The Role of ICT in CPI (Continuous Product Innovation) for SMEs

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities for Knowledge Management (KM) that are today in most cases largely unexploited. The paper aims at verifying and explaining this gap with a particular focus on the area of Product Innovation (PI). Drawing evidence from the analysis of a survey on 47 Italian SMEs, patterns in the adoption and use of new ICTs are explained in relation both to Contingencies and to KM internal processes. Complexity at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving companies’ choices. Three different KM configurations emerge in relation to ICT approaches. Directions of these effects, however, are not always straightforward and cannot be merely extrapolated from existing studies on large companies. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers and vendors who can derive suggestions concerning, respectively, selection and development of ICT technologies better suiting SMEs specific characteristics