Innovation and entrepreneurship are a “matter of survival” for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) that want to succeed online, according to a university professor.
Professor Yanqing Duan, director of the Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC) at the University of Bedfordshire Business School, has researched why some SMEs are successful in electronic business, whilst others are left behind.
Giving the keynote speech at the International Conference on E-Business Technology and Strategy, in Tianjin, China, she said the key is to raise awareness on developing an entrepreneurial culture and to improve Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills.
Prof Duan said: “Development and deployment of emerging ICTs are providing new opportunities as well as challenges for e-business innovation and growth.”
BISC’s research has analysed factors affecting e-business success from several theoretical and practical perspectives.It has been involved in many projects worth some £1.5m over the past 10 years, mainly funded from the European Commission, supporting SMEs’ e-business adoption and innovation through knowledge transfer and ICT competence development.
Dr Sonal Minocha, Dean at the University of Bedfordshire Business School said: “It is our ambition to build an international practice-driven school engaging with global businesses, through research and consultancy that is beneficial for organisations is a core strand of our strategy.
“Yanqing’s research evidences the highly applied and relevant nature of our research activity and the impact it is generating.”