A framework for cloud computing adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises : a case of the Accra - Tema metropolis in Ghana

Cloud computing adoption and usage is important to achieving business competition. This is done by making it a competitive tool for firms. The adoption of cloud computing enables firms to achieve greater business competency, improve performance, and allows them to maintain their competitive advantage. Since its emergence, there has been a surge in the adoption of cloud computing with research into its adoption primarily concentrated on bigger firms. However, a major characteristic of cloud computing is the anticipated possibilities it holds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs typically operate differently from larger firms and are not limited by resource constraints. For SMEs, the reduction in the financial burden normally associated with the adoption of new technologies is a significant benefit of cloud computing due to their financial constraints. In Ghana, SMEs mostly use obsolete technologies and have a slow response towards new technologies. Thus, they are unable to harness the numerous opportunities technology presents to them to stay competitive. Cloud computing is still regarded as a new technology in the business world, therefore research that focuses on its adoption by SMEs to help them stay competitive is minimal. Available research on cloud computing in Ghana does not provide clear guidelines for ensuring a successful adoption process and the continued use of cloud computing services. This study seeks to investigate how a framework can assist SMEs in their use of cloud computing in the Accra-Tema metropolis of Ghana. A knowledge of the factors associated with adoption decisions and those that significantly influence the decision are required to ensure a successful adoption process. The empirical data was gathered using a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews developed from literature and administered to users and potential users of cloud computing. The questionnaire and interviews primarily investigate key adoption factors and the findings are reported in this research study. The findings reveal interesting insights into understanding issues that affect the overall decision to adopt and use cloud computing services by SMEs. The findings show that the adoption of cloud computing can improve information management practices within SMEs. The findings also reveal that several factors need to be considered in the overall decision to adopt and use cloud computing to ensure a successful adoption process. An initial cloud computing adoption model was proposed based on the empirical findings. Key adoption factors of the initial adoption model include adoption benefits and drivers, concerns and barriers, adoption interventions, and information management in the cloud. computing adoption framework. The proposed adoption framework aims to assist SMEs to adopt and use cloud computing services and make them relevant in the global market

Financial bootstrapping and survivability in family firms: A resource-based perspective

Financial bootstrapping (FB) is a resource-dependent management strategy within the contingencies of organizing in small businesses. In this regard, the notion of start-up and operational capital has become an important ingredient in the performance of family businesses, particularly in resource-scarce environments. Drawing on the resource-based view theory (RBV) and a multiple case study design, we examine the various bootstrapping strategies of family businesses in the context of relatively underdeveloped institutions and markets. Following family businesses being at the convergence point of resource constraint, we show why some family businesses are more likely to survive than others. Our data evidence suggests that to ensure financial sustainability, longevity, survivability, and competitive advantage in family businesses, the use of both inward and outward bootstrapping strategies is crucial. Nevertheless, the use of personal and family financial resources is widely practised in resource-scarce environments. We conclude by delineating some relevant implications of our study to policy and research regarding the survival of family businesses

A conceptual model of business intelligence system adoption for the textile and apparel industry in Pakistan

Textile and Apparel (T&A) industry is the backbone of Pakistani economy, including one-fourth of the industrial sector, and comprises 40% of industrial employees and approximately 60% share of Pakistani exports. Although, industry is striving hard to compete in international market; a persistent stream of innovation is required to maintain its due share in recent quota free global trade of textiles. Business Intelligence (BI) system is one of the most-used buzzwords in the modern business landscape for well informed decision making. In spite of the great synergies and benefits, BI system grant to the businesses and organizations. The adoption level is low with high failure ratio, especially in developing countries. Further, researchers did not propose any theory or model for the T & A industry. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) for identifying the most appropriate factors, theory and model for the current study. Total of 75 studies were selected which were published during the period of 2011- 2020. A conceptual model is developed with most potential factors by using Technology-OrganizationEnvironment (TOE) framework. This conceptual model will guide the policy makers and industry practitioners to integrate and adopt the BI system successfully that would helpful to achieve competitive edge in the international business markets

