The interviewed companies fall within two groups Elsammani, Hackney, & Scown, 2004; OVDPPDQL 6FRZQ 7KH ¿UVW JURXS is Need Pull NP SMEs that had the initiative to develop their own Web
Trang 1the same Web directory or ISP, and the companies’
willingness to participate in the study A series of
questions were prepared, and each manager was
personally interviewed using a semi-structured
interview format Semi-structured interviews
FDOOIRUDVSHFL¿FOLVWRITXHVWLRQVWREHDVNHGLQ
DVSHFL¿FRUGHUEXWSHUPLWVWKHLQWHUYLHZHUWR
ask optional questions, pass on others, and depart
EULHÀ\WRIROORZXQH[SHFWHGSDWKV /LQGORI
The semi-structured interviews were conducted
in the SME premises with the owner-manager or
a similar decision maker, for example a partner
or marketing director Each interview lasted an
hour Interviews were both noted and
tape-re-corded, and then transcribed Understanding of
the problems and conceptualisation improved as
more companies were interviewed
The analysis of the semi-structured interviews
took the form of hierarchical coding using template
analysis as described by King (1998)
Hierarchi-cal coding enables the analysis of text at varying
OHYHOV RI VSHFL¿FLW\ 7KHPHV LQ WKH LQWHUYLHZV
were coded and grouped, thus forming groups
of similar codes clustered together to produce a
more general higher order codes A pragmatic
decision was made to stop the process of
develop-ing and modifydevelop-ing the analytical template, when
there where no relevant sections of transcript
uncoded, and there was a clear understanding
of what each code meant (King, 1998) Broad,
higher codes give an overview of the general
direction of the interview, while detailed
lower-RUGHUFRGHVDOORZIRUWKH¿QHGLVWLQFWLRQVERWK
within cases and between cases, thus enabling a
within and between groups comparison (Miles
& Huberman, 1994)
BACKGROUND OF PARTICIPATING
COMPANIES
SMEs that participated in the semi-structured
interviews were selected from a Web directory,
³MerseyWorld”, that was part of a European
funded project, managed by Connect Connect DFWHGERWKDVD³F\EHUPHGLDU\´DQG,63WKURXJK the MerseyWorld site (Charlton, Gittings, Leng, Little, & Neilson, 1998), as well as a change agent (Charlton, Gittings, Leng, Little, & Neilson, 1997)
As a change agent, Connect was responsible for the diffusion of Internet The primarily concern was providing businesses with the necessary Internet knowhow to effectively exploit the technology and bring businesses onto the Internet This was performed through Awareness Days, Short Course Programmes, The MerseyWorld Site, and its Work Experience and Work Placement SURJUDPPHV$VD³cybermediary” through the MerseyWorld site, Connect aimed at marketing the electronic potential of the Merseyside region
A Web presence was developed for businesses based on information submitted in any format Connect employed programmers, designers and system specialists to develop the Web sites Any company could join MerseyWorld, whether it KDGDQH[LVWLQJ:HESUHVHQFHRUQRW7KH¿UVW
12 months were free of charge irrespective of the level of service the company chooses Start-ing from the second year charges were incurred depending on the type of service selected
At the time of conducting the interviews, all SMEs hosted their Web presence on MerseyWorld All interviewed companies have between two and four years experience with the Web pres-ence The interviewed companies fall within two groups (Elsammani, Hackney, & Scown, 2004; (OVDPPDQL 6FRZQ 7KH ¿UVW JURXS
is Need Pull (NP) SMEs that had the initiative
to develop their own Web presence, either in-house or through a Web design bureau, before approaching the change agent NP SMEs were attracted by the services offered by the change DJHQW³HVSHFLDOO\VXEPLVVLRQWRVHDUFKHQJLQHV attractive,” and were encouraged to host their site
in the MerseyWorld directory The second group
is Technology Push (TP) SMEs These companies were pushed into adopting a Web presence, mainly through the change agent efforts in awareness
Trang 2creation and free Web design and hosting TP
60(V UHSRUWHG WKDW ³IUHH :HE GHVLJQ ZDV WKH
main incentive in adopting a Web presence at
WKHWLPH´DVWKH\GLVFRYHUHG³WKHFRPSOH[LW\RI
Web design and development while attending the
awareness courses.”
