Issue Seven - Conversations on Technology, Business and Society

RESEARCH
54
realised and neither can the firm utilise the
opportunities in the marketplace effectively.
Thus a firm can start from operational benefits
and orient its strategies and streamline its
processes to achieve informational
and strategic benefits. The type of
technology and the extent of integration
of the technology into the business
processes determine the ability of firms
to achieve benefits of higher value.
However, resource-poor contexts
differ in the readiness of their institutional
infrastructure – economic, cultural,
legal and technological framework to
support the uptake of e-commerce at
the firm-level and national-level and
achieve these benefits. These benefits
and development outcomes MAY
only be realised when institutional
foundations exist such as affordable
telecommunication infrastructure,
efficient transport systems, legal and
regulatory policies, and local credit
management infrastructure. This said, I
also observe that despite the existence of these
institutional constraints there exists evidence
of some firms in resource-poor contexts and
entrepreneurs are achieving e-commerce
Figure 2 Homepage of www.funeralsinghana.com
References
benefits. Firms making efforts in achieving
some benefits demonstrate a set of resources
which are deployed and managed in manner
to circumvent or address the challenges. The
E-commerce Benefits
Strategic
1. Extending the firm’s market reach
2. Product differentiation
3. Loyalty and retention of trading partners
4. Improved revenue
initial e-commerce efforts of a large number
of firms in Africa are characterised by their use
of web hosting services abroad to bypass local
web service weaknesses. Other online firms
PC TECH | SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2010 | pctechmagazine.com
Informational
5. Improved marketplace information
6. Improved communication and relationships
Operational
7. Reduced transactional costs
8. Time efficiency
like Ethiogift.com (Ethiopia) and Munshigi.com
(Bangladesh) detail the marketing of ‘cultural
capital’ products – national cultural resources
– like art, flowers and sheep online to nonresident
inhabitants who purchase
them to be delivered to relatives or
friends living at home. Further, some
firms have developed their services
around making local social events
and news accessible to people who
are separated by distance to enjoy
or participate in such events. An
example is www.funeralsinghana.
com which is a FREE consumer
information and education resource
on funeral planning, financing
funerals, and funeral products and
services. At a price the firms does
the video coverage of the funeral
and make it accessible online and
also in print in its newspaper (see
Figure 2).
This presupposes there are
some strategic options these
firms take to develop and deploy resources
which address the contextual challenges and
help achieve e-commerce benefits. While
several advancements in web development
technologies [see wordpress.com and wix.
com] are making it easier for individuals
to develop and deploy an online website,
the challenge is developing a business
model which is profitable and sustaining
its revenue creation potential.
This write up is an extract from an
upcoming book by Richard Boateng on
technology, business and society. The
book will explore examples of firms which
have created and sustained benefits
through an online presence to outline
these strategies and also learn how to
apply them to our firms. The need for
these strategic options becomes more
pronounced when we examine the
potential impact of successful online
companies in resource-poor contexts
on socio-economic development in their
contexts. The book will be launched in
September 2010 and published by PC
Tech International and The PearlRichards
Foundation. Reserve a copy now !.
1. Boateng, R., Heeks, R., Molla, A. and Hinson, R. (2008). E-commerce and Socio-Economic Development: Conceptualizing the
Link. Internet Research, 18(5), 562–592.
2. Molla, A. & Licker, P. S. (2005). e-Commerce Adoption in Developing Countries: A Model and Instrument. Information and
Management, 42(6), 877-899.
3. Zwass, V. (1996). Electronic Commerce: Structure and <strong>Issue</strong>s. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1(1), 3-23.