Business model evolution and service professionalization in micro enterprises : a case study in the ICT consulting realm.

Abstract

The world’s economy is propelled by SMEs that disproportionately contribute to jobs’ creation. New ventures blossom nearly everyday while others unfortunately fail and disappear. The OECD argues that management capabilities are crucial to their survival. This research takes a closer look to how the micro enterprises, more and more numerous in Luxembourg, can be helped to successfully develop their management capabilities and consequently their business. The field of application is the consulting in the ICT that is central in our daily life and has become a pillar of the economic development and the digital economy of Luxembourg. The scientific literature provides a lot of articles and books that cover SMEs from different angles, fewer that looks at SMEs in Luxembourg, often relating to the finance industry and only very few articles talking about micro enterprises in Luxembourg active in the ICT. Neither the scientific nor the economic publications are covering the micro enterprise active in the ICT consulting in Luxembourg. Moreover, the very specific regulations impacting the ICT services’ sector in Luxembourg make it nearly impossible to consider any literature about this topic in other countries. This research work aims to explore this field and contribute to enriching the scientific literature. The research methodology relies on a SWOT analysis which captures essential factors of the macro-environment and of the internal context of the micro enterprises. A multiple case study research gathers valuable input resulting of scientifically approved qualitative methods. This research work determines the crucial elements for the firm’s development as well as those detrimental elements that may hamper its development. This thesis also examines how those detrimental elements could be mitigated using an IT service management framework to better align the business model of the micro enterprises with their service delivery. The conclusion of this thesis is a suite of recommendations spurring the micro enterprise to gradually implement several processes to reinforce its management capabilities and to gain a better visibility and control on essential business functions that have a real impact on its performance. Finally, the limitations of this thesis are discussed in terms of research design, reliability and practical validation of the findings. The suggestions for future research works, that end the research thesis, could attempt to withdraw some of the limitations and streamline some analyses.