protocols rather than to add transactional features
or other e-commerce facilities.
From the sectors studied only the automotive
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LQWHUDFWLYLW\´IHDWXUHVZKLOH³UHODWLRQDOLQWHUDF-
tivity” was found mainly in Web designers and
aerospace sectors. Interestingly, the motor and
aerospace industries are some of the few examples
where there is some evidence of SMEs having
engaged in more complex ebusiness applications
E H FDX V H RI W KHL Q ÀX H Q FHRIW K H H SU D F W L FHV RIO D U JH U 
organisations (Brown & Lockett, 2004). These
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models are not the best way of representing the
e-business progression of SMEs as such models
assume that Web sites grow in sophistication and
functionality over time, whereas it would appear
W KD W60 ( VPRUHI UH TXHQWO \VL PSO\UH¿Q HW KH LUH[-
isting Web presence. Transactional Web sites are

often not the primary strategy of small business
to generate online sales. Alternative strategies,
such as selling by online auctions and e-mail
campaigns, have been found to be more suitable
for the limited resources and technical skills of
small business (Gribbins & King, 2004).
With regard to the third research question (why
SMEs change their sites), it seems that many of
the redesigns analyzed are motivated by business
UHTXLUHPHQWVVXFKDVDGHVLUHWR³UHIUHVK´DQROG
looking Web site, an expansion of products/ser-
vices or a change of branding. Marketing/e-com-
merce strategy considerations are also important
reasons. For example, to improve the rankings in
search engines and to enhance the image of the
company. Improving the e-commerce functional-
ity of the site was only mentioned in two of the
companies. In addition, improve the management
and maintenance of the site and its accessibility
were mentioned too.
6RPHRIWKHVH¿QGLQJVDUHLQOLQHZLWKSUHYLRXV
work, describing transformation of commercial
Web sites, that found a tendency to expand in-
formation and improve usability (Benbunan-Fich
& Altschuller, 2005) and to focus on information
convenience, site navigation and customer con-
¿GHQFH3LFFROL%URKPDQ:DWVRQ3DUDVXUD-
man, 2004).
CONCLUSION
The Stages of Growth model is one of the most

common approaches to explain the evolution
and progression of Internet technologies adop-
tion by organisations. However, this approach is
not exempt from criticism and other alternative
models and approaches are to be found in the
OLWHUDWXUH7KLVFKDSWHUKDVSURSRVHGDQGMXVWL¿HG
an alternative, multidimensional, research frame-
work, based on organisational change concepts,
such that the study of SMEs Web evolution can
be undertaken in a more insightful way and in a
ZD\WKDWEHWWHU¿WVZLWKHPSLULFDO¿QGLQJVIRXQG
in the literature. The framework consists of three