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

The Impact of Corporatisation and National Competition Policy: An Exploratory Study of Organisational Change and Leadership Style

Category Research Paper Purpose This study surveys managers of an Australian government owned enterprise undergoing organisational change as a result of public sector reform, specifically, National Competition Policy and Corporatisation. The purpose of the study is to examine the extent/type of organisational change and leadership style adopted to implement this change. Approach To understand the effect of reforms, the researcher explored the extent of change and leadership style through the use of an intraorganisational survey in a government owned Electricity Supply Corporation in Queensland, Australia. The instrument also included qualitatitive components to enable the researcher to qualify the statistical results. Findings Within the public sector, there is an uneasy tension between the need for a revolution of outdated bureaucracies in order to enhance flexibility and innovation on the one hand, and the desire to maintain the standards and procedures that are necessary for quality civic service for a broad range of stakeholders on the other. The results of this study indicate that there was significant organisational change and, according to responses, a change of leadership style indicative of this dilemma. Research limitations/implications The implications for reform setters, managers and politicians suggest the consideration of embedded factors whilst determining the processes and directions of change. Furthermore, it is necessary to choose a leadership style that is indicative of the type of change to be implemented. Additionally, greater participation by organisational members can increase the success of organisational change. The limitations of the study include the measurement of organisational change and leadership style. This instrument was originally used in structured interviews, however, measures were taken validate the instrument in its altered setting. Further, the study is confined to a single electricity organisation. Fertile fields for future research projects could include a larger quantitative study conducted with multiple States or nation wide electricity distribution companies. Originality/Value The study provides empirical evidence of the extent of change as a result of public sector reform. In doing so the study utilises organisational change and leadership style models within a public sector environment

China’s low carbon technology ambitions: the relationship between indigenous innovation and technological transfer

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