Have Small Business Enterprises Made Use of Information Technology - Research Paper Example

The past few decades have witnessed a remarkable increase in the role that information technology plays in helping businesses all over the world. Information technology has proven to facilitate the achievement of sustainable development and growth. It would not be wrong to state that information technology has become the backbone of numerous organizations around the globe. These systems not only provide an efficient mode of data storage, but it also provides efficiency and effectiveness to the routine processes and operations in an organization (Ang et al, 1997).

The technological trend that was begun by the large organizations, has now taken its toll on small organizations also. Small businesses are defined on the magnitude of their operations and staff strength. Small businesses tend to have fewer employees than large scale businesses and are also characterized by fewer resources- both monetary and labor (Brooksbank et al, 1992). These organizations are considered to be an equally important part of society as they make up the backbone of the world’s economy.

They provide jobs to a great percentage of labor in the society and contribute towards a significant portion of a country’s GDP. In Europe alone, small and medium-sized firms comprise approximately 99% of all businesses and employ about 65 million people (European Commission, 2010). Information technology has become widely recognized as the most effective way of performing day to day business processes in organizations. Information systems not only reduce the man-hours by automating work, but they also provide the company with a structured infrastructure to be based on.