The majority of participants were small
companies with up to 25 employees, and only
one company was medium sized (case 11) The
semi-structured interviews were conducted in
the SME premises with the owner-manager or
a similar decision maker, for example, a partner
or marketing director (case 11, case 3, case 7,
case 2) The interviewed owner-mangers where
PRVWO\PDOHVZLWKWKHH[FHSWLRQRIWKUHH¿UPV
where owner-manager was female (case 7, case 8,
FDVH $OO¿UPVZHUHLQGHSHQGHQWO\RZQHGDQG
were not in partnership with larger organisations
Generally, the interviewed companies are mature
companies established for more than six years,
with the exception of one young company (case
8) established for less than three years Overall,
the sample is a mixture of business-to-business
(B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C)
compa-nies Most companies operate in local and national
markets, with the exception of two companies that
have international clients and customers (case 3
and case 7) Companies come from a diversity of
industry sectors: manufacturing, retail, real estate,
DQG¿QDQFLDOLQWHUPHGLDWLRQ7DEOHSURYLGHVDQ
overall presentation of participants in the
semi-structured interviews
IMPLEMENTATION HISTORY
NP SMEs and TP SMEs mainly differ by where
the Web presence was initially developed and in
the years of experience with the Web presence
(see Table 1) NP SMEs have been internally
motivated, either by the owner manager or a
mem-ber of staff Their initial adoption decisions was
LQÀXHQFHGE\WKHLGHQWL¿HGEXVLQHVVQHHGDIWHU
experiencing the advantages of using e-mail for
communication and observing the fast adoption
of the new technology These companies own a Web presence between three and four years They developed their initial Web site either in-house
or approached a Web design bureau Contrary,
TP SMEs own a Web presence for two to three years They have been externally motivated by the change agent’s efforts in the diffusion of ECT TP SMEs initial Web site was developed
by the change agent, hence their initial adoption GHFLVLRQ ZDV VWURQJO\ LQÀXHQFHG DQG OLPLWHG
by the services provided by the change agent or perceived change agent
Within the two to four years of ECT adop-tion, most NP SMEs and TP SMEs subsequently redesigned and developed a number of Web sites with the exception of three companies Two TP SMEs (case 1 and case 2) still use the same site developed by the change agent, and one NP SMEs (case 3) where the site was originally developed by
an enthusiastic member of staff, but the company lost interest in further investment in the Web pres-HQFHDVLWZDVRIQRVLJQL¿FDQFHWRWKHFRPSDQ\ Web site update and management was either done in-house by owner-manager and/or members of staff, or outsourced to a Web designer and/or the change agent Reasons for subsequent Web site redesign and development include: update Web site functionality (NP case 5, NP case 6, TP case 8), keep customer interest (NP case 4), improve Web site aesthetics (TP case 7, TP case 1), and the site developed by change agent was basic (TP case 9, and TP case 10) Table 2 provides a summary of SMEs’ Web site implementation and subsequent redesign
Although NP and TP SMEs differed in their initial adoption decision and Web site develop-ment, evidence shows that overtime, there is an overlap in their subsequent development and management practices A retrospective analysis of WKHLULPSOHPHQWDWLRQEHKDYLRXUUHÀHFWVDQXPEHU
of patterns in the allocation of resources, devel-opment process, and strategic planning These SDWWHUQVDUHQRWVSHFL¿FWRHLWKHUJURXSDOWKRXJK
Trang 3SMEs Managed by (gender)
Business Activity
Y with W
Medium (50 employees + 60 part-time)
B2C & B2B
Small (25 employees)
Financial Intermediation; business insurance
International and national
Small (25 employees)
Real Estate, Renting & Business; renting out equipment
Small (20 employees)
Other social & personal services
Micro (3 employees)
B2B & B2C
ISP (dif
Small (12 full time + 60 part-time)
Real Estate, Renting & Business; labour recruitment
International and national
Small (30 employees)
Financial Intermediation; business insurance
Micro (2 employees)
Micro (3 employees)
