Salah Kabanda

E-COMMERCE ENABLERS AND BARRIERS IN TANZANIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

The purpose of this study is to identify enablers of and barriers to E‐Commerce in Tanzanian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Tanzania is classified as a least developed country (LDC) and has received relatively little research attention with respect to E‐Commerce in the SME sector. The study is qualitative in nature and a set of semi‐structured interviews were used to collect data. 32 SMEs were interviewed. A thematic analysis approach was used for reporting SMEs experiences, perspectives, and meanings, whilst examining the ways in which events, realities, meanings, and experiences come about. The study unearthed contextual understanding of E‐Commerce and the challenges faced by Tanzanian SMEs. Factors perceived to be conducive for E‐Commerce, include the availability of business resources, specifically business relationships with ICT foreign companies; top management support; the use of mobile technology for interactive and transactive purposes with consumers and suppliers; and the strategic use of mobile phones to avoid ICT‐related challenges such as those associated with fixed line telephone and Internet‐enabled desktop computing.

How SMEs in Western Cape of South Africa use ICT

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to change the way organizations do business in either a positive or negative way. ICTs benefits however usually supersede its negatives, hence business owners both large and small are moving to the digital world. Although there has been studies on ICTs effect on business organizations, little has been done on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), in developing countries.The research was conducted to identify how SMEs in the Western Cape of South Africa use ICT. Issues examined included currently employed ICT, person to computer ratios, spending and acquisition of ICT, and adoption of new ICT. The research found that SMEs in the Western Cape are using a wide range of ICT, with 88% using networks, and 70% using some form of customer relationship management software. The person to computer ratio was computed and 78% of SMEs in the Western Cape showed a 1:1 (person:computer) ratio. Spending habits with regards to three ICT sectors (hardware, software and services) were analysed and although majority of SMEs showed no adjustment in their spending habits, 30% did claim an increase is expected for both software and hardware spending. SMEs are intending to adopt more ICT in the future. The majority of SMEs claim to have achieved significant amounts of value from the use of ICT.

Investigating the impact of internet in eliminating social exclusion: The case of South Africa

In many other developing countries Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as a means for tackling the problem of social exclusion. This perspective of ICTs has translated into governments and donor agencies spending on establishing Internet access points (e.g. telecentres) in socially excluded communities. Yet, beyond the belief of inherently beneficial ICTs there has been little empirical work done to evaluate the impact of ICTs, notably the Internet, in helping address social exclusion. This paper investigates whether the Internet does contribute to the elimination of social exclusion. The cross-sectional study uses a qualitative research approach on four communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The major finding of the paper is that the Internet does play a very minimal role in eliminating social exclusion, with very few beneficiaries. The implication of the findings is that governments in developing countries may need to downsize their expectations of the Internet in addressing social exclusion. The relative investment on bringing the Internet against other necessary infrastructure spends (such as healthcare, education and economic resuscitation) may need to be revisited.

A structuration analysis of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) adoption of E-Commerce

This study highlights the importance of the context in E-Commerce adoption.And contributes towards analytical understanding of ICT adoption and use in SMEs.By exposing three structures that inform SMEs interaction and use of e-commerce. There have been several studies on E-Commerce adoption in developing countries. However, few have investigated least developed countries (LDCs). Of those that have, their findings tend to be descriptive in nature falling short of a theoretical contribution grounded in the sociocultural context. The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical analysis of E-Commerce adoption in an LDC, Tanzania. Specifically, the study seeks to identify structural practices associated with E-Commerce in Tanzanian SMEs. Using structuration theory and following an interpretivist stance the findings show that Tanzanian SMEs enact three major E-Commerce structural practices: (1) Marketing and image-building through use of websites, (2) Transacting through extensive use of mobile technology (3) Technical problem-solving through establishing partnerships. These practices are informed by organisational and environmental factors that define the sociocultural, technological and economic contextual setting. Considerable evidence is found that SMEs use websites in a limited way, as they draw upon their understanding of websites as being incompatible with the Tanzanian cultural bargaining system, which is characterised by cash transactions and face to face bargaining. Websites are viewed primarily as a platform from which SMEs can portray a sophisticated image and advertise/market their products. SMEs use mobile technology extensively, as they draw on the technologys ability to offer transactive capability, mobility and communication. Findings also point to technological challenges which SMEs face from the environment, mainly from a lack of supporting industry and institutional support. SMEs hence establish partnerships with international organisations that can support them in overcoming technological challenges. Partnerships with large ICT organisations require stringent conditions, such as the requirement for SMEs to have certification in order to be affiliated. The study gives practitioners a better understanding of how SMEs perceive E-Commerce in Tanzania amidst organisational and environmental opportunities and constraints, and in so doing practitioners can better design appropriate E-Commerce context-specific policies and interventions that address SME problems. This will ensure that available resources become utilised in a more effective manner without negative consequences.

