Søren Graungaard Pedersen

IT readiness in small and medium‐sized enterprises

Purpose – Several studies have documented that information technology (IT) projects often do not successfully meet defined objectives regarding time, budget, and functionality. There can be multiple causes for this, and an important factor in this context is the extent to which a company is ready for an IT project. To help understand this dynamic, this paper seeks to present a framework for analyzing “IT readiness” in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on a literature review, the paper defines a framework for assessing and changing the IT readiness of a SME. The framework is illustrated and investigated by three case studies.Findings – The case studies show that the framework of IT readiness in SMEs is useful for assessing company readiness and supporting the management of a project.Research limitations/implications – The framework and case studies provide an improved understanding of how to evaluate the readiness of a SME for an IT project.Practical implication...

Centralisation vs de-centralisation of warehousing: A small and medium-sized enterprise perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the major drivers behind the choice of centralising versus decentralising warehousing locations from a small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) perspective. Previous literature has investigated this solely from a large company perspective.Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth literature review was carried out and, in addition, a single case study was conducted in order to investigate the issue at hand. A Danish medium‐sized do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer was chosen, as this company faced the challenge of deciding between centralisation vs decentralisation of its warehousing structure.Findings – The paper has two findings: existing literature does not deal with the difference between SMEs and large companies when speaking of centralised vs decentralised warehousing; and the difference between SMEs and large companies with regard to centralised vs decentralised warehousing lies in the fact that SMEs generally have scarcity in competences and fewer resourc...