John Effah

Mobilizing Culture for E-Business in Developing Countries: An Actor Network Theory Account

The purpose of this study is to understand how developing country cultures can be mobilized for e‐business. Within the developing country e‐business literature, culture has been highlighted as a barrier. Less is however known about culture as an enabler. Despite calls for cultural fit, empirical evidence on how to achieve the fit remains limited. This study follows actor‐network theory (ANT) as a lens and interpretive case study as a methodology to understand how funeral culture in the developing country context of Ghana was mobilized for an e‐business venture. The findings demonstrate an enabling perspective of developing country culture, complementing the dominant constraining view in the literature. The paper argues that although e‐business emerged from the developed world, it could be malleable to varied contexts. The paper encourages developing country entrepreneurs and researchers to seek ways to align e‐business to local contexts.

Preliminary insight into cloud computing adoption in a developing country

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of cloud computing adoption (CCA) in a developing country context through the lens of the technology, organisation and environment (TOE) framework. Design/methodology/approach – The study was carried out using the quantitative research methodology based on a survey of 305 organisations from different industries in Ghana. Based on the TOE framework, a conceptual model consisting of ten hypotheses were proposed and tested through a confirmatory factor analysis and logistic regression analysis. Findings – The findings indicate that relative advantage, security concern, top management support, technology readiness, competitive pressure and trading partners’ pressure were the TOE factors found to be significant in CCA in a developing country context. Conversely, firm size, scope, compatibility and regulatory support were found to be insignificant. Originality/value – This study provides insights into CCA across different industries in a dev...

The rise and fall of a dot-com pioneer in a developing country

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of dot-com pioneers in developing countries to complement the experience of their counterparts from the developed world as documented in the dot-com boom and bust literature. Beginning from this literature, dot-com phenomenon in the developed world has attracted much research. However, despite some entrepreneurial attempts to promote the innovation in the developing world, less is known about dot-coms there. Design/methodology/approach – The study follows interpretive case study methodology and actor-network theory to understand the formation, initial success and final failure of a dot-com pioneer in the developing country of Ghana. Findings – The developing country dot-com pioneer transferred e-tail technology from the developed world. The under-developed infrastructure in the developing world forced the technology to be adapted to local context. The firm managed to succeed temporarily by engaging with actors from both the developed an...

Virtual Process Modelling Informed by Organisational Semiotics: A Case of Higher Education Admission

The purpose of this study is to explore virtual process modelling based on organisational semiotics and WebML. The Internet and the Web afford opportunities to virtualize physical processes. Research on process virtualization has so far focused on theorizing or testing which activities can or cannot be virtualized. However, studies on virtual process modelling remains limited. This study therefore uses a university’s admission process as a case to explore virtual process modelling in a higher education environment.

Institutional Effects on E-payment Entrepreneurship in a Developing Country: Enablers and Constraints

The purpose of this study is to understand how regulative, normative and cognitive institutions affect e-payment entrepreneurship in developing countries. Lack of e-payment technologies has been identified as a key constraint to e-commerce adoption and diffusion in the developing world. The availability of e-payment technologies in the developed world provides opportunities for their transfer to and adaptation in the developing world. However, research on attempts by governments or e-business entrepreneurs to provide e-payment innovations in the developing world and possible institutional effects on such initiatives remain limited. Drawing on interpretive case study methodology and the new institutional theory as a lens, this study traces an e-payment entrepreneurship attempt in the developing-country context of Ghana. The findings show that some national and international institutions encouraged the initiative. However, unclear regulations and bureaucratic processes of the Central Bank as well as the entrepreneurs own cognitive failure to consider contextual differences between the developed and the developing world constrained the initiative. The study advises developing-country e-business entrepreneurs to understand their local institutional environment and not assume that imported technologies will work the same way as in the developed world. It also calls on developing-country governments to promote clear regulations and streamline certification processes to encourage technological innovations such as e-payment.

Virtual Process Control Modelling in Organisational Semiotics: A Case of Higher Education Admission

This study explores Web-based virtual process control modelling based on organisational semiotics, Web modelling language (WebML), and higher education admission process. Despite some discussions on control activities in the organisational semiotics literature, less attention has been paid to process control modelling in general and Web-based virtual processes in particular. Process controls help to implement required organisational constraints as regulatory norms that enforce established rules, procedures, and standards for meeting intended organisational goals. This study contributes to organisational semiotics research by extending the discourse on control norms to the realm of Web-based virtual process modelling in a real life situation.

Evolution of Norms in the Emergence of Digital Business Ecosystems

As digital business ecosystems emerge from traditional business ecosystems, norms evolve or remain. However, less is known about evolution of norms in relation to digital business ecosystems. Norms are rules that govern behaviour; as such they drive activities in business ecosystems. Therefore, this paper uses Ghana’s import-export ecosystem to trace the evolution of norms when traditional business ecosystems transition to digital business ecosystem in order to understand which norms change or remain and the reasons that account for the changes.

Virtualisation of an administrative work environment in higher education: Managing information in a developing country university

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries can migrate their physical administrative work environment to a virtual platform to improve information management. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs an interpretive case study approach and a combined lens of activity and agency theories to understand how a developing country HEI attempted to improve its information management by migrating from a physical to a virtual administrative work environment. Findings The findings show how contradictions caused by role conflicts, administrative staff’s fear of elimination and external consultants’ limited understanding of administrative rules and procedures can hamper work environment virtualisation. Such challenges should be resolved in order to achieve a successful virtual work environment that supports timely and accurate information management. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by its single case perspective in one developing country. However, future studies can compare the experiences of HEIs from developed and developing countries in order to account for contextual differences. Practical implications The study provides practitioners with insight into how to address conflicts between employees (as potential users) and external consultants during virtual system development and implementation. In particular, role conflict, fear of eliminating some administrative staff and consultants’ limited understanding of administrative work procedures should be resolved for successful work environment virtualisation. Originality/value The study is the first attempt to offer rich insight into the challenges associated with administrative work environment virtualisation for improved information management in HEIs, through the principal-agent relationship.

Internet banking deployment in a sub-Saharan African country: a socio-technical perspective

The purpose of this study is to understand how the socio-technical environment in a sub-Saharan African SSA country shapes internet banking functionality deployment. Research on internet banking in SSA has focused more on adoption, use and diffusion and less on how the socio-technical environment shapes functionality deployment. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigates the case of an internet banking functionality deployment in the SSA context of Ghana. The study employs socio-technical theory with external environment as analytical lens and qualitative interpretive case study as methodology. On the social side, low internet banking competition, unclear regulations, physical signature requirements and perceived online fraud were found to have shaped the functionality deployment. On the technical side, improved internet access and lack of online payment infrastructure were found to have shaped the functionality deployment. The conclusion offers implications for research, practice and policy as well as recommendations for further research.

Business Intelligence Architecture Informed by Organisational Semiotics

This study draws on organisational semiotics and design science methodology informed by abductive reasoning to develop a business intelligence (BI) architecture. Organisational semiotics research has so far paid limited attention to BI in general and its architecture in particular. Moreover, BI research in information systems (IS) focuses largely on either technical or social activities. Organisational semiotics offers frameworks and model which can be used to develop a BI architecture with combined technical and social views. This study therefore develops a BI architecture based on knowledge hierarchy, semiotic framework, and semiotic activity hierarchy. The paper uses a manufacturing company’s BI experience as a case study to inform and evaluate the proposed architecture. The study’s contribution stems from its development of the organisational semiotics informed BI architecture and its implications for research and practice.