Abstract

To date the literatures on ebusiness have predominantly focussed upon cases within the developed world. That said, increasing attention is being given to this area in developing countries. However, this strand of work is further limited in that it focuses upon macro level issues of bringing countries ‘up to the level’ of the developed world in the context of discourses around the global knowledge economy. In this paper, we draw upon an interpretive historical field study to extend this body of work, focussing upon the isuses presented to a dot.com SME in Ghana. Current accounts of ebusiness failure tend to emphasise problems arising due to a lack of substance in business ideas, and in SME terms, issues associated with acquiring and maintaining the necessary resources, skills and technical expertise to keep the business going. In our case, the company did not significantly suffer from any of these issues. Moreover, whilst it experienced problems as a result of its geographical location it was ultimately a period of financial instability throughout Ghana that led to the company’s downfall. The findings of this study thus challenge some of the assumptions around SMEs and the capacity of those in developing countries to engage with technology.

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