Value creation and the internet: Entrepreneurial behaviour in Dutch SMEs

Although almost all Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have adopted the internet and e-mail, only those entrepreneurs that realise how these innovations can be applied in their business are able to recognise opportunities to create value. Based on a sample of 614 Dutch SMEs, we examine what factors determine the recognition of such opportunities. Particularly, we argue that the use of the internet and e-mail has a positive relationship to organisational and strategic value creation; that organisational value creation precedes strategic value creation; and that entrepreneurs who are able to actually create strategic value - and thus have actually recognised entrepreneurial opportunities from these technologies - have higher levels of knowledge and experience, are more proactive networkers and have higher levels of entrepreneurial orientation. Our findings suggest that there are clear possibilities for SMEs to capitalise on adopting the internet and e-mail because all the associated factors can be enhanced through choices consciously made by the entrepreneurs.