Emergent strategic thinking among small and medium sized enterprises: the case of standards-based interorganisational systems

Surveys administered in 2001 and 2011 show that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be classified into two groups: those increasing and those decreasing their adoption of standards-based interorganisational systems (IOS). Subsequently, three case studies for each group of SMEs explored whether the two types differ in their strategic approach toward IOS adoption. Results illustrate that—in order to respond to immediate business demands—SMEs uniformly demonstrate dynamic and flexible IOS implementation behaviours. This highlights the value of emergent strategic thinking for SMEs and challenges assumptions about the significance of rigidly developing and following strategic plans for managers of smaller firms.