There has been relatively little econometric research on the effects of ICT on smaller firms. For example, Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1996) used data from some of the largest US corporations (367firms generating approximately $1.8 trillion of gross output annually). Small organizations possess some unique characteristics that matter significantly when new technology is introduced (Raymond,1985; Thong et al., 1996; Kuan and Chau, 2001). For example, the relative costs and risks from ICT adoption and implementation can be considerably higher for smaller firms due to their limited resources and lack of knowledge around technology management (Pfeiffer, 1992; Grandon and Pearson, 2004).  

In contrast to positive outcomes relating to the introduction and use of ICT in large organizations, research findings regarding the effect of technology in SMEs have been ambiguous at best. Empirical evidence from the literature on small business ICT suggests that a number of factors inhibit the uptake of technological innovation and impede the benefits of ICT adoption.  

These include a vital lack of financial resources with which to acquire ICT capital, invest in technological skills and achieve systems integration (Pfeiffer, 1992; Grandon and Pearson, 2004; Saunders and Clark, 1992). Similar results are also reported by Cragg and King (1993), who identify economic costs and shortage of technical knowledge as key barriers to ICT gains in the context of small organizations. Finally, Ballantineet al. (1998) identified distinctive features of SMEs such as narrow access to capital supplies, absence of business and IT strategy, and greater emphasis on using technology to automate (Zuboff, 1988).  

A more optimistic outlook is given by Dos Santos and Peffers (1995) who found inconclusive results regarding firm size and the impact of ICT on market share and income gains.  Looking at a sample of banks and the benefits from ATM adoption they conclude that there are no economies of scale or scope for this technology that favor larger institutions in particular, however, they did not find any significant results to suggest that such a technology can specifically benefit smaller firms either. A similar view is shared by Lacity et al. (2014) who suggest that certain technologies, for example cloud computing can provide equal benefits to both large and smaller firms albeit in different ways. 

 

Of particular interest for this study are hypotheses that contradict the generally accepted view and suggest that small organizations may hold certain advantages over their larger competitors. For instance, perhaps smaller enterprises can adapt faster to internal and external changes in their operating environment, whereas larger organizations may respond slowly to technological transformation due to legacy systems that demand substantial modifications (Dos Santon and Peffers, 1995).  

Evidence of this would be remarkable because it would mean that small businesses achieve benefits from ICT adoption that in the long run outweigh more obvious big firm advantages such as ample financial resources, ICT expertise, and economies of scale.  

The literature on the effects of ICT has shown that firms benefit mostly from cost reductions due to automation and increase of efficiencies in the production process and less from an increase in revenue streams. Bigger firms are commonly expected to be more efficient and thus anticipate better results in this regard (Hall and Weiss, 1967), but as we will go on to argue there is also evidence that despite their size smaller businesses may also achieve significant leverage from ICT adoption. Indeed, some of the existing literature points to the realization of a range of benefits including operational savings, improvements in business processes, the cultivation of new markets, higher sales turnover and increases in profitability (Currie and Parikh, 2006; Kuan and Chau, 2001). 

 

 

Sumber: 

Scott, S. V., Van Reenen, J., & Zachariadis, M. (2017). The long-term effect of digital innovation on bank performance: An empirical study of SWIFT adoption in financial services. Research Policy, 46(5), 984-1004. 

 Fuentelsaz, Lucio, Gómez, Jaime, Palomas, Sergio, 2009. The effects of new technologies on productivity: an intrafirm diffusion-based assessment. Res.Policy 38 (7), 1172–1180