The Relevance of Information Technology in Managing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises

Businesses are discovering the Internet as the most powerful and cost effective tool in history. The Net provides a faster, more efficient way to work colleagues, customers, vendors and business partners- irrespective of location or operating system harnessing this powerful resource gives companies strategic advantages by leveraging information into essential business asset. The "technology of the future" here today. This is a fact. Businesses making the transition will, and are prospering; however those that do not will most certainly suffer the consequences.

In today’s world of business, everything is computerized and most of the companies use the Internet and information business to help keep their quality, save time and also cost. It also can reach out to more customers worldwide. For an example, with a website in the internet, it would relay the message to millions of viewers worldwide regarding the product and service that the particular company can provide and indirectly saves cost in advertising in television and print advertisments.

Abstract. The Internet is permeating all aspects of our lives. This includes business and organizational endeavors as well as our personal lives. Businesses have become to depend on the Internet for their supply chain, advertising, and sales. E-commerce has experienced a tremendous growth in the last decade. Organizations are looking for new ways to leverage the Internet for business growth. Web Services is a growing technology in the Information Systems field. Data Management is also an ever-increasing endeavor for many organizations. The need for information is

In order to succeed today, organizations that are competing in global markets are increasing rapidly. The increased use of technologies such as the Internet, intranets, and extranets will definitely revolutionize how businesses will operate and how they will use computers to compete. The Internet and related technologies and applications have changed the ways companies operate their businesses processes and activities. For example, companies can network their offices and share data to be more effective and efficient. However, excessive use of the Internet, intranets, and extranets also create intense

Today’s economy has become a global one due to the use of the internet. Traditional companies are accepting the mission of using new virtual technologies in their business since the use of the internet has opened larger and advantageous international markets. Proud of the costly infrastructure, traditional companies are finding themselves being eclipsed by smaller companies that have used the internet to attract new customers. In order to achieve great results, companies in today’s economy are obligated to embrace the use of the internet (Markus, T. 2008).

The use of information systems allows these businesses to obtain a significant advantage and ensures the market remains competitive and opens several job opportunities. The advantages depend upon the particular business how they utilizes the information technology. One method of utilizing information technology is building and supporting networks for the small enterprises. This is especially useful for those business that are at a geographical disadvantage being based in rural and semi-suburban areas. These remote areas are less exposed and often left behind as technology improves at a rapid pace. Other businesses that find advantages in the use of information technology are those in developing countries. Similar to rural businesses, until urban sprawl appears, these areas are severely lacking in technology and information technology ensures these businesses remain with the pack. Another method of utilizing information technology is the assimilation on information technology in these businesses to increase productivity and improve the efficiency of business transactions. The inherent strengths of these business are elevated to a higher standard, tying in to keeping competitiveness strong. The internet, still a relatively new information technology has drastically changed the landscape of businesses and has allowed several businesses thrive, expand, and create more competition. This has also allowed

The methodology of doing business has greatly been affected by the emerging technology for the last two decades. Business organizations are forced to adopt new technology in one way or the other in order to cope up with the dynamic customer and industry requirements. The most influential technology is the information and communication technology, which has seen business organizations diver their modes of conducting business from the traditional local based system to computer and internet based information seekers. It is arguable that the advent of computer and internet has changed the role of information in business, and

SME is a term defined in EU law (EU Recommendation 2003/361) with the definition of all three types of SMEs – micro, small and medium sized businesses defined by their level of turnover and number of employees. Micro businesses employ < 10 employees and turnover < 2 million Euro; small business have <50 employees and turnover < 10 million Euro and medium sized businesses have <250 employees and turnover < 50 million Euro. (European Commission 2013) None of the respondents said that they employed less than 10 people so there were no micro business participants in this survey.

Many small and medium sized enterprises are involved with the manufacturing industry. They take a significant and crucial part in the growth of GDP by offering work opportunities, which help to release employment pressure. A large number of the SMEs are experiencing from the deficiency of IT related capabilities, i.e. development, operating management, research and coordination of the industrial chain.

SME is an acronym of Small – Medium Enterprises. An enterprises size is defined, in EU Law, by its number of employees and either the turnover or balance sheet total. A small enterprise has 50 employees or fewer and a turnover of € 10 million or less or a balance sheet total of € 10 m or less. A medium organisation has 250 employees or less and a turnover of € 50 million or less with a balance sheet total of

1-1 E-mail, online conferencing, and cell phones have become essential tools for conducting business. Information systems now become one of the major parts, which make a huge change in the way people, conduct businesses, products, and services. Many businesses today use the information technology to advertise new products, sell goods, and ask for customers’ feedbacks.

The Internet and Web development have been the most exciting developments in the field of information and communications technology in recent years and has a greater impact on the way on doing business. . Electronic commerce has added a whole new dimension to discussion of business relationship (Morgan and hunt 2003). Electronic markets have become increasingly popular alternatives to traditional market forms over the last few years. Electronic markets can be used either to create new markets or to strengthen existing market, electronic market reduced the transactional cost of buyer and seller.(Hogeune &amp; Theodre ,1996). The Internet 's World Wide Web

Governments around the world have put in place policies to encourage the growth of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they can help directly alleviate poverty by increasing income levels and creating jobs (ESCAP, 2012). At the same time, the global economy has become increasingly depended on the Information and communications technology (ICT) for market access and information. SMEs need to have access to and use of ICT to engage in the regional and global economic business networks. If SMEs cannot access to ICT, many of the SMEs are set to lose out on opportunities to integrate into the global supply chain, get potential businesses and increase their productivity or efficiency.

In their study, they provide Iran and Malaysia as examples. In Iran, business that has 10 to 49 employees is categorized as SMEs. In Malaysia, the number of employees needed to be categorized as SME is between 5 to 19 employees. It can be seen SME’s definition cannot be defined in general, because each country having its own parameter in defining SME.

The development of Information System is an extraordinary advancement in the business sectors, thus playing an important role in revolutionizing the modern corporate business world. A wide range of people use internet for emailing, developing databases, to gather information on various arenas. Hence incorporating the resources of internet in business environment help in forming business solutions like system designing, email communication, developing software apps etc. (Granger & Schroeder, 1996, p. 85). IT is currently serving a major role in all kind of business processes. Hence a relation between IT and business can likely be compared to nervous system and good health. Business leaders having smart senses will definitely embrace this. (McCormack, 2006, p. 2) But there are some negative impacts as well. In this essay, the impacts of internet in the business in the disguise of emerging technologies like Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, their strategic competitive advantages will be critically evaluated and analysed. Also the benefits and drawbacks of the internet will be compared and contrasted here.