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).
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 92-112 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Keywords
- innovation
- e-business
- SMEs
- communication technology
- ICT adoption
- firm aggregations
- hosted applications
- intermediaries
- networks