Youth Employment and the Private Sector in Africa

Globally, governments, development agencies, and inter-governmental institutions have invested heavily in skills-building interventions seeking to enhance the employability of youths. However, policy actors are becoming more aware of the shortcomings of skills-building interventions, and attention is shifting to focus on how to promote productivity, boost the private sector, and generate the kind of growth that could create jobs. While policymakers have endorsed the role of the private sector as a job generator, it remains unclear whether, and under what conditions, the formal private sector generates enough and decent jobs. Empirical research on youth employment in the private sector is sparse. This IDS Bulletin begins to fill that gap. The articles here have been authored by young African scholars from the Matasa Fellows Network, convened by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in collaboration with Mastercard Foundation. These early-career academics from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were selected to consider the role that could be played by the formal private sector in job creation in Africa. Case studies come from their respective countries. While some aspects of the youth employment challenge are common to all six countries, the local contexts and situations are unique and sectoral. This IDS Bulletin explores the scope of research and policy challenges in three specific areas: agribusiness and youth employment; skills gaps and youth employability; and youth employment in fragile and conflict-affected settings. The articles demonstrate the importance of effective policy measures to ensure that private sector growth creates sufficient numbers of decent, secure jobs to provide employment to African youth.Mastercard Foundatio

Statistical assessment of business intelligence system adoption model for sustainable textile and apparel industry

The textile and apparel industry is one of the biggest competitive industries in the world. Nowadays, industry 4.0 concepts put pressures on textile and apparel companies to integrate advanced technologies. Consequently, Business Intelligence (BI) systems are diffusing rapidly to process large data sets to harness the true value of smart technologies. Regardless of its potentials, most textile and apparel companies are lagging and hesitating to adopt this credible innovation in the presence of a high failure rate (70%-80%) especially in developing countries. To achieve the successful adoption of BI systems, statistical assessment is required to better understand this complex phenomenon. Therefore, a BI system model based on Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) is developed to evaluate the role of potential determinants pertaining to the users, technology, organization, and environment. Data were collected using a survey with self-administered questionnaires from decision-makers with authoritative designations in the textile and apparel industry, academia, and software companies. Influential relationships among critical determinants were assessed and validated by using Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. The results of this study would contribute to the success of costly BI system projects and will motivate the industry experts to potentially assign investments for the BI projects in the developing countries to sustain in the competitive markets

The nexus between e-marketing, e-service quality, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty: a cross-sectional study within the context of online SMEs in Ghana

The spread of the Internet, the proliferation of mobile devices, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have given impetus to online shopping in Ghana and the subregion. This situation has also created opportunities for SMEs to take advantage of online marketing technologies. However, there is a dearth of studies on the link between e-marketing and e-loyalty in terms of online shopping, thereby creating a policy gap on the prospects for business success for online SMEs in Ghana. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the main independent variable, e-marketing and the main dependent variable, e-loyalty, as well as the mediating roles of e-service quality and e-satisfaction in the link between e-marketing and e-loyalty. The study adopted a positivist stance with a quantitative method. The study was cross-sectional in nature with the adoption of a descriptive correlational design. A Structural Equation Modelling approach was employed to examine the nature of the associations between the independent, mediating and dependent variables. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to control for the potential confounding effects of the demographic factors. A sample size of 1,293 residents in Accra, Ghana, who had previously shopped online, responded to structured questionnaire in an online survey via Google Docs. The IBM SPSS Amos 24 software was used to analyse the data collected. Positive associations were found between the key constructs in the study: e-marketing, e-service quality, e-satisfaction and e-Loyalty. The findings from the study gave further backing to the diffusion innovation theory, resource-based view theory, and technology acceptance model. In addition, e-service quality and e-satisfaction individually and jointly mediated the relationship between e-marketing and e-loyalty. However, these mediations were partial, instead of an originally anticipated full mediation. In terms of value and contribution, this is the first study in a developing economy context to undertake a holistic examination of the key marketing performance variables within an online shopping context. The study uniquely tested the mediation roles of both e-service quality and e-satisfaction in the link between e-marketing and e-loyalty. The findings of the study are novel in the e-marketing literature as they unearthed the key antecedents of e-loyalty for online SMEs in a developing economy context. The study suggested areas for further related studies and also highlighted the limitations

Software Engineering Methods for the Internet of Things: A Comparative Review

Accessing different physical objects at any time from anywhere through wireless network heavily impacts the living style of societies worldwide nowadays. Thus, the Internet of Things has now become a hot emerging paradigm in computing environments. Issues like interoperability, software reusability, and platform independence of those physical objects are considered the main current challenges. This raises the need for appropriate software engineering approaches to develop effective and efficient IoT applications software. This paper studies the state of the art of design and development methodologies for IoT software. The aim is to study how proposed approaches have been solved issues of interoperability, reusability, and independence of the platform. A comparative study is presented for the different software engineering methods used for the Internet of Things. Finally, the key research gaps and open issues are highlighted as future directions

