Impact of Broadband Internet Technologies on Business Performance of Irish SMEs

• Author: Eileen Doherty,Paul Harrigan,Pat Ibbotson,Elaine Ramsey
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2102
• Date: 01 November 2016
• Published date: 01 November 2016

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Strategic Change 25: 693–716 (2016)

Published online in Wiley Online Library

(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2102

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Strategic Change: Briengs in Entrepreneurial Finance

Strategic Change

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2102

Impact of Broadband Internet Technologies

on Business Performance of Irish SMEs1

Eileen Doherty

Innovation Value Institute, Maynooth University, Ireland

Elaine Ramsey

University of Ulster, Northern Ireland

Paul Harrigan

University of Western Australia, Australia

Pat Ibbotson

University of Ulster, Northern Ireland

SMEs’ adoption and use of broadband technology is driving both day‐to‐day

efciencies and strategic developments.

With the advent of advanced information communication technologies (ICTs)

and telecommunications, particularly the Internet and more recently broadband

Internet, comes a multitude of economic and social benets consequential to these

technological advances. As such, these are fundamental components of today’s

digital revolution. Broadband can be dened as:

High‐speed transmission. e term commonly refers to Internet access via a variety of

high‐speed networks, including cable, DSL, FiOS, Wi‐Fi, WiMAX, 3G, 4G and

satellite, all of which are faster than analog dial‐up by a huge magnitude.

(PC Mag, 2015)

It is now perceived as a key factor in the success of the economy (Lehr et al., 2006;

Majumbar et al., 2010; Czernich et al., 2011), and at a micro level it has positive

implications for rm performance (OECD, 2008; Mack and Faggian, 2013).

Broadband‐enabled communities experience more rapid economic growth,

increased employment, a greater number of businesses overall, and more businesses

in the IT‐intensive sectors (Lehr et al., 2006; Majumbar et al., 2010; Czernich

et al., 2011). ere has been a signicant body of research undertaken regarding

the adoption and diusion of the Internet and associated technologies by the rm

(Doherty, 2012), however, there has been a dearth of studies conducted in the

1 JEL classication codes: O3, R5.

SMEs are driven to adopt

broadband technologies from

needs internal or inside their

business, and not generally from

external pressures.

SME owner‐managers are the key

decision makers and they report

that the image of their business is

enhanced through the use of

broadband technologies, which

enable better website, email, and

social media use.

In turn, new international markets

open up for the SMEs with which

they are able to trade online via

e‐commerce.

694 Eileen Doherty, Elaine Ramsey, Paul Harrigan, and Pat Ibbotson

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change

DOI: 10.1002/jsc

small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) context, and

even fewer that have a theoretical base underpinning their

research. is article seeks to understand the impact of

broadband Internet technologies on business performance

of Irish SMEs through an exploration of the key drivers

impacting adoption, nature of broadband usage, chal-

lenges to adoption, and ultimately the post‐adoption

impact of the technology.

e article is arranged as follows: the literature

surrounding the research problem relative to the adoption

and diusion of an innovation (technological determin-

ism and instrumental theory) is rst presented. Addition-

ally, previous studies examining the practical implications

of the adoption and diusion of the technology are out-

lined. Consequently, the methodological approach

adopted through this study is presented, followed by the

quantitative and qualitative ndings from the research.

Finally, the discussion, conclusion, and ideas for future

research are presented.

Background

Extensive research has previously been undertaken in a

large rm (Majumbar et al., 2010), country (Manjoor,

2014), and consumer context (Irani et al., 2009; Manjoor,

2014) regarding adoption and diusion of the Internet

and associated technologies. However, there is acknowl-

edgment that further research needs to be conducted from

a micro perspective, and little has been done to examine

the post‐adoption impact and what it is being used for

(Akerman et al., 2013). In addition, it is important to

note that there is also a dearth of research undertaken

from an SME perspective (Ramdami et al., 2009). As

such, this research seeks to understand the impact of

broadband Internet technologies on Irish (Northern

Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) SME business per-

formance for reasons of SME density of population

(Intertrade Ireland, 2013) and claims of broadband cover-

age (Collins, 2010; International Telecommunications

Union, 2012).

Philosophies/theories guiding technology

adoption

Technological determinist scholars purport that technol-

ogy in general, and more specically communications

technologies, are the basis of society in the past, present,

and future (Chandler, 1995). Furthermore, in this era of

the Internet and its associated technologies, there is

acknowledgment that the role technology plays in social

change on a daily basis is ubiquitous. Many of our normal

and routine ways of doing things can be attributed to the

introduction of some new technology or other (Lawson,

2004). Determinists view technology as an autonomous

force of social change; as the ‘prime mover’ in history

(Chandler, 1995), and its signicant impact on society is

therefore a destiny from which there is no escape (Feen-

berg, 1991).

Social determinism can be perceived as taking key

elements of both of the above philosophical perspectives,

in that it perceives technology as a result of the society in

which it is developed (Green, 2001). Green asserts that

throughout history, technology has been developed as a

consequence of a social need, with a particular purpose or

objective in mind. It is acknowledged that technology

development can only happen with nancial backing, and

as such is of benet to those who are in a position to

subsidize its development. In essence, this philosophical

perspective asserts that it is the attributes or features of

the technology that determine its use and the role of a

progressive society is to adapt to (and benet from) its use

(Green, 2001).

e current study is concerned with the area of tech-

nology acceptance and consequently necessitates an

understanding and further investigation of how new tech-

nology is adopted. Of particular relevance is the adopter‐

based technology acceptance model (TAM). TAM was

developed by Davis (1989) and Davis et al. (1989) using

computer usage research to explain behavioral intentions

associated with why users accept or reject technologies. In

addition, Rogers’ (1995) developer‐based diusion of

innovations (DOI) theory is concerned with the attributes