The Impact of Microcomputer Systems on Small Businesses: England, 10 Years Later

A little over 10 years have elapsed since IBM made the microcomputer respectable by launching its own personal computer (PC) onto the market in 1981. This anniversary seemed an appropriate time to investigate the extent of usage, the reasons for adoption, and the purposes for which microcomputer systems are now being used in small businesses. In the past decade, a number of studies have been conducted both into these aspects of microcomputer usage and the characteristics of small businesses. Consideration of small business characteristics is important in order to avoid the dangers of technical determinism (Pfaffenberger 1991). Their special circumstances have been discussed by the Bolton Committee (CMND 4811, 1971) and Mackness (1975). Some of the latter's findings were later published in Barnett and Mackness (1983). These authors suggested that small businesses should not be thought of as miniature versions of large businesses but quite different and unique in their own right. For example, some may often assume characteristics of families or homesteads, and growth is not necessarily a prime motivating force. In the literature, there is evidence to suggest that most of the impact of microcomputers on small businesses has been basic and operational rather than decisional (Raymond and Magnenat-Thalmann 1982, MaLone 1985, Nickell and Seado 1986). However, there is also some evidence that the main use of microcomputers is moving from record keeping (word processing and bookkeeping) to decision making (financial modelling and data management) (Cerullo 1980, Mahmood 1982, MaLone 1985, Commission of European Communities 1985, Sanders 1988). However, this study will show this trend is not apparent in the smaller English businesses sampled (fewer than 50 employees). In large businesses, managers rely on decision support systems (DSS) for effective decision making. Chen (1989) and Sullivan and Shively (1989) point out, however, that this technology has not been fully utilized by small businesses despite advantages cited by several authors. Gupta and Harris (1989) suggested that DSS would lead to a better understanding of the small business, and Amer and Bain (1990) suggested that it would lift the focus of business from operational matters to long-term business success. The purpose of this study was to look at how a sample of small businesses were actually using microcomputer-based technology in England 10 years after its effective introduction. Method and Sample The study was conducted in May 1991 and was divided into two parts: postal questionnaires and follow-up interviews. It was based in Norfolk, a rural county in eastern England, characterized by a large number of small companies of a craft or agricultural nature. Two hundred and sixteen companies were randomly selected for the questionnaire survey from the Norfolk Industrial Directory (Norfolk County Council 1990). According to the directory, all of the companies chosen conformed to the definition of a small business in the United Kingdom (UK) Companies Act 1989 (i.e., they had fewer than 50 employees and were not subsidiary companies). The questionnaire(*) was arranged into a number of sections that were used to investigate the nature of the company, the staff's experience with computers, the use of microcomputer systems, and the influence of computerization in small businesses. In order to boost the response rate, respondents were asked to return blank questionnaires if they were too busy to fill them in and 125 responses (75 complete and 50 blank) were received in one month. The final usable sample, comprising 67 respondents, represented a response rate of 31 percent. Of the 67 companies, 37 used a microcomputer system, and 30 did not use any form of computer or computer bureau. Ten companies, comprising five microcomputer users and five nonmicrocomputer users, were chosen for follow-up interviews to further investigate the characteristics of small businesses and their owners, and how their attitudes and experiences affected the process of computerization and the implementation of microcomputer systems. …