Using Social Learning Theory to Reduce Small Business Breakdown along the Internet Superhighway: An...

<jats:p> As the speed of travel on the “Information Superhighway” accelerates, many small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) do not effectively keep pace. SME computer resistors include 1) the slow-plodding neophyte computer users in the far right hand lane, 2) the firms curious about computerization but who are yet to make a purchase decision, idling in neutral on the access ramps, and 3) the business that purchases improper equipment and/or software and ventures onto the “road” without proper training and support, being run over by the speeding industry. In the information high-tech world of the 1990s it seems amazing that an estimated quarter of all small businesses still do not have their first personal computer. This article calls upon the innovators of the communications field to look in the rear view mirror to see the businesses left behind in the information expansion race. A model utilizing social learning theory defines a framework for road service [1], getting the small business “resister” up to the information superhighway speed limit. </jats:p>