Conclusions

managing it in government, business & communities
Chapter 12 - E-Business Development Issues in UK SMEs
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
by Gerry Gingrich (ed) 
Idea Group Publishing 2003
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While the authors are aware that given the small sample size interviewed here, any extrapolation of the results needs to be done with care, it remains the case that some themes have come up in each interview situation and that the three organisations have produced some strikingly similar results. This encourages us to feel that these issues are pertinent and can be explored in greater depth in an extension of the work to date.

There is some evidence to suggest that training and awareness-raising remains an issue for SMEs; of those interviewed there was a lack of awareness of the options for businesses. Many organisations appear to be prejudiced from prior knowledge or experience of having to buy into expensive EDI network integration through traditional hub and spoke models. One firm in particular showed a lack of awareness of Web alternatives to the expensive and standard controlled EDI network configurations of the previous decades. The research suggests that further information about alternative technical solutions and evaluation of implementing these solutions is necessary, and that the role should be facilitated by impartial sources possibly through more focused government initiatives.

Two out of the three case studies referred to their work as constantly "fire fighting" and therefore individuals within the business had no time to look at possible initiatives. In particular, one individual interviewed stated that the firm's profit margin had decreased substantially, an occurrence throughout their industry resulting in a fear of investing any funds or human resource into a "blue sky" project

There is some evidence within these preliminary findings that the actual e-commerce development within SMEs may rely very heavily on the personal networks of the managers. There was evidence from two of the firms of heavy reliance on friends who work within the IT industry or have an interest in developing home networks. Interestingly, this included the pure play business. This is something that needs to be explored in greater depth in future research and suggests that there is much untapped IT knowledge within the UK economy.

The results to date suggest knowledge of government and other independent initiatives for supporting e-commerce development within SMEs, but a significant number of poor experiences using these initiatives. At least one company had accessed the government's e-business support site, but found the site to be unhelpful, all documentation superficial, and full of unrealistic promises with no online support network available. Companies such as Business Link actively approached at least one business on a monthly basis, suggesting that SMEs are made fully aware of initiatives offered by local and national government. One company had such a bad experience with government initiative support that they asked the representative to leave the site. The main problem appeared to be that the representative had not had time to fully research the business environment and, as a result, had failed to establish trust with the managers of the business. The findings suggest the need for further research identifying why these initiatives are not working for SMEs. This will include a wider survey of SME experiences and interviews with the businesses such as Business Link.

Future Direction

Evaluation of the work to date indicates that this initial pilot study has barely scratched the surface of the myriad of reasons why e-commerce take-up may differ regionally within the UK.

It is intended to take the research further now by expanding the number of SMEs interviewed, while trying to balance the different categories already identified. We propose as the next step to extend the number of companies interviewed within the three regions already targeted and then to add companies from the higher take-up regions in the capital and the southeast.

The methodology chosen has worked well with a small number of pilot studies, but as each interview lasts in excess of an hour, consideration needs to be given as to whether this is feasible on a wider basis. One possible solution is to reduce the number of questions asked, particularly those covering financial issues, which companies were generally not happy to divulge. Some balance here must be preserved with the richness of the data and the previously mentioned rapport that was found in the interview situation.

A further issue that has been highlighted has been that we may be directed to the wrong person, which will have a significant impact on the results we get. A final point has been lack of understanding of the issues where the Web operation is outsourced. In at least one case, the interviewee has stated that they have no real depth of knowledge in this area and are unable to answer questions.

One further possible consideration is the prevalence of call centres in the north of England and the business that these have brought to regions where e-commerce has previously been less active. Integration of Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) and outsourced call management systems will impact on both e- and m-commerce, and there are a number of potential studies that could be factored in.

In order to add a more academic dimension to the work, it is proposed to try two separate approaches to the expansion of the work. One approach will be a joint study with a colleague in Australia who is also working in this field. The interesting aspects here will be the different research approaches. In the UK we are working with a focused, in-depth analysis on a company by company basis; in Australia, the approach is the opposite, with a large sample size and less depth. The contrasting approaches may lead to some joint research when factors for each country have been identified.

A second and more easily achievable approach is that of using a methodology to assess the potential benefits of using an e-commerce strategy.

The preliminary findings have clearly shown that no methodologies were executed during the development of any of these e-business systems; indeed, the evidence from the interviewees suggests that none have seen their e-business as a system and have fallen into the bottom-up development trap. Strategic managers were aware of e-business activities, but have not identified stakeholders or mission statements/objectives to meet through any strategy development methodology. Extensive research has located only one example of an appropriate methodology for strategy development that of Hackbarth and Kettinger (2000). They propose that use of their methodology will enable a company to break out of its existing constraint to alter existing business processes and open up new markets. Their methodology has been designed to support businesses in their move from what they term level 2 to level 3. Level 2 is defined as being where e-business supports, but is subservient to, current corporate strategy mainly supporting existing business processes, and level 3 is defined as being where e-business transforms the organisation's strategy. While we are aware that it is a more process-based methodology, it is expected that using it will produce some interesting results.

Finally, as one of the important, identified issues for two out of the three companies is a lack of knowledge and understanding about UK government funding initiatives for e-commerce development in SMEs, the UK Department for Trade and Industry will be approached to discover the full range of information and grants available to SMEs and to ascertain how to make this information more accessible to those SMEs who are unaware of what help is available.

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Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
ISBN: 1931777403
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 188

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