Title: E-business, innovation and SMEs: the significance of hosted services and firm aggregations

Authors: David H. Brown, Nigel Lockett

Addresses: Department of Management Science, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK. ' Department of Management Science, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK

Abstract: Against a background of the low engagement of Small- to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in e-business this paper investigates the significance of hosted services and firm aggregations. On the basis of qualitative case studies of aggregations of SMEs, the research shows how e-business-based innovation can occur, and identifies the extent to which the aggregation factor contributes to this innovation. The research confirms existing understanding of the importance of network-based aggregations but adds to this with further detail and examples, including the |outsourcing| of innovation to the Application Service Providers (ASPs).

Keywords: small-and-medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; information technology; communication technology; ICT adoption; firm aggregations; hosted applications; intermediaries; innovation; networks; e-business.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2007.012175

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.1, pp.92 - 112

Published online: 27 Jan 2007 *

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