Leveraging FDI to Increase SME Access to Finance in Africa: A Case Study of Uganda

This study explores the potential for adoption of business-to-business (b2b) financing as an alternative to formal finance. The main objective of the study was to determine how FDI firms (TNCs) in Uganda can be leveraged to  expand supply of finance to SMEs. The specific objectives were to: establish the patterns of adoption of b2b financing and determine the factors responsible for levels of adoption; assess the potential for SMES to leverage on  FDI firms for increased adoption of b2b financing; assess the effect of entrepreneur perceptions and local business culture on adoption of b2b financing; determine the barriers to increased adoption b2b financing; and lastly determine  and assess policy options to promote increased uptake of b2b financing. Two surveys, one of TNCs and another of SMEs complimented with case studies were conducted to obtain necessary data. Analysis employed mainly  correlations and regression tests

Open innovation in SMEs: Trends, motives and management challenges

Although evidence for open innovation practices has been provided for large MNEs, they have not yet been analyzed systematically for SMEs. This paper presents the results of a survey among 605 Dutch innovating SMEs. The results show that SMEs are increasingly adapting open innovation practices. Moreover, they indicate a difference in the adaption to open innovation between manufacturing and services firms, and between larger and smaller SMEs. Larger SMEs adapting more quickly and in a more structured and professionalized way to open innovation than smaller ones. The survey furthermore shows that SMEs generally pursue an open innovation strategy to realize market-related objectives such as meeting customer demands, or keeping up with competitors. In addition, the results show that the most important barriers respondents face are related to the organizational and cultural differences when cooperating with other partners. Other serious barriers are administrative burdens, financing and knowledge transfer problems.

Control, Process Facilitation, and Requirements Change in Offshore Requirements Analysis: The Provider Perspective

Process, technology, and project factors have been increasingly driving organizations to offshore early software development phases, such as requirements analysis. This emerging trend necessitates greater control and process facilitation between client and vendor sites. The effectiveness of control and facilitation has, however, not been examined within the context of requirements analysis and change. In this study, we examine the role of control and facilitation in managing changing requirements and on success of requirements gathering in the Indian offshore software development environment. Firms found that control by client-site coordinators had a positive impact on requirements analysis success while vender site-coordinators did not have similar influence. Process facilitation by client site-coordinators affected requirements phase success indirectly through control. The study concludes with recommendations for research and practice

Information system diffusion in organizations - a control mechanism perspective

Research streams emphasize that after the excitement of adopting a new IS innovation, most do not employ the innovation to its full potential thus creating an assimilation gap. The failure of an IS to be fully diffused in an organization are, in most cases, due to employees resisting and not accepting the implemented innovation. The analysis of control mechanisms in IS research has proved to be a valuable approach to elucidate IS implementation and success experienced by organizations. The control mechanisms can be exercised thro ugh formal and informal modes. However, control mechanism theory have not yet been adopted to examine the process of IS diffusion in organizations. Therefore, there is a need to study the ways in which implemented control mechanisms impacts on the pro cess of diffusion of a Management Information System (MIS). Cooper and Zmud (1990) six stage IS implementation model will be applied to the research to illustrate and investigate the process of diffusion of the MIS. The research method will be an in-depth case study. It is anticipated that investigating IS diffusion from the perspective of control will considerably provide fresh insights in the understanding process of IS diffusion in organizations

Technology Use, Organisational Flexibility and Innovation: Evidence for Germany

This paper investigates to what extent the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) fosters innovation activities by facilitating more flexible organisational structures in firms. We distinguish between functional flexibility (the ability of workers to co-operate and take decentralised decisions) and numerical flexibility (the reduction of fixed costs, mainly due to outsourcing business processes). Our results from a large and representative data set of firms in Germany show that ICT use is associated with an increase in both types of flexibility but the implications for innovation activities differ. Functional flexibility is strongly positively associated with product innovations. In contrast, numerical flexibility allows firms to ?buy? innovations in the short run, but reduces innovative capacity in the longer run. --ICT usage,flexibility,innovations

The Alignment of Client and Consultant Views

Gable [1996a] validated a multidimensional measurement model of client success when engaging external consultants to assist with selection of computer based information systems. Following on from that study and employing the same data, this paper seeks to compare client and consultant views on the seven model dimensions and to interpret disparities

