Small Business Growth And Internal Transparency: The Role of Information System

1. Small Business Growth And Internal Transparency: The Role of Information System Presented to: Dr. Dina Rateb Presented by: Rana Khaled

2. The focus of the paper What happens to the IS of a small business as a growth period begins? How those traits affect an organization’s IS changes during the business’ transition period?

3. Theoretical perspectives • Small business It is independently owned and operated and not dominated in its field Some of the characteristics of small companies is that it is flat in hierocracy, which means more communication. But by getting bigger the management team become less involved in with daily matters and they begin to collect their information by indirectly sources and that would not provide them with the kind or the level of information they need and that would affect the decision making.

4. Small business and IS At first IS was looked at is as something not important and many companies worked for long without and they did not want to change Lately many companies began to use IS and believe in it.

5. Transparency • Is regarded as an outcome measure of communication behaviors, it is also seen as an outcome measure of exchange process between two or more entities • It is divided to external and internal transparency

6. External transparency Corresponds to the communication behaviors directed out side the organization Internal transparency Outcome of communication behaviors with in an organization that reflects the degree to which employees have access to the information requisite for their responsibilities. Transparency • IS are used to enable information sharing between individuals and organizations. It is also credited to keep information up to date, fresh and dynamic. In this perspective IS are seen as an enabler of transparency.

7. Research Method • The goal is to address why and how the IS of a small business had to change in response to a specific punctuation, particularly through changes in communication behavior. • Working through a real organization, which is ELCO.

8. ElCO wanted to grow • It did not have a development plan that the analysts could follow • Analysts came up with 3 steps to follow: • Intensive requirement analysis • Planning process • Development stage where a request for quotation (RFQ) and implementation would be generated.

9. Some problems that ELCO had: • Reducing the time spent “ wading through paper” • Different types of computers in different department, some too old and others are modern. • Manufacture and inventory– minicomputer • Sales and marketing—recent pc • Accounting and finance—more than one system

10. Reporting the action research cycle • Stage 1: baseline analysis • Action planning: ask questions to merge the needs • Action taking • Evaluation • Difference of mangers’ planning horizon • Apparent lack of communication • Stage 2: Strategy planning • They saw that implementing an IS is not important, but now as they are redefining their priorities it comes at the top.

11. Requirement specification Who will do what in the research team. • Summary: • This project delivered its goals on 2 dimensions: • The research team was able an RFQ that made ELCO happy • Results that highlight how planning ,communication , operating behaviors and IS system are interdependent.

12. Some of the responses: • Increased time spent planning • Decrease time spent communicating cross functional • Increased time spent managing operations • Less time planning for growth.

13. Discussion: • IS process that had adequately supported ELCO could not support it while growing • The ELCO project illustrated 3 lessons regarding transition pressure during small business growth: • Increasing operational business pressure. • Cross functional communication practices maybe prone to difficulties during transition • These breakdowns lead to decrease internal transparency.

14. THANK YOU 