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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics and impacts of information‐communication technology (ICT) investments as perceived by ICT managers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper starts with an overview and a conceptualisation. The empirical part is based on a national RIS 2005 representative telephone survey (n=727) of companies in Slovenia. With respect to ICT developments the Republic of Slovenia, situated between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, is a typical (median) country of the European Union.FindingsThe size of ICT investments strongly determined the perception of ICT investments, but it had surprisingly little impact on its structure (i.e. hardware, software, education …). Satisfaction with ICT investments was relatively low, particular in small companies. One reason for this was the suboptimal implementation, particularly the lack of accompanying measures (e.g. education, organisational changes). The ICT investments brought considerable changes for the internal organisation and communication, but much less for the management. The clearest effect of ICT investments was the greater need to educate the employees.Practical implicationsMore attention is needed to the accompanying managerial, communication, education and organisational measures of ICT investments, particularly in small companies.Originality/valueThe paper sheds light on the structure of seven components (hardware, software, telecommunications, education …) of an ICT investment (as perceived by ICT managers). Hardware is diminishing as a stand‐alone ICT component. The paper also exposes the problem of a relatively low level of satisfaction with ICT investments. It analysed the link between the size of ICT investments and the evaluation rating given by ICT managers.

The 2003 survey among Slovenian companies was studying the factors affecting the formal evaluation of e-business projects. The corresponding causal model revealed that the perceptions and the attitudes towards e-business strongly affect the corresponding evaluation practice. In particular, the recognition of the needs for corresponding evaluation had the strongest effect. On the other hand, the high occurrence of problem related to e-business implementation has a negative impact on the introduction of the evaluation methods.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the recent (2008‐) economic crisis on information communication technology (ICT) spending. The empirical findings are discussed within a broader theoretical framework of technological trends/diffusion and economic cycles.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the paper introduces the innovation diffusion theory and theories of economic cycles. Next, it presents the analyses of the data from official statistics, international agencies and research companies. Finally, it summarizes the empirical findings within theoretical contexts.FindingsIn general, crises always reduce spending and therefore also ICT spending. However, focusing on the recent crisis, it affected the ICT market selectively and also much less than other sectors. In addition, the empirical findings indicate that after decades of fast ICT expansion (1971‐2000) we are now in the period of slower sectoral growth, which is in line with theories of super cycles, although, the authors also propose alternative explanations.Research limitations/implicationsThe impact of the economic crisis on the ICT market strongly depends on countries' economic situation and development stage. Nonetheless some ICT segments that allow cost savings, greater productivity and efficiency, have been strengthened during the latest (2008‐) economic crisis, which also pinpoints the directions for further transformation of ICT.Practical implicationsDespite usually reduced budgets during the crisis, managers should put increased attention to new/alternative ICT solutions (e.g. virtualization, outsourcing, cloud computing) and lowered prices of ICT products/services to increase competitiveness. The crisis can be thus an opportunity to re‐examine the contribution of ICT to productivity, workflow efficiency and introduce new methods for better exploitation of ICT capital.Social implicationsThe aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding about the transformation of ICT in economic crises. It also demonstrates that recent crises caused another microwave within the last super cycle.Originality/valueThe paper provides empirical insight into the link between economic situation and ICT spending in past 15 years, with special attention to the changes observed during the latest (2008‐) crisis. The analysis is also put into a broader theoretical framework, where it proposes alternative explanations supported by empirical evidences.