Organisational Factors Influencing E-business Adoption in Zimbabwe's Manufacturing Sector

Abstract

Creating and sustaining competitive advantage through the adoption and implementation of innovative technologies is a strategic imperative for all learning organizations. Despite this, manufacturing companies in developing countries such as Zimbabwe are confronting challenges in implementing e-business practices. Against this background, the objective of this study was to understand organizational factors influencing e-business adoption in Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector. The study was motivated by the need to appreciate factors that facilitate or inhibit the adoption of e-business in the context of developing countries such as Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 118 companies registered by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries in 2015. Regression analysis was used to test the posited hypotheses. Results revealed that manufacturing companies in Zimbabwe differ significantly in their inclination to adopt and implement e-business strategies. Innovation orientation, financial resources, perceived usefulness and size of the firm were found to be positively associated with e-business adoption. The study also found that technological resources did not have a statistically significant relationship with e-business adoption. The study furthers current debate on e-business adoption by identifying the drivers of e-business adoption in the manufacturing sector in the context of a developing country. The importance of this study lies in its contribution to theory and practice. In terms of theory, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on organizational factors influencing e-business adoption and provides avenues for further studies. In practice, the findings of this study add to the insights of managers in the manufacturing sector in developing countries, which influence the adoption of e-business practices.

The Role of Information Systems Capabilities in Enhancing the Organizational Performance

“…Moreover, the Jordanian industrial corporation have the consciousness to developing qualities in HR as a CA that will enable them to be more productive and thus to contribute more to organizational goal attainment and thus increase their OP. Also, they have the ability to develop their SF and HW to keep up with technological developments and gain a CA to enhance and improve their OP [80], [81], [91], [97], [114], [116], [117], [124], [146].…”

Investigation of the Influence of Organisational Internal Factors on e-Business Diffusion in the Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) Sector in Zimbabwe.

“…In most small firms, business operations are under a single owner/manager. In such situations, the separation of firm and managerial factors becomes blurred due to the high locus of control invested in the owner/manager as the key decision maker [18], [15], [19], [7], [20], [21], [22], [3]. To ascertain the significance of the organisation's internal context in the process of e-business diffusion, the main hypothesis which anchors this study was formulated.…”

“…Many studies emphasise the position of the owner/manager as contributing to the diffusion process of innovations. Their attitudes, behaviour, competencies, culture and values, are central to the organisations' acceptance and diffusion of new technologies [7], [28]. Risk-averse managers are regarded as a stumbling block to the adoption of new technologies in their organisations.…”

“…Attitude to technology is posited by several researchers as one of the key drivers of e-business diffusion in extant literature [41], [35], [4], [7], [33]. Management attitude to technology can be a result of several factors which affect their perception of the compatibility, complexity and relative advantage of the new applications in relation to their existing internal operational environment.…”

“…Zimbabwe, which has been reeling under decades of economic decline, has been lagging behind in the use of ICT in line with the general trend in the world markets [5], [6], [7], [8]. This laggard position in adopting the trending e-business models has compromised the potential of the SME sector to be a significant contributor to the country's sustainable economic development.…”