IT innovations and e-service delivery: an exploratory study Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, São Paulo, Brazil, May 2007
Author(s)
Mark Frolick, Adekunle Okunoye , Abiodun O. Bada
Williams College of Business, Xavier University
This study investigates the process through which new innovation is adopted in the service sector in developing countries. Studies have investigated factors which contribute both to delays in the adoption of a new information technology (IT) innovation and to delays in the realization of its potentials. However, issues involved when organizations add layers of new IT innovations have not been adequately examined. Such issues include factors that influence an organization to incrementally add a new IT, the process through which the increment is accomplished and the corresponding adaptation of associated service innovation.
Organizations in developing countries (DCs) have over the past decade or so invested in and implemented series of IT and service innovations with varying degrees of success. In this study we propose a framework to help take stock of the various innovations that have been implemented and to understand the myriad of issues involved in the process of implementing these technologies and service innovations – especially when transiting from one innovation to another.
As this study aims to examine the patterns of adopting new IT and service innovations in DCs, we would argue that such a study would enable us to understand how services can be better delivered with newer technologies, by learning from comparison of past experiences and present situations.
Department of Information Systems, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK Contact; Neil Henderson Tel: +44 (0) 1256 302959 ext 3116 E-mail: n.henderson@palgrave.com C.Avgerou@lse.ac.uk
Activities
Summary of activities
“In this paper I review the Information Systems (IS) research on how developing countries have attempted to benefit from ICTs. First I identify three discourses on IS implementation and associated organizational and social change that coexist in information systems in developing countries (ISDC) research, namely as a process of technology and knowledge transfer and adaptation to local social conditions; as a process of socially embedded action; and as a process of transformative techno-organizational intervention associated with global politics and economics. I then point out the distinctive research agenda that has been formed in ISDC studies, both in the more familiar IS themes – failure, outsourcing, and strategic value of ICT – and also in studies of themes relevant specifically to the context of developing countries, such as the development of community ICT and information resources. Finally, I call the reader's attention to the potentially significant theoretical contributions of ISDC research for understanding IS innovation in relation to social context and in relation to socio-economic development theories and policies.”
What Developing-World Companies Teach Us About Innovation
To be sure, companies in developing countries face serious challenges, including political instability, volatile exchange rates, and an underdeveloped physical infrastructure. More critically, they must contend with three realities that particularly stymie innovation:
Developing countries generally lack a solid technology base of trained scientists and world-class research universities.
Companies in developing countries must manage to eke out a profit while serving customers with low disposable income; per capita gross domestic product in the advanced economies is on average ten times that of developing nations.
Managers in these companies must often innovate on a shoestring budget, since the high cost and scarcity of capital preclude massive spending on R&D. As a result, they must innovate from other areas of their business's structure, including manufacturing, logistics, marketing, and customer service.
