The Use of Information And Communication Technology As A Tool to Create Capabilities : A study of the relation between use of ICT and the use of Best Business Practices in manufacturing SMEs in a region of Sweden

• This paper reports an analysis on the use of ICT among manufacturing firms, in the county of Dalarna in Sweden, with ten and more employees. The study focus on the following question: Can the use of ICT be seen as a contributing factor in the process of the creation of competitiveness? Traditionally a common view on strategy has been conceptualized as a situational choice of generic strategies (e.g. Porter) assuming a type of contingency based view of the firm. During the last decade and still dominating is the focus on core competencies or distinctive capabilities assuming a resource based view of the firm (RBV). But where do the capabilities come from? It is generally acknowledged in research that these often intangible or tacit capabilities are developed through experiential learning or learning by practicing. This is the basis of a “practice based view of the firm” (PBV), often assumed in quality theories and methodologies, as a variant or specification of RBV. It is in PBV assumed, based on research findings, that there are practices that, in combination and when effectively linked together, can be expected to consistently improve operational performance and thus provide firms who adopt them with an advantage over those that do not. Thus good business practices, and the learning and knowledge creation developed through using them, can be thought of as the base or foundation on which distinctive capabilities and hence competitive advantage is built. There is an assumption that the use of ICT will contribute in the creation of this distinctive capabilities. Research Methodology The basis for the analysis is a dataset (127 firms) that was collected in the beginning of 2001 through a survey (BPPS) among manufacturing sites with 10 and more employees. The survey was sent to all firms (327) meeting the criteria above and the response rate was 40 %. The Business Practices and Performance Model (BPPS) have been developed from a Practice Based View that is operationalized in a survey instrument. It has been used in three large scale empirical investigations in New Zealand during the 1990s and recently in five regions in Sweden (The total Swedish dataset is 741 work sites and we might do some comparisons). Possible Conclusions The responses from the participating firm in this regional sample might indicate that: · Firms that are using ICT more seems to be more likely to be or to become market leaders. · The likelihood for high values on operational outcomes seems to be positive correlated with the use of ICT. · Operational outcomes are correlated with the use of practices and the use of practices seems to be influenced by the use of ICT.

Nyckelord

Resource based view

Best practice

Manufacturing

Strategy

Competitiveness

ICT

IT

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