1. Introduction

Evaluating Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) investment payoff constitutes a key concern for companies in managing their ICT resources. Companies are compelled to find ways to evaluate the specific impact of different types of ICT on the several dimensions of their performance.

ICT payoff becomes a crucial issue, particularly in the case of Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs may differ from larger firms in the way they address ICT adoption

(Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004; Haug et al., 2011). However, the majority of papers on ICT

effects relate to large firms and the evidence is far from conclusive.

What appears to be generally lacking from the literature on ICT payoff in SMEs are

studies exploring how different types of ICT adopted by SMEs impact on different areas of

performance. Studies have shown that ICT effects vary according to the type of technology being used and its degree of adoption (Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004; Nevo et al., 2010; Boothy et al., 2010). In addition, many analyses of ICT impact on firm performance have demonstrated the existence of complementarities between technological and organizational changes (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Boothy et al., 2010; Cao, 2010; Cozzarin and Percival, 2010).

The lack of unambiguous evidence has also prompted researchers to analyze the effects on

business processes as well as the effects on the organization as a whole (Dedrick et al., 2003; Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010). Many authors have suggested that one of the reasons for inconsistent findings about ICT payoffs might be the existence of lag effects since ICT payoff may require time to materialize. However, most of the studies that take time lags into account relate to large organizations (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Devaraj and Kohli, 2003; Lee and Kim, 2006; Nevo et al., 2010) or specific sectors (Das et al., 2011).

Our research contributes to the debate about whether ICT creates value for SMEs performance, providing empirical evidence of the relationships between information technologies, organizational innovation and firm performance from a sample of 267 Spanish manufacturing SMEs. We aim to investigate whether ICT resources, including investment and use of specific types of ICT, along with innovative work practices, correlate positively with several dimensions of firm performance, taking into account both direct and indirect effects and both short (less than 1 year of ICT implementation) and long-term effects (more than 5 years).

The present research extends the scope of the analysis of the prior literature by focusing on a broad range of technologies, a variety of performance measures and several time lags to study ICT adoption impacts in SMEs. In addition, we have analyzed ICT effects using perceptual measures (Vehovar, 2007; Tallon and Kraemer, 2007; San-Jose et al., 2009) to complement the results obtained in previous quantitative analyses.

The paper is organized as follows. An overview of the relevant literature regarding ICT impact on firm performance is provided in section two. The conceptual framework and research hypotheses are presented in section three; data and methodology are outlined in section four. Section five comprises the main results of our study. The final section presents the main conclusions and discusses issues for further research.

2. Literature review

2.1. Theoretical framework

Researchers have drawn on a variety of theoretical perspectives to explain the wide range of

ICT impacts on business processes and on the organization as a whole. The economic theory

of production and the resource-based view (RBV) have been the most common approaches

used. In many cases, findings have been ambiguous and inconclusive (Dedrick et al., 2003;

Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010).

Within the framework of the “productivity paradox” debate and using production theory

as the most frequent theoretical foundation, many studies have focused on providing

empirical evidence of the impact of ICT investment – mostly computers – on productivity

growth and performance at the firm level.

However, the findings have been mixed and this approach has been criticized for making

unrealistic assumptions and because of the form of the production function employed, among

other reasons (Sircar and Choi, 2009; Nevo et al., 2010).

According to the resource-based view (RBV) firm performance is based on its specific

resources and capabilities, which are difficult to imitate and create a sustained competitive

advantage. Differences in ICT resource endowment, such as higher investments in ICT and

their combination by firms, may enhance organizational capabilities (human resources skills,

experience and other intangible capabilities) and eventually lead to superior firm performance

(Bharadwaj, 2000). The findings have also been mixed, especially those analyzing ICT

impact on financial performance (Dedrick et al., 2003; Melville et al., 2004; Lee and Kim,

2006; Liang et al., 2010).

The complementarities perspective (Milgrom and Roberts, 1990) highlights the fact that

ICT investment and use are necessary but not sufficient conditions for improving

performance. The existence of complementarities across firm resources can increase their

joint impact on business value because it is more difficult for competitors to imitate the total

effect (Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010). Many studies have explored the existence of

complementarities between technological and organizational changes in analyzing ICT impact

on firm performance (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Boothy et al.

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ICT对中小型企业绩效影响研究

Alberto Bayo-Moriones, Margarita Billoacute;n, and Fernando Lera-Loacute;pez

引言

评估信息和通信技术（ICT）的投资收益是公司管理信息和通信技术资源的一个关键问题。公司被迫设法评估不同类型的信息和通信技术对其性能的几个方面的具体影响。

信息和通信技术的回报成为一个关键问题，特别是在中小企业的情况下。中小企业在处理信息和通信技术采用方面可能与大公司不同。(Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004; Haug et al., 2011)。然而，大多数关于信息和通信技术影响的论文与大公司有关，证据远未定论。

从中小企业信息和通信技术收益的文献看来，普遍缺乏的是研究中小企业采用不同类型的信息通信技术对不同领域的影响性能.研究表明，ICT的影响根据正在使用的技术的类型和程度采用不同(Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004; Nevo et al., 2010; Boothy et al., 2010)。此外，信息技术对企业绩效的影响分析表明，技术和组织变化之间的互补性的存在 (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Boothy et al., 2010; Cao, 2010; Cozzarin and Percival, 2010).

缺乏明确的证据也促使研究人员分析其业务流程以及对整个组织的影响(Dedrick et al., 2003; Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010)。许多作者认为，信息和通信技术成果不一致的原因之一可能是存在滞后效应，因为信息和通信技术的回报可能需要时间来实现。然而，大部分的时间滞后，考虑到研究与大型组织(Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Devaraj and Kohli, 2003; Lee and Kim, 2006; Nevo et al., 2010) or specific sectors (Das et al., 2011).

