Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Mary Dereshiwsky

Abstract

Small business owners who fail to adopt modern technology risk placing themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Drawing on Davis's technology acceptance model, the purpose of this study was to examine how small business owners in Central Ohio come to accept and use computerized accounting systems (CAS). The research question addressed the correlation between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and the intent to adopt CAS using multiple linear regression. Data were collected using a survey mailed to 347 small business owners which yielded a sample size of 71 respondents. Results showed a positive correlation between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and the intent to adopt CAS; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. The model predicted about 71% of the variations in intent to adopt CAS. Using the portion of the sample where small business owners had not yet adopted CAS (n = 34), the model was able to predict about 63% of the variation, and in the portion where small business owners had already adopted CAS (n = 37), the model was able to predict about 70% of the variation. However, when splitting the sample between small businesses whose owners had already adopted CAS and those who had not yet adopted CAS, importance of ease of use and usefulness changed. Usefulness is more important to nonadopters and ease of use is more important for continued use. The implication for social change is the potential to reduce business failures. The study showed that 83% of small businesses over 5 years old currently use a CAS and only 56% under 5 years old use a CAS. Society could benefit from an increase in the number of successful small businesses, which would then contribute to economic expansion.

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