THE USE AND CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES ADOPTION AMONG SMES IN NIGERIA

This paper considers the factors militating against the ready adoption of cloud services by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. The paper recognizes that the major challenges affecting the adoption of cloud services in Nigeria include infrastructural issues such as lack of adequate and affordable Internet network facilities and unstable power supply. Other factors include lack of proper awareness of the benefits of cloud services, high cost of bandwidth, and high cost of supporting cloud services among others. To mitigate these problems it is suggested that private organizations should make more investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Nigeria and government on its part should create the enabling environment for this to be achieved. Private and public institutions alike should increase effort to encourage SMEs to understand the benefits of adopting cloud services to their bottom-line. Other ways the adoption of cloud services can be improved include the establishment of more focused research in the area of cloud computing; private organizations and possibly government can sponsor such researches. Furthermore, regulation including enforcement of data protection laws and all other intellectual property rights protection regime should be adequately enforced. If all these challenges are resolved cloud computing has the potential to be the next big thing in Nigeria and revolutionize the profitability of SMEs

THE USE AND CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES ADOPTION AMONG SMES IN NIGERIA

This paper considers the factors militating against the ready adoption of cloud services by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. The paper recognizes that the major challenges affecting the adoption of cloud services in Nigeria include infrastructural issues such as lack of adequate and affordable Internet network facilities and unstable power supply. Other factors include lack of proper awareness of the benefits of cloud services, high cost of bandwidth, and high cost of supporting cloud services among others. To mitigate these problems it is suggested that private organizations should make more investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Nigeria and government on its part should create the enabling environment for this to be achieved. Private and public institutions alike should increase effort to encourage SMEs to understand the benefits of adopting cloud services to their bottom-line. Other ways the adoption of cloud services can be improved include the establishment of more focused research in the area of cloud computing; private organizations and possibly government can sponsor such researches. Furthermore, regulation including enforcement of data protection laws and all other intellectual property rights protection regime should be adequately enforced. If all these challenges are resolved cloud computing has the potential to be the next big thing in Nigeria and revolutionize the profitability of SMEs

Internationalization: Choosing The Right Entry Mode: Lessons From Ebay’s Strategy In China

This paper considers the motivations for businesses to expand to other countries using the entry of eBay into China as a case study. It observed that eBay adopted the wrong entry mode by acquiring 100 percent of EachNet. The company would have performed better if it had adopted the joint venture approach with minority stake as it later did with Tom Online or if it had only retained minority stake, as was the case when it acquired 33 percent of EachNet. It was discovered that the various entry modes have their pros and cons depending on the peculiarity of the host market. This paper therefore, recommends that in entering a new market, companies should ensure to have a proper understanding of the local business dynamics before settling for any entry strategy

Healthcare Organizations and Enterprise Architecture: A Case Study in Canada

The paper focuses on exploring the perceptions of stakeholders (medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, IT staff and other employees) in healthcare organizations in Canada on how they developed Enterprise Architecture (EA) to improve managerial decision making and align business activities and Information Technology (IT). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted for this research. A total of 120 questionnaires were sent out but only 72 responses were received. Participants included industry professionals involved in implementing information systems (IS) within healthcare organizations. Data was collected physically and through emails. Also 3 subject matter experts (experts) were interviewed for the study. These experts each have over ten years’ experience in EA practice and are doctorate degree holders (PhDs). The results of the study showed that stakeholders see the potential for EA to be a tool for planning IT/IS projects, breaking down organizational silos, creating digital transformation, and proactively responding to disruptive forces. They do not see EA as the necessary tool for integrating IT solutions

Obstacles to Entrepreneurship in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the government's much greater patronising of investment at a large industrial level with the belief that it had been promoting entrepreneurship was the result of the connivance/collusion between civil servants and business tycoons, who created a new definition of entrepreneurship that was contrary to the norms of the established theories. The Paper-II is a continuation of our previous paper on the same topic (see Alaoui et al. [2016]) however with an approach of intertemporal analysis and focusing Pakistan which includes population from SMEs and non-SMEs. The fundamental conclusion of this study is that there is no one factor that prevents the growth and expansion of SMEs in Pakistan, but political instability, a deficient legal system, red tape-filled bureaucracy, and bank loans and grants do so to some extent. It has been discovered that intertemporal factors significantly affect how respondents behave. The study notices that one of the main barriers to the growth of SMEs in Pakistan is connivance/collusion between public policy makers and business tycoons, and that the myth that government is patronising investment at large industrial level with the belief of promoting SMEs signals a violation of the standards of established theories. The study recommends that the government adopt long-term objectives and strategies for SMEs and take a proactive stance. There is a need to boost research and development (R&D) on the most recent technical advancements in a variety of disciplines for SMEs

Obstacles to Entrepreneurship in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the government's much greater patronising of investment at a large industrial level with the belief that it had been promoting entrepreneurship was the result of the connivance/collusion between civil servants and business tycoons, who created a new definition of entrepreneurship that was contrary to the norms of the established theories. The Paper-II is a continuation of our previous paper on the same topic (see Alaoui et al. [2016]) however with an approach of intertemporal analysis and focusing Pakistan which includes population from SMEs and non-SMEs. The fundamental conclusion of this study is that there is no one factor that prevents the growth and expansion of SMEs in Pakistan, but political instability, a deficient legal system, red tape-filled bureaucracy, and bank loans and grants do so to some extent. It has been discovered that intertemporal factors significantly affect how respondents behave. The study notices that one of the main barriers to the growth of SMEs in Pakistan is connivance/collusion between public policy makers and business tycoons, and that the myth that government is patronising investment at large industrial level with the belief of promoting SMEs signals a violation of the standards of established theories. The study recommends that the government adopt long-term objectives and strategies for SMEs and take a proactive stance. There is a need to boost research and development (R&D) on the most recent technical advancements in a variety of disciplines for SMEs

Obstacles to Entrepreneurship in Albania, Georgia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Pakistan

Entrepreneurship reinforces the economic growth of a country. Therefore, most countries, especially developing ones, are striving to create new policies and implement actions in order to support entrepreneurial processes through the establishment of a business-friendly environment. However, there are still many obstacles facing entrepreneurs in these countries. The aim of this paper is to locate the most common barriers to entrepreneurial processes in Albania, Georgia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Data from officials in 149 companies were collected through questionnaire dissemination from October to December 2015. The company officials have been asked several questions, among which, to rate the obstacles listed, starting from the ones they perceive to be most restrictive for their businesses. Most of the companies examined were small and medium size companies, SMEs. Both a descriptive analysis and a comparative analysis of the data were applied, in order to check the accuracy of the hypothesis established. It was found that state policy towards SMEs and political instability/corruption are the most common obstacles to entrepreneurship in these developing countries. Also, tax policy was also considered as an obstacle to entrepreneurship