Ict, e-business and Small and Medium Enterprises

Enabling factors: internal ICT and managerial knowledge  

SMEs generally lack the human technological resources needed for ICT and e-commerce, 

because they focus on day-to-day operations and lack the time to understand the benefits of new 

technologies. Even when they are aware of the potential benefits of adopting e-commerce, they require 

know-how or qualified personnel. The firms that adopt Internet and e-commerce are likely to have within 

the firm someone who has a reasonable amount of knowledge of the specific technology and/or technology 

in general. A study of small ICT companies with 3-80 employees suggests that the Internet was adopted by 

firms with personnel who understand the technology (Mehrtens et al., 2001). Interestingly, the study found 

that these were not necessarily ICT professionals, but simply people interested in technology (Box 3).  

If firms can access affordable outside ICT services, lack of ICT expertise within the firm is not 

necessarily an obstacle to the decision to adopt Internet e-commerce. However, internal technological 

capabilities still matter because adoption of e-commerce cannot succeed without an understanding of the 

e-commerce business model. Without internal technological capabilities, dependence on ICT support 

services for system maintenance can be dangerous because firms that conduct e-commerce have to live 

with the risk of computer viruses and other system failures. If ICT support services, especially in an 

emergency, are needed to minimise the loss from a system malfunction, the e-commerce system of the firm 

may be vulnerable if they are not immediately available. The existence of local ICT services is an 

important issue, especially for small offices in remote areas or emerging economies, where ICT services 

are generally scarce and costly.  

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