Measuring the ict strategy improvements of SMES

A longitudinal study of eight SMEs was carried out over a two-year period, applying an ICT development scorecard which uses a Likert scale to measure changes during the study period. The paper finds that seven of the eight companies assessed during the period of the study showed improvements in their information and communication technology (ICT) development, with only one company showing negligible improvement. The company that made negligible development went into receivership 9 months after completion of the study. The key limitations were that only eight companies were prepared to contribute completely in the study, and the variety of type of company was large. The scorecard has practical implications in that instead of having to choose complicated ICT planning systems or pay high consultancy charges, SME owner managers can use the scorecard themselves at no cost and make informed decisions on ICT investments. This particular design of scorecard has not been used before, it is original, and will be of use for SME owner managers and ICT practitioners, as it provides an easy-to-use tool to help plan and measure ICT development within SMEs.