The Use of Hosted Enterprise Applications by SMEs: A User Perspective

This paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in hosted enterprise applications (high complexity e-business applications) in the UK by investigating the relevance of organisational and technical factors through conducting interviews with SME users of hosted applications. The emergence and development of the application service provider (ASP) sector has attracted much interest and highly optimistic forecasts for revenues. Of particular interest in this paper is the emergence of service offerings targeted specifically at SMEs. The paper starts by considering information technology (IT) adoption by SMEs in general before reviewing the provision of hosted enterprise applications in the US and UK. The empirical data collected from SME users of hosted enterprise applications is then analysed in order to produce the key findings and conclusions. From an SME user perspective the key findings to emerge from the study include: i) confirmation that ICT infrastructure was no longer a barrier to adoption, ii) the pragmatic approach taken to security issues, iii) the use of both multiple information systems (hosted and resident) and service providers, iv) the attractiveness of the rental cost model and v) the intention to continue or extend their use of hosted applications within the enterprise. The early promise of the ASP sector appears not to have been generally realised for SMEs in the UK. This study explores the experience of early adopters of this new IT related innovation and identifies some significant business gains experienced by SME users. It also highlights the opportunity for gaining competitive advantage by using hosted enterprise applications to reduce costs. There are very few empirical studies of hosted applications which take a deliberately SME user perspective and this paper make an important contribution in this emerging field

Logistic Performance & Dashboards: a flexible Power BI solution

The developments in Information Systems and Technologies brought numerous challenges to company’s management regarding decision tools and frameworks availability. The state of art emphasizes the knowledge carried out by digital transformation to the business models that embed optimized information, and flexible managing solutions. These, impact logistic service providers and, particularly, the competitiveness of the transportation companies that represent a sector with recognized importance in the economy of most countries. This study proposes a dashboard framework to help transportation managers’ decisions. A set of metrics and key performance indicators were developed to exploits and incorporate the details of logistics decisions. A Power BI proposal was developed and implemented in a SME transportation company. The data model established proved to be adapted to the problem description and the dashboard reaches a robust representativeness of the key indicators. These helped managers’ solving transportation problems through data-driven decision-making processes and, therefore, improved company’s competitiveness

SME sustainability dashboards: An aid to manage and report performance

This applied paper introduces the concept and potential application of sustainability dashboards by SMEs as an aid to meet growing demands for sustainability management and reporting. It suggests how dashboards can be integrated into the planning and control systems of SMEs to facilitate data visualization for the purpose of sustainability decision making. The paper highlights benefits including low cost and discusses practical implications, such as use of dashboards beyond sustainability management and the need for policymakers to provide better access to training and software for SMEs

The Use of Hosted Enterprise Applications by SMEs: A Dual Market and User Perspective

YesThis deliberately dual perspective paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the engagement of SMEs in hosted enterprise applications in the UK. The emergence and development of the ASP sector has attracted much interest and highly optimistic forecasts for revenues. The paper starts by considering ICT adoption by SMEs in general before reviewing the provision of hosted enterprise applications in the US and UK (market perspective). The study is extended by qualitative empirical data collected by semi-structured interviews with SME users of hosted enterprise applications (user perspective) and subsequent analysis in order to develop the key findings and conclusions. From an SME user perspective the key findings to emerge from the study include: i) confirmation that ICT infrastructure was no longer a barrier to adoption, ii) the pragmatic approach taken to security issues, iii) the use of both multiple information systems and multiple service providers, iv) the financial attractiveness of the rental model and v) the intention to continue or extend the use of hosted applications. It also highlights the opportunity for gaining competitive advantage by using hosted enterprise applications to reduce costs. There are very few empirical studies of hosted applications which take deliberately market and SME user perspectives - this paper makes an important contribution in this emerging field

Development of a multi-criteria collaborative decision model for performance management in networks of organisations

Páginas numeradas; I-XIII, 14-117Tese de mestrado. Gestão de Informação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Small Business and Intellectual Asset Governance: An Integrated Analytical Framework

Having identified that there exists, as yet, no MaturityModel for Intellectual Asset (IA) Governance in Small andMedium Enterprises (SMEs), the authors have attempted todevelop theoretically one such Model and present it in this paper.Twelve dimensions of IA governance and enterpriseinfrastructure for IA governance were identified. The model alsodistinguishes among five archetypes according to their level ofsophistication. Initial testing of the model with small andmedium enterprises indicates that it provides insights into howenterprises approach intellectual governance and could be of useto businesses and policymakers alike

Implementing a design thinking approach to de-risk the digitalisation of manufacturing SMEs

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has proposed a significant shift in the way companies approach manufacturing. However, this new paradigm is not without faults. The integration of processes and equipment (‘digitalisation’) can be prohibitively expensive or too technically complex for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources and technical expertise. Another barrier to digitalisation lies in the ambiguity of not knowing what precise practices to adopt to improve productivity. Although these challenges have been identified in the literature, there is still little evidence on how to tackle them. Thus, we explore how design thinking can help overcome these challenges, given that it has been used in many organisations and disciplines to deal with complex and ambiguous problems. We do so by investigating the research question ‘How can designers and design thinking processes assist manufacturing SMEs’ digitalisation?’ We address this research question by presenting a case study of a university–industry collaboration where the authors utilised a design-thinking process to select and implement technologies to capture, process and analyse data for an Australian medical device manufacturer. By reflecting on the case study, we identified the user-centeredness of design thinking as crucial in selecting technologies for implementation that prioritised usability and brought value to all stakeholders. Furthermore, iterative prototyping was critical to scale up the required expertise and deliver a successful sustainable solution without investing vast resources. Our work suggests that designers and design thinking have the potential to help de-risk digitalisation. Finally, we suggest a framework that may assist in guiding other SMEs approaching digitalisation and provide a starting point for further design thinking research in this area

Overcoming the Challenges of Big Data Analytics Adoption for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the Manufacturing Industry

Advanced manufacturing technologies that enable big data analytics can boost productivity, increase efficiency, and enhance innovation. However, small and medium sized factories face unique challenges when implementing that technology. Plant managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are often unsure of how to overcome those challenges in order to reap the benefits of big data analytics. This project examined the opportunities that have arisen due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0; how small and medium sized manufacturers in the United States can move from traditional methods of manufacturing to advanced manufacturing, and how the additional data generated can enhance decision-making, specifically for plant managers. An investigation of the factors affecting big data analytics adoption in manufacturing SMEs was conducted, and case studies were examined in order to identify the unique challenges that exist and provide recommendations. The results of the investigation suggest that production managers should prioritize a specific area to focus on, use a big data lifecycle management framework, seek help to build and secure their operation systems, train and encourage employees, and collaborate with others in the industry