英语翻译SME Flexibility and the Role of Information SystemsSmall and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are a major component of all economies and are generally considered to be flexible,adaptive organisations.Although lagging behind their larger cou

英语翻译SME Flexibility and the Role of Information SystemsSmall and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are a major component of all economies and are generally considered to be flexible,adaptive organisations.Although lagging behind their larger cou
英语翻译
SME Flexibility and the Role of Information Systems
Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are a major component of all economies and are generally considered to be flexible,adaptive organisations.Although lagging behind their larger counterparts,SMEs are beginning to invest in information systems.Using data derived from a set of manufacturing SMEs located in the U.K.,this paper investigates whether SMEs really do exhibit flexibility and if their use of information technology enhances or inhibits such flexibility.
Lefebvre and Lefebvre (1992) argue that SMEs can be more innovative than large organisations because they are less bound by bureaucracy and cumbersome organisational systems.They sugges that innovation is driven by information,particularly about the external environment.Use of IT makes small production runs easier and,hence SMEs will be able to be more competitive as they can introduce new manufacturing technologies quickly.These new technologies,it is argued enable SMEs to be more flexible and able to respond to customer needs.Quality and variety of products is also seen as being improved by the introduction of new production technologies.
All the SMEs studied have data processing systems which provided them with information about day-to-day operations.Evidence here supports the findings of Blili and Raymond (1993)that SMEs are only in the Initiation stage of Nolan’s Stages of Growth model.It is clear that investment had been made in automated production systems before considering information systems.As is common,the four SMEs have invested in basic systems such as word processing,accounting and stock control but these systems are not usually linked.Meredith and Hill (1987)develop a framework to analyse the impact of advanced manufacturing techniques on organisations.They show that the focus on standalone systems provides an emphasis on efficiency and tangible benefits.However,the impact of the systems is likely to be local,with minimal organisational-wide impact.The risk involved in implementing these systems is slight.They contrast this with integrated systems which emphasise effectiveness across the whole system,where intangible benefits are more important and there is likely to be considerable organisational impact.None of the companies have integrated their systems and are therefore unlikely to achieve the full benefits of those systems.
Author:Margi Levy,Philip Powell
Nationality:The U.K.
Originate form:Journal of Accounting – Business & Management 13 (2006) 39-6

英语翻译SME Flexibility and the Role of Information SystemsSmall and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are a major component of all economies and are generally considered to be flexible,adaptive organisations.Although lagging behind their larger cou
中小型企业和他们在资讯系统中的角色
中小型企业（SMEs）是所有经济体系的一个重要组成部分,并且通常被认为是具有灵活性和适应性的组织.即使中小型企业落后于规模较大的竞争对手,但是它们已经开始涉足投资资讯产业系统.通过获得在英国的一批中小型制造企业的数据,这篇论文调查研究了是否小型企业能够展现他们的灵活性和适应性和使用信息技术是否增强或者抑制了他们的灵活性?
Lefebvre 和Lefebvre (1992)认为中小型企业比大型企业更具创造性,因为他们很少为官僚机构和错综复杂的组织系统所束缚.他们认为创新是由信息所驱动的,特别是在外部环境.IT技术的运用使得小批量生产能够更加容易进行,因此也使得中小型企业更具竞争力,因为他们能够快速地引进先进的生产制造技术,由此印证了中小型企业更加灵活,能够回应顾客的需求的事实.质量和产品的多样化也随着新的生产技术的引进而不断地提高.
所有的中小型企业都有提供每日业务操作的数据处理系统.这些证明了Blili 和 Raymond的发现：中小型企业还只是在诺兰阶段模型的初级阶段.很显然,投资自动化生产系统要早于考虑投资资讯系统.众所周知,四家中小型企业已经投资于一些基础的系统,比如文字处理,会计和库存管理系统,但是这些系统通常不是相互联系的.Meredith 和 Hill (1987)已经建立起一个框架用于分析先进生产技术对组织产生的影响.它们显示集中于独立系统是对效能和有形利益的一种强调,然而,对系统的影响可能是局部的.在最小限度的全组织的影响下,实施这些系统的风险就变得小.它们拿这与那些强调整体效能,注重无形利益的集成化系统相比,有可能会有相当大的全局性全组织的影响.没有一家公司已经整合了它们的系统,因此也不太可能有一家公司能够从中获得全部的利益.
作者: Margi Levy,Philip Powell
国籍: The U.K.
源自: Journal of Accounting – Business & Management 13 (2006) 39-6