Micro (2 employees)
Micro (5 employees)
Table 1 Description of SME participants in semi-structured interviews
Trang 4NP/TP SME
Y Experience
&XUUHQW ¿QDO VLWHGHYHORSHGE\&RQQHFWXQGHUWKH supervision of Marketing Director (MD)
Case3 (NP)
Case5 (NP)
T MerseyW
Add e-commerce solution, waiting one year for response from Connect
Case4 (NP)
Three times a year the site is re-designed and updated
Keep customer interest Need new domain name
On going update and re-design by owner
Case6 (NP)
Current (second) website developed last year by a university student Still not functioning
Add online quoting system, free service of student scheme
Case7 (TP) Change Agent (Connect)
They had a number of false starts with local design companies Final site is developed by
Change the look and feel of the site
Case2 (TP) Change Agent (Connect)
Case8 (TP)
Change Agent (dif
site under construction for the last six months slow progress due to communication problems with designer
Add functionality e-commerce and online diary of events Out source day-to-day management and redesign of the site Owner lacks skills
Case9 (TP) Change Agent (Connect)
Not happy with site initially developed by change agent
Case10 (TP) Change Agent (Connect)
Developed in-house a new website which is hosted in three dif
Site developed by change agent was too basic
Continuous update and re-design of website by owner
Case1 (TP) Change Agent (Connect)
Current (second) site developed by amateur web designer but is hosted it at MerseyW
Outsource update due lack of skills Update yearly
Table 2 Historical account of initial Web sites implementation and subsequent re-design
Trang 5some behaviour might be more dominant in one
group than the other Some companies,
irrespec-tive of whether they are NP or TP, prefer to be
self-reliant and depend on internal resources,
while other companies prefer to outsource
Some SMEs (particularly NP SMEs) are active
adopters that dynamically add changes to Web
presence functionality, while other companies
(mostly TP SMEs) take a more passive stance by
limiting Web site changes to update of
informa-WLRQ7KHFKDQJHVPDGHE\DFWLYHPRGL¿HUVDUH
not always driven by strategic planning, but are
based on ad-hoc decisions and choices to gain
WDQJLEOH EHQH¿WV DQG FRPSHWLWLYH DGYDQWDJH
Contrary, passive adopters had limited impact
on the Web presence maintenance and their Web
presence is either updated sporadically mainly to
update content, or the Web presence is in a static
state with minimum or no update Table 3 gives
a details account of each interviewed company
and the development patterns that inform their
implementation behaviour The remaining part
of this section discusses these patterns and the
LQÀXHQFLQJIDFWRUV
Outsource vs In-House
(Self-Reliance)
Web site management can be viewed from two
perspectives: the update and management of
day-to-day information, and the major design changes
0RVW 60(V DFTXLUHG VXI¿FLHQW Web authoring
skills to aid them in managing the Web presence,
either due to owner-manager’s personal interest
in Web authoring or through the change agent
awareness and knowhow training NP SMEs
updated their site on a daily and monthly basis,
contrary to TP SMEs who update their site on a
quarterly or yearly basis In most companies, both
TP SMEs and NP SMEs, day-to-day updates are
usually managed in-house whether by
own-man-ager or other in-house staff, with the exception
of two companies (TP case 1, and TP case 8) that
outsource day-to-day updates (see Table 2)
We update if there is something major, if we are doing a new product I will change it but in a general sense I probably tidy it up, make a few changes to make it look different if nothing else, probably every two/three months (NP case 5)
…as far as the majority of the actual text informa-tion is concerned, we have the ability to change
it from here As far as any interactive screens are concerned, we don’t and obviously we’re going
to go back to [Web design Bureau] for that (NP
case 6)
I think I might have been tempted originally if ,ZDVÀXVKZLWKPRQH\EXW,¶PDOPRVWSOHDVHG WKDW,ZDVQ¶WÀXVKZLWKPRQH\DWWKHEHJLQQLQJ because it taught me how to do it myself, I mean very amateurishly really but the thing is, it is working and it’s selling books (TP case 9)
