ABSTRACT Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities that are today in most cases largely unexploited. The paper aims at verifying and explaining this gap with a particular focus on the area of Product Innovation (PI). Drawing evidence from analysis of a survey on 47 SMEs in northern and central Italy, patterns in the adoption and use of new ICTs are explored and explained. Complexity, at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving companies’ choices. Directions of these effects, however, are not always straightforward and cannot be merely extrapolated from existing studies on large companies. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers and vendors who can derive suggestions concerning, respectively, selection and development of ICT technologies better suiting SMEs specific characteristics.
ICT Supporting Knowledge Management in New Product Development: Evidence from Italian SMEs
MARTINI, ANTONELLA;PELLEGRINI, LUISA
2000-01-01
Abstract
ABSTRACT Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities that are today in most cases largely unexploited. The paper aims at verifying and explaining this gap with a particular focus on the area of Product Innovation (PI). Drawing evidence from analysis of a survey on 47 SMEs in northern and central Italy, patterns in the adoption and use of new ICTs are explored and explained. Complexity, at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving companies’ choices. Directions of these effects, however, are not always straightforward and cannot be merely extrapolated from existing studies on large companies. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers and vendors who can derive suggestions concerning, respectively, selection and development of ICT technologies better suiting SMEs specific characteristics.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
