Mobile Instant Messaging (M.I.M.) in Improving SME in Manufacturing: Case Study

It is reported in the literature that there are widespread adoption and use of Mobile Instant Messaging (M.I.M.) among businesses. However, there is a lack of academic publication in this area that demonstrates by means of a case study that the M.I.M. implementation for S.M.E.'s can improve operational processes. In this case study, the company recently moved much of its Product Ordering (P.O.) processes to a freely accessible M.I.M. app. The paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate the impact of the change. Quantitative and qualitative analysis confirms that the introduction has enhanced the P.O. process. The analysis shows that the timeline for the full P.O. process is significantly shortened. The speed of communication allowed faster processing, approval and delivery. The paper presents the first case study that looks at how M.I.M. processes can enhance an S.M.E.'s operations.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Wireless Personal Communications. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-021-08307-4.