IT Change in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: A Human Resource and Change Management Approach

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in a global economy are increasingly challenged by new management and IT approaches to meet modern standards and to create a successful business environment. A positive development is based on how a company manages to include the employees into these pro¬cesses and procedures. Especially new technologies impose the necessity of lifelong learning on employment in the modern networked economy. The most sophisticated software in the field of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools only works efficiently if all employees are actively involved in the implementation process. Only then they will understand the added value for their own work environment. Consequently, companies that plan to introduce new IT systems need a clearly defined Change Management strategy that is tailored to the needs of that spe-cific enterprise. Often, SMEs fail to implement new technologies simply by not respecting the employees’ needs and capacities. Martin Esser proposes an adequate Change Management strategy for SMEs in his book; the focus on these companies allows a differentiated view and understanding of the necessary processes.