E-business

This study investigates experts’ assessments of the pertinent factors affecting e-business in developing countries from a theory-based national infrastructure perspective. We surveyed experts (business people, academicians, and officials of governmental and non-governmental organizations) in e-business in Latin America (LA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our partial least squares analysis shows that experts believed that policies targeted specifically toward e-business are important in affecting e-business capabilities and in obtaining value from e-business, more so than non-specific general information and communication technologies (ICT) policies, which are not significantly influential. ICT infrastructure generally affects e-business capabilities, though this was not found to be the case in Brazil. Experts believed that national government institutions positively affect e-business value in SSA, but not in LA. Experts did not believe that commercial infrastructure significantly affects e-business value. This study theoretically and empirically distinguishes between two different dimensions of e-business outcomes: specific capabilities and value derived from e-business. It operationalizes the effects of national government institutions and commercial infrastructure on e-business outcomes and empirically tests for their effects. The study provides empirical support for conceptual arguments for the need of ICT policies specific to the needs of e-business.

 This study investigates experts' assessments of the pertinent factors on certain cultural factors on affecting e-business in developing countries. We design and conduct a survey that empirically solicits information from experts in e-business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the first phase (completed and reported here), and in Latin America in the second phase (currently in progress). Our initial results for SSA using PLS analysis show that experts believe that ICT transfer implementation strongly affects both e-business capabilities and value, but that among SSA countries, there are no significant cultural effects of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, or technology culturation. Furthermore, they do not believe that there is any significant interaction between culture and transfer implementation within SSA. This study theoretically and empirically distinguishes between two different dimensions of e-business outcomes: specific capabilities and value derived from e-business. As part of the first study that conducts a quantitative, broad-based survey on factors that contribute toward e-business in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America regions, it gives cause to question the common argument that native culture significantly affects the adoption of ICTs.

This research proposal uses a case study approach to investigate the pertinent factors affecting e-business in SSA from the perspective of national infrastructure and organizational factors. I have developed a general framework that explains what pertinent factors affect e-business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The primary dependent variable is E-business Outcomes, consisting of both E-business Capabilities and E-business Value. The predictor variables are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policies (consisting of General ICT Policies and E-business Policies), Government Institutions, the Commercial Environment, and ICT Transfer Implementation. Based on an action research methodology, I will specifically focus on eight representative cases in Ghana and study these cases intensively to understand how the predictor variables in my framework affect e-business outcomes in these organizations. In this research program, I expect to demonstrate that e-business capabilities and e-business value, while related, are distinct in their nature and in their contributing factors. Also, I develop a model of how environmental infrastructure-technological, political, and commercial-produces effective e-business outcomes in SSA. Finally, two important elements of this model have not been previously studied empirically, particularly not qualitatively with rich description: the institutional and commercial environment in which businesses operate; and a distinction between general policies on information and telecommunication technologies and those specifically tailored to e-business.

For more details on this paper, see the listing in the section on my research on miscellaneous topics.

Sub-Saharan countries are experiencing tremendous growth in Internet connectivity, the use of computers, and in the diffusion of wireless communications. Electronic commerce is one of the growth areas for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Africa. This paper presents a research framework for assessing electronic commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the nature of the digital divide, and explains the need for the commercial applications of the Internet in developing countries in general. Further, it presents literature on e-commerce frameworks, ICT diffusion, and ICTs in developing countries that shed light on different aspects of e-commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, it proposes a consolidating framework that synthesizes these various literature streams and lays groundwork for a focused body of research in this area.