Institutional Intervention in SMEs ICT Adoption: A Network Perspective

Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the resources and knowledge to strategically adopt information andcommunication technologies (ICTs). Governments across the world have acknowledged this issue by designing interventionprograms aimed specifically at the SMEs sector. Recent research on government intervention in SMEs’ ICT adoption hastended to focus on the role of technological factors, such as the technology properties and technical expertise in creatingeffective intervention programs. However, little attention has been paid to the social factors that can play a major role in theadoption process, especially in a context like the SMEs sector. Through an in-depth case study, this paper investigates therole of the firm’s network in the implementation of a government technology intervention program. This research is guidedby the technology intervention model and network analysis for data collection and analysis. Findings of this research suggestthat different institutional actions are required to foster ICT adoption in SMEs, depending on the SME’s network buildingphase