A cloud business intelligence security evaluation framework for small and medium enterprises

Cloud business intelligence has practical importance in data management and decision-making, but the adoption and use among South African small and medium enterprises remain relatively low compared to large business enterprises. The low uptake persists irrespective of the awareness and acceptance of the benefits of Cloud business intelligence in the business domain. Cloud business intelligence depends on the cloud computing paradigm, which is susceptible to security threats and risks that decision-makers must consider when selecting what applications to use. The major objective of this study was to propose a security evaluation framework for Cloud business intelligence suitable for use by small and medium enterprises in small South African towns. The study utilised the exploratory sequential mixed-method research methodology with decision-makers from five towns in the Limpopo Province. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse the data. The findings show that the level of adoption of Cloud business intelligence in the five selected towns was lower than reported in the literature, and decision-makers were eager to adopt and use safe Cloud business intelligence, but this was hindered by their inability to evaluate security in these applications. Factors preventing the adoption of Cloud business intelligence were decision-makers’ limited knowledge of the applications and security evaluation, the inability to use industry security frameworks and standards due to their complexities, mistrust of cloud service providers in meeting their obligations when providing agreed services, and lack of security specialists to assist in the evaluation process. Small and medium enterprises used unapproved security evaluation methods, such as relying on friends who were not information technology security specialists. A security evaluation framework and checklists were proposed based on the findings of the study and the best practices of the existing industry frameworks and standards. The proposed security evaluation framework was validated for relevance by information technology security specialists and acceptance by small and medium enterprise decision-makers. The study concluded that the adoption and use of Cloud business intelligence were hindered by the lack of a user-friendly security evaluation framework and limited security evaluation knowledge among decision-makers. Furthermore, the study concluded that the proposed framework and checklists were a relevant solution as they were accepted as useful to assist decision-makers to select appropriate Cloud business intelligence for their enterprises. The main contribution of this study is the proposed security evaluation framework and the checklists for Cloud business intelligence, for use by decision-makers in small and medium enterprises in small South African towns in the Limpopo Province.School of ComputingPh. D. (Information Systems

Knowledge management systems : an adoption framework for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Technology is becoming increasingly affordable and accessible through advances in innovation. At the same time, valuable organisational resources are moving from tangible (e.g., steel) to intangible resources (e.g., knowledge). For this reason, knowledge is viewed by many scholars as a sustainable competitive advantage. To compete successfully in the knowledge economy, organisational knowledge should be appropriately managed through management practices encompassing the creation, storage, retrieval, transfer and application of knowledge using IT systems. The combination of hardware and software to drive knowledge management (KM) is known as a knowledge management system (KMS). The literature has consistently acknowledged the high failure rates of technology adoption in organisations. It can have devastating consequences for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they have fewer resources to recover from KMS adoption failure. Equally important is the fact that SMEs contribute substantially to the gross domestic product and employment of national economies worldwide. The same is true for South African SMEs. Given the picture of KM in the SME context, it is important to investigate potential factors that can lead to improved KMS adoption in SMEs. As scholarly literature on KMS adoption in SMEs is limited, this study could contribute uniquely to the body of knowledge focused on these factors. Within the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework, Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and critical success factors (CSF), the study constructed a framework for KMS adoption in SMEs. After constructing a preliminary conceptual framework from the literature, data was collected using a two-phase approach. In phase one, four mini focus groups comprising four SMEs each were interviewed. The thematic analysis revealed eight themes that expanded the existing framework. The purpose of phase two was to validate the framework developed in phase one through face-to-face or online discussions with six SME subject matter experts. Phase two identified five themes that further confirmed and strengthened the framework. The study contributed on a theoretical, empirical and practical level. Having identified several key factors for KMS adoption, the framework aims to improve the use of KMS in SMEs by employees and, as a result, SME performance and sustainability. Future research could condense or identify additional factors to test the framework developed in the study. In addition, the framework could be tested on specific industries or with larger sample sizes.Graduate School of Business LeadershipD.B. L