ICNET: an Effective Model for Evaluating the Benefits of Endogenous Internet based Systems in SMEs

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 1998

Authors

Maria Henriqueta Nóvoa (Author) FEUP; João Falcão e Cunha (Author) FEUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: Technologies for the Information Society: Developments and Opportunities

Pages: 128-135

Technologies for the Information Society: Developments and Opportunities

Amsterdam

Other information

Abstract (EN): Established SMEs, doing business in traditional economic activity areas, have a natural reluctance in adopting new technologies, unless clear short or medium term benefits are found. It is widely foreseen that the Internet will be of the utmost importance for an SME conducting business in a peripheral region of any large economic zone, such as the EU. Therefore, it is critically important to devise effective evaluation models that can provide a sound basis for supporting the decision of embedding the Internet into the endogenous SME business systems. We will propose and describe a detailed evaluation model, comprising a detailed cost and benefit analysis of the replacement of traditional business systems with Internet based systems, as well as the analysis of the less tangible advantages and the risks that an endogenous Internet system brings to the SME. An evaluation based on such a model is a fundamental step in elaborating a complete model for building Internet based endogenous systems for SMEs. Although our target is the Portuguese SME, we believe that most of our model can be applied to any European SME, in particular to the ones in peripheral regions of Europe.

Language: Portuguese

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific