E-commerce framework for sustainable development: A case study of SMME's in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape
type: CreativeWork
description: Digital technologies have brought about a turnaround in business, with big companies in developed countries now depending on the internet to support their business activities. While Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) contribute much to the economies of developing countries, e-commerce has not been considered as a support for sustainable development by SMMEs, in post-colonial Southern Africa. E-commerce strategies have been established and implemented successfully by big businesses in the developed world, however, these strategies fail to address issues arising from the different contexts for SMMEs in developing countries, such as South Africa. This research will contribute to the discipline of Business Information Systems by establishing a framework for implementing e-commerce for SMMEs in South Africa. Underpinned by the pragmatism philosophy, the study takes an in-depth case study approach, in which SMMEs in three provinces of South Africa were used as the population of the survey, to champion an e-commerce framework for SMMEs in South Africa. A mixed-methods research approach was applied, and both secondary and primary data were used in this study. The secondary data aided in establishing the research gap on advancing e-commerce frameworks, while quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaires, from SMMEs in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape Provinces. The quantitative data was used to test the causal effect of identified factors of e-commerce in SMMEs. The SPSS software was used to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative strand of the mixed-methods approach using semi-structured interviews, served the purpose of method triangulation with the quantitative strand enabling the gathering of further insights on how e-commerce in SMMEs can foster sustainable development. The ATLAS.ti software package was used to code and interpret the qualitative data collected from interviews, using thematic analysis. Based on the findings, an e…
abstract: Digital technologies have brought about a turnaround in business, with big companies in developed countries now depending on the internet to support their business activities. While Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) contribute much to the economies of developing countries, e-commerce has not been considered as a support for sustainable development by SMMEs, in post-colonial Southern Africa. E-commerce strategies have been established and implemented successfully by big businesses in the developed world, however, these strategies fail to address issues arising from the different contexts for SMMEs in developing countries, such as South Africa. This research will contribute to the discipline of Business Information Systems by establishing a framework for implementing e-commerce for SMMEs in South Africa. Underpinned by the pragmatism philosophy, the study takes an in-depth case study approach, in which SMMEs in three provinces of South Africa were used as the population of the survey, to champion an e-commerce framework for SMMEs in South Africa. A mixed-methods research approach was applied, and both secondary and primary data were used in this study. The secondary data aided in establishing the research gap on advancing e-commerce frameworks, while quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaires, from SMMEs in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape Provinces. The quantitative data was used to test the causal effect of identified factors of e-commerce in SMMEs. The SPSS software was used to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative strand of the mixed-methods approach using semi-structured interviews, served the purpose of method triangulation with the quantitative strand enabling the gathering of further insights on how e-commerce in SMMEs can foster sustainable development. The ATLAS.ti software package was used to code and interpret the qualitative data collected from interviews, using thematic analysis. Based on the findings, an e…
author: Madzvamuse, Solomon
language: en
keywords: Electronic Commerce, Digital Technologies, Informal sector, Small, Medium, Micro Enterprises, Sustainable development
date published: 2023-05-19
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:57:28Z
provider: University of Venda
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Venda

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11602/2537