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Case study illustrations of a scorecard to measure IT strategy improvements in UK SMEs

Case study illustrations of a scorecard to measure IT strategy improvements in UK SMEs Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a means of measuring information technology (IT) strategy improvements in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study of eight SMEs was carried out over a two‐year period, applying an IT development scorecard which uses a Likert scale to measure changes during the study period. Findings – The paper finds that seven of the eight companies assessed during the period of the study showed improvements in their IT development, with only one company showing negligible improvement. The company that made negligible improvement went into receivership 12 months after completion of the study. Research limitations/implications – The key limitations were that only eight companies were prepared to participate fully in the study, and the diversity of type of company was large. Future research should include a larger sample size and use of companies from within the same industry/sector. Practical implications – The scorecard has practical implications in that instead of having to choose complicated IT planning systems or pay high consultancy charges, SME owner managers can use the scorecard themselves at no cost and make informed decisions on IT investments. Originality/value – This particular design of scorecard has not been used before, it is original, and will be of use for SME owner managers and IT practitioners, as it provides an easy‐to‐use tool to help plan and measure IT development within SMEs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Systems and Information Technology Emerald Publishing

Case study illustrations of a scorecard to measure IT strategy improvements in UK SMEs

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1328-7265
DOI
10.1108/13287260910932395
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a means of measuring information technology (IT) strategy improvements in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study of eight SMEs was carried out over a two‐year period, applying an IT development scorecard which uses a Likert scale to measure changes during the study period. Findings – The paper finds that seven of the eight companies assessed during the period of the study showed improvements in their IT development, with only one company showing negligible improvement. The company that made negligible improvement went into receivership 12 months after completion of the study. Research limitations/implications – The key limitations were that only eight companies were prepared to participate fully in the study, and the diversity of type of company was large. Future research should include a larger sample size and use of companies from within the same industry/sector. Practical implications – The scorecard has practical implications in that instead of having to choose complicated IT planning systems or pay high consultancy charges, SME owner managers can use the scorecard themselves at no cost and make informed decisions on IT investments. Originality/value – This particular design of scorecard has not been used before, it is original, and will be of use for SME owner managers and IT practitioners, as it provides an easy‐to‐use tool to help plan and measure IT development within SMEs.

Journal

Journal of Systems and Information Technology – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 30, 2009

Keywords: Small to medium‐sized enterprises; Communications technologies; Continuous improvement; Corporate strategy; United Kingdom

References

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    Aggarwall, S.