我们的研究有助于辩论信息和通信技术是否为中小企业绩效创造价值，从267家西班牙制造业中小企业的样本中提供信息技术、组织创新和企业绩效之间关系的经验证据。我们的目的是探讨ICT资源，包括信息和通信技术的特定类型的投资和使用，随着创新的工作实践，对企业绩效的几个维度呈正相关，考虑到直接和间接的影响，短期（小于1年的ICT实施）和长期（5年以上）。本研究扩大了现有文献分析的范围，重点是广泛的技术，各种性能措施和几个时间滞后研究中小企业信息和通信技术的采用影响。此外，我们用感性的措施影响了ICT（韦霍瓦尔，2007；戴和Kraemer，2007；若泽等，2009）在上述定量分析结果的补充。

本研究扩大了现有文献分析的范围，重点是广泛的技术，各种性能措施和几个时间滞后研究中小企业信息和通信技术的采用影响。此外，我们用感性的措施影响了ICT (Vehovar, 2007; Tallon and Kraemer, 2007; San-Jose et al., 2009)。

论文的其他部分如下。第二节概述了信息和通信技术对企业绩效的影响的相关文献。第三节介绍了概念框架和研究假设；第四节概述了数据和方法。第五节包括我们研究的主要结果。最后一节提出了主要结论，并讨论了进一步研究的问题。

二、文献综述

（一）理论框架

研究者们利用各种理论观点来解释各种各样的信息和通信技术对业务流程和整个组织的影响。经济理论生产和资源基础观（RBV）是最常见的方法 用。在许多情况下，发现已经模糊和不确定的 (Dedrick et al., 2003; Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010)。

在“生产力悖论”的框架下，运用生产理论作为最频繁的理论基础，许多研究都集中在提供信息和通信技术投资（主要是计算机）对生产率影响的经验证据 企业层面的成长与绩效。然而，调查结果好坏参半，这种做法受到批评。不切实际的假设，因为生产函数的形式，其他原因 (Sircar and Choi, 2009; Nevo et al., 2010)。

根据资源观（RBV）公司绩效是基于其特定的 难以模仿和创造持续竞争力的资源和能力优势。信息和通信技术资源禀赋的差异，如在信息和通信技术方面的更高投资他们的公司合并，可能增强组织能力（人力资源技能），经验和其他无形的能力，并最终导致卓越的公司业绩(Bharadwaj, 2000)。调查结果也喜忧参半，尤其是那些分析信息和通信技术的人。 对财务绩效的影响 (Dedrick et al., 2003; Melville et al., 2004; Lee and Kim, 2006; Liang et al., 2010).

互补性视角(Milgrom and Roberts, 1990)强调了一个事实，信通技术的投资和使用是改善的必要条件，但不是充分条件。性能.企业资源之间的互补性可以增加他们的能力。 对商业价值的联合影响，因为竞争对手更难模仿总价值。效果 (Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010)。许多研究探讨了信通技术影响分析中技术和组织变革的互补性对企业绩效 (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Boothy et al.,2010; Cao, 2010; Cozzarin and Percival 2010)。

先前的研究表明，雇员和雇员使用信息和通信技术的水平和管理人员，以及人力资本的技能和能力，而不是信息和通信技术的投资，加强了信息和通信技术的效果：这些技术在雇员中的使用越多，高，对劳动生产率的影响(Black and Lynch, 2001; Boothby et al., 2010; Cozzarin and Percival, 2010)。 此外，技术类型在任何信息和通信技术影响方面都是一个重要因素(Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004)。不同的技术可能需要，例如，不同的该公司实施的IT技能。

（二） ICT对企业绩效的直接和间接影响

不管理论方法如何，信息和通信技术文献区分了几种类型的业绩计量方法：财务业绩、业务业绩计量和其他影响(Liang et al., 2010)。反过来，这种信息和通信技术的回报可能是信息技术的直接和间接影响的结果。

信息和通信技术与财务业绩之间的最后联系（使用会计措施，如资产回报率（ROA）股本回报率（ROE），包括现有文献的绝大部分。然而，这些有联系的证据是确凿的（Dehning和理查德森2002；梅尔维尔et al.，2004）。影响整个组织经常使用代表市场绩效测量的变量，如市场份额，公司的市场价值，其中(Dehning and Richardson 2002; Dedrick et al., 2003; Liang et al., 2010).。

对经营绩效的影响主要是通过生产力的措施和降低成本(Dehning and Richardson 2002; Melville et al., 2004)。ICT增加特定业务流程的生产力和运营效率，不仅降低成本而且影响无形资产如库存管理系统的设计过程和生命周期增强质量改进(Bharadwaj, 2000; Liang et al., 2010; Das et al., 2011).

缺乏证据表明信息和通信技术与企业绩效之间存在直接的直接关系，导致研究人员研究间接信息和通信技术的影响。根据流程导向模型法(Barua et al., 1995)的ICT的最终影响应使用中间变量的测量，显示信息技术对业务流程的影响，并最终变量，代表了ICT对性能参数的影响。从中间变量的证据已经不丰富；然而，它似乎更确凿的比得到的财务业绩分析利用会计措施 (Dehning and Richardson 2002; Melville et al., 2004; Liang et al., 2010)。信息技术投资对业务的影响过程已使用中间变量的影响，如库存周转率、生产率、客户满意度、质量、产品交付的灵活性和速度(Dehning and Richardson, 2002; Dedrick et al., 2003; Liang et al., 2010)。

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