TY - JOUR AU - Daferighe, Emmanuel Emeakponuzo PY - 2019/06/01 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - ADOPTION OF CUTTING-EDGE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SMEs IN NIGERIA JF - Archives of Business Research JA - ABR VL - 7 IS - 5 SE - Articles DO - 10.14738/abr.75.6552 UR - https://journals.scholarpublishing.org/index.php/ABR/article/view/6552 SP - 217-225 AB - <p align="center"> </p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>The relatively poor development and survival of SMEs in developing countries like Nigeria have been a recurring issue of research concern. Taking cognizance of the business enhancing digital possibilities of the 21<sup>st</sup> century technological innovations, this paper sought to examine the influence of adopting cutting edge information technology (IT) on the development of SMEs in Nigeria. The data for the study were gathered through the administration of questionnaire to judgmentally sampled SME operators in Nigeria. These data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance. The results and findings of the study revealed about 27.7% level of IT adoption by the SME operators. The result showed that adoption of cutting edge information technology impact positively on the development of SMEs in Nigeria. The low level of IT adoption by SME development was traced to the pessimism and negative perception of SME operators. It is therefore recommended that IT awareness initiatives and IT usage trainings should be organized for SME operators in order to increase their effective adoption. Also, Government should endeavour to make available subsidized IT infrastructure for SME operators. These and other policy initiatives would significantly facilitate the much desired repositioning and development of SMEs in Nigeria.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>Keywords: Information Technology, Cutting Edge Information Technology, SMEs, development</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> ER -