Learning the hard way? Issues in the adoption of new technology in small technology oriented firms

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore, though a survey and two short case studies, the issues smaller firms face with the adoption of new technologies. Design/methodology/approach -A survey of the pressures to adopt new technologies and the existence of specialist technology skills was conducted of small ICT oriented firms in the West Midlands region of the UK. This provides background context for short case studies of two firms and the issues they faced with the adoption of new technologies. Findings -Pressure to adopt new technologies largely emanated from within the small firms surveyed. Those firms with IT educated owner-manager were perhaps better able to evaluate and respond to that pressure. This is further illustrated in the case studies which show what can happen where an owner-manager is or is not willing to listen, learn and provide appropriate resources to ensure the smooth adoption and implementation of new technologies. Research limitations/implications -While a range of factors and their effect on the adoption of new technologies have been considered, this is often not in the context of smaller firms where owners/owner-managers can play a critical decisional role. This study shows the effect of the way in which owners/owner-managers behaviour can affect the adoption of new technologies. Practical implications -The study indicates that although ICT-oriented firms could be expected to understand the importance of new technologies this is not necessarily the case. Originality/value -This is a study of the issues associated with adopting new technologies in ICT-oriented small firms, where barriers such as capacity and readiness would be thought not to exist.

South Africa Micro Entrepreneurs: Mobile ICT Adoption

“…Table 5 shows that the higher the entrepreneur's level of education, the more likely they are to have a higher level of mobile ICT adoption. This supports the findings by Chibelushi (2008) and Chew et al (2010). Chew et al (2010) state that MEs only use a portion of a mobile phone's capabilities.…”

“…Similarly Kirkwood and Price (Kirkwood & Price, 2005) note that even though ICT can be seen as a tool to empower and enhance the people within South Africa, this "advantage" could in fact lead to an even greater "digital divide". Chibelushi (2008) found that ICT orientated MEs, whom one would assume understand the value of ICT, show lower adoption rates than expected.…”

“…A person's level of education plays a major role in the adoption of ICT in their businesses (Chew et al, 2010;Chibelushi, 2008). Table 5 shows the level of education of each entrepreneur alongside their level of mobile ICT adoption.…”

“…The lack of computer literacy is one of the biggest barriers to mobile ICT adoption (Chibelushi, 2008;Fathian, Akhavan, & Hoorali, 2008;Good & Qureshi, 2009;Kotelnikov, 2007;Matthews, 2007;Mutula & Brakel, 2007;Wolcott et al, 2008). One assumes that a computer-literate person will be more aware of the benefits of ICT and thus be more likely to adopt it (Beggs, 2010).…”

“…These results seem to indicate that providing training and access to mobile ICT would increase the chances of adoption. As shown in Table 8, there are various benefits associated with the use of mobile ICT in a business (Chibelushi, 2008;Kotelnikov, 2007;Morgan et al, 2006;Molony, 2009). It was interesting to note that one of the low adopters mentioned cell phone banking as an advantage, but they do not make use of it themselves.…”