The role of technology in value co-creation of maternal healthcare: A service-dominant logic perspective

The need for improved quality of healthcare has led to transforming ways in which healthcare is delivered. The role of information technology (IT) in the transformation is moving towards active participation of patients in healthcare. Active participation of patients in healthcare aligns with the service dominant (S-D) logic in which customers are co-creators of value. Technology has been identified as a key driver for value co-creation however the question of how technology can drive value co-creation in healthcare has not been fully explored. This exploratory study investigates ways in which IT has supported value co-creation in maternal healthcare ecosystem. The study was conducted in Gothenburg Sweden in which mixed research methods were used. Interviews were held with midwife healthcare managers and IT managers, a survey questionnaire was sent out to all midwives in Gothenburg. Results were analyzed using S-D logic value co-creation model. Overall findings show that technology has been used as an operant and operand resource to support value co-creation but mainly for healthcare professionals. Practices are identified on how technology has been used in maternal healthcare. Further investigations on how IT can support pregnant women to actively participate in maternal healthcare especially as an operant resource are suggested

Value of mHealth Apps for Maternal Healthcare Service Delivery

The growing interest in using mHealth to increase access to maternal healthcare can be understood through the context of value co-creation. The value of mHealth apps is co-created with multiple actors, always including the beneficiary. Service dominant (S-D) logic conceptualizes value as value-in-context in which actors co-create and realize value differently in different channels and their experiences may shift over time. It is unclear of what value is co-created with the use of mHealth apps in maternal healthcare from an S-D perspective. In this paper, a case study approach is used to investigate use of two mHealth apps in Uganda. Interviews and focus group discussions were held with app users. Results were analyzed using S-D value co-creation model. Key findings show that mHealth has been used to co-create value beyond maternal healthcare to individuals. Value that is co-created includes adherence to antenatal care (ANC), skilled attendance at birth, improved resource planning and service delivery, prevention of complications, knowledge acquisition and sharing. Individual value includes improved productivity, knowledge, decision making and wellbeing. Further investigations on individuals’ preferences of apps that trigger their active participation, value to family and friends and challenges faced when using mHealth apps to co-create value are suggested

Maternal Healthcare Service Transformation: Exploring Opportunities for IT use in Task Shifting

The transformation of healthcare services is expected to reduce health inequalities and to accelerate gains in health outcomes. Task shifting is one of the strategies adopted in healthcare transformation to make efficient use of human resources. However, limited research exists on how tasks are shifted beyond midwives, to involve community health workers or village health team members (VHTs) and pregnant women, and how IT supports and or triggers execution of shifted tasks. We examine the shifting of tasks in maternal healthcare, by interviewing midwives and VHTs in three districts in Uganda. Findings show four categories of tasks shifted at various levels of healthcare but with limited use of IT to execute tasks. We propose a model depicting opportunities for IT use both as an enabler and a trigger in executing tasks shifted. We recommend further investigations to identify IT opportunities that would trigger service exchange for pregnant women beyond health workers to include families and friends

Tax Compliance by the Small and Medium-sized Corporations: A Case of Uganda

The aim of this thesis is to understand tax compliance decisions made by corporate SMEs in Uganda. The study draws on compliance models developed in other settings and explores their applicability in the Ugandan context using mixed methods. Firstly, the study investigates the roles played by tax fairness, trust in government and the URA, and the effects of audits and sanctions in influencing compliance . Secondly, the study explores the direct and indirect roles played by social norms in terms of influencing tax compliance among SMEs . Lastly, the study assesses the effects of corruption on compliance behaviour among SMEs. Survey and semi-structured interview data were collected concurrently. A survey was used to collect data from a total of 386 corporate SME owners and managers from Kampala Capital City Authority and the central and eastern regions. In addition, interviews were conducted with 26 corporate SME owners and managers about their perceptions of corporate tax system fairness in Uganda. The results, unlike those of other studies, show that corporate SME taxpayers are willing to pay their corporate taxes once they have put their trust in the government and tax authorities, even when the tax system is unfair. Also, audit probability and sanctions might not encourage corporate SMEs to comply with corporate tax rules. However, when URA is perceived as powerful where tax officers are able to discover tax non-compliance and impose severe sanctions, SME firms could be motivated to pay taxes due to the government. Importantly, corruption within the URA and the bureaucratic system of Uganda has a negative impact on tax fairness, which triggers corporate tax evasion. Indeed, I have identified four types of corruption that appear to have different impacts on attitudes towards compliance. Also, the results show that day-to-day tax compliance decisions made by corporate SMEs have more direct influence on corporate SMEs’ tax (non)compliance behaviour than ethical values do. However, SMEs’ willingness to comply is affected by how people who are close to each taxpayer think. Overall, the thesis advances scholarship by demonstrating that the Slippery Slope Framework does not hold in Uganda and that different types of social norm impact compliance differently. Corruption is identified as an important differentiating feature when compared to studies in developed countries.The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdo

