CW Rensleigh and MS Olivier, "A Study of Small Business Computerisation in the South African Context," in SY Shin and K Akingbehin (eds), Proceedings of the AoM/IAoM 16th Annual Conference, Computer Science - IS/IT, Section 2, 23-28, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 5-8 August 1998
The small business in the South African (S.A.) context is very important to its economy, since more than 85% of the business in S.A. can be considered as being small. This is the reason why it is so important to understand why, what, and how these businesses computerise. In this paper we discuss a qualitative in depth case study done on the computerisation process of small businesses, as well as a survey done on the computer utilisation by small businesses in South Africa context.
The case study focuses on Technology Businesses (TB) and Non-Technology Businesses (NTB). In our case study we utilised the qualitative multiple case study approach. Data was collected from a number of small businesses using in-depth interviews and observation. We interviewed the person who was/is responsible for computerisation of the small business. In our instances this person was either the manager or the owner of the business. The questions asked are constructed in such a way that it will reveal the computerisation process of the small business.
We found that second hand computer equipment play a very important role in the computerisation considerations of the very small small-businesses as well as for the Non-Technology Businesses. On the other hand the Technology Businesses tend to stay equipped with the latest technology available. We have also learned that NTBs tend to use the same technology longer where as the TB tend to upgrade with a rapid pace in order to have exposure to the latest technology. We have established that NTBs tend to seek advice from people that do not charge for their advice; TBs, on the other hand, use in-house expertise for their computerisation.
The survey focused on small businesses in mini factory environments, and was used to identify the computer utilisation (CPU capacity). We have identified a change in the computerisation process of new small businesses over the last year. New small businesses a year ago tend to buy second hand/older technology. Currently new small businesses tend to buy new technology.
Small business, computerisation, case study, upgrading, technology, Pentium, Windows 95, second hand computer systems, developing country
@INPROCEEDINGS(sbcompsa,
AUTHOR={Chris W Rensleigh and Martin S Olivier},
TITLE={A Study of Small Business Computerisation in
the South African Context},
EDITOR={S Y Shin and K Akingbehin},
BOOKTITLE={Proceedings of the
AoM/IAoM 16th Annual Conference, Computer Science --- IS/IT,
Section 2},
PAGES={23--28},
ADDRESS={Chicago, Illinois, USA},
MONTH={August},
YEAR={1998} )
The full text may be downloaded from http://mo.co.za/ask/sbcompsa.pdf (PDF, 45K).
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