Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness

Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness

Stephen M. Mutula

Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 356

ISBN13: 9781605664200|ISBN10: 1605664200|EISBN13: 9781605664217|ISBN13 Softcover: 9781616924676

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-420-0

Cite Book Cite Book

MLA

Mutula, Stephen M. Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness. IGI Global, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-420-0

APA

Mutula, S. M. (2010). Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-420-0

Chicago

Mutula, Stephen M. Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2010. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-420-0

Export Reference

Favorite Full-Book Download

Several studies have been made to determine the effectiveness of information and communication technologies within small business enterprises, but the focus on e-readiness assessments have been very limited.

Digital Economies: SMEs and E-Readiness provides valuable insights into the current state of the digital economy and the ability of SMEs to leverage information and communication technologies in overcoming their position in the global business market. This innovative collection provides vital information for developing strategic objectives and frameworks that promote economic growth, infrastructure development, capacity building, and educational training.

Table of Contents

Reset

Front Materials

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgment

Chapters

Conceptual Framework and Contextual Setting

Chapter 1

Introduction (pages 1-13)

Stephen M. Mutula

The ‘Digital economy’ is sometimes used synonymously with ‘information society’, which emerged back in the 1960s to describe a futuristic society that is highly dependent on information (Bridges.org, 2001; Computer Systems Policy...

Digital Economy Growth and Infrastructure

Chapter 2

Growth of the Digital Economy (pages 15-28)

Stephen M. Mutula

As pointed out in the previous chapter, the concepts ‘digital economy’, ‘information economy’, ‘information society’ and ‘knowledge society/economy’ are inextricably intertwined and are often used interchangeably. However, the...

Chapter 3

Digital Economy Components (pages 29-38)

Stephen M. Mutula

The digital economy consists of various components, key among which include government; policy and regulation; internet, the world wide web (WWW) and electricity infrastructure; telecommunication industry; digital service providers;...

Chapter 4

SMEs Industry (pages 39-53)

Stephen M. Mutula

There is a growing impetus internationally for the development of strong SME sectors as engines of economic growth and development. This impetus is driven by the recognition of SMEs as the backbone of most economies. For instance...

Chapter 5

Digital Divide and SMEs (pages 54-75)

Stephen M. Mutula

There is a growing interest in how the digital divide affects the operations of SMEs. The digital divide among businesses is defined as the disparity between the effective use of ICT for gains in productivity (Wielicki, 2008). Often...

E-Readiness Assessments

Chapter 6

E-Readiness and Its Assessment (pages 77-86)

Stephen M. Mutula

The level of e-readiness of the digital economy is expected to vary across different jurisdictions. The e-readiness ranking of nations, which has been a regular undertaking by various agencies since 2000, demonstrates that the world...

Chapter 7

E-Readiness Assessment Methods and Tools (pages 87-110)

Stephen M. Mutula

E-readiness assessments are largely investigated at country-level across a number of sectors, and tend to adopt quantitative approaches that assign to countries’ numerical scores depending on how well they have performed on specific...

Chapter 8

E-Readiness of SMEs (pages 111-128)

Stephen M. Mutula

Increasingly, SMEs are achieving and sustaining competitive advantages using ICT that are propelling and accelerating the globalization of businesses. The growth of the Internet has created a global, cost-effective platform for...

Digital Economy Applications

Chapter 9

E-Government Readiness (pages 130-147)

Stephen M. Mutula

The United Nations (2008) believes that in a world characterised by rapid changes driven by globalization and the emerging knowledge-based economy, e-government provides the means to achieve maximum cost savings and improved service...

Chapter 10

E-Business and E-Commerce (pages 148-173)

Stephen M. Mutula

E-business and e-commerce are applications around which the digital economy revolves. The concept ‘e-business’ was originated by IBM in 1997 to refer to the sum total of buying and selling goods and services, servicing customers, and...

Content, Knowledge, and Records Management

Chapter 11

Local Content and SMEs (pages 176-190)

Stephen M. Mutula

There are diverse opinions in literature on the meaning of the term ‘content’ going by the different definitions encountered in the course of writing this book. The lack of unanimity on what constitutes ‘content’ suggests that the...

Chapter 12

Knowledge Management (KM) (pages 191-210)

Stephen M. Mutula

There are a growing number of studies on knowledge management (KM) in SMEs for various reasons. One has been the growing realisation that SMEs are in a unique situation because their most significant assets are intangibles comprised...

Chapter 13

E-Records Management and Freedom of Information for SMEs (pages 211-235)

Stephen M. Mutula

While records management in general and e-records management in particular have received serious attention in large enterprises, the same cannot be said for SMEs. This is despite the emergence of an economy where transactions are...

Information Needs and Capacity Building in SMEs

Chapter 14

Information Needs and Access in SMEs (pages 237-247)

Stephen M. Mutula

To ensure survival in today’s competitive business world, small-sized enterprises require access to accurate and relevant information both at the start-up stage and during their day-to-day operations. SMEs generally tend to be...

Chapter 15

Capacity Building in SMEs (pages 248-264)

Stephen M. Mutula

The preceding chapter demonstrated that one of the more pressing challenges facing SMEs is the lack of adequate skills, which makes capacity building a critical preoccupation. The 2003 WSIS highlighted the need for capacity building...

Globalisation, Trends, and Best Practices in the Digital Economy

Chapter 16

Globalisation of the Digital Economy (pages 266-282)

Stephen M. Mutula

Data transmitted over the Internet does not recognize national borders. It is this factor that has led information technology to open up new avenues in global commerce. People in separate countries can work on the same project...

Chapter 17

Trends and Best Practices in the Digital Economy (pages 283-301)

Stephen M. Mutula

Various global initiatives are taking place in the digital economy that aim to enhance global business trade and development, especially with regard to e-commerce. The International Chamber of Commerce - ICC (1997), for example, has...

Challenges of the Digital Economy, SMEs, and E-Readiness

Chapter 18

Challenges of the Digital Economy (pages 303-320)

Stephen M. Mutula

There are various challenges faced by SMEs in their endeavour to make more active use of the Internet and e-business. These challenges vary widely across different sectors of the economy as well as from country to country. The most...

Conclusion, Policy, and Managerial Recommendations

Chapter 19

Conclusion and the Way Forward (pages 322-330)

Stephen M. Mutula

The primary focus of this book has been on digital economies, SMEs and e-readiness. With the exception of this chapter, which provides the book’s summary and conclusion, the eighteen chapters that make up this book collectively cover...

Back Materials

About the Author

Index

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.

Username or email: *

Password: *

Forgot individual login password?

Create individual account