SMEs and IT

The Effect of Technological Changes on the Libyan SMEs Products Export Performance

A Dissertation Submitted

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My thanks go out to all who have helped me complete this study and with whom this project may have not been possible. In particular, my gratitude goes out to friends, facilitator and family for extensive and helpful comments on early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who have shared my interest and preceded me. Their works provided me with a host of information to learn from and build upon, also served as examples to emulate.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1.Introduction1

1.2.Background Of The Study4

1.3.Problem Statement7

1.4.The Research Question13

1.5.Research Objective14

1.6.Significance Of The Study14

1.7.Scope Of The Study15

1.8.Operational Terms16

1.8.1.Technological changes-16

1.8.2.Information sharing16

1.8.3.Buyer-supplier relationships17

1.9.Libyan SMEs17

1.9.1.Export Performance18

1.10.Summary19

REFERENCES20

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

With the advancement of technology and the technical development, has become the most sort asset among other assets used by various organizations by 20th century (Julien and Ramangalahy, 2003; Hamzah, Shariff, Mahmud, Yusof and Ali, 2009). It has emerged as one of the global resource that every organization cannot neglect and thus, should also be managed like any other organizational resources. Therefore the use of the technology and IT through the recent developments and changes has proved to be timely, and therefore has become important in order to make information available for every organization and individuals as well as to both buyers and suppliers.

The importance of the changes through the technological interventions cannot be overestimated predominantly while focusing the globalization of SMEs and considered to be the main concern for the export of the products. For instance, the implementation can be easily highlighted for data collection and data reconciliation in the management of SMEs. The process of decision making is improved and thereby impacting on the organizational performances particularly product export performance (Weber and Pliskin, 1996; Anthony and Robert, 2007; Chapman and Kihn, 2009). For instance, Hsu, Kannan, Tan and Leong (2008) noted that the rapid and increasing technological changes would help firms, buyers and suppliers (exporter and importers) to compete effectively in the market place, especially in the global market. Further it has been argued that the technological changes have assisted buyer-supplier relationships in order to find new methods for the implementation of strategies. This can be experienced in designing and delivering high-quality products and services at the earliest possible time. Krell (2000) has studied the relationship of the SMEs and technological interventions and concluded ...