60(VWKDWDUHFRQ¿GHQWZLWKWKHLU:HEDXWKRU-LQJVNLOOVGRQRW¿QGWKHQHHGWRHPSOR\PRUH staff to manage the site For these companies out-sourcing, Web site maintenance and subsequent redesign, to external professional Web design companies is not a solution they have considered SMEs’ preference to depend on internal resources, rather than approach a professional Web design company, is driven by: fear of high maintenance FRVWVODFNRIMXVWL¿FDWLRQIRUFRVWVIRUFRQWLQXRXV update, lack of trust in designers’ capability, fear
of losing control over the Web presence, and lack
of time to liaise and communicate with designer These factors are evident from the following statements
Basically the cost really, to get a professional Web design company to do it, doesn’t warrant the actual expenditure really I don’t think because what’s there is ok and if we went to a professional company, all they’d do is, they’d still be asking us for more photos and more graphics, they wouldn’t
be going out taking pictures of our events, so it’s
Trang 6NP/TP SME
Y Experience
No Planning or Ad-hoc Planning
Case3 (NP)
Case5 (NP)
Case4 (NP)
Case6 (NP)
Case7 (TP)
Case2 (TP)
Case8 (TP)
Case9 (TP)
Case10 (TP)
Case1 (TP)
Table 3 Implementation patterns of subsequent Web presence implementation
Trang 7just paying them to put it on the screen correctly
and I can do that anyway (NP case 6)
We’ve got a couple of new pictures to go on it and
we’ve had to change the title on the top of every
page because the designer that did the original site
didn’t use a recognised sponsor, I’ve been through
SKRQHQXPEHUVDQG,FDQ¶W¿QGKHUVKH¶VOHIW
the University, I can’t track her down and I got
to a point where I’d spent a couple of days trying
WR¿QGKHUDQG,MXVWWKRXJKW,¶PZDVWLQJWLPH
here, bugger it, we’ll just change every heading
instead, so we just came back and just changed
every heading (NP case 4)
Although most NP SMEs are capable of
per-forming major aesthetic design changes internally
within the company, they tend to depend on
ex-ternal expertise as they implement more complex
ECT solution For example a NP SMEs (case 5)
has two ongoing Web sites, a catalogue site and
an e-commerce site which was developed with
the help of change agent The e-commerce site is
online for more than a year but is not functioning
effectively The owner-manager is waiting for the
change agent to resolve the technical problem and
provide adequate EC solution
We have two Web sites, we have a catalogue, a
magazine if you like … and we have an email,
e-commerce thing …The e-commerce site is SQL
server-based which means that if you actually
click it, you call up a database, a pick list if you
like and it is slow and we are talking just now
to [Consultant at Connect] he can improve
po-tential customer access to it in terms of speed of
delivery … so we have had business through the
catalogue but not through the e-commerce site …
it is enquiries that lead to business but not directly,
there is always a second stage in it, we are not
directly selling from the e-commerce site at all,
hence our continued discussions with Connect
about its effectiveness (NP case 5)
In comparison to NP SMES, TP SMEs tend to depend more on external expertise, e.g., the Web design bureau as well as designer at the change agent Some TP companies (TP case 8 and TP case 1) have not reached a stage of self-reliance and depend on the change agent’s services for day-to-day update as well as subsequent redesign This can explain why the majority of TP SMEs XSGDWHWKHLUVLWHTXDUWHUO\RU\HDUO\DQGDVLJQL¿-cant number of TP SMEs were not aware of how frequent or when the site will be updated More-over, TP SMEs dependence on the change agent (or perceived change agent) is driven by the cost for redesign and trust in designer (change agent) rather than evaluation of possible EC solution or services provided
We have just designed another one [site] I’ve done the pictures and all that stuff… I asked Con-nect to price this for me and at last the count was
£1,700 and rising… so I went across the road to
