Differences in ICT use by entrepreneurial micro-firms: evidence from Zambia

Abstract

Micro-firms are important for creating jobs and income in developing economies, but these firms face significant constraints, some of which could be ameliorated through ICT. However, it remains unclear which specific ICT uses are intensively employed by different entrepreneurial micro-firms. Notwithstanding external constraints, we examined differences in ICT use by comparably sized micro-firms operating in the same environment that exhibit different entrepreneurial attributes (proactiveness, innovativeness, risk-taking, and growth orientation). Using data from Zambian microfirms, our findings demonstrate that the four entrepreneurial attributes have a positive yet different influence on three individual categories of ICT use: information and network access; online transaction and interaction; and in-house operations. Indirectly, we pinpoint which ICT applications will likely benefit entrepreneurial firms. Our findings could help researchers and policy-makers to target specific categories of ICT use that drive firm growth and nurture the desirable business behavioural orientations for deploying technology in business.

Which resource acquisition acts drive growth of informal firms? Evidence from Zambia

“…The finding provides some evidence to the positive impact of Internet use on profitability of small firms in the context of Africa (Esselaar et al , 2007; Chege et al , 2019). This means of information and knowledge acquisition is cheaper, simpler, less time-bounded and more flexibly accessible by resource-constrained informal firms than traditional sources (Tang and Konde, 2020). While statistical significance of this factor is at the 0.1 level (0.108, p = 0.082 ), further studies to verify the association is warranted.…”

“…Micro- and small-sized firms (MSFs) in resource-scarce developing contexts, as in most African countries, face steeper constraints and costs in acquiring external resources than their peers in developed countries (Webb et al , 2013; Ngoasong and Kimbu, 2019; Tang and Konde, 2020). In specific to informal firms, the lack of formal registration status and legal documentations exacerbates the barriers to acquire resources (Webb et al , 2013; Demenet et al , 2016).…”

Institutional isomorphism and social media adoption – a study within the microenterprise context

“…This paper focuses on microenterprises, such as micro-retail businesses, because they have been considered as too small to be included in studies related to small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or because they have been included but masked in studies that consider them as homogenous groups with micro-, small-and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) (Jones et al, 2014). Although the most dominant in the world, especially in terms of sheer size, their contribution to inclusive growth through employment generation and GDP (Ademilua et al, 2020;Osakwe et al, 2016;Tang and Konde, 2020), they exhibit unique strategic responses and attitudes, which differ from small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Jones et al, 2014), which is worthy of examination.…”

“…The pattern of low social media adoption rate among small enterprises (specifically among microenterprises) is even more prevalent in developing nations, such as Kuwait, South Africa and the UAE (Abubakar et al, 2019;Alzougool, 2019;Dzomonda et al, 2017). At the same time, an understanding of social media adoption among decision-makers in microenterprises Institutional isomorphism and social media adoption 989 has remained relatively limited to-date and provides a gap that warrants research intervention (Cheing et al, 2020;Tang and Konde, 2020).…”

“…The social media adoption rate by microenterprises has remained basic. The generic explanation regarding the level of microenterprise adoption rate has been attributed to low expertise or qualification of microenterprise owners to use the technology, the informal nature of their operation (Cheing et al, 2020), cost sensitivity, lack of awareness about accruing benefits, associated risks or uncertainties and resource constraints when compared to larger enterprises (Tang and Konde, 2020). Notably, several scholars (Ahmad et al, 2018;Alzougool, 2019;Eid et al, 2019;Herrero et al, 2018;Vatanasakdakul et al, 2020) have called for additional studies to explore and identify additional drivers of social media adoption at the micro-, small-and midsized firm-level.…”