FIRFMS millorat 72

Each of the SMEs that participated in the study was unique in managerial structure as well as in the manner of ICT use for e-commerce development. Generally, interviewees were reluctant to release financial information for public consumption. However, some confidential information in this regard was provided by C1Alpha and C5Home for analysis purposes only. A general preview of the SMEs is presented here:

115 4.2.5.1 C1Alpha

C1Alpha is a small tourism firm with 35 employees. It is one of the pioneering firms in Botswana in developing an active website. The main reason for its selection into the sample is because it provides unique social-technical experiences that SMEs undergo in the development of e-commerce. C1Alpha has been known to be one of the purveyors of e- commerce in Botswana. The general manager, Neela, was the key informant who provided first-hand information about C1Alpha in three main interview sessions. I was also able to informally interact with her during lunch to clarify some issues. I also had an opportunity to interview one of the buyers, Nomsa, who has been to the rural Etsha village in Maun (over 900 km from C1Alpha’s location in Gaborone) where the women-weavers work and live. However, for most parts of engagement during the study, Nomsa could not participate as she was not in a decision-making role of the firm. There was also no other person who could represent the position of e-commerce in the firm other than the general manager, Neela, herself.

4.2.5.2 C2Beta

C2Beta is a medium-sized ICT firm in the heart of Gaborone with 110 employees. C2Beta was chosen for the study because it had developed a website and being in the ICT sector that usually provides ICT infrastructure and services; I presumed that there were some explanations and lessons to be learnt regarding e-commerce development in the firm.

4.2.5.3 C3Gamma

C3Gamma is a medium-sized ICT firm that has existed since 2000. It has 68 employees. Its managerial structure comprises both local and foreign nationals. Its fast-paced growth in the ICT sector and the development of a website provide a unique dimension in the process of SME e-commerce adoption.

4.2.5.4 C4Teq

C4Teq is a small-sized ICT firm that has existed for about ten years. It has 23 employees. C4Teq represents an e-commerce development process that may take unexpected turns as management makes decisions in the best interest of the organisation. Its inclusion in the

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sample provides some unique lessons in the understanding of e-commerce adoption process in Botswana SMEs.

4.2.5.5 C5Home

C5Home is a small-sized tourism firm that has existed since 2001. Its rural location and desire to keep abreast with useful ICT for tourism business provides a learning point for e-commerce in the tourism sector. The managing director, Tumelo and the business manager, Nicky, were the key informants during the fieldwork process.

4.2.5.6 C6Lodge

C6Lodge is a small-sized tourism hotel that has existed for about ten years. With its close proximity to Gaborone, C6Lodge was expected to lead in e-commerce development but unexpected managerial challenges such as staff leaving for greener pastures and lack of dependable personnel at managerial level, have curtailed its use of ICT application. Its inclusion in the study thus provides another unique dimension in the understanding of e- commerce adoption in Botswana SMEs. The managing director, Pitso, was the key informant for the organisation.

4.2.5.7 C7Panda

C7Panda is a medium manufacturing firm that manufactures foam products, mainly for the South African market. At the beginning of the study, the firm was categorised as small, but it developed so rapidly to a medium type of firm. One informal and another formal interview were undertaken with the owner/manager. Follow-up interview appointments could not be honoured by management. However, the findings gathered from the earlier interviews have been judged as satisfactory because management believed that the information that needed to be gathered had already been relayed to the researcher. Thus, C7Panda’s case will be available for presentation, analysis and discussion in the subsequent chapters.

4.2.5.8 C8Estate

C8Estate is a small manufacturing firm that manufactures housing products such as bricks for consumption in the local market. Face-to-face interviews were done with the managing director and a finance manager of the firm. Further interview arrangements with the firm

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could not be established as management gave similar reasons that adequate information had been relayed to the researcher and so there was nothing new that could be gathered from future interviews. Therefore, information about the case is judged satisfactory and will also be available for presentation, analysis and discussion of findings.

4.2.5.9 C9Autoco

C9Autoco is a small manufacturing firm that manufactures car products such as canopies for trucks and vans. All preparatory plans for fieldwork were done with the general manager. However, a human resource manager, Jenny, was brought in as an informant at the time of the interview. It was not possible to establish follow-up meetings and telephone interviews with the general manager thereafter. Owing to this, the thesis only presents the research findings in Chapter five and limited discussions in Chapters 6 and 7 for C9Autoco as the researcher believes that rich insights (Walsham, 2006) of e-commerce adoption as a process could not be established in the case. However, one of the principles for interpretive case studies as explained by Klein & Myers (1999) and Walsham (1995b) requires that these accounts be explained as they are regarding the circumstances in the firm.

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4.3 Data Analysis

In interpretive case studies, the processes of data collection and data analysis usually occur simultaneously even though they are explained sequentially (Walsham, 2006). This study draws from previous studies (Klein & Myers, 1999; Walsham, 2006; 1995b; Miles and Huberman, 1994, Myers, 1994) to systematically analyse the data. Miles and Huberman (1994, p.10) define analysis as consisting of three concurrent flows of activity components: data reduction, data display, and conclusions drawing/verification. The information that I obtained from the semi-structured face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews and conversations, audio and video analysis, direct observation, website content analysis provided a basis for further analysis. A summary of each of these themes as given by Miles and Huberman (1994, p.10-12) is presented:

Table 4.2.5: Profile of SMEs in the study

Name of Company Year established Industry /Business Number of Employees

Position of Interviewee Level of education

C1Alpha 1970 Tourism 35 General Manager

Buyer BA degree GCE Certificate C2Beta 1970 ICT 110 General Manager Head of IT Systems Administrator BSc degree Higher Diploma BSc, MSc IT

C3Gamma 2000 ICT 68 Chief Operations Officer- IT

Finance Manager

BSc Degree

ProfessionalAccounting

C4Teq 2001 ICT 23 Managing Director (owner)

IT Manager

MBA BSc IT

C5Home 2001 Tourism 26 Managing Director (owner)

Business/Finance Manager

BA Accounting degree

BA degree

C6Lodge 2001 Tourism 38 Managing Director (owner) BA degree

C7Panda 1996 Manufacturing 154 Managing Director (owner) BCom, MBA Marketing

C8Estate 2004 Manufacturing 61 Managing Director (owner)

Finance Manager

BCom, MBA

119 4.3.1 Data Reduction

Data reduction refers to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting and transforming the data that appear in written up field-notes or transcriptions. The process occurs continuously throughout the life of a qualitative study. In the current study, data reduction began in 2008 and has run continuously until the completion of this study. In the case of field-work, I presented a verbal summary to the interviewee as preliminary feedback after each interview and later summarised these into a table that showed the research questions in the columns and the interviewee in the rows. Thus each of the interviewee’s response and comments were tabulated based on the research question. The last column in each of these was used to make my own impressions. I provided feedback to the organisation of what my understanding of the organisation’s actions and decisions were regarding e- commerce adoption or non-adoption in their firm.