This paper attempts to highlight a framework for the adoption of electronic commerce (EC) technologies
in New Zealand with specific interest in the small to medium-size enterprise (SME) sector of the
economy. The main thrust of the research was to develop the framework for EC adoption by the New
Zealand SMEs and hence study the accelerators and impediments to the adoption and diffusion of
EC technologies. The paper shows how IS/IT adoption and diffusion theories and practicalities can be
explored for developing the proposed EC adoption framework. It is argued that results from research case
studies based on the framework are able to identify the factors influencing and leading to the adoption of
e-commerce technologies by the New Zealand SMEs.
