Institutional Intervention in SMEs ICT Adoption: A Network Perspective

Smallto medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the resources and knowledge to strategically adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs). Governments across the world have acknowledged this issue by designing intervention programs aimed specifically at the SMEs sector. Recent research on government intervention in SMEs’ ICT adoption has tended to focus on the role of technological factors, such as the technology properties and technical expertise in creating effective intervention programs. However, little attention has been paid to the social factors that can play a major role in the adoption process, especially in a context like the SMEs sector. Through an in-depth case study, this paper investigates the role of the firm’s network in the implementation of a government technology intervention program. This research is guided by the technology intervention model and network analysis for data collection and analysis. Findings of this research suggest that different institutional actions are required to foster ICT adoption in SMEs, depending on the SME’s network building phase.