UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

BUSINESS SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

The adoption of big data analytics in the medical insurance industry. A case of Premier
Service Medical Investments (PSMI)

By

Shadreck Rukato

R1810281

Supervisor: Dr D Maravanyika

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the

Master Degree in Business Administration

2021

i
 DISSERTATION TITLE
The adoption of big data analytics in the medical insurance industry .A case of Premier
Service Medical Investments (PSMI).
DISSERTATION METHODOLOGY (please tick one)
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE X MIXED METHODS

INTAKE (YEAR AND MONTH)

2018, AUGUST

REGISTRATION No.: STUDENT NAME:

R1810281 SHADRECK RUKATO

DISSERTATION SUBMISSION SUBMISSION DATE

DEADLINE

15 MAY 2021 24 MAY 2021

ii
DECLARATION

I, Shadreck Rukato, do hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigation
and research, except to the extent indicated in the acknowledgements, references and by
comments included in the body of the report, and that it has not been submitted in part or in
full for any other degree to any other university.

______________
___________
Student signature
Date

______________ ___________

Supervisor signature Date

iii
DEDICATION

A special dedication goes to my family, work mates and friends who have been my constant
source of inspiration. I deeply feel that without their inspiration, guidance and commitment I
would not be able to tackle the strenuous process of this research study.

God bless you all

iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the assistance from various players in the medical insurance sector, who
took their precious time to assist me in the dissertation from the start to the final production of
the project document.

My special thanks go to Dr. D Maravanyika (Lecturer at University of Zimbabwe, also my

research supervisor) who gave me the chance to make this study and for all his contributions
to the accomplishment of this work.

I would also like to thank my employer PSMI for enabling me time to do my research whenever
I needed to.

v
ABSTRACT

Big Data Analytics has a positive impact on the business performance. The purpose of the
research was to identify and confirm the factors that influence the adoption of Big Data
Analytics in the medical insurance Industry in Zimbabwe. The research information and its
applications were aimed at benefiting the organisation under study PSMI, the academic
community, the nation of Zimbabwe and the corporate world at large. The study was based on
a single case study of Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI). Online face-to-face
interviews with the top management and middle management at strategic and operational levels
of the organization were carried out to collect empirical data. In order to gather in-depth
information and allow room for probing for clearness on any responses, semi-structured
interview guide was used in the research. The study found that there is absence of reliable and
supportive infrastructure in PSMI, this is justified by the fact that most of their ICT equipment
is now obsolete and asset replacement policy is not being followed. The study concluded that
the organisation does not consider the significance of hiring properly trained staff and the
regulatory framework has a huge impact on the adoption of technologies Zimbabwean medical
insurance industry, however there is room for improvement to maximise the benefits. Therefore
it recommended for regulatory framework that is aimed at implementing standards and
assisting with organisational change required for adoption of technologies and also having staff
developmental programs.

vi
Table of Contents
DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... ii
DEDICATION ..........................................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... v
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................vi
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... x
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................xi
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................................................... xii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY .......................... 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 2
1.2.1 Industry Analysis .................................................................................................................. 2
1.2.2 Background to case study ...................................................................................................... 3
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ............................................................................... 4
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS ........................................................... 5
1.4.1 Main Objective ....................................................................................................................... 5
Specific objectives ........................................................................................................................... 5
1.4.2 Research question(s) .............................................................................................................. 6
1.5 RESEARCH PROPOSITION .......................................................................................... 6
1.6 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY ............................................................................... 6
1.7 RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................................ 6
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY................................................................................. 7
1.9 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................................. 7
1.10 CHAPTER CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 9
2.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 9
2.2 DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................. 9
2.2.1 Technological innovation (TI) ................................................................................................. 9
2.2.2Internet of things (IoT) ............................................................................................................ 9
2.2.3 Big data ................................................................................................................................ 10
2.2.4 Big Data Analytics................................................................................................................. 11
2.3 THEORETICAL LITERATURE: UNDERPINNING THEORIES .............................. 12
2.4 Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model (Rogers, 1995) ................................................... 12
2.5 Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure (BOE) model ........................ 14
2.6 The technology, organisation, and environment context (TOE) model......................... 16
2.7 The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)................................................................. 18
2.8 CRITIQUE OF LITERATURE AND RESEARCH GAP............................................. 19
2.9 EMPERICAL RIVIEW ................................................................................................. 19
vii
 2.10 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ON ADOPTION OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS .. 20
2.11 CHAPTER CONLUSION ........................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 22
3.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 22
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................... 22
3.3 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES ...................................................................................... 22
3.3.1 Selecting the suitable philosophy ...................................................................................... 23
3.3.2 Merits of Qualitative Research........................................................................................... 23
3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY ............................................................................................. 24
3.4.1 Case Study Strategy.............................................................................................................. 24
3.5 DATA COLECTION ..................................................................................................... 25
3.5.1 Population ............................................................................................................................ 25
3.5.2 Sampling Strategy............................................................................................................... 25
3.5.3 Purposive sampling .............................................................................................................. 25
3.6 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS ...................................................................................... 26
3.6.1 Questionnaires ..................................................................................................................... 26
3.6.2 Personal Interviews .............................................................................................................. 26
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 27
3.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................. 27
3.8 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 28
CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS, FIDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..................................... 29
4.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 29
4.2 PSMI EMPLOYEES ...................................................................................................... 29
4.2.1 Section A: Demographic information................................................................................... 29
4.2.2 Section B: Organizational structure ..................................................................................... 30
4.2.3 Section C: Organizational readiness..................................................................................... 35
4.2.4 Section D: External pressure ................................................................................................ 39
4.2.5 Section E: Technological Context ......................................................................................... 43
4.2 SUMMARY OF FUNDINGS ....................................................................................... 46
4.3.1 The role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ........... 46
4.3.2 Impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics .......................... 46
4.3.3 Impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ..................................... 46
4.3.4 The impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ........................ 47
4.4 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 47
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 48
5.1 INTRODUCTIONS ....................................................................................................... 48
5.2 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................ 48
5.2.1The role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ............ 48
5.2.2 Impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ................... 48
viii
 5.2.3 Impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics. ............................. 49
5.2.4 The impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics ........................ 50
5.3 EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSITION .............................................. 50
5.4 RECOMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 50
5.4.1 Managerial recommendations ............................................................................................. 50
5.4.2 Staff development and training ........................................................................................... 50
5.4.3 Functional policy innovation ................................................................................................ 51
5.5 STUDY LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER
RESEARCH......................................................................................................................... 51
REFERENCE ........................................................................................................................... 52
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 57

