Revisiting adoption factors of inter‐organisational information systems in SMEs

For over a decade large companies have turned to supply‐chain management and inter‐organisational system‐development techniques to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Smaller companies, however, have struggled to adopt and benefit from such systems, traditionally citing reasons such as a lack of financial resources and technical capability. This paper seeks to identify a framework of key variables which influence the adoption of inter‐organisational and supply‐chain systems with particular reference to smaller companies. This framework is then applied to a supply‐chain case study in the chemicals sector to consider the reality of system adoption for a small‐ to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) in the chain. The paper concludes that significant benefits are indeed attainable for the SME; however, a culturally‐rooted lack of vision and awareness are restricting adoption and the realisation of benefits associated with such systems.