a computer place that does computers he’s going
to charge me £300 against £1,700 and rising…
so there’s a big difference (TP case 1)
Now having done it [site] and having seen that there are 200,000 people around the world who now know there’s a company called [name of business] in the Wirral, I’m quite happy and I’m prepared to pay for it to be refreshed because those are the people [Connect] who have helped
us and I trust them, at the end of the day it’s my company (TP case 2)
In summary, most NP and TP companies are capable of conducting day-to-day updates, but there is a tendency to outsource major Web site redesign especially with the increase in complexity
of Web site functionality This pattern is evident
in the more technically capable NP SMEs The less capable TP SMEs tend to outsource most Web site management whether day-to-day or subsequent redesign of a new site SME’s choice RI:HEGHVLJQEXUHDXLVEDVHGRQWKHMXVWL¿FDWLRQ
Trang 8of costs and trust (or lack of trust) in external
professional support and services
3DVVLYH$GRSWHUYV$FWLYH0RGL¿HU
The majority of NP SMEs have developed their
Web presence in-house and have control over their
adoption decisions These companies are mostly
DFWLYH PRGL¿HUV 7KH\ KDG LQLWLDOO\ GHYHORSHG
their Web site either in-house or approached a
Web design bureau Most NP SMEs continue to
manage and update their Web presence on a regular
daily or monthly basis depending on their internal
resources These companies are technologically
self-reliant in Web authoring using Netscape,
HTML, and Dreamweaver Most redesign and
update, performed in-house, is apparent at the
aesthetic and layout level of design rather than
improving functionality This behaviour is carried
on to the subsequent development and redesign
phases (see Table 2)
The majority of NP owner-managers took
a pragmatic and short-term approach to Web
site development Owner-managers update and
redesign the site, on a daily and monthly basis,
as and when they felt the need to add changes
7KLV IUHTXHQF\ RI XSGDWH LV PRVWO\ LQÀXHQFHG
by owner-manager’s enthusiasm and interest in
Web authoring, as well as, their personal view
on the quality of the Web site after comparison
with competitor’s Web sites Moreover, in some
FDVHVRZQHUPDQDJHUVKDYHLGHQWL¿HGDEXVLQHVV
need to update the content and the feel of the site
Thus, the Web presence is not developed at one
stage, but redesigned and updated frequently due
to management enthusiasm, technical
self-reli-ance, perceived knowledge of Web authoring, and
SHUFHLYHGEHQH¿WVJDLQHGIURPDGRSWLRQ
I am the IT man I have Netscape and Internet
Explorer at home and I check if the colours are
¿QH%HFDXVHDQ\RQHFDQGHVLJQD:HEVLWHDQ\RQH
can sit and use Internet Explorer Companies are
UH¿QLQJDQGXSGDWLQJDOOWKHWLPH«,WLG\LWXS
every 3-4 months…I’ve got WSFTP at home and here, so this weekend I’ll pull that down and make the amendments and then resubmit it I’ll do that during the course of the weekend (NP case 5)
We’d already done one, a very, very crude one ourselves When we got an ISP, we got the free Web space, so we’d done one, a very crude one [site] that was Merseynet, our ISP which is the local ISP…it was a mess, it was very crude and not very well laid out, we didn’t know anything about it Then we found out about the Internet courses at Connect, we went on them and at the time Connect were actually doing a free design service which we took up, we got a free Web site designed by one of their 3 rd or 4 t h year students and then we started going on html courses, Java Script courses and gradually we’ve just changed
it completely (NP case 4)
It’s as much amusement as anything else but we advertise the Web site all the time…we’re get-ting around 3,500 hits a month, something like that So even if we don’t get anything back from
it, we’re still advertising in the same sense as a billboard poster or a newspaper advert, you don’t necessarily get anything back but you’ve got to just assume that it’s going somewhere to someone who’s interested, certainly in the keywords that are coming up on the searches The end result is YHU\GLI¿FXOWWRVHH(NP case 5)
