The European e-Business Report The European e ... - empirica

The European E-Business Report 2005
Special Knowledge Management (KM) applications go beyond the functionality of an intranet. They
are designed to support organisations in generating value from their intellectual and knowledge-based
assets. While knowledge is often shared through informal networks, the intention of formal knowledge
management systems is the systematic gathering and compilation of information. While the efficient
management of knowledge is important for companies of all sizes, special tools to support this
function are most valuable for large enterprises. The latter have a complex and often dispersed
knowledge base, where files have to be accessed by many different parties in the workflow.
Consequently, it is no surprise that large firms are more than twice as likely to use KM software as
SMEs (25% versus 10-13%).
It should be considered, however, that "knowledge management" can have different meanings
depending on the industry. For publishing companies, for example, the most important application in
terms of KM is certainly the systematic archiving of digital assets (e.g. stories, pictures, graphics).
Digital news archives have greatly facilitated the work of journalists, as they can run fast key word
searches for previous coverage of a topic in the newspaper or magazine they work for. Most
publishing companies therefore run powerful databases that have been developed specifically for
archiving media contents. In a way, these databases can be regarded as the key KM system for
publishing companies, although they are not KM in the usual sense.
E-learning applications are predominantly used in sectors which have a high affinity to technology, in
particular information technology. In the survey of 2003, manufacturers of electronics, telecommunication
companies and computer services firms were found to be prime adopters of these applications.
This also holds true for 2005, where e-learning tools are mostly used in the IT services sector (27% of
firms) and in the aeronautics industry (22%). Digital learning environments are particularly suited for
contents of a technical nature, where opportunities of 3D visualisation and hyperlinked crossreferences
make them superior to paper-based documentation.
Online applications for sharing documents among employees appear to be more widespread than
KM or e-learning. 18% of firms from the 10 sectors, comprising 30% of employment, report the use of
such systems.
1.2.2 Support for planning, controlling and management
Use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
A major function of internal ICT systems is to support planning and controlling processes. Related
applications facilitate an integrated and holistic view on the company and are thus an indispensable
management tool.
The most important software application in this context are ERP systems. In a way, ERP constitutes
the backbone of all production and product-related ICT systems, including systems for product
planning, purchasing, inventory management, order tracking and finance. A number of case studies
from different sector reports in 2005 emphasise the importance of ERP systems as a platform for
many e-business projects in companies. 18 They were originally developed mainly for large manufacturing,
wholesale or retail companies. However, adoption is also widespread in midsize firms and is
now gaining momentum among smaller businesses as well. Moreover, an increasing number of
standardised software packages for specific industries, such as engineering, are currently reaching
the market.
Against this background, the deployment of ERP systems is a good indicator for the overall e-business
maturity in many sectors. In fact, ERP adoption has significantly increased in the EU since 2002/03
in most sectors (see Executive Summary, "Trends from 2003-2005"). Thus, companies seem to be in
a better position to implement new and more advanced e-business solutions than 2-3 years ago.
18
See chapter 1.7 for relevant examples ("e-Business Activity Views: Conclusions and Lessons Learned")
25