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process mobile applications such as VoIP, Push e-mail, and corporate SMS were used
less, possibly because the technology is new and relatively more expensive. While the
TRI survey results indicate that MWTs exists within VGO, the results from the open
ended interview questions indicate that there is only very little use of some of these
technologies.
The biggest users of the technology in this regard were the senior managers and field
staff. This indicates that the technology has been utilised where it is needed most. Any
staff that needs to be in constant contact and who needs access to systems and data
when they are away from the office have been given the tools to do business while on
the road.
The results about the value chain activities (question 7 of the interview) show that
respondents did not react to/understand this question as expected; however it was
found that respondents perceived „operations‟ as the most likely business value chain
element to benefit from using mobile technologies.
Perhaps explaining why many interviewees did not know about the more advanced
features of the mobile devices, it was found that many of the organizations had no
formal approach or policies with respect to training staff in the use MWT. Almost all
training takes place informally and is either through the assistance or guidance offered
by colleagues or in some cases by using Internet resources, or a self-help guide.
Furthermore, both cell-phones and laptops were considered very important by the
research participants as it was becoming very important to be able to connect to the
Internet and to wireless networks. While most respondents had limited knowledge about
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