An information technologies and information systems industry-based classification in small and medium-sized enterprises: An institutional view Jose L. Salmeron * , Salvador Bueno Pablo de Olavide University, Ctra. de Utrera, km. 1, 41013 Seville, Spain Available online 10 August 2005 Abstract IT/IS assimilation in organizations has been analyzed mainly by large companies, where its greatest adoption is observed. However, studies that analyze the effects IT/IS have on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) have also begun to appear. The institutional theory offers an approach to understanding IT/IS diffusion and the adoption process caused by isomorphism within the institutional environment, mainly industry. One of its main postulates is the institution- alization of organizations can be an answer to the pressures that organizations receive to be similar. With the purpose of analyzing this postulate, we have identified an IT/IS adoption typology through a sample of organizations coming from main industries, using multivariant analysis. This typology has allowed us to evaluate IT/IS institutionalization in SMEs, and to analyze the explanatory potential of the institutional theory in order to evaluate IT/IS assimilation in organizations. Ó 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: IT/IS industry-based classification; Isomorphism; SMEs; Industry; Multivariate analysis 1. Introduction The role attributed to Information Technolo- gies and Information Systems (from now on IT/ IS) by organizations has evolved over the last dec- ades (Avison et al., 1999) from a passive direction, where organizations used IT/IS as a support, to transactional activities, and most recently to a strategic and competitive approach able to change organizational structures. A wide range of research (Ragu-Nathan et al., 2001; Teo et al., 2000) shows the necessity and the convenience of IT/IS use in organizations. Among the main factors that stimulate IT/IS use are; (1) the loss of business opportunities, (2) the duplicity of efforts, (3) IT/IS incompatibility and (4) high costs (Gottschalk, 1999). In this sense, 0377-2217/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2005.07.002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 954 349063; fax: +34 954 349339. E-mail addresses: jlsalsil@upo.es (J.L. Salmeron), sbueavi@ upo.es (S. Bueno). European Journal of Operational Research 173 (2006) 1012–1025 www.elsevier.com/locate/ejor