Investigating the Impact of Entrepreneurial Infrastructure Deficit on Firm Growth

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria are suffering from a deplorable condition of entrepreneurial infrastructure (EI) which is evidenced in the myriad of challenges bedevilling their growth and development. This study therefore aims to investigate the impact of EI deficit on firm growth, focusing on the growth of SMEs in Nigeria. This was done through a critical review of extant literature (peer reviewed journal articles) on EI which were obtained from reputable data bases and broken down into two basic components of infrastructure (physical and non-physical infrastructure). Empirical findings revealed that the availability of physical infrastructure (constant water supply and good road infrastructure) and the non-physical infrastructure (electricity, government policies/programmes, access to financial support services, incubation centers/platforms, business clusters and entrepreneurship training) improves productivity, profitability, sales, number of customers and consistent growth rate of SMEs. Findings of this study would be of help to entrepreneurs, policy makers and the academic community as it will add to the existing literature on how availability of EI impacts the growth of SMEs. The study recommends that government should use fiscal policies to address the economic challenges of SMEs and also invest in the provision of EI facilities to facilitate the growth and development of SMEs in Nigeria

THE USE OF ICTs AND ITS RELATION WITH THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MEXICAN SMEs

This empirical study was aimed to analyze the relationship between the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the competitiveness of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, using size and age of the company as control variables. The scales in which the use of ICT and competitiveness were measured, were subjected to a first Order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), through the Method of Maximum Likelihood, for which they have reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. When the survey was applied to managers or owners of 200 manufacturing SMEs, the results obtained through linear regression analysis by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) under the stepwise method, allowed to infer that ICTs have a positive and highly significant relationship with the competitiveness of these types of businesses, finding no evidence that the size or age of these types of businesses influence over the impact on the competitiveness using ICT

Policy Ambiguity: a Problem, a Tool, or an Inherent Part of Policymaking?

It has been acknowledged that the Information Systems (IS) discipline needs to pay attention to policymaking. However, the IS field has not yet sufficiently acknowledged complexities of policymaking and the resulting ambiguity. We present two worldviews that underlie how IS research has approached policymaking and, indirectly, policy ambiguity. In the dominant “representationalist” view, a policy is planned and implemented in a linear manner, and ambiguity is seen as problematic. The “enactivist” view sees a policy and its implementation as mutually constitutive: a policy does not exist without its implementation but it also guides the implementation. This can result in unresolvable paradoxes that manifest as ambiguities. Based on our review of the extant IS research we present existing perspectives to policy(making) and ambiguity. We call for IS researchers invested in policy/regulation-related research to be aware of and explicit about the views to policy(making) and ambiguity guiding their research

THE USE OF ICTs AND ITS RELATION WITH THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MEXICAN SMEs

This empirical study was aimed to analyze the relationship between the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the competitiveness of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, using size and age of the company as control variables. The scales in which the use of ICT and competitiveness were measured, were subjected to a first Order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), through the Method of Maximum Likelihood, for which they have reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. When the survey was applied to managers or owners of 200 manufacturing SMEs, the results obtained through linear regression analysis by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) under the stepwise method, allowed to infer that ICTs have a positive and highly significant relationship with the competitiveness of these types of businesses, finding no evidence that the size or age of these types of businesses influence over the impact on the competitiveness using ICT

Digital trust – asystematic literature review

Digital technologies, such as social networks, smartphones, block chains or big data, have become an indispensable part of our lives in recent years. They have a significant impact on our daily lives, even in crucial areas such as health, finance, and education. Recognising this, organisations presently face a difficult challenge – to create consumer digital trust. It should be noted that most studies have focused on the establishment of digital trust without identifying and considering the basic definition of “digital trust”. The purpose of this article is to provide insights regarding the state of the art of digital trust, and to suggest areas for future research. Using a systematic literature review, this paper provides an overview of the literature. The most important conclusion to be derived from this study is that there is no single generally accepted definition of digital trust. Although the early research on “digital trust” can be traced back to 1996, it was only after 2016 that the number of papers on this topic increased substantially.©2021 Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii WSB. Forum Scientiae Oeconomia is published under a Creative Commons BY-SA license.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The relation between adoption of information and communication technologies and marketing innovation as a key strategy to improve business performance

