Attitudes towards the uptake of open source software by small and medium enterprises in the Western Cape, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuthbert Chidoori ◽  
Jean-Paul Van Belle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Medium Enterprises

The License Choices of SMEs doing Business with Open Source Software

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evila Piva ◽  
Cristina Rossi-Lamastra
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Medium Enterprises

In the past decade, Open Source (OS) licenses have attracted the interest of many scholars. However, there is still a limited understanding of the license choices made by small and medium enterprises doing business with OS (OS SMEs). The present paper aims at filling this gap. The authors argue that, because of firm specificities, OS SMEs tend to prefer copyleft licenses. Their arguments are corroborated by empirical evidence from a survey on 146 Italian OS SMEs. This evidence documents that OS SMEs are not plagued by the GPL fear theorized by the OS founding fathers. Conversely, these firms use copyleft licenses to more easily in-source knowledge from the community of OS users and developers. At the same time, license choices are influenced by the ideological motivations that OS SMEs inherit from their owner-managers.

Automated ERP Category Configuration Support for Small Businesses

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Klaus Wölfel
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Disruptive business models, such as software as a service and open source software, have made Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages and related software more accessible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, the consulting required to configure an ERP to meet the specific needs of an organization remains a major financial burden for SMEs. One configuration task which is common to many ERPs is category configuration. With the help of automated category configuration support, managers of small businesses can perform category configuration on their own and reduce part of the consulting cost. This paper presents the design of a generic automation approach for ERP category configuration, its implementation and its application to the open source ERP package ERP5. The approach is based on similarity of example data, automatic vocabulary consolidation through Wikipedia redirects and (meta-) templates. The empirical evaluation through a laboratory experiment with one hundred test persons and a survey supports the validity, effectiveness and utility of the designed artefact.

scholarly journals Do Female Employees at Small and Medium Enterprises Perceive Open Source Software Usefulness and Satisfaction Differently from Male Employees? A Survey Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Sanghyun Kim ◽  
Hyunsun Park
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Quality Factors ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Employees ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Many companies, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), use open source software (OSS) to promote the strategic application of their information technology assets. Several studies have claimed that male and female employees in SMEs differ in their use of various information technologies. This study investigates the factors influencing the perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with OSS among employees at SMEs in various industries, specifically comparing male and female employee perceptions. For this purpose, this study uses a proposed research model to examine the effects of quality factors—such as ease of maintenance, cost advantage, customization, and job relevance—on perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with OSS. Data were collected from 328 randomly selected survey responses of employees in various organizations using OSS. A structural equational model was created using AMOS 22.0 to test the proposed hypotheses in the research model. Results show that all OSS quality factors were significantly related to the perceived usefulness of OSS in both genders, positively affecting satisfaction. Moreover, the perceptions of male and female employees differed in relation to each research model variable. These findings suggest that employees value specific OSS qualities while perceiving its usefulness and their satisfaction.

scholarly journals Factors influencing the adoption of free and open-source software for electronic records management by municipalities in Gauteng Province, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Mahlatse Shekgola ◽  
Jan Maluleka ◽  
Antonio Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Open Source ◽  
South African ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Electronic Records ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Records Management ◽  
The South ◽  
Proprietary Software ◽  
Electronic Records Management

The South African cabinet adopted policy recommendations from the Government Information Technology Officer's Council pertaining to Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS). Even though the South African Cabinet has shown support for the use of FOSS through the enactment of a policy, the adoption of open source software in electronic records management seems to be slow. Proprietary software continues to be adopted and used by most public institutions, including local and provincial municipalities in South Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate factors that may influence the adoption and use of FOSS for electronic records management by South African municipalities. The study adopted a qualitative research approach to collect data from 10 purposively selected municipalities in Gauteng. Data were analysed and presented thematically to address the research question. The findings of this study suggest that municipalities in Gauteng are not adopting FOSS for electronic records management as expected. This study established that top management support, reliability, affordability of the software, inadequate capability, contracts with proprietary software providers, organisational culture and organisational support are some of the factors that contributed to the low uptake when it comes to the adoption of Free and Open-Source Software by the municipalities.

Methodology and Software Components for E-business Development and Implementation

2013 ◽  
pp. 269-298
Author(s):  
Neven Vrcek ◽  
Ivan Magdalenic
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Module Structure ◽  
Service Oriented Architectures ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Public Sectors ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Many benefits from implementation of e-business solutions are related to network effects which means that there are many interconnected parties utilizing the same or compatible technologies. The large-scale adoption of e-business practices in public sectors and in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)-prevailing economic environments will be successful if appropriate support in the form of education, adequate legislative, directions, and open source applications is provided. This case study describes the adoption of e-business in public sectors and SMEs by using an integrated open source approach called e-modules. E-module is a model which has process properties, data properties, and requirements on technology. Therefore e-module presents a holistic framework for deployment of e-business solutions and such e-module structure mandates an approach which requires reengineering of business processes and adoption of strong standardization that solves interoperability issues. E-module is based on principles of service-oriented architectures with guidelines for introduction into business processes and integration with ERP systems. Such an open source approach enables the spreading of compatible software solutions across any given country, thus, increasing e-business adoption. This paper presents a methodology for defining and building e-modules.

scholarly journals Underlying structures of risk response measures among small and medium contractors in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenger Yembi Renault ◽  
Justus Ngala Agumba ◽  
Nazee Ansary
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Risk Avoidance ◽  
Risk Response ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
The One ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Although attention has been given to the measures used to respond to risk in the construction industry (CI), there is limited literature that scrutinizes underlying structures of risk response measures (RRMs) especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study, therefore, presents findings from an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of RRMs. A positivist paradigm was adopted to collect empirical raw data from 181 conveniently sampled respondents in Gauteng, South Africa (SA), using a structured questionnaire. The results support the extant literature and empirically established the structural composition of risk response by two constructs. The construct with emerged measures was termed trailing measures while the one with popular measures was termed leading measures of risk response. However, the study yielded a two-factor model with all the six items supposed to measure risk response. Based on the results obtained, it seems that risk avoidance and risk mitigation are reliable measures for measuring risk response. This study could thus serve as a reference for the accurate measurement of risk response and for the development of agreed responses for each risk, including an appropriate strategy and specific responses to implement the chosen strategy. The study was limited to the CI and to a lesser extent, construction SMEs in Gauteng; hence the findings cannot be generalized to all SMEs in SA.

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