Absorptive Capacity and ICT Adoption Strategies for SMEs: a Case Study in Kenya

Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries continue to be challenged by their information technology (IT) adoption process, which is often characterized by a number of deficiencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of absorptive capacity (AC) in SMEs’ performance, as well as establish the correlation between SMEs’ AC and their IT adoption process. The findings of this study, obtained by measuring different dimensions of AC using Jimenez-Barrionuevo, Garcia-Morales, and Molina’s scale of 18 items, suggest that AC plays a critical role in the performance of SMEs in Kenya and that SMEs with strong AC employed the use of more superior IT adoption processes than did their counterparts with low levels of AC. The researchers submit that, if exploited, AC has the potential to improve the IT adoption strategies of SMEs in Kenya and those of other developing countries that operate within similar environments

Customer Interaction in Software Development: A Comparison of Software Methodologies Deployed in Namibian Software Firms

Software methodologies provide guidelines for the development of software applications. Studies reveal that customer interaction in the software development process improves the chances that software applications will meet customers' needs. Despite a number of software methodologies introduced and a comparison of these methodologies, there is a dearth of studies that empirically investigate customer interaction between these software methodologies within the Namibian context. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in customer interaction between software methodologies deployed in Namibian software firms. The study adopted a qualitative, case study approach. Data was collected through standardized, open-ended interviews. The findings show that the methodologies deployed in Namibian software firms include the waterfall model, Scrum, iterative model, eXtreme Programming (XP), and rapid application development (RAD). The findings also reveal that although there was in-depth customer interaction in Scrum, the iterative model, XP and RAD, customer interaction in the software development process could also be challenging. The findings provide useful insights in software methodologies deployed in Namibian software firms and the experience within the Namibian context. An implication for software project managers and software developers is that customer interaction should be properly managed to ensure that the software methodologies for improving software development processes are effectively deployed

Absorptive capacity: Relevancy for large and small enterprises

Background: Over the years, there has been a growing interest in organisational research inthe absorptive capacity (AC) construct, but only a few theoretical and empirical studies onthis topic have been carried out over the last decade. However, a number of scholars andpractitioners have continued to cite AC as a significant factor in determining the success orfailure of organisations. With the dramatic changes in business environments, there has beena growing rise in the use of knowledge by organisations to help improve and maintain theircompetitiveness and consequently their survival. AC is a fundamental element that helpsorganisations to gain competitive advantage by producing commercial products or servicesthrough the transformation of knowledge.Objective: The purpose of this article is thus to provide a review of the literature on this subjectwith the aim of finding out how both large and small enterprises stand to benefit from AC. Weintend to affirm that, by successfully carrying out a learning process that is characterised by theexploration and exploitation of external knowledge and the organisation’s current knowledgebase, organisations can realise competitive advantage irrespective of their size.Method: In the literature search, three approaches were employed, namely academic databases,online search engines and a review of references of related studies which led to more relevantarticles and works whose references were further reviewed and analysed. Content analysiswas done on all collected articles for quality appraisal and synthesis, the results of which wepresent as discussions on various sections of this paper leading to answering of our studyobjective. Only peer-reviewed articles were used.Results: Our findings reveal that, irrespective of the organisation’s size, it can benefitsignificantly from AC. The study further reveal that AC is a strong predictor of an organisation’sperformance and hence a strategic asset for the organisation. Organisations with high AC areable to learn how to utilise new knowledge within their processes and come up with changesthat improve their competitive advantage.Conclusion: We submit that, because AC is a strong predictor of an organisation’s performance,it is imperative that the necessary measures are taken to improve the levels of AC for all firms,irrespective of their size