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This document describes a number of case studies of the use of advanced business communication in Europe by Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and by companies from which SMEs can learn relevant lessons.
On the verge of a new millennium, European businesses as well as their customer are confronted with major challenges. The implementation of new technologies is about to irreversibly impact on the way that companies communicate, both internally and with the outside world, comprising customers as well as subcontractors or suppliers.
Unless they rationalise their efforts in all areas of economic activity and realise that communication tools and skills are essential for economic prosperity, many well-established businesses which today dominate their particular market (and have done so for decades) stand the risk of being overtaken by start-up companies D these so often carve their niche using advanced communication technologies (as well as modern management techniques such as business process re-engineering).
Europe historically has had the technical competence, a large home market and sophisticated users, competent service providers and equipment manufacturers competitive on a world-wide level. However, many regionally-limited Small and Medium Enterprises D the SMEs D have not yet used the opportunity to make themselves familiar with ongoing developments. Reasons for this D or excuses D are often said to be lack of time and lack of concise information.
Many business-people have managed their SMEs successfully over some years without the extensive use of telecommunication hardware and software. They might still be sceptical about the promise of the new technologies. They are right to ask what profits can be gained by using techniques which are about to change market structures and practices. In addition, traditional business-people might dislike seeing their traditional ways of producing, delivering and dealing with their customers disappear. It is their right to feel that way and act accordingly. They need to find out how to face up actively, not passively, to the new possibilities and challenges opened up by the technological advancements of the late 20th century.
Cost-effective and efficient communications are vital to economic performance. High-performance trans-European communication networks enable us to overcome distance and language barriers and offer prospects for faster integration of the European economy. Mobile communication appliances interconnecting with advanced wireless, radio and satellite systems, and multimedia services conveying video plus data, images, texts and voices, are about to change our ways of conducting business as well as our social life forever. New-technology-based industries, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors and multimedia applications will eventually evolve. These will go hand-in-hand with improved educational and training systems.
Personal communications will eventually enable employees to keep in touch with their companies wherever they happen to be, just as if they were in their own office or home. Where mobile communications will provide greater capabilities when people are on the move, integration with the fixed or wiredo network will dramatically increase the scope of normal services available to all individuals, when away from their usual locations. Communication will truly be possible between anybody, anywhere, anytime.
Highly developed communication technologies and services are also crucial for balanced economic development. Furthermore, these services are a vital link between rural areas and economic centres. They will also gain importance as a pre-requisite for social cohesion and cultural development. As we increasingly depend on exchange of information, advanced communications will provide the basic infrastructure on which Europe's competitive strengths can be built in the upcoming millennium.
Relevance to SMEs
These new developments are all opportunities that some SMEs have already started to build their economical success upon. In the framework of the EU oACTS Programmeo of research and development into advanced communications and services, which has made this publication possible, usage trials are currently being carried out in many industries and business sectors, including tourism, insurance, shipping, the legal, publishing and entertainment sectors, the public service sector (e.g. in health care education) and more generally, in the many different forms of electronic commerce. By sponsoring these activities, the European Commission wishes to exploit the promise of advanced communication technologies and services to generate new forms of business activities as well as knowledge-rich work which will satisfy citizens all over Europe.
Some SMEs have joined ACTS projects as full research partners. Others gain an appreciation of project results and assess the potential benefits of advanced communications through invitations to visit, or to take part in practical experiments of projects, as opotential userso. These and other consultation exercises encourage much wider communities of interest to participate, indirectly, in the ACTS programme and to appreciate what the future may bring for them.
Why this publication?
This publication aims to provide appropriate information about these changes and the organisational frameworks necessary for state-of-the art communication technologies used within and between companies, focusing in particular on Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Case studies of major well-known players in the fields of insurance, shipping, consultancy and the retail sector are presented in order to show best practice and to serve as guidelines for the implementation of new communication technologies in small businesses.
The publication provides examples on how successfully to utilise advanced technologies already available. It maps out courses of action for all those who want to go forward and are eager to find economically viable ways of working with the new information and communication technologies.
The report uses research from other sources and interviews with key players in the companies involved.
Updating this document
The development of communications technology in Europe is rapid, forced along in particular by the ACTS programme. The development of business ideas is equally rapid. Thus this document will become out of date quite quickly. Consequently we would like to make this publication a oliving documento. We have placed the document on the World Wide Web D follow the links from the InfoWin home page http://www.infowin.org for details of where to find it. We welcome comments and contributions. In particular we would appreciate contributions from other ACTS projects likely to give important inputs in this area. Insight into ACTS projectso information provides important data on what to expect in the future.
We would also like to:
With the exception of one author (Ian Culpin, then of European Commission DGXIII), all our authors are working together on the ACTS InfoWin project.
Thorbjorn Thorbjornsen is at Telenor in Kjeller (Norway). He is the chief editor for this publication and the author of Chapter 2 'Business Process Re-engineering'.
Paul Bacsich is Professor of Telematics at Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield (U.K.) , to which he moved from the Open University in summer 1996. He is the (former) Editor of the InfoWin Bulletin and the deputy editor for this publication. He is also the author of Chapter 1 'Data Communications for SMEs'.
Annie Vanooteghem is at Synergetics IT Consultants in Brussels (Belgium). She is the author of Chapter 3 'EDI in the age of Electronic Commerce'.
