A gap has always existed between affluent countries with access to modern Information Technology (IT) adopted in areas of business management and less technologically developed countries living with more outdated technologies used in business and management areas. Although it is commonly acknowledged that IT adoption in organization makes a significant contribution to the economic and social progress of a country, it is surprising that the activities of such businesses in developing countries have not received greater scrutiny, particularly in South Asia. This paper describes the adoption process of IT within Small Family Businesses (SFBs), especially in South Asia. In addition, it examines the factors relevant to SFBs managers, owners and staff.

Businesses are currently facing important and unprecedented challenges as the global economy is changing through the rapid spread of information technology (IT) revolution. Through the rapid spread of IT in particular, markets in different parts of the world have become more integrated and the role of IT is increasing in importance at the level of the enterprise within the local business support infrastructure and within the government sector (Migiro and Ocholla, 2005). Since IT is bringing us closer to the true ‘global village’, organizations must be cognizant of the benefits of utilizing technology not only for competitive advantage, but for survival in some cases (Caldeira and Ward, 2001). Although it is commonly acknowledged that IT adoption in organization makes a significant contribution to the economic and social progress of a country, it is surprising that the activities of such businesses in developing countries have not received greater scrutiny, particularly in the South Asian region. This gap has always existed between affluent countries with an access to modern IT adopted in areas of business and management and less technologically developed countries living with more outdated technologies in business and management areas. Even today, an unequal adoption of technology excludes many developing countries from harvesting the fruits of the IT management systems. This study assumes that adoption of IT should be the same in all situations with little regard to the particular social or cultural context (Avgerou, 2002). But in reality, it is not so. Developing countries lack the business infrastructure, human skills and financial resources. So developing countries’ organizations tend to be less able than those of developed countries in accessing and using IT to gain benefits (Wong, 2002). There has been research on the factors (technical, social and organizational) inducing organizations to introduce IT in other countries (Premkumar and Roberts, 1999; Baard, 2002; Hausman, 2005; Ogbonna and Harris, 2005; and Zwicker and d’Souza, 2006). However, despite the importance of IT in companies, very few studies have analyzed IT adoption in Small Family Businesses (SFBs). This gap represents an opportunity for a study and is one of the contributions to the knowledge that will be provided by the present work. This study will look to conduct an in-depth investigation of the factors that motivate SFBs to adopt IT.

Entrepreneurship Development Journal, Microenterprises in India, Micro, Financial Services, Small and Medium Enterprise, Indian Economy, Microentrepreneurial Ventures, Social Development, Women Entrepreneurs, Sociocultural Traits, Indian Culture, Performance Measurement, Organizational Traits.