Mobilizing Culture for E-Business in Developing Countries: An Actor Network Theory Account

• Effah, John ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Ghana

     University of Ghana

     Ghana

     
• Localización: EJISDC: The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, ISSN-e 1681-4835, Nº. 52, 2012 (Ejemplar dedicado a: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries)
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2012.tb00370.x
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• Resumen

  • The purpose of this study is to understand how developing country cultures can be mobilized for e-business. Within the developing country e-business literature, culture has been highlighted as a barrier. Less is however known about culture as an enabler. Despite calls for cultural fit, empirical evidence on how to achieve the fit remains limited. This study follows actor-network theory (ANT) as a lens and interpretive case study as a methodology to understand how funeral culture in the developing country context of Ghana was mobilized for an e-business venture. The findings demonstrate an enabling perspective of developing country culture, complementing the dominant constraining view in the literature. The paper argues that although e-business emerged from the developed world, it could be malleable to varied contexts. The paper encourages developing country entrepreneurs and researchers to seek ways to align e-business to local contexts.