Chapter 2 Literature Review
1. e-mail 2 Website
3.6 The Conceptual Framework and Its Development
Miles & Huberman (1994) state that a conceptual framework explains either graphically, or narratively, the main things to be studied taking into consideration the main factors, constructs or variables, and the presumed relationships among them. Figure 3.6 provides the conceptual framework which has been developed based on the extant literature related to the research questions.
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Figure 3.6: The Conceptual Framework Revisited
Walsham (1993, p.71) argues that ‘a good framework should not be regarded as a rigid structure, but as a valuable guide to empirical research.’ The research aimed at studying the
historical basis of ICT and e-commerce inception in the firm, how it progressed, and what factors contributed positively or negatively towards the current status of e-commerce in a firm. The aim was also to understand what the managers’ interpretation of e-commerce were in their environment, and how they made decisions for the actions they had taken, either in
RQ2- What factors affect e- commerce adoption or non-
adoption in Botswana SMEs?
RQ3- How do the factors interact in determining the extent of e-commerce adoption in Botswana
SMEs?
RQ4- What strategies must be put in place to improve
e-commerce adoption practices in Botswana
SMEs?
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Nature and Characteristic of Business Environment
Factors Affecting e-commerce adoption
Factor interaction and extent of e- commerce adoption Use of ICT and Web Applications
RQ1- What is the nature and characteristic of
Botswana SME e- commerce environments?
ROLE OF LOCAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Understanding Factors Affecting e- commerce Adoption in Botswana SMEs RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION
Managerial characteristics and Perception of e-commerce adoption Fin d in g s, Int erp re ta ti o n o f Th eo ry , S u m m a ry , Disc u ss io n Co n clu sio n & Im p li ca tio n s
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favour of, or against e-commerce development. As a dynamic field, the study recognised the aspect of stability and change as the firm finds its position in e-commerce adoption (Pettigrew, 1987, 1990).
Based on the review of literature in the previous chapters and the research questions, a conceptual framework was developed to capture six broad categories that aimed to answer specific aspects of the research questions.
These are stated as follows:
1. The nature and characteristic of ICT and e-commerce in the SME (Cloete et al., 2002; Thong, 1999; Rao et al., 2003; Parker & Castleman , 2009; Wilson et al., 2008; Chibelushi & Costello, 2009),
2. The use of ICT and web-based applications (Bell & Loane, 2010, Olatokun & Kebonye, 2010; Quinton & Khan, 2009; Murphy & Kielgast, 2008),
3. The owner/manager characteristics and their perception of e-commerce adoption (Thong, 1999; Tarafdar & Vaidya, 2006; Molla & Licker, 2005a),
4. Factors that affect e-commerce adoption in SMEs (Scupola, 2009; Wilson et al., 2008; Daniel et al., 2002; Poon & Swatman, 1999),
5. How the factors interact to determine the level of e-commerce adoption (Brand & Huizingh, 2008; Molla & Licker, 2005a, 2005b), and
6. The role of the local business environment (Martinsons, 2008; Tarafdar & Vaidya, 2006; Demirbas et al., 2011).
A justification of the above categories is provided in the following figures that show the research question and how it is linked to each of the categories in the framework. Figure 3.6a shows literature that was derived from RQ1, and Figure 3.6b, literature that was derived from RQ2 and RQ3.
