Can you discuss more about SMEs' financial limit and

the possibility of application of ISS in SMEs? (Lin)

• The main objective of SMEs owners and managers is to spend available

financial resources on supporting management systems that would allow
improve day-to-day operations. They don`t want to invest their limited
resourcess for indefinitive future problems. Therefore, they plan their IS
incrementally and separate limited money to IS.

• I think applicability of developed model is very high. Results show that

most of the company participated the study used recommendations from
the ISS analysis in various ways. One of the disadvantage that affect the
application of ISS is the robustness , models and tools ( frameworks) used
to analyse the situation are dependent upon the knowledge of the analysist
(analysist will construct frameworks). However, the involment of the
owner (if they are interested in using IS to manage growth and innovative)
in the ISS process enichness the understanding of both owner and
analysist. Finally, further search is necessary to develop ISS model.
This article was published in the 2000. Recently, is there a refined and extened
the model for ISS in SME ?  (khpark)

I could only obtain 3 articles about ISS for SMEs . But, research about ISS for SMEs is
a new issue.

• The Dynamics of SME Information Systems, M Levy, P Powell and P Yetton, Small
Business Economics Details 19(4), 341-354. (2002) ( I could not understand the
articles fully. Because I need to read the below article in order to understand this
article)
• SMEs: Aligning IS and the Strategic Context , M. Levy, P Powell and P Yetton ,Journal
of Information Technology , 16, 133-144, 2001. (Focus-Dominance model` ) ( I
could not access this journal)
• Information Systems Strategies in Knowledge-based SMEs: The Role of Core
Competencies
• Duhan, M Levy and P. Powell , European Journal of Information Systems . ( I could
not access this journal)
• Evaluating Information Systems in small and medium-sized enterprises: issues and
evidence Authors J Ballantine, M Levy, P Powell , European Journal of Information
Systems , Vol 7, no 4 (1999)
• Assessing Information Systems Strategy Development Frameworks in SMEs ,M Levy,
P. Powell and R Galliers ,Information and Management ,36, 247 -261 (1999)
• SME Flexibility and Role of IS, Levy L, Powell P, Small Business Economics, 11:183-
196:1998
What are the unique characteristics of SME? And, Do
you think that the ISS approach for SME can cover
those characteristics of SME? (Taesoo)

•Small organisations (1)

•Limited financial resources (1)
•Informal organisational structure ( owner or a small management
team) (2)
•Limited knowledge to identify potential advantages using IS/IT due
to their operational focus or So ,they dont plan their IS. (1 and 2)

Refined model in this article use some of the useful frameworks

developed for large companies (1) and Walsham`s social context
model(2) to assist in the development of an ISS for SMEs.
I think that ISS framework in SMEs can be covered a large enterprise. what is a
different meaning both a SMEs and a large enterprise in ISS framework?
(Dghong)

•Firstly , Level et all (1999) only used some of the frameworks for SMEs and
emphasized that awareness and opportunities frameworks are important parts for SMEs.
They eliminated some frameworks ( in opportunities and positioning framework ).
Because these eliminated frameworks are designated for large firms. There are some
constraints for using these frameworks in SMEs. ( ex: SMEs usually don’t have IT
departments so Technology fitting, application search tools, spatial frameworks can not
be used in SMEs ).

•And the second important issue, SMEs organizational culture is usually in an informal
structure. (owner or small management team) so ,ISS need to fit with predominant
organizational culture. Understanding the relationship between IS and organization is
critical to the adaptation of successful IS.

•Large firms are always contentrating their ISS on IT technology as stated Blili and
Raymond (1993). If we apply the ISS frameworks for developed for large firms, SMEs
will only use IT for their operational focus ( day-to-day activities). But SMEs are small
firms and they should have flexible structure for changing environment. and plan their
future. Therefore ISS for SMEs can help them to use IS effectively for competitiveness.
(not only for operational use)
 The PESTEL framework
Categorises environmental influences
into six main types: political,
economic, social, technological,
environmental and legal
Assesment of environmental influences

Environmental Scanning

Environmental Scanning: referst to

gathering information for use in
formulating the firm`s strategies.
 The PESTEL framework

• Political ( e.g. government stability, taxation policy, foreing trade

requlation, social welfare policy)
• Economic (e.g. business cycle, interest rate, unemployment)
• Social (e.g. population demographics, income distribution, lifestyle
changes)
• Technological (e.g. government spending on research, new
discoveries, speed of technology transfer)
• Environmental ( enviromental protection lawa, energy
consumption)
• Legal ( employment law, health and safety, product safety)
 Soft Systems Methodology

Tackling ill-structured problems(problems where the

managers of the organisation which are unclear about their
objectives because of change of the real world

SSM consists of seven principal stages, not necessarily employed

sequentially and employed for systems and identified subsystems.

