Abstract
The Internet has made significant inroads in industrialized, developed countries. However, since developing countries tend to have a limited history of trade, the marginal impact of the Internet on these countries' economies is considerably greater. With specific reference to the field of export development, e-commerce offers the possibility of accessing markets in a relatively low-risk, low-cost manner. These virtual marketplaces, in turn, connect multiple enterprises, each with their own characteristics and business processes, resulting in a need for smooth communications with various information systems. This research project attempts to gauge the current state of e-marketplace adoption in South African agriculture, an industry identified as the most complex and most critical in employment and export growth. A qualitative research approach was used to investigate the current experience with e-marketplace adoption or, in case of non-adoption, the factors that hold them from adoption. The results of this study conclude that the majority of key decision makers in the agricultural industry are already participating in e-commerce of some form, and that South African agricultural concerns are keen to get more involved in e-markets as ICT improve in the immediate future. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published Version
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