AKMONLINK COLLEGE

FURI CAMPUS
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
MBA WEEKEND PROGRAM
ASSIGNMENT OF ARTICLE REVIEW ON ROLE OF E –BUSINESS IN BUSINESS

BY: - WADA DABESSA

ID NO: - 0051/2021

Submitted to Instructor:-Dr. Fayera (PhD)

Submission date: - 29/05/2021

May 29, 2021

Furi, |Oromia
Citation
Yasin Ali Hassen University West, Sweden yasinofirst@gmail.com
Ann Svensson University West, Sweden ann.svensson@hv.se
“The role of e-commerce for the growth of small enterprises in Ethiopia”
1. Introduction
The Article “The Role of e-commerce for the growth of small enterprises in Ethiopia” was
written by Yasin Ali Hassen University West, Sweden and Ann Svensson University West,
Sweden.
Enterprises involved in business strive to survive and prosper in the market and it is inevitable to
adopt strategies that would help this goal. Whether small or big, almost all businesses face
competitions and need to look for ways to win the requirements of their customers. One of the
major developments of our time that could provide the means for businesses to arrive at their
desired goals is information and communication technology (ICT) and the Internet. The adoption
of ICT and e-business technologies gives features and benefits for growth and improved
competitiveness (Levy & Powell, 2002). On the other hand, Levy & Powell (2002) claim that
there is not much evidence that small and medium sized enterprises do more than develop
websites and adopt e-mail. Their research shows that many small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) develop only ‘brochure ware’ websites but only few have integrated their websites with
their back-office systems on which they perform their businesses. However, in developing
countries the conditions for the adoption of ICT tends to be limited mainly due to impediments
related to economic, technological, legal, and financial infrastructure (Molla & Licker, 2005).

In this specific paper, the writer has tried to focus on the role of of e-commerce/business for the
growth of small enterprises in Ethiopian context. The study is based on data of five small
enterprises in Ethiopia (Yin, 2003).

As article reviewers, in this paper, I have tried to assess and review the overall article regarding
the methodology used, sampling method and data analysis, the findings of the researcher and the
presentation.

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1. Purpose of the Article
The author of the paper discussed that there are researches on the same topic at the international
level that indicates Role of E-business in business does improve for the growth of small
enterprises in Ethiopia context. There was no research to establish the relationship between e-
business and business. Hence, the aim of this paper is finding out whether e-business improves
the growth of small enterprises in the Ethiopian context. If so, to find out the relationship
between e-business and business.

2. Methodology of the Article

The study is based on data collection in a case of role e-commerce study performed on five small
enterprises in Ethiopia. The researcher had collected data through the qualitative method is used
because the small enterprises are investigated in order to get a reflective understanding on the
core influences of e-commerce usage on their growth endeavors.

They were also considering the role of e-commerce for the growth of small enterprises in
Ethiopia from the five selected Ethiopian small enterprises for this study. This study examines
the role of e-commerce on growth of small enterprises in Ethiopia country. This examination is
done by analyzing the strategies with regard to the Internet and related technologies that were
utilized by growth of small enterprises.
3. Findings of the Article
The findings are presented here in such a way that the description of each enterprise will be
followed by its position in view of the three issues depicted as:
 Responsiveness and utilization level of e-commerce;
 Prevailing and expected role of e-commerce
 Constraints and opportunities of e-commerce
From the data of five Ethiopian small enterprises growth of e-commerce the researchers of this
paper concluded that role of e-commerce in business improves their efficiency and their level of
involvement in the market.

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4. The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Article
4.1. The Strength of the Article
 Even if the research has limitations, it is clear that the researchers are trying to find
out the impacts of role of e-commerce/business in the growth of small enterprises.
 The authors tried to analyze and justify the pre determined hypothesis with the
available data by using tables.
 Therefore the findings of this research can use as a stepping stone for other
researchers in the field.

4.2. Weaknesses of the Article

 On the article I have reviewed, there are mathematical relationships which expressed
in sentences. Those relationships will better understand by the readers if they are
converted to mathematical equations.
 This article has no the literature review part. Literature review needs to include “what
data and other materials are available for operational purposes which will enable the
researcher to specify his own research problem in a meaningful context” C.R.
Kothari.
 The authors are only listing the writers name, year and the referred subjects that the
readers could get from those books which has no pages.
 To make generalization, the writers didn’t mention the total population from which
the five Ethiopian small enterprises were selected for this study.
 Under research methodology sub-title, the author did not clearly outline the
methodology they have used for data analysis.
 The description style of the researchers’ is not that much attractive.

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5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Considering the level of inclination shown by the small enterprises taken as cases for this paper
towards adopting e-commerce, the emphasis should be turned to the actual potential and
keenness of the enterprises to adopt full-fledged e-commerce. The small Ethiopian enterprises
are only on planning stages to adopt some primary level e-commerce and have not actually
invested on it. They have not been able to utilize e-commerce and its consequential benefits on a
significant level due to the lack of right knowledge and skills to make use of the technology, the
lack of reliable and cost effective infrastructure as well as strict government monetary and bank
regulations on electronic transactions. Thus, we can conclude that the small enterprises are using
e-mail and websites, but are not gaining any benefits of ecommerce.

However, we barely see any association between level of attainment in e-commerce usage and
the owners’ plans based on business growth and value. The managers have good recognition of
the benefits that could be exploited from e-commerce in their businesses, as well as fairly good
understanding and knowhow on how to make use of the technology. They are aware of their
business opportunities and believe that the competition is global and therefore they need more
effort and investments in e-commerce in order to minimize the time in making decisions and in
predicting short term market prices. The shortage of experts in the area of e-commerce, together
with limitations in provision of infrastructure as well as policies for online payment, is clearly
important constraints for the small businesses growth.

The Article I reviewed is focused on the impact of role of e-commerce/business in growth of

small enterprises and they had collected data of the five Ethiopian small enterprises were
selected for this study. Even if there are limitations that are discussed before, this specific article
can use as a stepping stone for other researchers.

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 REFERENCES
1. Albert H., Judd, Rivers, (2006) “Creating a winning E-Business”, Wagner Course Technology
Thomson Learning, pp. 37-255.
2. Brahm Canzer, (2009) “E-Business and Commerce Strategic Thinking and Practice”, Houghton
Mifflin, pp. 114-312.
3. Earl, M. (2000), “Evolving the E-Business, Business Strategy Review”, pp. 33-38
4. Melao, N. (2008), “ E-Business Processes and E-Business Process Modeling: A State-of-the-Art
Overview”, pp. 54-89