Relevance of Agency Theory in Software Development

In the Information technology field there has been lots of development. The development of software is increasing every day. IT professional are developing software for different business needs. Software is developed with internal IT professional as well as out sourcing. In many cases the outsourcing has been unsuccessful. In some cases the internal software development has also created some conflict. The relationship between the software developers and the project mangers is undesirable. This paper address these failed relationships and suggest a solution to a problem. The solution would be to diagnose the relationship from both sides. Secondly Agency theory can be implemented to resolve the conflict between the two

El efecto estratégico de la colaboración entre ETICS

This paper analyzes the relationship between networking capabilities and the motives behind SMEs taking part in collaborative relationships with firms within the same sector. Specifically, we analyzed inter-firm collaborations for new product development and the decision(s) to outsource. The main contribution of this paper is focused on identifying the existence of the mediating effect that Hybrid growth strategy has, connected to these relations. It is argued that the Hybrid growth strategy mediates the relationship between networking capabilities and the different collaborative modes with firms within the same sector. The results, obtained through a binomial logit model, supported these arguments by using a database formed by 450 face-to-face surveys, from which 296 took part in an inter-firm collaboration between 2012-2014. The surveys were given to CEOs from SMEs that participated in collaborative activities with other firms in the Electronic, Technology, Information, and Communications sector (ETICS) in Mexico.El presente artículo analiza la relación entre las capacidades relacionales y los motivos de las PYMEs, que establecen relaciones de colaboración con empresas del mismo sector. Específicamente, analizamos las colaboraciones entre empresas para el desarrollo de nuevos productos y las decisiones de subcontratar. La principal contribución del artículo se centra en identificar la existencia del efecto mediador que tiene la estrategia de crecimiento híbrida, entre estas relaciones. Se argumenta que la estrategia de crecimiento híbrido media la relación entre las capacidades relacionales y los diferentes motivos de colaboración con empresas dentro del mismo sector. Los resultados, obtenidos a través de un modelo logit binomial, respaldaron estos argumentos mediante el uso de una base de datos formada por 450 encuestas realizadas cara a cara, de las cuales 296 participaron en una colaboración entre empresas entre 2012 y 2014. Las encuestas fueron realizadas a CEOs de PYMEs que participaron en actividades de colaboración con otras empresas del sector de Electrónica, Tecnología, Información y Comunicaciones (ETICS) en México

THE CONTRIBUTION OF GOVERNANCE AND CAPABILITIES TO IT OUTSOURCING SUCCESS: A META-ANALYTIC STUDY

IT outsourcing (ITO) is receiving renewed focus but many firms fail to experience anticipated benefits. Extant research suggests that governance and capabilities are important ingredients for IT outsourcing (ITO) success. However, empirical studies into the relative effects of different modes of governance and types of capabilities have been difficult to reconcile. No overall conclusion has been reached on which factors are most important for successful ITO outcomes. Using meta-analytic techniques, we combine quantitative evidence from 62 past empirical studies on ITO success. Our analysis of 241 correlations reported across these studies shows that both relational governance and contractual governance, are important but relational processes namely, knowledge sharing and communication, and relational attributes of trust and commitment, are more significant than contract. We also found that client-side capabilities in both IT management and ITO management are as important as vendor-side capabilities to ensuring ITO success. Our results address the gaps in past qualitative reviews on the topic and provide important insights for ITO research and practice

Persistence Influence for IT Outsourcing: Small and Medium Firms Perspectives of Their Application Service Providers

Given today’s fierce competition among application service providers (ASP), one key question for any ASP is how to retain their customers’ loyalty through partnership establishment and provision of quality of service. However, prior studies focused on the ongoing relationships between the ASP and clients are sparse. This study investigates the perspectives of small and medium firms for their information technology (IT) outsourcing, especially when they are seeking facilitation from the ASP. The study applies the psychological concepts of satisfaction and trust to assess a firm’s loyalty state which can predict the persistence for IT outsourcing. The research questions are: (i) Do the key factors of IT outsourcing enhancement - partnership and quality of service - influence a firm’s IT outsourcing cognition? (ii) Does a small or medium firm’s IT outsourcing cognition - satisfaction and trust - have a positive relationship to its IT outsourcing continuance with an ASP? This study uses the partial least squares approach to develop and test a model that encapsulates these questions. A field study of 158 small and medium firms was conducted. Results show that the key factors of IT outsourcing enhancement and cognition are able to predict a firm’s persistence of IT outsourcing