Correlation Analysis

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Pearson product/moment correlation analysis was employed to assess the relationship between the environmental, organizational and personal factors, perception, and attitudes. The results of the analysis can be found in Table 12, which is limited to those factors that were correlated at a significant level.

As Table 12 illustrates, environmental factors relating to eCommerce (ECE) are positively correlated to eCommerce knowledge (ECK), which suggests that respondents who are familiar with eCommerce are aware of the issues associated with China's structural conditions. Variables related to organizational factors include both executive support/leadership (ESL) and the firm's use of eCommerce (FUEC). As one would expect, a positive correlation exists between these variables. Further, both executive support/leadership and the firm's use of eCommerce are positively correlated with eCommerce knowledge (ECK). This suggests that the greater the executive's eCommerce knowledge, the greater the influence in shaping opinion, providing leadership, and creating a technology-infused organizational environment. Analogously, executive support/leadership is positively correlated with personal IT knowledge (ITK), which is perhaps an indication that IT savvy managers are more positive about executive leadership and support.

Table 7: Perception of eCommerce: Usefulness (in %).

	Strongly Agree 1	2	3	4	5	6	Strongly Disagree 7	MEAN
ECommerce will be of benefit to me personally.	50	16	9	6	9	5	5	2.42
Using eCommerce applications will improve my performance.	48	16	11	9	3	2	11	2.52
The advantages of eCommerce to me will outweigh the disadvantages.	42	25	14	5	5	0	9	2.42
Overall, using eCommerce will be advantageous to me.	52	22	8	5	3	2	9	2.28

Table 8: Perception of eCommerce: Ease of Use (in %).

	Strongly Agree 1	2	3	4	5	6	Strongly Disagree 7	MEAN
I have the skills, capability and knowledge necessary to use eCommerce applications.	42	24	13	11	2	3	5	2.35
Using eCommerce applications is entirely within my control.	14	33	21	14	5	6	6	3.06
Using eCommerce will fit well with the way I work.	41	23	20	11	2	0	3	2.22
Using eCommerce will fit into my work style.	38	23	20	13	3	0	3	2.33
The setup of eCommerce will be compatible with the way I work.	32	24	22	14	3	2	3	2.51

Table 9: Perception of eCommerce: Importance (in %).

Importance in terms of ...	Extremely Important 1	2	3	4	5	6	Extremely Unimportant 7	MEAN
creating new business processes.	39	33	14	5	3	3	3	2.22
improving business relationships.	30	39	16	9	0	3	3	2.33
creating new distribution channels.	33	43	8	10	0	2	5	2.24
increasing sales.	21	31	31	8	7	0	3	2.61
improving customer satisfaction.	32	22	29	8	5	2	3	2.49
creating new products.	13	22	31	17	8	8	2	3.16
enhancing the global presence of the company.	42	23	27	5	2	0	2	2.08

Table 10: Perception of eCommerce: Security (in %).

How concerned are you about...	Not at all Concerned 1	2	3	Very Concerned 4	MEAN
Security in relation to making purchases or banking over the Internet	9	5	16	70	3.47
Security features when choosing whether or not to do business with an Internet-based company	2	20	55	23	3.00

Table 11: Attitudes toward eCommerce (in %).

	Strongly Agree 1	2	3	4	5	6	Strongly Disagree 7	MEAN
Implementing eCommerce is a good and wise idea	56	25	11	5	0	0	3	1.80
I like the idea of implementing eCommerce	52	30	10	5	0	0	3	1.83
Using eCommerce applications would be a pleasant experience	43	30	18	5	0	3	2	2.05

Variables that model personal factors include IT knowledge (ITK) and eCommerce knowledge (ECK) and communication (COMM) about eCommerce. Again, findings indicate a positive correlation among these variables. IT and eCommerce knowledge are both positively correlated with the perception of ease of use (PEOU) while eCommerce knowledge and communication are positively correlated with perceptions of personal usefulness (PU).

The perception of eCommerce is manifested in the perception of personal eCommerce usefulness (PU), the perception of ease of use (PEOU), and eCommerce importance to the organization (PIO) variables. These variables exhibit a positive intercorrelation as well as a moderating influence on attitude about eCommerce.

While the model's variables exhibit a positive intergroup correlation, findings indicate that environmental and organizational factors do not play a role in shaping perceptions or attitudes. This suggests that Chinese managers' perceptions and attitudes toward eCommerce are independent of current environmental and organizational conditions. One implication is that this new generation of managers may be expected to continue technological pursuits in spite of the environmental shortcomings. Personal factors are partially correlated to usefulness and ease of use, but not to perceptions of importance and security. With the exception of security, all of the perception variables demonstrated a positive correlation with attitude while other factors influence perception. Perhaps because all respondents are enrolled in the university system, their educational experiences may have shaped and/or influenced their perceptions and thus attitudes toward eCommerce.

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