Manuel Bloch is at CP2i in Paris (France). He is the author of Chapter 4 on 'Gencell - starting a Virtual Company'.
Serge Soudoplatoff is (was) the Managing Director of CP2i in Paris (France). He is the author of Chapter 5 'Interconnecting SMEs in harbours' which describes the EIES project within the ACTS Programme.
Reinhard Geiger is at Techno-Z FH F&E in Salzburg (Austria). He is the Editor of the ACTS NewsClips service. He is the author of Chapter 6 'The paperless office' which describes the work at the Wüstenrot insurance company on using new communications technology.
Hannes Selhofer is at Techno-Z FH F&E in Salzburg (Austria) also. He is the author of Chapter 7 'Information and Communication management' which is a case study of Andersen Consulting's use of knowledge management systems.
Ian Culpin is (was) an official in DGXIII/B in the European Commission. He is the author of Chapter 8 'Memorandum of Understanding' describing some of the EC's new initiatives for SME use of information and communication technology.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all our interviewees, and their employers, for the time they have spent describing their work to us. Any errors or omissions are, of course, our own responsibility.
The ACTS programme
ACTS (Advanced Communication Technologies and Services), established under the Fourth Framework Programme (1994-1998), represents the European Unionos major effort to support pre-competitive research and development in the field of Telecommunications. The work within the program is carried out in the context of trials to encourage a dialogue between developers and users.
The ACTS programme is a truly co-operational challenge as it gathers many companies and organisations coming from all sectors of the European telecommunications industry in a joint effort of running more than 150 projects. The success of ACTS can only be achieved through the effective exchange of information, not only within the programme, but also across the boundaries of the programme. In this context the ACTS Information Window (InfoWin) was established with the purpose of adding value to the information flow between ACTS projects and between the ACTS program and the outside world.
The InfoWin project
The InfoWin project provides the ACTS 'Information Window'. This window allows information to flow from ACTS projects to the outside world, and also allows the outside world to see what is happening in ACTS.
The window is intended to ensure that the work carried out in ACTS is timely and relevant to the developments in the wider communications world. It ensures that ACTS participants keep an up-to-date view of the development of the market and its needs and simultaneously ensures visibility of the work of ACTS to maximise its visibility and its impact. The service will also be used for the internal communication of the ACTS programme, to maximise the synergy to be obtained by carrying out the research and development of ACTS within the overall framework of a collaborative programme. InfoWin focuses on information content. The project is structured around the key steps in the information publication process: information gathering and writing relevant material, editing this information to be appropriate for different target audiences and the publication and marketing of the information to those audiences. The electronic information system activities included in the project are those necessary to support the information dissemination.
InfoWin aims its products at different target groups. These range from the inner circle of the ACTS community over the general R&D community, business community, political community to the general public at large. The work to be performed is based on an in-depth understanding of the different communities interested in the ACTS programme and projects. Major contributors to this work are National Hosts and the Educational Institutions.
The project consortium includes many National Hosts (from both large and smaller European countries), telecommunication companies, as well as Academic Institutions, and specialists on publication and communication service providers. The whole consortium is aware of its role as service provider to all target groups interested in ACTS.
InfoWin exists to maximise the synergies of the ACTS programme, and the economies of scope, scale and integration which can be achieved by working together on advanced communications. The increased rate of development of advanced communications services and implementations brought about by these synergies will make an important contribution to the development of the European economy. By maximising the impact of the work of ACTS, InfoWin supports the development of the information society in Europe and on a global scale. InfoWin also supports the dissemination of advanced communications concepts and services into all the regions of Europe, ensuring that the benefits can be felt throughout the community, such as in the introduction of teleworking in peripheral regions as well as in the development of high-speed infrastructure in the core regions.
The regular products of InfoWin can be classified as Newsclips, Bulletin, Thematic Issue, ACTSxx:
The regular products of InfoWin can be classified as Newsclips, Bulletin, Thematic Issue, ACTS9x:
The ACTS NewsClips activity produces a syndicated column with spot news 15 days. If you are interested in this service, please stop by at <www.at.infowin.org/ACTS/IENM/NEWSCLIPS/>, located at Techno Z FH F&E, Salzburg, Austria, mirrored at <www.de.infowin.org/ACTS/IENM/NEWSCLIPS/> RUS Uni Stuttgart, Germany and at <www.uk.infowin.org/ACTS/IENM/NEWSCLIPS/> Analysys, Cambridge, UK.
The Infowin Bulletin is published every 4 months timed to coincide with the ACTS Concertation mechanism. It covers special research topics of ACTS or other topics of current interest, important events, articles, and publications.
Thematic Issues, like this publication, span a wide range of possibilities: such as special research topics of ACTS or other topics of current interest within the area of trans-European telecommunication networks and the information society. The topics may be more user oriented, such as Tele-education or more service-oriented, such as mobile services or multimedia.
ACTS9x: Each year InfoWin assists in the major annual publication (CD-ROM and printed) covering the ACTS programme - called ACTS96 in 1996. Its scope is not just to present the yearly progress of the ACTS programme, but also to give an overview of the whole programme, including a description of the political and social background. The publication is intended for all interested parties of ACTS, including ACTS programme participants, researchers, politicians and the public at large which is involved in ACTS through user trials.
updated: Sept. 15, 1997