How do Collaborative Technologies Affect Innovation in SMEs? - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 228

H 2b : TS are positively associated with e-informa-
tion and e-workflow uses.

small. Currently, SMEs represent around 99% of
the total number of firms in Spain (INE, 2005).
SMEs are characterized by having fewer financial,
technological, and personnel resources than their
higher-level counterparts (large firms). Nonethe-
less, to ensure a minimum firm complexity in
which CTs may be relevant, only firms with at
least 10 employees were used.

Collaborative technologies' use and
innovation

The presence of ITs does not guarantee any effect
on performance if they are not used (Davis et al.,
1989; Forgionee & Kohli, 1996). Since knowledge
will not necessarily circulate freely firm-wide
just because accurate information technology to
support such circulation is available (Brown &
Duguid, 2000), actual CTs' utilization may be a
critical phase. Thus, this research considers CTs'
impact on innovation as a multistage process that
starts at adoption and extends to use. That is,
this study, besides testing the direct relationship
between CTs' presence and innovation, also exam-
ines the influence of actual CTs' use on innovation.
Actual CTs' use is expected to have a positive
impact on innovation. CTs' use is measured
according to three orientations: e-information,
e-communication, and e-workflow.

sample and data Collection

The target population consisted of SMEs from
the Region of Murcia (Spain), with at least 10
employees. Three hundred and ten valid re-
sponses were obtained from different industries.
The study assumed an error of 5.4% for p=q=50
and a confidence level of 95.5%. A structured
questionnaire consisting of close-ended ques-
tions was developed. Face-to-face surveys with
the key informant person in each company were
conducted in May, 2005. The studied companies
are mainly SMEs, and most of the interviewees
were CEOs. Table 2 shows the characteristics of
the sample.

Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship
between CTs' use and innovation:

measures of variables

H 3a : There is a positive relationship between e-
information and innovation;

This section describes the variables used for mea-
suring the presence of CTs, CTs' use, and innova-
tion. The formulation and criteria for answering
the questionnaire is defined in the Appendix.
Collaborative technologies: Using a dichoto-
mous scale, CEOs assessed the presence of four
tools in their firms: discussion forums, shared
databases, repositories, and document manage-
ment systems/workflows.
Collaborative technologies' use: One item
(five-point Likert-type scale) was used for mea-
suring each collaborative technology use. Firms
were requested to value their CTs' degree of use
in order to inform their employees (e-information),
to debate or receive employees' suggestions (e-
communication), and to support the automation
of internal business processes (e-workflow).

H 3b : There is a positive relationship between e-
communication and innovation; and

H 3c : There is a positive relationship between e-
workflow and innovation.

methodology

The organizations selected for this study are
SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) from
Spain. SMEs were considered because of their
importance for economic growth, employment,
and wealth creation in economies both large and