Book chapter · 2018
Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration
In Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment, Contributions to Management Science, pp. 295–313, Springer International Publishing · Published
Summary
Vajjhala and Strang (2018) investigated the key social and technical challenges that small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a transition economy face during EU integration, using Albania as a qualitative case study with in-depth interviews of 20 managers in 10 medium-sized enterprises. They identified five critical success factors: investment in ICT for work processes, investment in employee training, perceived usefulness of the technology, employee self-efficacy, and openness toward new technology. Generalisation to other transition countries is asserted rather than tested.
Practical implication. SME executives in transition economies can draw on five critical success factors: ICT and software investment, training investment, perceived usefulness, employee self-efficacy and openness to new technology.
- The Problem
- SMEs in transition economies such as Albania face social and technical barriers to technological innovation as their countries integrate with the EU.
- The Methodology
- Qualitative case study of Albania extending prior quantitative research: in-depth interviews with 20 managers in 10 medium-sized enterprises, analysed to identify critical success factors.
- The Core Finding
- Interviews with 20 managers in ten Albanian medium-sized enterprises identified five critical success factors: investment in ICT for work processes, investment in employee training, perceived usefulness of the technology, employee self-efficacy, and openness toward new technology.
- The Citation
- Vajjhala, N. R., & Strang, K. D. (2018). Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration. In A. M. Dima (Ed.), Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment (pp. 295–313). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14
The summary, key findings, methods, implications and relevance notes on this page are this website’s own description of the chapter, written from the published abstract and text. The official abstract and citation details are given further down.
Key findings
- Finding 1. SMEs in transition economies face social and technical barriers to technological innovation because of limited financial, human and technological resources.
- Finding 2. The first critical success factor was the degree of investment the SME made to introduce ICT and software into its work processes.
- Finding 3. The second was the degree of investment in adequate resources to train employees to use the technology.
- Finding 4. The third and fourth were employees’ perceived usefulness of the new technology and their self-efficacy (confidence) in using it.
- Finding 5. The fifth was employees’ openness attitude toward using new technology.
- Finding 6. The authors expect the results to generalise to other SMEs in Albania and to future EU transition countries.
Source: Vajjhala & Strang (2018), In Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment, Contributions to Management Science, pp. 295–313, Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14
The chapter in detail
What question does this chapter answer?
What key social and technical challenges do SMEs in a transition economy such as Albania face in the process of EU integration, and which critical success factors help overcome them?
What did the chapter find, in detail?
Using in-depth interviews with 20 managers in 10 medium-sized Albanian enterprises, the study identified five critical success factors for transition-economy SMEs: the degree of SME investment in ICT and software for work processes; the degree of investment in resources to train employees to use technology; employees’ perceived usefulness of the new technology; employees’ self-efficacy (confidence) in using it; and employees’ openness toward using new technology.
Why does it matter?
SMEs are the backbone of transition and emerging economies but have limited financial, human and technological resources for innovation. Identifying the factors that let them meet EU-integration demands is useful to SME executives, organisational researchers and socio-economic practitioners in transition and developing countries.
Methods and data
| Research question | What are the key social and technical challenges that SMEs in transition countries such as Albania face during EU integration? |
|---|---|
| Design | Qualitative case study (Albania as a recent EU candidate country), extending existing quantitative research |
| Sample | 20 managers working in 10 medium-sized enterprises in Albania |
| Methods | In-depth interviews; analysis to identify critical success factors |
| Main result | Five critical success factors: ICT/software investment; training investment; perceived usefulness; employee self-efficacy; openness to new technology |
| Implication | Results should generalise to other Albanian SMEs and future EU transition countries |
| Citation | Vajjhala & Strang (2018) · DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14 |
Definitions and key terms
- Sociotechnical challenges
- Social and technical barriers to technological innovation that SMEs in transition economies such as Albania face as their countries integrate with the EU, which the chapter attributes to limited financial, human and technological resources. — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2018)
- Critical success factors
- Factors for overcoming the key sociotechnical challenges that the SMEs of a transition economy face during EU integration. — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2018)
- Employee self-efficacy
- Confidence of employees in using new technology, the level of which is the fourth critical success factor identified in the chapter. — as used in Vajjhala & Strang (2018)
Abstract
Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of national economies, in particular, for transition and emerging nations. SMEs contribute significantly to employment generation and innovation in countries that are in transition. However, SMEs face several social and technical challenges as they focus on technological innovation. SMEs face several barriers in technological innovation because of their limited financial, human, and technological resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the key sociotechnical challenges that the SMEs of a transition economy face during EU integration and then to highlight any critical success factors for overcoming those challenges. Albania was the case study because they recently achieved candidate country status and are progressing toward EU integration. The central research question which drove the study was: What are the key social and technical challenges that SMEs in transition countries, such as Albania, face in the process of EU integration? We extended existing quantitative research by using qualitative data collection. We used in-depth interviews with 20 managers working in 10 medium-sized enterprises in Albania. After analyzing the data we identified five critical success factors for these EU transition-country SMEs. The first factor was the degree of investment made by the SME to introduce information and communication technology and software into the work processes. The second factor was the degree of investment made by the SME to acquire adequate resources to train their employees to use technology. The third factor was the perceived usefulness of the new technology by employees. The fourth characteristic was the level of employee self-efficacy (confidence) in using new technology. The final attribute was the openness attitude of employees towards using new technology. These results should generalize to other SMEs in Albania and to future EU transition countries. This study should be of interest to SMEs executives and organizational researchers in transition or developing countries, as well as to socio-economic practitioners in any industry or discipline.
