internal operations were electronically integrated with those of its customers and suppliers. This firm was not, however, requiring its suppliers to implement B2B e-commerce. 6. CONCLUSION In this study the extent and the form of involvement with B2B e-commerce by 12 Kenyan firms in the garment industry has been examined. All but one of these firms was found to be selling their products in external markets and all but two were sourcing inputs from outside Kenya. Most of these firms might be expected to be prime candidates for developing applications of computer-mediated trade. The findings indicated that there was only limited use of B2B e-commerce by the sample firms at the time the research was undertaken in mid-2002. The substantial differences in usage patterns among firms in the sample suggest that these patterns are influenced by many factors in addition to the characteristics of the physical or institutional infrastructure, which is in place to support B2B e-commerce. These include the awareness levels of managers, the preferences for traditional forms of communication, the difficulties of establishing the quality standards of projects using electronic means of communication, the capacity of Kenya-based firms to increase their output, and the extent to which relationships with upstream and downstream firms and other organisations outside Kenya are moving towards the implementation of B2B e-commerce. The results of this study based on a small sample of firms and key informant interviews are indicative of a range of issues that influence the scope for the introduction of B2B e-commerce in the garment sector. The garment firms in the sample were using electronic networks to conduct international trade to some extent. All the firms had access to modem-based analogue connectivity to reach the public Internet and there was limited use of extranets and EDI. Extranets were being used to accept orders from international customers and to place orders with international suppliers. EDI was being used to accept from and place orders with both domestic and international customers and suppliers. The firms were participating in B2B e-commerce if the use of e-mail and the web Web is included in the definition of B2B e-commerce. The predominant use of these applications was as tools for messaging and posting information or for obtaining information about other firms in the local, regional and international markets. E-mail was being used mainly for maintaining contacts with buyers and to accept product orders while the web was being used to obtain general information about inputs, product markets, and specific customers and suppliers as well as for accepting orders from domestic customers and for placing orders with international suppliers. 23