GRIN Verlag Strategic Internet Business Management - An Assessment of Internet Business Growth Strategies: Empirical Evidence from listed SMEs in Denmark

Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 12 (Distinction), , course: Strategic Business Communication, language: English, abstract: Abstract It is widely recognized that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises play a significant role in the economic vitality of local and national economies in Denmark. Over the years, these sectors are faced with an increasingly unstable marketplace and stiff competition from large firms. It is believed that the advancement of internet and its related communication technologies have the ability to give these firms the potential advantage to reach wider geographical markets and compete with larger organizations for customers' attraction, market share, and sustainable growth. As a result, the Danish government has over the years collaborated with industry and commercial associations to bolster the integration of Information Technology and diffusion of e-commerce among SMEs. This thesis used quantitative survey questionnaire and qualitative interview approaches to assess how SMEs in Denmark are using the internet as a business strategy to enhance growth and sustainability. In accordance with the theoretical model developed by synthesizing existing internet adoption and business growth models, three key determinants such as: the level of internet adoption, growth strategy, and competitive environment were investigated. Result indicates that SMEs have a considerable integration of internet particularly at the lower level which includes e-mail and website. While more than half of the firms who have fully integrated internet as part of their growth strategy have experienced exponential growth by developing new product and reaching new markets. Competitively, these firms are also able to offer high and unique value of proposition mainly through niches.