1. Challenging Issues in small business/ ICT research Introduction to LIAISE Dr Rafael Paguio Victoria University
ASEAN academic partnerships for small business and ICT knowledge transfer is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

2. ‘Small’ is not small everywhere!
Australian Bureau of Statistics
A small business is a business employing fewer than 20 people, including:
Non-employing businesses (sole proprietorships and partnerships without employees)
Micro-businesses (businesses employing between 1 and 4 people including non‑employing businesses)
Other small businesses (businesses that employ between 5 and 19 employees)
Australian Taxation Office
A small business entity is an individual, partnership, company or trust that is carrying on a business and has less than A$ 2 million in aggregated turnover.
Aggregated turnover is the annual turnover from a current business and any annual turnover from other businesses that an individual is connected or affiliated with.
Commonwealth of Australia (2015), Definitions and data sources for small business in Australia: a quick guide, [ Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/Quick_Guides/Data], accessed 10 April, 2017.

3. More Definitions of small business
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Definitions (IFC)
Micro
Small
Medium
Malaysia
<5 employees
5-50 employees in manufacturing; 5-19 in agriculture and services
employees in manufacturing; employees in agriculture and services
Philippines
1-9 employees
Below Php 3 million
10-99 employees
Above PhP 3 million to PhP 15 million
employees
Above Php 15 million to Php 100 million
Thailand
<50 employees in production, services <25 employees in wholesale <15 employees in retail
<200 employees in production, services <50 employees in wholesale <30 employees in retail
Source: IFC (2016). MSME Country Indicator.
OECD (2013). Financing SME and Entrepreneurs 2013: An OECD Scoreboard.

4. Small businesses are not ‘little big’ businesses
Background
Small businesses are not ‘little big’ businesses
Typically limited resources for ICT Use – time; capital; expertise
“resource poverty”
Contribute 40-50% of private sector employment
Diverse terminology:
Medium sized business;
Small and medium sized business (SME)
Small business
Micro business
Case studies in workshops are typically entrepreneurs
ICT lessons presented later are for ‘average’ small businesses

5. The LIAISE Framework: Conceptual model of effective ICT adoption

6. Sources: Burgess, S. , Sellitto, C. & Karanasios, S. (2009)
Sources: Burgess, S., Sellitto, C. & Karanasios, S. (2009). Effective Web Presence Solutions for Small Businesses, Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference Sellitto, C., Bingley S., Banks, D. and Burgess, S. (2017). Small Business and Effective ICT, New York: Routledge

7. ICT as an enabler
Small businesses overcoming the limitations of resource limitations and achieving growth / profitability
Market effectiveness - Reach - Customer satisfaction (higher value –added) / engagement Operational efficiency - productivity - customer and supplier linkages

8. Basic Small Business Strategy Model
Business Analysis
Business Strategy
ICT
ICT Strategy
ICT Implementation
ICT Evaluation
Adapted from Burgess, Sellitto & Karanasios (2009)

9. Relative advantage
Improvement over the current business operations…for ICT this can mean…
Linking business strategy with ICT strategy
What can ICT do for your business?
Improved communications
Improved information search and decision support
Improved recording and monitoring
Improved work practices
Improved relationships
Improving the big picture

10. History of LIAISE Based on early work:
Schauder, D., Johanson, G., Denison, T. and Stillman, L. 2000, Draft information economy strategy for Australian civil society, Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University.
Designed to help to inform the Australian Government’s non- profit ICT adoption strategy
There are many similarities between non-profits and small businesses in their usage of ICT
Based around six main principles:
ICT Literacy (L),
Information Content and Communication (I),
Access to ICT-based resources (A),
The availability of ICT Infrastructure (I),
ICT Support (S) and
ICT Evaluation (E)

11. LIAISE framework for ‘typical’ small businesses
ICT Strategy

12. Based on 60 small business case studies Breakdown
ICT Lessons (1-10)
Based on 60 small business case studies
41 in Australia; 19 in the United Kingdom
Breakdown
20 Leaders
25 ‘Operationals’
15 Laggards
Classified according to three dimensions
ICT skills within the business (upper, middle or lower)
ICT use and innovation (upper, middle or lower)
ICT governance (upper, middle or lower)

13. The lessons ICT strategy ICT skills ICT governance
Match ICT aims and strategy to business aims and strategies
Think about the readiness of the business to adopt ICT
ICT skills
Know about established and newer ICT
Possess appropriate skills to use ICT effectively in the business
Know how to access ICT skills from reliable sources
Know something about added-value uses of ICT
ICT governance
Consider upgrading ICT resources at least every five years
Develop ICT recovery plans that enable functioning systems – to the extent that operations will continue if something fails
Evaluate, on a regular basis, the success of ICT investments
Develop formal measures to evaluate the success of ICT that relate to the achievement of business aims

14. 10 Formally assess ICT success against business aims
Common ‘formal’ measures of ICT success:
Customer-related measures
Level of online sales or bookings
Number of online enquiries
Customer feedback
Website traffic-related measures
Website hits/ online usage
Google Analytics
Cost control measures
Monitoring the costs of ICTs
Measuring cost savings through the use of ICT.

15. Conclusion Small business/ ICT research LIAISE framework
Confusing terminology (small business; micro business, SME, …)
Non-standard definitions
LIAISE framework
Use for categorising ICT use in small businesses
‘Traffic light’ system used to show strengths and weaknesses
Potential for expanding to Strategy and/or Government constructs
ICT Lessons for small business
A useful starting point for small businesses research and ICT adoption support

16. Contact
Carmine Sellitto (Project Leader) College of Business, Victoria University Tel: