The Role of IT Competences in Gaining Value from E-Business: an SME Case Study

Ashurst, C.; Cragg, P.; Herring, P.

Abstract

Many SMEs have been slow to exploit the potential of e-business. However, it can be difficult for any firm to gain value from e-business, and particularly so for SMEs that may lack important information technology (IT) competences. The study focused on one SME which had undertaken a series of e-business initiatives over a period of 10 years. The analysis revealed that the firm used e-business in two different ways: e-business for innovation, and e-business for integrating business processes. Four IT competences were found to be particularly important to the firm’s developments: IT leadership, business systems thinking, architecture planning, and making technology work. The study provides a detailed understanding of how the firm used e-business to gain value and how its IT competences influenced its e-business developments. The study also shows that a lack of competence in some areas inhibited the firm’s e-business developments.

Citation

Ashurst, C., Cragg, P., & Herring, P. (2012). The Role of IT Competences in Gaining Value from E-Business: an SME Case Study. International Small Business Journal, 30(6), 640-658. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242610375703

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: Jun 3, 2011
• Journal: International Small Business Journal
• Print ISSN: 0266-2426
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2870
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 640-658
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242610375703
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1521124