John McCarthy

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SME Growth and The E-business Development
Platform

• John McCarthy
• Director LeadSure
• j.mccarthy_at_LeadSure.co.uk

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What is the E-business Development Platform?

• It is a means of developing the strategic aims of
  small firms utilizing ICT
• This could be market reach, penetration or
  consolidation
• It is the results of 5 years of case study based
  research in the UK and Europe.

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Internet Revolution

• The widespread deployment of the infrastructure
  to access the Internet is known as the dawn of
  the digital age
• This led to the birth of the digital economy

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Academic background

• Virtualisation relates to the phenomenon in which
  transaction processes are conducted
  electronically while products remain
  predominantly physical.
• Molecularisation refers to the phenomenon that
  the economy is breaking up into very small units.
  Large companies the potential to enable business
  processes, products and services through the
  Internet to others with whom it was not possible
  or practical to do so previously
• Disintermediation in which traditional
  intermediary businesses are circumvented and some
  traditional industries begin to disintegrate, as
  the consequence of the emergence of networks.

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Internet Revolution

• Tapscott and many others feel that SME's are best
  suited to the new economy
• They suggest that SME's have distinct advantages
  over larger organisations
• How can this be true?

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Large Firms

• More complex internal structure
• Slower to react
• Legacy IT systems
• Employ IT staff, which need training and are
  expensive
• Attempt to influence the environment they exist in

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Small Firms

• Much quicker to react to changing environment
• Often have a much simpler infrastructure
• Do not have (m)any IT staff

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Small Firms in practice

• Less resources
• Divergent aims for being in business
• Poor knowledge of ICT and Internet business
  development
• The ability to react quickly to change is a
  potential not always realized

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EBDP - Internet States
1. Access Some people or everyone (in the organization) has access to the Internet, usually just for e-mail. A very simple Web site may be maintained.
2. Publish Static" multi-page Web site for information purposes only
3. Transact. Web site supports one or two-way transactions with the end user, but does not support fully integrated processing of transactions.
4. Integrate internally Use of e-business to transform internal organization and processes, radically reducing costs and optimizing the business
5. Integrate externally Use of e-business to create a seamless, transparent process across the entire value chain, from customer through intermediary through all supplier tiers.
6. Adapt dynamically Use of Internet technologies as the foundation for operating in a digital, virtual community. For example, fully e-integrated institutions can seamlessly in-source or out-source processing functions as demanded by market conditions and changing company structures.
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EBDP Relationship Strategies

• Initial development placed the EBDP in the
  customer supply chain
• This did not facilitate the learning and
  development dialogues needed
• A key area of focus is the use of the PCT
  analytical framework
• This identifies frozen attitudes and learning
  hurdles of the owner managers

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Trusted Agents
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Summary

• Using an EBDP an organisation can leapfrog the
  technology growth paths of larger organisations
• Their flexibility enables them to adapt more
  quickly to environmental changes, enabling them
  to take advantage of new opportunities
• They can seamlessly outsource business processes
  without a major impact on there internal
  structure
• Enabling them to focus on their core competences