Information and Communication Technologies in Product Innovation Within SMEs - the Role of Product Complexity

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities that are today in most cases largely unexploited. This paper aims at verifying and explaining this gap with a particular focus on the area of Product Innovation (PI). Patterns in the adoption and use of new ICTs are explored and explained by drawing evidence from analysis of a multiple-case study on 47 SMEs in Northern and Central Italy. Complexity, at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving firms' choices. The directions of these effects, however, are not always straightforward and cannot be merely extrapolated from existing studies on large companies. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers and vendors who can derive suggestions concerning, respectively, selection and development of ICT technologies that can better suit SMEs specific characteristics.