Identifying the adoption of e‐business and knowledge management within SMEs

Abstract

This paper presents results on the extent to which e‐business and knowledge management approaches are being used by SMEs in the UK. The questionnaire survey and interview results identify the main issues that should concern SMEs if they want to prevail in the emerging business environment and knowledge economy. The main finding is that SMEs have increasingly applied e‐business for B2B and B2C activities, but SMEs are not generally aware of how knowledge can be created through the use of e‐business applications and daily operations. It is envisaged that the findings from this study will provide the main step forward in developing a reference framework and a management model for SMEs to assess, manage and make use of the existing and new e‐business tools and knowledge reflecting the e‐business and knowledge management era.