Abstract as published in Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment.
Keywords: SMEs; Transition; Innovation; European; Integration
Limitations
- Qualitative evidence from 20 managers in 10 medium-sized Albanian enterprises; generalisation to other transition countries is asserted rather than tested.
Practical implications
- SME executives in transition economies can treat the degree of investment in ICT and software for work processes, and in resources to train employees to use the technology, as critical success factors.
- SME executives in transition economies can consider employees’ perceived usefulness of new technology, their self-efficacy (confidence) in using it and their openness toward using it, which the study identified as critical success factors.
- For SME executives, the authors expect the five critical success factors identified in 10 medium-sized Albanian enterprises to generalise to other SMEs in Albania and to future EU transition countries.
- For organisational researchers, the evidence on critical success factors is qualitative, from 20 managers in 10 medium-sized Albanian enterprises, and generalisation to other transition countries is asserted rather than tested.
Drawn from Vajjhala & Strang (2018), In Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment, Contributions to Management Science, pp. 295–313, Springer International Publishing.
When this research may be relevant
This chapter may be relevant to literature on SMEs in transition economies and the Western Balkans, EU integration and business environment challenges, technology acceptance factors (perceived usefulness, self-efficacy, openness) in small firms, and qualitative studies of ICT investment and training in Albania. It complements the knowledge-sharing and national-culture studies of Albania listed under related research.
Research topics addressed: small and medium enterprises; transition economies; EU integration; Albania; sociotechnical challenges; technological innovation; critical success factors; ICT investment; employee training; perceived usefulness; self-efficacy; technology acceptance; qualitative interviews
How to cite
- APA 7
- Vajjhala, N. R., & Strang, K. D. (2018). Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration. In A. M. Dima (Ed.), Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment (pp. 295–313). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14
- MLA 9
- Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao, and Kenneth David Strang. “Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration.” Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment, edited by Alina Mihaela Dima, Springer International Publishing, 2018, pp. 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14.
- IEEE
- N. R. Vajjhala and K. D. Strang, “Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration,” in Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment, A. M. Dima, Ed. Springer International Publishing, 2018, pp. 295–313, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14.
BibTeX
@incollection{vajjhala2018sociotechnical,
title = {Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration},
author = {Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao and Strang, Kenneth David},
booktitle = {Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment},
series = {Contributions to Management Science},
editor = {Dima, Alina Mihaela},
pages = {295--313},
year = {2018},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14}
}RIS
TY - CHAP TI - Sociotechnical Challenges of Transition Economy SMEs During EU Integration AU - Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao AU - Strang, Kenneth David ED - Dima, Alina Mihaela T2 - Doing Business in Europe: Economic Integration Processes, Policies, and the Business Environment T3 - Contributions to Management Science PY - 2018 DA - 2018/04/09 SP - 295 EP - 313 PB - Springer International Publishing SN - 1431-1941 DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14 UR - https://www.narasimharao.net/research/sociotechnical-challenges-transition-economy-smes-eu-integration/ LA - en ER -
Links and files
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14
- Publisher’s page: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-72239-9_14
- This page as text: https://www.narasimharao.net/research/sociotechnical-challenges-transition-economy-smes-eu-integration/paper.md
- Permanent address of this page: https://www.narasimharao.net/research/sociotechnical-challenges-transition-economy-smes-eu-integration/
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