Business ICT adoption and open access : the example of SMEs at industrial parks in the Netherlands

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an option to create and exploit strategic opportunities. Prior investment in ICT infrastructure can lead to follow-up decisions to adopt new ICT services, but there is no guarantee that SMEs will also use emerging strategic opportunities in adopting these services. In this context, the paper examines whether or not the adoption of advanced ICT infrastructure and advanced ICT services by SMEs has been inter-related and was depending on number of firm-specific, market-specific and location-specific factors. In contrast to previous studies, the focus is on the extent to which the adoption of ICT infrastructure and ICT services has been driven by expectations about open access by SMEs. Open access was conceptualized as expectations by these companies about cheaper prices in the future, better quality of service and more competition on the infrastructure. The research uses data from a survey undertaken among 247 SMEs on different industrial parks in the Netherlands in February 2011. The results of the analysis show that SMEs value open access factors very high with respect to their choice to opt for new ICT infrastructure and new ICT services

The Innovation Performance of Foreign Affiliates: Evidence from Dutch Manufacturing Firms

innovation, performance, manufacturing, firms

On the termination of strategic technology alliances: An exploratory study

alliances, technology

New challenges in municipal broadband network management : from vertical integration to wholesale-retail model

Over the past years, municipal networks deploying Fiber-to-the-Home (FttH) technologies have increasingly been implemented in Europe. In order to achieve compatibility with the European Union (EU) legal and regulatory framework, a variety of public and private partnership (PPP) models have been developed throughout Europe aimed contributing expertise, finance, etc. to their growth. Recently, the debate has focused on the different industry structure that can foster the growth of municipal networks by moving from sole-supplier environment to a wholesale-retail split model. In undertaking a techno-economic analysis, the paper examines the viability of a wholesale-retail split model. It uses data from the implementation of an FttH network for a small town in the Netherlands. The paper demonstrates that the advantages in moving towards a wholesale retail split model and characterizes the neccessity to define open access conditions for these networks

General purpose technologies : a survey, a critique and future research directions

Since Bresnahan and Trajitenberg’s original 1995 article on ‘General Purpose Technology (GPT): Engines of Growth’, the concept of GPT has slowly but steadily influenced the literature on business ICT (information and communication technology) adoption. In considering business ICT, within the framework of GPT allows to focus on the externalities in ICT adoption which poses challenges for policy and society as a whole. In the literature, these externality benefits of business ICT have rarely been examined. In this context, the article provides a survey of recently published empirical studies (from 2004 to 2013) citing the original article of Bresnahan and Trajenberg. In using the science citation index and citations derived from Google Scholar, we found 1090 articles fulfilling these criteria; from these articles just 57 studies provided some empirical estimation of the productivity impact of ICT. Our survey indicates if GPT refers to whole range of ICT, this might generate misleading results. In general, our results indicate a shift in the discussion on GPT focusing on business ICT. The literature demonstrates that - with the availability of better data - increasingly a better distinction between infrastructure technologies and applications should be used. While infrastructure technologies are uniformly adopted among small and large enterprises, the adoption of applications is a more complex phenomenon. Although some authors argue that there is a productivity impact of ICT, this impact is mediated by employment, wage and size variables. In particular, the adoption of business ICT within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has rarely been examined

VoIP under the EU regulatory framework : preventing foreclosure?

In June 2004, the European Commission (EC) issued an "Information and Consultation Document" (European Commission 2004) that discussed how the Regulatory Framework of the European Union (EU) should be adapted to accommodate Voice over IP (VoIP) and invited relevant parties to comment on the Consultation Document. In our study, we use the responses of the different market parties to identify how incumbents seek to foreclose the market for VoIP telephony. From these responses we conclude that foreclosure is not only attempted by setting high prices for the use of infrastructure, but also by the strategic choice of infrastructure technology, which raises the cost of entry. We label the latter form of foreclosure "technological foreclosure" – as opposed to "market foreclosure". A simple modeling exercise shows that regulators seeking to avoid market foreclosure might trigger technological foreclosure. We argue that this has happened with the unbundling of the local loop in the EU, and that it might happen again with the transition to VoIP. We conclude that the current rights and obligations assigned to telecom companies effectively protect incumbents from competition by VoIP entrants. Moreover, the inaction of regulatory authorities when it comes to numbering and communication protocols is advantageous for incumbents and might obstruct the provision of new services in the future

The end of communities of practice in open source projects? Evidence from the Debian case.

open source projects

The adoption of information and communication technologies in the desing sector and their impact on firm performance : evidence from the Dutch Design sector

This paper analyzes processes and effects of ICT enabled innovation in the Dutch design sector. Although the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is considered as vital in the design sector, little is known about whether and how ICTs affect the firm performance of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the industry. In introducing a conceptual distinction between ICT supporting the information processing and communication, the paper first examines the determinants of ICT adoption. Next, we analyze the effects of ICT adoption on product and process innovation as well as on firm performance, focusing on the mediating role of the innovation processes. The analyses rest on survey data of a sample of 189 Dutch companies in the Web, Graphic, and Industrial Design Sector in the Netherlands. The results indicate that information processing role of ICT supports the exploitation and communication role facilitates the exploration in organizational learning. The exploitation enables process innovation while exploration enables product innovation. Lastly, Information processing technologies and product innovation are important determinants of superior firm performance