Information technology and entrepreneurship: three cases from Poland

Many Polish entrepreneurial companies have completed organizational restructuring which was typically accompanied by the implementation of information technology (IT). Our study explores how IT lends support to entrepreneurial activities and helps Polish companies compete in a market economy. First, we gathered data on the nature and extent of organizational IT use in three small Polish companies and on the intensity of entrepreneurial activity. After observing a positive association between the use of IT and the intensity of entrepreneurial activity our study shows how they both contribute to a company's success. Furthermore, our study finds support for the assertion that entrepreneurial intensity and the strategic use of IT arise from a complex of similar factors. The findings reported in this article should be of interest to academics as well as business practitioners.

[1]  Edward Toomer,et al.  Qualitative Methods in Management Research , 1989 .

[2]  R. Stake.  The art of case study research , 1995 .

[3]  Dan Remenyi,et al.  The nature of research: qualitative or quantitative, narrative or paradigmatic? , 1996, Inf. Syst. J..

[4]  Gary W. Loveman,et al.  Starting Over in Eastern Europe , 1995 .

[5]  Angèle L. M. Cavaye,et al.  Case study research: a multi‐faceted research approach for IS , 1996, Inf. Syst. J..

[6]  Michael H. Morris,et al.  The concept of entrepreneurial intensity: Implications for company performance , 1996 .

[7]  Louis Raymond,et al.  Computerisation as a Factor in the Development of Young Entrepreneurs , 1992 .

[8]  Don Conway,et al.  Interactive Data Analysis: A Practical Primer , 1977 .

[9]  I. Hodder.  The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture , 1994 .

[10]  Gerald E. Hills,et al.  Entrepreneurship and new firm development: A definitional introduction , 1996 .

[11]  Robert R Ebert.  The Economic Transformation of Eastern Europe (Views from Within) , 1993 .

[12]  Jane M. Howell,et al.  Champions of change: Identifying, understanding, and supporting champions of technological innovations , 1990 .

[13]  N. Denzin,et al.  Handbook of Qualitative Research , 1994 .

[14]  B. Slay,et al.  The Polish Economy , 1994 .

[15]  Dennis A. Rondinelli,et al.  Privatization And Economic Restructuring in Poland: An Assessment of Transition Policies , 1996 .

[16]  John B. Miner,et al.  The expanded horizon for achieving entrepreneurial success , 1997 .

[17]  Andrew Evans,et al.  Transformation and Integration : The New Association Agreements , 1992 .

[18]  Ryszard Wilczyński,et al.  The Role of International Financial Institutions in Poland's Transition to a Market Economy , 1994 .

[19]  Alistair Chalmers,et al.  The Hidden Economic and Societal Issues of Policies on Advanced Networking , 1996, Comput. Networks ISDN Syst..

[20]  D. Silverman.  Interpreting Qualitative Data , 1993 .

[21]  D. Slevin,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Entrepreneurship as Firm Behavior , 1991 .

[22]  Henri Barki,et al.  Research Report - Hypothesis Testing and Hypothesis Generating Research: An Example from the User Participation Literature , 1994, Information systems research.

[23]  G. Hills.  Marketing and Entrepreneurship: Research Ideas and Opportunities , 1994 .

[24]  R. Laforge,et al.  Research at the Marketing Interface to Advance Entrepreneurship Theory , 1992 .

[25]  Martin Gregor,et al.  Some Theoretical Issues on Transformation , 1994 .

[26]  Geoff Walsham,et al.  The Emergence of Interpretivism in IS Research , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..