Most TP SMEs can be described as passive adopter, where the initial Web presence was de-veloped by change agent and their choice of Web VLWHZDVVWURQJO\LQÀXHQFHGDQGOLPLWHGE\WKH offers provided by the change agent (TP case 1,
TP case 2 and TP case 8) Some TP SMEs (case
8 and case 1) continue to be passive adopters and outsource the update and management as well as the development of their subsequent Web sites Other TP SMEs still use the same Web site devel-oped initially by the change agent, with minimum update of Web site content in their three years of
Trang 9adoption (TP case 1 and TP case 2) TP SMEs
update their site mostly on an ad-hoc manner based
on circumstance or resources These companies
do not see the need to redesign In particular, one
company (TP case 2) is not thinking of
redesign-ing another site, and in case they did, they will
approach the change agent
How we came to launch it was, we actually got
contacted by Liverpool University who said that
they had European funding available for
com-panies on the Merseyside area, to help them to
develop Web sites and they have an organisation
called Connect at the University and it’s very good
and the upshot was that we went along one day
and had a long conversation about the Internet
and they would design and launch the Web site
for us which they have done…for the amount of
money that we would pay Connect, it’s not worth
it [in-house management of the site] It’s
some-thing being better off outsourced and our sense
of design is terrible…I’m quite happy and I’m
prepared to pay for it [Web site] to be refreshed
because those [Connect] are the people who have
helped us and I trust them, at the end of the day
it’s my company (TP case 2)
Nonetheless, some TP SME (case 9 and case
EHFDPHDFWLYHPRGL¿HUVE\DFTXLULQJ:HE
authoring skills One owner-manager (TP case
ZDVQRWVDWLV¿HGZLWKWKH:HEVLWHGHYHORSHG
by the change agent and redesigned a new Web
site within a short time from receiving that site
The Web authoring knowledge and skills, gained
from change agent training and owner-manager
personal efforts, were used in tearing out the
Web presence developed by the change agent and
redesigning a new site
…I took the course and realised how much there
was to know and I went for the deal of a free Web
site design which I think involved half a day’s
consultation and then a day’s Web site design from
them and wasn’t at all pleased with the job that’s
has been done for me…In a sense I got what I asked for, on the home page but I got things that I did not ask for or did not want On the subordinate pages I did not get the links I wanted and I got over fancy designs…so I rewrote the links and eventually developed the site…from the courses,
we were allowed to develop it ourselves and it’s grown to about 65 pages now They don’t offer help, they will give you help if you ask, but you need to ask (TP case 9)
,QVXPPDU\1360(VDUHDFWLYHPRGL¿HUV who have the technical knowhow, Web authoring skills, and technological awareness to update and redesign their Web presence Contrary, most TP SMEs can be described as passive adopters with limited Web authoring knowledge and technical ability, and who depend mostly on external sources for management and update Although, two TP 60(VEHFRPHDFWLYHPRGL¿HUVPDQDJLQJWKHLU own Web presence, however, most companies within this group tend to remain passive adopters (see Table 3)
Ad-Hoc Planning vs Strategic Planning
Whether SMEs are passive adopters or active PRGL¿HUV WKHUH LV DQ LPSOLFLW DVVXPSWLRQ LQ literature that the effectiveness of a Web site is dependent on a clear link between objectives, planning/strategy and Web site design and func-tionality (McNaughton, 2001; Wen, Chen, & Hwang, 2001) Strategy entails the deployment of resources to achieve organisational aims and ob-jectives (O’Regan & Ghobadian, 2004) Strategic planning relates the activities of an organisation
to the mission and goals that should guide the organisation’s activities and provides a basis for the allocation of resources to a project and for its evaluation (Clyde, 2000) In the case of Web site development, strategic planning process provides DEDVLVIRUWKHLGHQWL¿FDWLRQRIWKHUHVRXUFHVDQG skills that are needed at each stage of the Web