Jesus, the greatest ancestor: a typology-based theological interpretation of Hebrews' Christology in Africa

African theology was spawned in response to yearnings for theological independence, and desires to theologize in dialogue with African cosmologies; these practical elements still remain today the raison d'etre, and are definitive of, African theology. This background disguises a cardinal goal of African theology: to build and sustain authentic African Christian communities in faith, ethos and worship. Because the Bible is a witness to Christianity's primal events and traditions which are considered to be definitive of the identity and self-understanding of Christianity (ever since) and, consequently, integral to its faith, ethos and worship, its usage in African theology is imperative if it wishes to fulfil this goal.To show one of the ways the aforesaid could be done, this thesis uses the Bible to formulate an African theology on ancestors by interpreting a section of it theologically. Such a theology could help define the relationship between African Christianity and ancestors. More specifically, the Christology of the book of Hebrews is interpreted theologically and related to typology, with the result that Jesus is understood not only as superior to Jewish mediatorial figures of angels, Moses and the Aaronic high priests, but, also, as the definitive mediator to whom the Jewish mediatorial figures point. Subsequently, this Christology of Hebrews is 'transferred' to Hebrews' contemporary context in Africa by means of a theological re-interpretation based on typology (due to the similarities between the Jewish mediatorial figures and African ones), resulting in the view that Jesus, as the definitive mediator in Africa, is the greatest ancestor.The thesis goes on to argue that when this Christology of Hebrews in Africa ('Jesus the greatest ancestor') is applied to African Christianity, ancestors can, firstly, be absorbed into an African Christian consciousness as a work of God pointing to Christ, i.e., as types of Christ. Secondly, ancestors can be perceived to be displaced by Jesus the definitive mediator to whom, foreshadowing as types, they must give way now. Finally, and in consequence, ancestors have to be abandoned now, specifically as objects of religious cultic practice, i.e., as mediators. The resultant effect of this African theology based on Hebrews' Christology on African Christians is that ancestors are absorbed into their Christian consciousness while allowing for an authentic belief in Jesus' unique and ultimate significance as the definitive mediator between humans and God

The Influence of Perceptions of Corruption on Tax Noncompliance Behaviour of Small and Medium Taxpayers: The Ugandan Context Proposition

This study intends to get answers to the various questions that linger in the minds of Ugandans relating to the causes of perceived corruption and its effects on tax fairness as well as tax compliance in this country. Even recently, the world over has instituted laws, policies and institutions to fight corruption so as to avert its negative effects on the economies and also on the citizenry. Scholarly works in tax compliance have identified a wider range of factors that influence behaviour however, little attention has been paid to the influence of perceptions of corruption. In particular, what remains unclear is precisely how perceptions of corruption are systematically linked to intentional tax noncompliance. This study is to provide insight into, or fill a gap in, the existing literature in tax compliance behaviour by expansively exploring the influence of perceptions of corruption on self-employed managers. Using a conceptual framework to derive the various research questions and testable hypotheses, this study will employ a cross-sectional research design using a sequential mixed methods approach. Keywords: corruption, tax fairness, SMEs, tax non-compliance, Uganda DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/14-6-01 Publication date:March 31st 202

Economic and institutional efficiency of the National Agricultural Advisory Services’ Programme: The case of Iganga District,