[EN] Understanding how capacities and resources of companies are crucial factors to improve business performance and competitiveness is a major issue for academics, policy, and decision- makers. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on marketing innovation as a key strategy to increase the business performance of small- and medium-sized Mexican manufacturing companies. A gap exists in the literature regarding the full understanding of the simultaneous relationship among ICTs, marketing innovation and business performance. For this reason, a quantitative approach and cross-sectional design were applied through Structural Equation Modelling, in which a simple random sampling technique and a self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data from a sample of 230 business owners in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The results indicate that adopting ICTs has a significant influence on marketing innovation. Moreover, marketing innovation showed a considerable impact on business performance. Therefore, decision-makers must pay special attention to the adoption of ICTs, as they are of vital importance for the development of marketing innovations and competitive advantage. Decision-makers must also use their resources and capabilities in innovations that have an impact on the sales strategy, design and promotion of their new products as well as the redesign of existing ones to achieve higher levels of competitiveness

Global Software Development: Challen ges and Opportunities in Nigeria

To God be all the glory. I am grateful to our Chancellor, Dr. David Oyedepo and the Management Team of this University led by our amiable VC, Professor C. K. Ayo for allowing me to deliver this public lecture today. Today‘s lecture investigates the possibilities of sub-Saharan Africa as a sourcing destination in the software field. To find out the reasons why sub-Saharan African countries in general and Nigeria in particular are not considered a destination for global software development projects. In the study that led to this lecture, a set of professionals from Europe and Africa were interviewed. Results indicate that there are many disadvantages and difficulties impeding Nigeria from becoming a preferred sourcing destination. The main ones are the absence of a strong software industry and the concerns about legislative, fiscal and commercial premises. On the other hand, it is observed that there are also relevant added values and competitive advantages in Nigeria (English-speaking country, same time zone and cost) and, therefore, it can become a potential target for software development outsourcing in the medium and long term

Elucidation of big data analytics in banking : a four-stage Delphi study

Purpose In today's networked business environment, a huge amount of data is being generated and processed in different industries, which banking is amongst the most important ones. The aim of this study is to understand and prioritize strategic applications, main drivers, and key challenges of implementing big data analytics in banks. Design/methodology/approach To take advantage of experts' viewpoints, the authors designed and implemented a four-round Delphi study. Totally, 25 eligible experts have contributed to this survey in collecting and analyzing the data. Findings The results revealed that the most important applications of big data in banks are “fraud detection” and “credit risk analysis.” The main drivers to start big data endeavors are “decision-making enhancement” and “new product/service development,” and finally the focal challenge threatening the efforts and expected outputs is “information silos and unintegrated data.” Originality/value In addition to stepping forward in the literature, the findings advance our understanding of the main managerial issues of big data in a dynamic business environment, by proposing effective further actions for both scholars and decision-makers

Social Enterprise Logic and the Sustainability of Community Networks in Sub-Sahara Africa: Lessons from the Zaria Community Network in Nigeria

There are conflicting views about how social enterprise logic impacts community networks’ sustainability (CNs). Some authors believe that running with the social enterprise logic spells doom on CNs. Conversely, some believe that it does not necessarily spell doom on CNs. However, CNs, particularly those implemented in sub-Saharan Africa, cannot be implemented with an alternative logic, such as the for-profit business logic. Consequently, there is a need to develop a framework for making CNs sustainable, although they run with the social enterprise logic. This research develops a framework that will enable those involved in CN implementation in sub-Saharan Africa to understand how to instil sustainability factors into every stage of CN implementation. The study uses the Zaria Community Network (ZCN), Zaria, Nigeria, as a case study and adopts the inductive approach. The study data were derived from the chat messages from a WhatsApp group used as a platform for communication by those implementing the ZCN and from secondary sources. The study findings revealed that sustainable participation was a primary factor that comes to bear in the sustainability of the ZCN. It also revealed how sustainable participation influences sustainable infrastructure, sustainable stakeholders’ support, and sustainable funding. We conclude that the framework helps implement sustainable CNs in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with similar socio-technical similarities