Alice P. Shemi

Behavioural Influences on E-Commerce Adoption in a Developing Country Context

Electronic commerce (e‐commerce) is rapidly gaining a prominent place in the global marketing matrix. The volume of transactions that are carried out over the Internet globally is extremely huge. It is estimated that in the next decade, e‐commerce activities would be a major source of foreign exchange, and a key indicator of national development. Studies show that e‐commerce development in developing countries, especially in Africa is comparatively very low. Infrastructural, economic, and management factors have been previously identified as contributing to the low level of e‐commerce development in developing countries. This study focuses on behavioural factors in the adoption of e‐commerce in developing countries. The results of the study show that perceived advantages, Internet and complexity, accessibility, and management support have statistically significant influence on the adoption of e‐commerce, while perceived disadvantages and other facilitating conditions do not significantly affect the decision to adopt e‐commerce. The study results tend to agree with the theory of planned behaviour, but attitude seems to weigh more than subjective norm and perceived behavioural control.

Examining career orientations of information systems personnel in an emerging economy context

A number of studies on career orientations of information systems (IS) personnel have focused on developed countries. This study attempts to examine career anchors of IS personnel from the perspective of a developing country, Botswana. The results of the study show that IS personnel in Botswana exhibit career orientations similar to those identified in literature. However, there are some variations, which are attributed to cultural and socio-economic peculiarities. The study indicates that life style does not feature as a significant career anchor in Botswana. The dominant career anchors include organizational stability (security) and sense of service (service). Gender, age, and educational qualifications tend to moderate the career anchors significantly; thus creating a partition of the anchors across demographic groups.

Explaining contextual factors affecting e-commerce adoption progression in selected SMEs: evidence from Botswana

This paper provides an interpretive account of contextual factors that affect the progression of e-commerce in six Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country context of Botswana. The methodology followed multiple in-depth case studies, using semi-structured face-to-face interviews, website analysis, observation and document analysis. Results show that contextual factors peculiar to each SME provide better explanations on how SMEs progress in e-commerce adoption. At the high level of adoption, managerial innovativeness and the nature of the external e-commerce market has contributed to success in two SMEs, whereas the local business environment in combination with some organisational factors can explain the low-level and non-adoption in the other four SMEs. Future implications indicate that managers need to pay particular detail to the unique and idiosyncratic nature of SMEs in guiding decisions for e-commerce adoption in their firms.

Stay or quit: IT personnel turnover in botswana

Information Technology (IT) has become a major driver of business functions of organizations. Recruiting and retaining competent IT personnel has become a key managerial function. A number of studies (especially in the developed world) have focused on IT personnel issues such as career orientations, recruitment, and turnover. This study contributes to the literature on IT personnel turnover intentions from a developing country perspective. The results of the study indicate that majority of the IT personnel either intend to leave their jobs for another or uncertain about whether or not to leave their jobs. Job satisfaction and growth opportunities are key influences on turnover intention. Career satisfaction, supervisor support, organization commitment, length of service, and age did not contribute significantly to turnover intention.

E-commerce and entrepreneurship in SMEs: case of myBot

The adoption of e-commerce in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a much researched topic in developed and developing nations. The application of mobile devices, and social media networks (SMNs) such as Facebook has revolutionalised the e-commerce adoption process in SMEs. However, research into this area is still developing and there is a dearth of knowledge on how SMEs in developing countries enact and apply this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to explain how e-commerce entrepreneurship using SMN is conceptualised and applied in SMEs, and to highlight factors that influence this e-commerce innovation.,An interpretive and qualitative case study approach was adopted as a methodological foundation in a firm pseudo-named, myBot. The study employed the contextualism theory as a meta-theoretical framework to conceptualise and analyse the e-commerce entrepreneurship process in the firm. The study employed face-to-face semi-structured and unstructured interviews with the manager as primary means of obtaining in-depth information. Further information was obtained through website content analysis and document analysis of the firm’s reports and observations.,The results unearth a socially constructed feature of e-commerce entrepreneurship that draws from myBot’s manager’s innovative ability to use Facebook and e-mail to increase sales through its niche market. Factors that propelled e-commerce entrepreneurial activities using Facebook include trust, commitment and innovativeness.,The revelation of this study may have changed due to the dynamic changes in the information and communication technology industry and how these are employed in a particular country and region of the world. Thus, results may not be generalised to other contexts. The study has a methodological limitation as it only had one informant who could respond to the study questions.,The study provides a practical application of using the contextualism theory to analyse e-commerce entrepreneurship in SMN.,The application of e-commerce using SMNs such as Facebook widens the scope of tools that SMEs may use.,The study provides a theoretical lens into the understanding of an e-commerce entrepreneurship process using a contextualism theory. The paper showcases how e-commerce using Facebook can be portrayed in a developing country context.