This paper examines the technical and institutional efficiency of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme implementation in Iganga district. The Cost Effective Analysis (CEA) and stochastic frontier analysis methods were used to examine technical efficiency while expenditure tracking and FGD methods were applied to assess institutional efficiency. The analysis demonstrates that NAADS interventions have not had a significant impact on the output, productivity and income of the farmers in Iganga district. Moreover, NAADS programme faces implementation weaknesses such as nepotism that affects the selection of beneficiaries as well as enterprises, to the extent that some farmers are apathetic about the success or failure of NAADS Programme. Other observed weaknesses in NAADS implementation include late disbursement of funds, very low counterpart funding by the local government and the farmers, and poor monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the programme. Based on the results, we suggest a major review of the implementation process of NAADS programme in general and Iganga district NAADS in particular.NAADS, Expenditure tracking, EPRC, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries,

ADOPTING A SERVICE-DOMINANT LOGIC TO PREDICTION OF PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF MATERNAL HEALTHCARE IN UGANDA

The United Nations listed maternal mortality as a major problem especially in developing countries. Predictive models that predict pregnancy complications have been suggested as an intervention to reduce maternal mortality but at the moment, many are not used in clinical practice. This study proposes a service-dominant perspective as an alternative use of predictive models to create value for maternal healthcare. We conducted an exploratory study in south-eastern Uganda in which we held semi-structured interviews with health practitioners to understand how the maternal healthcare system in Uganda works and how pregnancy complications are predicted. Results were analyzed using components from the service innovation framework. We find that overall, ICT has not been fully exploited to improve access to quality care, improve predictions and to improve collaboration among different practitioners in Uganda. Our findings suggest that by adapting a service-dominant perspective, we can enable predictive models and other technologies to assume an active role in maternal healthcare thereby supporting health practitioners with different skills and knowledge to predict pregnancy complications and hence trigger collaborative value creation. We believe that such an intervention will reduce maternal mortality

The Moderating Effect of Corruption on Deterrent and Socio- Psychological Factors for Tax Compliance: A Conceptual Model for Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda

Tax compliance is the desire for every nation world over. Although investigations have been done into the effects of deterrent and social psychological factors on tax compliance, inconsistent results have been reported, suggesting that a moderator might explain the mixed results. Intrinsically, the main aim of this research is to propose the addition of the perceptions of corruption as having a role to play in moderating the relationships between first, deterrent factors and tax compliance and second, the social psychological factors and tax compliance behaviour among SMEs in Uganda. Once validated, the proposed model will be valuable to government in policy formulations and evaluation, Uganda Revenue Authority and other regulatory bodies, and practitioners. Keywords: corruption, Uganda, tax compliance, deterrent factors, trust, social factors, SMEs DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-22-07 Publication date:August 31st 202

Contributing Factors to Online Banking Adoption Among Customers in Kampala, Uganda

The advancement of technology has greatly impacted the nature of businesses pushing most from the traditional brick and wall to a virtual market. The Covid-19 strains in the past year have also immensely cut of human physical contact and spanned the conventional monetary exchange to a cashless platform. However, surveys still register that several Ugandans access bank services at the banking hall instead of using the internet that has been termed as more convenient, easy to use and widely accessible. This study therefore aimed at providing a deeper understanding of factors that contribute to the adoption of online banking in Kampala-Uganda. More specifically, the study explores perceived risk, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness mediated by customer satisfaction as the contributing factors to online banking. into The study adopted the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) to develop the conceptual framework used. A cross sectional research design was employed to achieve the study aims and objectives together with a quantitative approach that used a survey questionnaire to collect data from 300 bank customers from Standard chartered, Centenary and Stanbic banks. The results revealed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness positively affected adoption of mobile banking and therefore should guide online adoption applications. However, the increase in perceived risks was found to not necessarily lead to a decline in the levels of adoption. This study therefore adds to the scant literature in the area of online banking especially in emerging countries like Uganda. Keywords: Online banking, Adoption, Perceived risks, Perceived ease of use, Perceived usefulness, Customer satisfaction, TAM, Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank, Centenary Bank, Uganda. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-10-07 Publication date:May 31st 2021