One digital leap or a step-by-step approach? a longitudinal study of e-commerce development among Swedish SMEs

The rapid development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has raised both practical and theoretical concerns. Managers face dilemmas such as when and how to invest in new technology and software. Academically, the debate is whether or not hardware changes have any significant impact on fundamental business behaviour. This article presents empirical evidence from the study of 13 Swedish SMEs during the period 1999-2004. Despite the fact that all the firms had decided to take one, long digital leap at the outset of the study in 1999, only one had actually done so five years later. We find that ICT-related changes have had a very slow impact on the SMEs, although they act within a well-developed ICT context. Contrary to some recent research suggestions, we find a step-wise model of development beneficial to both the study and adoption by SMEs of e-commerce.