It is a well-known problem that small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) have difficulty to participate in electronic commerce. In particular, the SME participation in business-to-business electronic commerce is seriously lagging behind compared to the very active participation of large companies. We discuss several barriers that could explain why SMEs have problems to participate in electronic...

Recently, situational method engineering (SME) has become more and more popular. Due to the fact that different situations require different methods, SME offers a flexible adaptation of methods. Furthermore, various approaches for the identification of services within service-oriented architectures have been proposed in the last few years. However, none of them provide a significant degree of s...

We use SME, a domain-general model of analogy, to solve a set of problems from the Raven’s Progressive Matrices. SME is used in a two-stage mapping process which we have previously shown to be effective for solving geometric analogy problems. Each problem is drawn in PowerPoint and input into sKEA, our sketch understanding system. sKEA automatically computes qualitative representations of the d...

In this paper we present an econometric model to determine whether an SME (Small and Medium Sized Enterprise)’s probability of outsourcing depends on their levels of innovation and information and communication technology use. The predictions of the econometric model are tested by means of a LOGIT model using a cross section sample of an Argentinean SME for the year 2006. The model predicts tha...

We present constraints on violations of Lorentz invariance based on archival lunar laser-ranging (LLR) data. LLR measures the Earth-Moon separation by timing the round-trip travel of light between the two bodies and is currently accurate to the equivalent of a few centimeters (parts in 10(11) of the total distance). By analyzing this LLR data under the standard-model extension (SME) framework, ...

There is growing IS research concerning SME use of websites and limited but growing research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by SMEs. However, to-date these two bodies of literature have remained largely separate. This paper links these fields by presenting an SME website content analysis method. Melville in his seminal MIS Quarterly article called for such methods which provide a nexu...

The International Human Resource Management (IHRM) research on international assignments (IA) is characterised by a domination of US studies and a strong focus on multinational companies (MNC), disregarding that smalland middlesized enterprises (SME) represent close to 90% of all firms in most industries. Our study addresses these shortcomings by providing data from the German chemical industry...

Of all the decisions that managers of SME have to make, laying off someone is the most difficult as well as the hardest to live with. Layoffs are often seen as a personal failure with mental and psychological consequences that can be disastrous for both the person laid off and the employer responsible. Curiously, the suffering experienced by the employer is never mentioned in the SME context. T...

E-business technologies present unique opportunities and challenges for businesses, and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are no exception. However, there is a rich body of the e-business literature concentrates on adoption concerns from SMEs buyers’ viewpoint, little research has so far been reported from the viewpoint of SME suppliers. Participation of SME suppliers needs to be ensured in ord...

This research has studied an established Irish retail business as it takes its first tentative steps into the e-commerce arena. Although the adoption of e-commerce is widely studied in the academic world, only a small percentage of these studies focus on the Small to Medium size Enterprise (SME) retail sector. SMEs account for 97% of Irish companies and employ up to 800,000 people (Chamber of C...