Use of the Internet as a business tool by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES): A descriptive study of small Minnesota-based manufacturers' Internet usage.

摘要

Because of its global reach, reduction of time restraints, and ability to reduce costs and increase sales, use of the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), and related technologies can be a competitive tool in the arsenal of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Countries the world over are interested in the successful adoption of the Internet by SMEs. Because a vast majority of jobs come from that sector, greater financial success of SMEs translates into greater job growth and, subsequently, higher tax revenue to the government. While SMEs in the United States were touted in the late 1990s and early 2000s as being advanced in their use of e-business/e-commerce, little empirical evidence exists that SMEs in the United States have optimized their use of the Internet and are engaging in a fully-integrated e-business process. This research investigated the level of Internet usage for business solutions by small Minnesota-based manufacturers through a telephone survey of a random sample of 300 firms with less than 500 employees and from data obtained from InfoUSARTM and from 14 Michigan-based SMEs that formed the basis for an earlier study. An existing survey instrument, used by an Australian academic, was first field and pilot tested.