Smes and Large Organizations
smeQUESTION 1
SMEs AND LARGE ORGANIZATIONS
Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) and large enterprise might operate in the same market, but there are certain differences in the two. Certain parameters are used in differentiating a small company from a big company. Such parameters include:
BUSINESS SIZE: Organization size can be determined by the number of employees and IT staffs that work in it. SMEs have lesser employees; say from 10 employees to 200. But large corporations have larger number of employees and IT staffs ranging from 500 to thousands.
Large companies have larger capital investment and higher financial resources; they can source for capital through sales of shares and corporate bond while SMEs have smaller financial resources, coming from owner’s pocket and bank loans.
Additionally, large organizations have a well-structured IT, they purchase software applications on regular bases to improve and update organizational processes; they make use of advanced technological processes and software applications to support core business functions to provide accurate and timely information across the organisation. On the other hand, Small and Medium Enterprise usually do not have ERP but a few applications like Excel that are not too sophisticated and usually purchase these applications only when needed.
Another difference is the Market niche controlled by both SMEs and large organisations. SMEs focus on niche market while larger companies tend to offer a broad range of products and services to a wider variety of customers.
These differences brought about certain differences in Enterprise Information System and Enterprise Resource planning used in both organizations. Since ERP is flexible, some modules can be installed without buying the whole package and this is what most SMEs do. Although ERP software is considered an enterprise wide application most SMEs just install an ERP for certain departments where they feel the implementation of an ERP is of
SMEs AND LARGE ORGANIZATIONS
Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) and large enterprise might operate in the same market, but there are certain differences in the two. Certain parameters are used in differentiating a small company from a big company. Such parameters include:
BUSINESS SIZE: Organization size can be determined by the number of employees and IT staffs that work in it. SMEs have lesser employees; say from 10 employees to 200. But large corporations have larger number of employees and IT staffs ranging from 500 to thousands.
Large companies have larger capital investment and higher financial resources; they can source for capital through sales of shares and corporate bond while SMEs have smaller financial resources, coming from owner’s pocket and bank loans.
Additionally, large organizations have a well-structured IT, they purchase software applications on regular bases to improve and update organizational processes; they make use of advanced technological processes and software applications to support core business functions to provide accurate and timely information across the organisation. On the other hand, Small and Medium Enterprise usually do not have ERP but a few applications like Excel that are not too sophisticated and usually purchase these applications only when needed.
Another difference is the Market niche controlled by both SMEs and large organisations. SMEs focus on niche market while larger companies tend to offer a broad range of products and services to a wider variety of customers.
These differences brought about certain differences in Enterprise Information System and Enterprise Resource planning used in both organizations. Since ERP is flexible, some modules can be installed without buying the whole package and this is what most SMEs do. Although ERP software is considered an enterprise wide application most SMEs just install an ERP for certain departments where they feel the implementation of an ERP is of