TREAT: promoting SME adoption of EDI through education

Electronic data interchange (EDI), an example of an inter-organisational system (IOS), has the potential to provide companies with tangible benefits, such as improvements to overall efficiency and cost effectiveness, and strategic advantages, including the strengthening of trading partner relationships and the redesigning of internal procedures. Many organisations-more notably small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)-however, have been slow to adopt EDI due to factors including the costs associated with implementing EDI and the need for education/training concerning its use. This paper briefly summarises the major factors contributing to the slow diffusion of this technology by SMEs to emphasise the potential of effective education/training in addressing this problem. The paper then justifies the need for participatory-based approaches to EDI education/training and briefly outlines a course called TREAT (Teaching Realistic EDI and Telecommunications) which requires participants to use real EDI software and telecommunications facilities to operate organisations within a laboratory-based international trade environment. The paper then discusses a research programme to investigate whether and how laboratory-based education/training can be used to raise SME owner/managers' awareness of EDI and to promote adoption of this technology.