Interrogating the effect of environmental factors on e-commerce institutionalization in Tanzania: a test and validation of small and medium enterprise claims

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to interrogate the claims made by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania regarding the environmental factors that negatively affect their institutionalization of e-commerce. SMEs made claims that there was a lack of institutional readiness for e-commerce in Tanzania, as well as inadequate market forces readiness, supporting industry readiness, and socio-cultural readiness. A content analysis approach was used to interrogate institutional policy documents to determine the frequency of use of specific arguments that either support or negate the SMEs’ claims. The theory of communicative action was used as a framework to analyze the truthfulness, sincerity, clarity, and legitimacy of the claims made. The findings from the content analysis show that the Tanzanian Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) policy and SME policy pay scant attention to e-commerce readiness factors. The validity claim analysis did not reveal distorted communications by SMEs, but corroborated their claims that indeed environmental factors were not conducive to the institutionalization of e-commerce in Tanzania. These findings call for a national-level reassessment of e-commerce policies in Tanzania.

Power Dynamics in E-commerce Adoption in Least Developing Countries: The Case of Dar-es-Salaam SMEs, Tanzania

This paper examines power structures that make E-Commerce adoption amongst Small and Medium Enterprises in least developing countries a daunting task. The study adopts structuration theory as a lens, focusing specifically on structures of domination. The results indicate that at organizational level, lack of management support was the reason. However this was caused by government’s reluctance to adopt E-Commerce. By not adopting E-Commerce, government creates structures of domination by drawing on both of its allocative and authoritative resources. Further results show education institutions possessing authoritative power - they design the curriculum by determining what to teach and how to teach it; and whilst doing it, fail to take into account the industries and specifically SMEs needs. However with the rapid adoption of mobile technologies, E-Commerce is becoming a reality through the development of mobile enabled trade websites, which gives SMEs numerous ways to diffuse and rejuvenate themselves in the global economy.

Exploring SME cybersecurity practices in developing countries

ABSTRACT The continued use of information technology systems by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries has the potential to bring significant benefits but, at the same time, expose them to online cybersecurity threats. Addressing these threats is, therefore, of paramount importance for developing countries, not only because SMEs are seen as the vehicle for employment and job creation, but because research on SMEs and cybersecurity in this context is limited. This study is a contribution toward addressing this gap. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore SME cybersecurity practices and the challenges they face in developing countries. The goal is to sensitize practitioners and government institutions about the challenges and practices faced by SMEs, so that the various parties can work collaboratively in providing context-specific solutions to address these challenges and improve current cybersecurity practices. The study follows a qualitative enquiry approach to solicit information from three South African SMEs that had implemented cybersecurity practices. The findings show that an SME’s perception of cybersecurity is constrained by internal factors of budget, management support, and attitudes. Further findings show that SMEs’ cybersecurity practices are affected by the landscape of cybersecurity, as well as institutional pressures.

Exploring E-Procurement Adoption in the Context of a Developing Country: The Case of Lesotho

An E-Procurement system allows organizations to automate and streamline the internal procurement processes and also allow them to integrate and share information with their suppliers and customers for better business results. Despite these and other benefits promised by E-Procurement systems, their adoption remains a challenge in most organizations in developing countries, and in Africa in particular. This could be partly because of the fact that the phenomenon has not received sufficient attention in Africa, and as a consequence, adoption is enacted in a manner that is exclusive of contextual challenges the organizations face. It is also not clear whether E-Procurement benefits in literature do translate into actual benefits by African public organizations. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify the perceived benefits and contextual challenges posed during the implementation of an E-Procurement system in the Lesotho electricity sector. Following an interpritivist approach, grounded in the study context; the study identified two key perceived benefits of efficiency and transparency. The challenges faced includes the organizational lack of adequate training, system failure, employee resistance and lack of project management skills by top management. There were consistent reports of a lack of expertise from the external market to address implementation issues and that perceived knowledgeable agents such as consultants were not able to deliver what was tasked of them.

Contextualizing BYOD in SMEs in developing countries

The advancement in technological development is now altering the conventional order in the diffusion of IT innovation from a top-down approach(organization to employees) to a bottom up approach (employees to organization). This change is more notable in the developed economies and has led to the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon. There have been several studies on corporate adoption of BYOD but few have investigated the phenomenon from a small and medium enterprise (SME) perspective and in developing countries specifically. SMEs, like their large organizations counterparts, can significantly benefit from BYOD given that they are usually resource constrained. This study presents a qualitative review of BYOD literature from the perspective of SMEs with the intention of (1) highlighting contextual issues that SMEs in developing countries need to be aware of prior to BYOD adoption; and (2) calling researchers to pay attention to how BYOD as a technology catalyst can address contextual challenges. Following a literature review analysis approach, the study identifies organizational factors as key to the success of BYOD adoption. For BYOD to become part of an organization there needs to be organizational readiness in terms of technology, governance, business resources, awareness and the availability of human resources. Contextual factors of supporting industry, government readiness and market forces were not given much attention but are perceived as important for adoption.