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Figure 3.6a:Justification of Framework Categories- RQ1
RQ Aspects of the RQ Extant Literature Factors/Issues identified
RQ1 The nature and characteristic of ICT and e-commerce in the SME
Cloete et al.(2002) Owner’s perception and acceptance of e-
commerce, characteristics of organisation, the context to which the business finds itself
Thong (1999) CEO and IS innovation characteristics
Rao et al.(2003) SMEs are flexible, adaptive and innovative
Parker & Castleman (2009) Small firm idiosyncrasies
Wilson et al.,(2008) Skilled ICT personnel
Chibelushi & Costello (2009) SME owner or manager level of education, lack of strategy and perceived benefits in
adopting new technologies, ICT
investment, involvement in research, innovation and development
The use of ICT and web- based applications
Bell & Loane (2010) Internet and allied Information and
communication technologies, World wide web
Olatokun & Kebonye (2010) Type of e-commerce technology adopted, low-level of credit card technology, lack of awareness about e-commerce
Quinton & Khan (2009) Generating web site traffic, proposes SEM
tools for SMEs
Murphy & Kielgast (2008) High degree of heterogeneity in small firms, SEM popular but limited on strategic intentions
Managerial characteristics and perception of e-commerce adoption
Thong (1999) Manager and IS innovation characteristics
Tarafdar & Vaidya (2006) Top management, organisation culture, characteristics of IS professionals, organisation structure
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Figure 3.6b: Justification of Framework Categories -RQ2 & RQ3
RQ Aspects of the RQ Extant Literature Factors/Issues identified
RQ2 Factors that affect e-
commerce adoption in SMEs
Scupola (2009) Chief executive officer (CEO)’s
characteristics and managerial support are most significant in Denmark and Australian SMEs
Wilson et al.,(2008) Uses cluster analysis to derive five
factors influencing e-commerce
adoption in UK SMEs; top
management support, management understanding of business benefits, presence of IT skills, availability of consultancy, and prioritisation of e- commerce. Adds perceived risk and customer demand to the list
Daniel et al.,(2002) Four distinct clusters of e-commerce
adoption emerging in stages of adoption
Poon & Swatman (1999) E-mail useful, document transfer,
perceived benefits RQ3 How the factors interact to
determine the extent of e- commerce adoption
Brand & Huizingh (2008) Four determinants investigated include
knowledge, potential value,
implementation and satisfaction. These interact differently at the current level of adoption, and in future decisions Molla & Licker, (2005a) Perceived e-readiness model to assess
e-commerce managerial,
organisational and contextual factors
Molla & Licker, (2005b) Interaction of POER(perceived
organisational e-readiness and PEER (perceived external e-readiness) to determine e-commerce adoption The role of the local business
environment
Martinsons (2008) E-commerce influenced by personal
trust, contextual and informal
information, culture, blurred
boundaries between business and government.
Tarafdar & Vaidya (2006) Relationships between organisation
structure, leaderships characteristics and organisation characteristics determine the inclination to adopt e- commerce
Demirbas et al.,(2011) Development of effective government
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Data was collected over a period of fifteen months to obtain rich accounts of e-commerce adoption factors in the selected SMEs. Details of the research implementation process are presented in the next chapter.
3.7 Summary and Conclusion
This chapter introduced the philosophical issues relating to research in information systems and also discussed research methodology issues. The chapter began by introducing the well- known research paradigms. The positivist, interpretive and critical paradigms were reviewed in the general sense and later applied in the area of e-commerce adoption in SMEs. The latter sections of the study deliberated on the consideration of the research paradigm that was selected for this study. Based on various considerations from the research questions and the review of the literature, the interpretive paradigm emerged as most suitable to undertake in- depth studies in e-commerce adoption in SMEs.
Having chosen the suitable research paradigm, considerations were made on a suitable research methodology from amongst seven methodological approaches such as: design and creation, experiments, surveys, ethnographies, action research, grounded theory, and case studies. The discussions explain why some methodologies were not suitable for investigation in this study. The case study methodology emerged as the most suitable as it provides various means of responding to the research questions (Myers, 2009) and allowed a deeper understanding of the socio-technical issues in the e-commerce adoption process. The chapter also reviewed some classifications of the case study based on their research paradigm; such as the positivist, the interpretive, and the critical. The single case study research was also contrasted with multiple case studies, and subsequently, the motivation to undertake multiple case studies was explained.
The next section considered the characteristics of data that would be used in answering the research questions. The responses to the research questions inclined more to text, images and sound or audio messages than quantitative data. The data collection methods such as; the semi-structured and unstructured face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews or conversations, observations, document and website analysis, and the business environment
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scanning, are explained and how they were applied in this study. The last section provides the conceptual framework that was developed to assist in the collection of data.
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Chapter 4
Research Implementation
4.0 Introduction
This chapter concerns the practical implementation of the research study as outlined by the research questions. The first section deals with research planning issues; providing a background of the researcher’s experience, the role of the researcher, and how these align with the study at hand. The section that follows discusses the ethical issues, time horizon, and the sampling method considered in this study. This is followed by discussions on issues of how cases were selected, the interviewing process and data collection procedures. An introductory section on the selected SMEs is provided, followed by a section on data analysis and interpretation of results. The principles for evaluating interpretive studies are reviewed, followed by an explanation on how contribution to knowledge is made, and the ethical considerations. The limitations encountered during the research implementation and measures to resolve them are provided before the summary and conclusion of the chapter.