Evaluating the Impact of Business Application Processes on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Kumasi (A Case Study in Adum)

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2008-08-16
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Abstract
Economic growth of Ghana, to a certain degree, depends on the ability of the business community to maximize their growth potential. Studies have shown that SME's and indeed, large and multi-national organizations can improve their productive capacity by using the benefits of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In countries like Ghana SMEs are challenged by the globalisation of production and the shift in the importance of the various determinants of competitiveness. Through the rapid spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) and ever decreasing prices for communication, markets in different parts of the world become more integrated. In this paper, we explore how the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the developing economies such as Ghana can achieve their own growth through the implementation of the concept of Business Application Processes (BAP). Therefore, ©ne basic question of this study is whether the use of ICT can help them to cope with these new challenges. Also what extent is the adoption of Business Application Process into SME's helped in the improvement of the overall productivity, and does the investment put into BAP worth it? The paper presents a result of a survey conducted on 130 SME's in Adum. Data were collected through a questionnaire filled-in through direct interviews to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), IT personnel and ordinary workers. The empirical work shows that information systems are developed coherently with SME strategic imperatives. Moreover, research results provide evidence that such alignment positively affect the overall business performance. It also confirmed the hypothesis that increased investment in BAP results in increased growth. The paper concludes with a discussion of the issues, prospects and problems surrounding the adoption of Business application Process, as well as recommendations.  
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of Business Administration, 2008
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