Rethinking technology in the SME context: Affordances, practices and ICTs
International Small Business Journal
Published online on December 07, 2015
Abstract
This article advances a novel conceptualization of digital technology and its relationship with small and medium enterprise (SME) business practice. Focusing on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), I expose salient ontological assumptions that guide the dominant models of technology in SME research and calls for their reassessment. Building on the emergent scholarship on technology-in-practice and emphasizing the entanglement and situatedness of technology use, I advance a fresh approach to theorizing and researching the ICT-SME practice nexus. Extending the technology-in-practice perspective into the SME domain, new directions are suggested for ICT scholarship and implications outlined for research, policy, and business practice.