Related Research

 

Chapter 1 - Adopting the Entrepreneurial Process in the Study of Information Systems and Small Business
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
by Gerry Gingrich (ed)
Idea Group Publishing 2003

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Earlier research (Nickell and Seado, 1986) determined that small business was mainly using IS for accounting and administrative purposes. Research conducted in the 1990s (Lin et al., 1993; Fuller, 1996; Berman, 1997; Canadian Federation of Independent Business, 1999; Timmons, 1999) noted a growing interest by small business in employing IS in daily operations. The impetus for this growing interest originated from various sources. First, small business was becoming concerned about the adoption of IS by competition. The small business manager did not want to be left behind the competition regarding the use of technology. Second, the technology was becoming more affordable, reliable, and powerful. These trends were allowing the small business manager to make decisions about the technology, which fit the general decision-making profile of the small business manager. Third, IS was starting to be recognized as a means for the small business to attempt to compete with larger businesses. Fourth, the widespread use of the Internet facilitated the identification and implementation of e-commerce opportunities.

While small businesses have been more than prepared to exploit the use of IS to support daily operations (El Louadi, 1998), there exists little evidence that they are prepared to employ the technology in a strategic manner (Berman, 1997). Bridge and Peel (1999) also determined that small businesses employed computers mainly to support daily operations and tended not to use them to support decision-making or long-term planning.

Recent research has supported the contention that the use of IS by small business represents a unique approach. For instance, Pollard and Hayne (1998) investigated the information systems issues identified by small business managers across Canada. Their results indicate that the issues being faced by small business managers are different than those faced by large business managers. Also, in the area of IS, the issues are in a continual state of change. Also, Belich and Dubinsky (1999) applied information theory to investigate the information processing among a group of small business exporters. They determined that the information processing of the small businesses was not the same as that found in larger firms. Further, Taylor (1999) investigated the implementation of enterprise software in small businesses and found that neither the businesses themselves, nor the software vendors are fully cognizant of the unique problems encountered by small business managers. Finally, Hunter et al. (2002) identified two major themes regarding small business use of IS. These themes are dependency and efficiency. The authors suggest that the adoption of IS increased the small business' dependency on an internal champion, and a series of external stakeholders, including consultants and suppliers. This increased dependency, Hunter et al. (2002) suggest, results from the approaches to business (Stevenson, 1999) taken by the manager and the concept of resource poverty (Thong, Yap and Raman, 1994). The efficiency theme suggests that IS is primarily used by small business managers as an operational tool to help complete daily activities.

The above reported research, even when the uniqueness of small business use of IS is acknowledged, presents a snapshot view of the small business as though it were spatially and temporally constant. However, the underlying theme of the ideas presented in this document is that the dynamism of the small business, which dictates the ever-changing requirements, must be satisfied from the perspective of the business' on-going development. That is, the needs of the small business change as the process evolves from conceptualisation of the business opportunity through start-up and growth. This idea is supported by the research of McMullan and Long (1990) who suggest that small businesses continue to evolve as they become self-sustaining entities.

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