Employing Social Capital by Small & Medium Enterprises to Bear Fruit from Wireless Communications

Wireless and mobile communications can save Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) significant time, money, and effort due to the mobility, flexibility, and ease of use mobile devices provide. SMEs that use such innovations can improve productivity, decrease costs, and enhance the quality of the business process. Lacking technical skills and financial resources, SMEs need special support from local communities and governments in order to survive the severe competition of big chain stores. This paper proposes a model for SMEs to adopt new innovations—those of wireless communications—by employing social capital. We have used a case study approach to show that social networks can supplement the lack of technical skills and financial resources of SMEs and enable them to benefit from emerging wireless technologies. The contribution of this study lies in bringing awareness of utilizing social capital and community resources to incorporate emerging innovations and improve the competitiveness of SMEs.