Difusão das tecnologias da informação e comunicação: grupos estratégicos nas empresas portuguesas

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the results of an empirical study that was based on a series of questionnaires applied to a sample of 889 companies. Its main objective was to gather information about the use, equipment ownership, tools and ICT management techniques. With this research we tried to identify position strategic groups (or company profiles) and also to assess the perceptions of these groups about a series of questions (hypothesis) and at the same time to measure the impact of the ICT use perceived by the companies. Based on obtained results and on tests we can conclude that the position of the companies in relation to the diffusion and acceptance of ICT is highly conditioned by factors such as the activity sector where they belong, its dimension in terms of number of workers and invoice volume. It is also influenced by the main market where their operations are carried out or by the location of their headquarters. Finally we can verify that the perceived impacts, the inclusion, or not, of the IS/IT strategy in the global company policy, the knowledge of their human resources, their own satisfaction with the information technology systems, the importance given to the new ICT and to the role of the state in the contribution to its implementation have a significant influence in the strategic groups.