Strategic information systems planning for competitive and co-operative advantage in a developing country

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the emerging role of information systems in the
strategies of business in developing countries and the potential for improved
business use to significantly increase national levels of utilisation of IT. A report
by the United Nations in 1971 called for major efforts to increase the level of
utilisation of IT in developing countries in order to accelerate the rate of their
economic and social development. The current level of computer utilisation,
however, remains low. There is uncertainty as to why this is so since our
present understanding of the prevailing rationality in strategic information
systems decision-making by indigenous firms is incomplete and has not been
adequately captured in any established body of knowledge.
This research sought to help address the problem of low utilisation by
conducting exploratory case study research into strategic IS decision-making, and
by the development of a framework of good practice to assist indigenous firms in
their strategic decision-making. This research contends that the underlying
cause of lower levels of utilisation of technology by indigenous companies is
their particular environmental and financial circumstances, coupled with a lack
of models to assist this management process. Iterative case study research was
conducted on manufacturing and banking firms.
The results of this research should be interpreted through the limitations of a
single study in a single country, however, it provides a more detailed
understanding of the dynamics of SISP by indigenous companies than has been
offered previously. The major research outcome is a framework of practical SISP
models of decision-making, sectoral placement and stages of development which
can be applied to assist firms in their determination of appropriate actions and
directions. Moreover, the research processes and techniques utilised can be
applied by investigators in other contexts where they seek to examine
qualitatively relationships between factors, processes and levels of utilisation of
Information Technology.

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