1. Problem situation (unstructured)

2. Problem situation (expressed Rich picture)
3. Formulating Root definitions ( CATWOE root definitions)
4. Conceptual modelling (Conceptual systems model)
5. Comparison system/real world ( List of discrepancies)
6. Feasible/desirable changes ( List of changes)
7. Action to improve (List of actions)
1. Expressing the problem situation

The scope of the study is not restricted too early by

defining at the beginning what the problems are. The aim is
to capture primarily who individuals feel are the principal
actors and clients of the organisation, what transformations
are carried out and what expectations and constraints on
the system were. This can involve:

• identifying the tasks performed

• identifying tools and methods employed
• establishing interactions between people/systems
• making drawings of structures/layouts
• conducting unstructured and informal interviews: ("tell me what
you do")
• brainstorming issues
• encouraging a creative approach to formulating root definitions
(what does the organisation do?)
2. Rich pictures

Rich pictures are generated to

represent structures, processes and
issues of the organisation which could
be relevant to the problem definition,
and to try to give an impression of
the organisational climate. Rich
pictures are usually, but not
exclusively, a mixture of text and
graphics and are intended to give an
easily intelligible image of the
organisation and the major issues
involved. The production of a rich
picture is not the purpose of SSM but
can be viewed as a by-product of the
process of investigation
3. Root definitions

Root definitions are concise textual definitions that express the

nature of the systems relevant to exploring the problem situation.
They take the form: do X by Y to achieve Z. Having collected
information to work with, a series of 'root definitions' are written to
express the primary and secondary objectives of the system. These
textual definitions inform the iterative development of a subsequent
'conceptual model' of the overall system. It is important that this
formulation occurs as a team activity, so that missing information
and conflicts in perceptions are highlighted
4. CATWOE Analysis

The root definitions are written specifically to include

Checkland's CATWOE components. These are: Clients, Actors,
Transformations, Worldview, Owner,

•Transformations: all the changes which the system brings about,

stated as an input and output.
•Worldview: how an organisation is perceived by the clients, actors
and the outside world. Different groups will have different world
views. It is important to highlight any conflict between worldviews as
these are likely to manifest themselves as current or future problems
for the organisation in question.
•Environment: things that influence but do not control the system
under study.
•Clients: those who benefit from or are affected by outputs
(products, services) of the system.
•Owners: individuals and organisations who could cause it to cease
to exist
•Actors: those who carry out activities within the system
5. The Conceptual Model

A (graphical) 'conceptual model' is then developed which represents

graphically the activities logically necessary to achieve the
transformation described in the primary root definition. The model is
checked to ensure that it conforms to the following requirements:

it represents exactly the activities (as verbs) required to achieve the

goals of the organisation

•it meets the criteria for being a system

•it decomposes activities in a hierarchy containing 5-7 activities at
first-resolution level
•it has all components connected (except for monitoring and control
units)
•it has an ongoing purpose, i.e. effects transformation
•it has provision for measure(s) of performance
•it has a decision-making or control process
•it consists of components (which are themselves systems)
•it exists as part of wider system, or environment with which it
interacts
•it has bounded decision-making processes
•it has resources for its own use
•it has an expectation of continuity
6. The five E's

These are the criteria by which the transformations within the system
are judged:

•Efficacy - does the means employed work?

•Efficiency - is resource use minimised?
•Effectiveness - does the transformation help to attain the long term
goals?
•Ethicality - is the transformation a moral thing to do?
•Elegance - is the transformation performed aesthetically?
7. Comparison

It is important to note that the conceptual model produced is

a theoretical construct - it does not represent the existing or
potential structure of the organisation. A process of
comparison or testing is required to link the conceptual model
back to the real world. It is this process of testing which will
raise issues and imply subsequent action.

Methods for comparison:

•General discussion and observation: first impressions of disparities

•Question generation: the model could be used to generate a series
of focused questions: does the activity exist? Would it be useful? etc.
Issues of: how can its performance be measured? Effectiveness?
Efficiency?
•Testing in practice: comparing what happens on a day to day basis
in carrying out activities.
•Model overlay: comparison between the conceptual model and the
model implied by the organisation.
8. Action

Issues raised in testing should be addressed and actions

which bring improvements should be identified and
implemented. This could necessitate changes to structure,
procedures and attitudes. Proposals should then be drawn up
stating what should be done and how :

•decide what needs to be done, stating clearly the aim or objective

•determine alternative ways of achieving the objective
•appraise the costs of each alternative
•build a model (if required) of the different alternatives, and test
each model under different conditions
•decide, on the basis of pre-defined criteria, the preferred or optimal
alternative.