Trang 10presence development and maintenance (Clyde,
2000)
$FWLYH PRGL¿HUV 60(V DUH FRPSDQLHV WKDW
reached a stage of self-reliance in managing
their Web presence These companies are more
advantageous in their development and
mainte-nance practices They are keen on
experiment-ing with different ECT solutions and scenarios
The Web site is in a continuous state of update
and redesign The aim is not only the update of
content and product information, changing the
feel and look of the site to attract customers and
increase sales, but also adding new functionalities
to the site (see Table 2) These owner-managers
compare their Web site with competitors’ Web
sites and try to improve their Web presence to
gain competitive advantage However, in most
cases the choice of changes made to the site and
ECT solution, is not the result of strategic
plan-ning but more of ad-hoc decisions based on peer
views and owner-manager’s Web authoring skills
and resources
That was something I slipped in because
some-body said to me that if you’re selling stuff on the
Internet you need to have a returns procedure as
well which I didn’t think about to be honest Yes,
I’ve been told it’s just business etiquette, it’s nice
to have a returns procedure and a policy but I
never really thought about it (TP case 10)
6RPHDFWLYHPRGL¿HUVKDGWKHLULQLWLDO:HE
presence developed by professional Web design
bureau These companies depend on in-house
resources for day-to-day update and management
of the Web site content but outsource major
rede-sign to professional Web derede-sign companies These
companies show a clear link between the business
objective to attract customers to the site, and the
maintenance activities that include changes to the
improve Web site aesthetics However, in most
scenarios, this link indicates a tendency towards
strategic planning but no active steps have been
taken towards incorporating a strategy to their business activity
… we add so much in and because it’s constantly changing, because we react all the time to what people are asking for, that we’d end up paying RXW ¿YH RU VL[ WLPHV D \HDU WR KDYH LW FKDQJHG plus we’re both of the opinion that it needs to be changed at least three times a year just to keep people coming back to it I mean if they keep going
in and it’s the same page and it’s the same this and it’s the same pictures, it gets boring, you’ve just got to keep changing it (NP case 4)
$FWLYHPRGL¿HU60(VDUHDZDUHRIWKHQHHGWR develop e-business strategy to achieve maximum EHQH¿WVIURPWKHLU:HESUHVHQFHKRZHYHUWKH\ need the support and consultation of external expertise to help them develop a strategy
I think we perhaps need more consultation on how to develop our company and the model of ZKDWZHGRWR¿WLQZLWKWKLVQHZWHFKQRORJ\VR that it’s not just something that we can say, oh we’ve got a Web site because the whole world’s got a Web site but it’s something that does actively work for us and increase the revenue, reduce the cost, something that has a positive effect for us rather than just something that sits on a Web page somewhere (NP case 7)
Only one NP SME case 11 (a publishing company) had implemented a brand building strategy to support the value of the magazine they publish The Web site provides information
to the current magazine readers as well as other potential business advertisers on the magazine This enhances the communication between their customer and potential advertising companies The Web site supports the magazine, but does not replace the magazine published, which is the company’s main product
... interview lasted anhour Interviews were both noted and
tape-re-corded, and then transcribed Understanding of
the problems and conceptualisation improved as
more companies... update and management was either done in-house by owner-manager and/ or members of staff, or outsourced to a Web designer and/ or the change agent Reasons for subsequent Web site redesign and development... case 1), and the site developed by change agent was basic (TP case 9, and TP case 10) Table provides a summary of SMEs’ Web site implementation and subsequent redesign
Although NP and TP