Electronic Commerce

AN EVALUATION OF THE ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC BUSINESS WITHIN THE SERVICE SECTOR IN ZIMBABWE

Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 3
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 7
1.3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 7
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 8
1.5 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY 8
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 9
1.7. DELIMITATIONS 9
1.8. LIMITATIONS 9
1.9. DEFINITION OF TERMS 10
1.10 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 11
1.10.1 THE CONCEPT OF E-BUSINESS 12
1.10.2 THE ADVANTAGES OF E-BUSINESS TO THE SELLERS AND BUYERS 12
1.10.3 THE ELECTRONIC BUSINESS MODELS 13
1.10.4 COMPONENTS OF BUSINESS MODELS FOR E-BUSINESS 14
1.10.5 A STRATEGIC CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR AN E-BUSINESS 14
1.11 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28
1.11.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 29
1.12 DATA COLLECTION METHODS 29
1.13 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 30
1.14 POPULATION AND SAMPLING 31
1.15 DATA PRESENTATION 31
1.16 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY 31
1.17 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 31
1.18 SUMMARY 32
1.19 BUDGET 32
1.10 ACTION PLAN 32
1.11 REFERENCES 33

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the research is to evaluate the adoption of the electronic business within the service sector in Zimbabwe. The rate of adoption of electronic business in the service sector has remained relatively slower than anticipated. This is despite the fact that the service sector in Zimbabwe was the first to embrace electronic business (Turban: 2006) and it was noted that it has the ability to respond to new opportunities and innovations more quickly. The study will further explore the impact of electronic business adoption at national or regulatory level, corporate level and individual level. While much of the research regarding the utilization of electronic business has been conducted in the developed countries, little or no research has been carried out in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. The study therefore needs to close the knowledge gap by evaluating the adoption of electronic business within the service sector in Zimbabwe. This

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