Trends in information technology in small businesses

It is widely recognized that IT has made considerable inroads into large organizations, such that the majority now rely on IT for their day-to-day operations. The position regarding small businesses is less clear as they face somewhat different opportunities and constraints. In particular, the approach to the introduction of IT into small firms in less developed national IT environments has received little attention in the literature. This chapter reports on the results of a survey of the approaches adopted by small firms in Greece. The findings are analyzed in terms of previous experience with computers, factors influencing the decision to adopt IT, advice received, staff involvement in IS development, training, and problems encountered and the solutions adopted. The results are compared with a study performed five years earlier in order to identify recent trends.