Understanding the ICT adoption process in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies are often regarded as powerful enablers for long-term organizational sustainability of SMEs. If at the policy level we can observe a general consensus about the benefits of ICTs for SMEs, on the other side the relatively low diffusion rates, the less optimistic stance proposed by part of the organizational literature and the lack of research on this specific theme suggest that further inquiry is needed. The paper is still a research in progress, at its initial stage. The aim is to shed light on how the adoption process unfolds in smaller enterprises: by overcoming a so-called technological expansionist view, it suggests a shift from trying to find generalized adoption factors towards a deeper understanding of ICT adoption in practice. Considering also that the academic literature mainly focuses on large corporations, the paper proposes to explore this gap and to outline potential directions for future research. © Springer-Verlag 2011.