DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

The goal of the study was identify critical prec­edents that form e-banking value and their impact using the TOE framework. Results of the study show that all technological, organizational, and environmental factors significantly contribute to e­banking value.

E-banking is a high-risk area with a potential for substantial economic loss (Hertzum, Juul, J0rgensen, & N0rgaard, 2004). In the process of developing plans for implementation, an under­standing of local interpretations of technology is fundamental, if the technology is going to be adopted and eventually institutionalized (Silva, 2011). E-banking is increasingly becoming a traditional banking channel, making technological robustness a necessity for implementing e-bank­ing. Perhaps this is why technology factors such as security and ease of use are most influential factors for the employees participating in this study. It should be noted that ease of use has been shown to be a stronger antecedent of technology adoption than security from the employee stand­point. This finding is consistent with studies that show that Chinese tend to have strong culturally specific design preferences for interfaces (or IT system) and therefore have higher perception of ease of use (Evers & Day, 1997). Employees in SMEs generally lack the capability to handle cy­ber threats. Thus, the dedicated security services offered by the financial institutions are valuable for them. S moother human-computer interactions with interfaces that emphasize learnability, oper­ability, and understandability increase the value of online systems to SMEs when making online transactions.

Organizational factors had the second highest influence on B2B e-banking value. Specifically, innovative culture and employee technology readiness were significant but most the salient organizational factor in the Taiwan context was coordination intensity, which perhaps implies dependency of SMEs on banking finance to un­dertake projects. Implementing online banking and providing customized services to the diversified customers cannot be done with a rigid organiza­tional culture. With an innovative organizational culture, firms can visualize changing business requirements and customer needs. The literature also suggests that in creating continuous and sustained value creation, firms must devise and implement an innovation culture which allows them to build the capabilities necessary to compete successfully both now and in the future (Isidre & Jeef, 2010; Voelpel, Leibold, & Streb, 2005). As information and communication technologies advance, e-banking services are expected to be more innovative, involving the entire organiza­tion. Additionally, employee technology readiness facilitates value for SMEs in making e-banking more resilient as a part of long term strategy. B eing actual implementers, employees are responsible for realizing e-banking value. Hence, employee technology readiness to implement e-banking technology and further innovations stimulates a fertile environment. The literature supports the notion that concerted effort and e-readiness ac­tion from top management, other managers, and employees enables firms to minimize financial losses and optimize business practices in respond­ing to changing business environments (Jutla et al., 2002). Coordination being the most significant organizational factor shows that Taiwanese SMEs are dependent on financial institutions that are normally highly risk averse.

The government’s R&D and technology poli­cies encourage and support innovation among all firms, especially SMEs, and can help countries remain competitive in a global market. In the absence of robust policy overseas market develop­ment has the least significant impact, meaning that firms are still appraising e-banking technology for overseas market development. This may indicate that government policies are yet not completely congruent with SME needs. It also shows SMEs are likely to experience high economic risks, scarce financial resources, and difficulty access­ing market information and markets when going abroad (Demirbas, 2011). Research shows that overseas market development plays only a partial and controversial role when creating e-business value since some SMEs use the Internet as ef­ficient conduit for international market growth (Mathews & Healy, 2006), while others SMEs do not. As competition in the international market increases, domestic competition decreases and the number of firms competing domestically decreases. In Taiwan where domestic market is small and there is a large number of SMEs (Chiao & Yang, 2011), performance in the international market matters.

While using e-banking, firms may have un­pleasant experiences that eventually reduce user satisfaction. However, the present study finds that user satisfaction is a significant contributor to B2B e-banking value as defined by employees. This shows that Taiwanese employees appreciate the value received from e-banking as they are experiencing its perceived benefits. Our find­ing is consistent with the literature regarding e-commerce which finds that e-business value is more important than user satisfaction (Gonzalez et al., 2004).

Our study further shows a significant effect of e-banking value on individual impacts. It shows that technology standards and systems used in e-banking appear to prominently influence em­ployee job characteristics such as organizational commitments, essential functions, satisfaction and performance with an increase in job comfort level. By the same token, e-banking value had a significant influence on organizational impacts. Firms appreciate the value of e-banking since it offers concrete benefits such as market expansion and reduced operating costs. The organizational management and IS literature, which acknowl­edges substantial influences of technology on employees as well as the organization, corroborates our findings (Chen, 2011; Raphael & Zott, 2001; Venkatesh, Davis, & Morris, 2007).