Empirically Testing the Impact of Ict on Business Performance within Smes

Even though the influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) on business performance has been widely investigated, researchers have come to contradictory results. There is no unanimity about a positive relationship between ICT use and company results, and it is also unclear which factors influence or determine this contribution. Moreover, as it often happens within management science, most of the available literature refers to large companies. On the contrary, this work has a specific focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and concentrates the investigation of the IS/business performance relationship on the issue of strategic alignment. The paper presents the results of a survey carried out on a sample of 174 Italian SMEs. Data were collected through a questionnaire filled-in through direct interviews to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). The empirical work shows that information systems are developed coherently with SME strategic imperatives. Moreover, research results provide evidence that such alignment positively affect the overall business performance.