Influence of Contextual Factors on e-Business Diffusion in the Small-to-Medium Enterprise Sector in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

This study, as a component of the researcher’s PhD thesis, explores the influence of contextual factors on e-business diffusion in the small-to-medium enterprise (SME) sector in Zimbabwe. Contextual factors define the context or the environment in which a firm conducts its business operations. The study focuses on the ICT infrastructure, legal context and economic environment of the market. The positivist philosophy was adopted, using a quantitative research design and a survey strategy, based on a five point Likert scale questionnaire. Survey monkey online data collection platform was engaged to reach out to SMEs registered with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA). The research focussed on the owners and managers of the sampled firms as the key personnel responsible for strategic decisions and the information and knowledge repositories of their respective organisations. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used for data analysis. The results showed that two, out of the three analysed contextual factors, are significant in influencing e-business diffusion in the Zimbabwean market. The major recommendations were for Central Government to establish a fully equipped national ICT infrastructure in partnership with the private sector in order to develop a seamless national infrastructural backbone and a harmonised legal system to facilitate the development and diffusion of e-business. ICT should be made a compulsory subject in schools in order to develop future techno-literate generations that can steer the ICT programmes in any sector of the economy.