Information Systems For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises

This book establishes and explores existing and emerging theories on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the adoption of IT/IS. It presents the latest empirical research findings in that area of IS research and explores new technologies and practices. The book is written for researchers and professionals working in the field of IS research or the research of SMEs. Moreover, the book will be a reference for researchers, professionals and students in management information systems science and related fields.

Discusses the main issues, challenges, opportunities, and trends related to the impact of IT on every part of organizational and inter-organizational environments.

Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise provides an overview of how small and medium business enterprises (SMEs) can use flexibility, agility, and anticipation strategies to better utilize information technology and knowledge management. Because small and medium businesses tend to be late technology adopters, they could miss versatile and strategic workforce advantages that enable them to achieve higher efficiency and effectiveness through technology. This book shows these SMEs new technology trends that can transform the nature of their operations both in an evolutionary business path and through revolutionary opportunities. Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise applied correctly to small and medium business can be used as a strategic tool to reach growth and profit goals for the SMEs competing in a very dynamic and global marketplace. Examples include: identifying ways that IT can be used to develop strong relationships with customers and suppliers, and how to select the best technologies for business needs. Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise targets SME owners, educators, and practitioners working in the related fields of management, IT, IS, and CS-related disciplines. Advanced-level students and policy makers focusing on SMEs will also find this book valuable in terms of main concepts for discussion.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in rejuvenating and sustaining the modern economy, generating substantial employment and serving as important innovation engines for the global economy. Global Perspectives on Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Information Systems: International Approaches aims to spread research conducted on SMEs internationally and place it at the disposal of academics, practitioners, consultants, the vendor community, and policymakers. The goal of this book is to highlight the challenges faced by SMEs and how they are coping with the adverse environment through skillful use of IT and technologies such as Web 2.0, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), e-commerce, open source software, Business Process Digitization (BPD), and other emerging technologies.

"This book provides a comprehensive collection of research on current technological developments and organizational perspectives on the scale of small and medium enterprises"--Provided by publisher.

This book contains the collection of papers presented at the conference of the International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 8.2 "Information and Organizations." The conference took place during June 21–24, 2009 at the Universidade do Minho in Guimarães, Portugal. The conference entitled "CreativeSME - The Role of IS in Leveraging the Intelligence and Creativity of SME’s" attracted high-quality submissions from across the world. Each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers in a double-blind review process. In addition to the 19 papers presented at the conference, there were five panels and four workshops, which covered a range of issues relevant to SMEs, creativity and information systems. We would like to show our appreciation of the efforts of our two invited keynote speakers, Michael Dowling of the University of Regensburg, Germany and Carlos Zorrinho, Portuguese coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan. The following organizations supported the conference through financial or other contributions and we would like to thank them for their engagement:

In many countries, small businesses comprise over 95% of the proportion of private businesses and approximately half of the private workforce, with information technology being used in over 90% of these businesses. As a result, governments worldwide are placing increasing importance upon the success of small business enterpreneurs and are providing increased resources to support this emphasis. Managing Information Technology in Small Business: Challanges and Solutions presents research in areas such as IT performance, electronic commerce, Internet adoption, and IT planning methodologies and focuses on how these areas impact small businesses.

Strategies for Growth in SMEs explores for the first time the role of information and information systems (IS) concepts in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Most IS research focuses on large firms, yet the majority of firms in most economies are SMEs. The book considers the applicability of IS theory and practice to SMEs and develops new theories that are relevant to these firms. Composed of 6 sections, it covers, amongst other things; the nature of SMEs, the background to IS, and SMEs' use of IS, issues of IS strategy and planning in SMEs, the way that firms can transform through use of IS, evaluation, IS flexibility, business process re-engineering, resource-based strategy and knowledge management, the appropriateness of existing theories and the development of new models to address SME-specific issues. The final section of the book reviews the learning in the previous chapters and poses future agendas for research. Written by two of the leading figures in the field, this book will be essential reading for researchers in IS and SMEs, students on entrepreneurship or IS courses, and others that focus on SMEs. * A unique text relating IS theory to SMEs * Benefit from the authors' years of experience in the field * Familiarise yourself with this growth area for research and courses