ix
LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.0: Relevant situations for different research strategies ............................................... 24

Table 4.1 Demographic information of the respondents that were interviewed. ..................... 29
Table 4.2 Flexibility of the organizational structure ................................................................ 30
Table 4.3 Efficiency of the organizational structure ................................................................ 31
Table 4.4 Management employee relationships....................................................................... 32
Table 4.5 Degree of responsiveness to innovative ideas ......................................................... 33
Table 4.6 Innovative and collaborative culture........................................................................ 34
Table 4.7 Recruiting methods .................................................................................................. 35
Table 4.8 Staff developmental plan ......................................................................................... 36
Table 4.9 organisational readiness ........................................................................................... 37
Table 4.10 Budgetary constrains.............................................................................................. 38
Table 4.11 Customer feedback ................................................................................................ 39
Table 4.12 Government regulation .......................................................................................... 40
Table 4.13 Influence of competitive pressure .......................................................................... 41
Table 4.14 External barriers ..................................................................................................... 42
Table 4.15 Insourcing vs outsourcing ...................................................................................... 43
Table 4.16 Insourcing vs outsourcing which one is the best ................................................... 44
Table 4.17 Measures in place to abreast with technological advances. ................................... 45
Table 4.17 Reliable supportive infrastructure .......................................................................... 45

x
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Turnover and Net Loss ............................................................................................. 4

Figure 2.1 Characteristics of big data Source: Adapted from Acharjya & Kauser, 2016) ..... 10
Figure 2.2: Diffusion of innovations (Rogers 1995) ................................................................ 14
Figure 2.3 Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure model ............................ 16
Source: (Iacovou. et al., 1995:480) ......................................................................................... 16
Figure 2.4: The Technology Acceptance Model (Fred D. Davis, et al., 1989 ......................... 19
Figure 2.4: Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................... 20

xi
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Abbreviation Definition
AI Artificial Intelligence
BD Big Data
BDA Big Data Analytics
BOE Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure
DOI Diffusion of Innovation
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
ICT Information Communication and Technology
IP Internet Protocol
IoT Internet of Things
IS Information System
IT Information Technology
IV Independent Variable
KMS Knowledge Management Systems
PSMI Premier Service Medical Investments
TI Technological Innovation
TAM Technology Acceptance Model
TOE Technology, Organization, and Environment

xii
xiii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

This research explains the elements that impacts the adoption of Big Data analytics and its
applications for the medical insurance industry. These applications can enhance performance,
marketing, risk management, profitable growth, and operations with business insights that lead
to informed actions. Big data allude to the massively increasing volume, speed and granularity
of data sets that are being retrieved and linked while data analytics is the science of drawing
insights from raw information sources. Data analytics is a wide term that includes many
different types of data analysis.source? Big data is anticipated to affect insurance in a number
of ways. The most widely anticipated is data analytics and the capacity to assemble and analyze
those exceptionally granular data sets is now transforming the way medical insurers see huge
pools of consumers and how they price risks. This will have implications for the charge and
availability of insurance for all customers.

Big data analytics has been defined by several authors differently and the following are just a
few examples. According to Sun and Reddy (2013) data analytics as the process of examining
large amounts of data from different sources and in different variations in order to gain insight
that can enable decision making in real or near real-time. Kwon et al. (2014) describes big data
analytics as the technologies and techniques which can be employed to analyse large scale and
complex data to improve a firm’s performance. Big data analytics can be further termed as
means of helping realize important decisions through understanding information patterns and
their associations using machine-learning algorithms (Archean & Mary-Anita, 2015).

It is undeniable from the definations above that big data analytics is a digital transformation
agent in organisations that leads to changes in business models and business processes to foster
improved organisational performance. However , Mafi (2018) noted that while technologies
like big data analytics are making their mark around the world, their adoption in Zimbabwe
and third world countries is much slower . Therefore, it is of great importance to establish why
Zimbabwean medical sector struggling to adopt big data analytics , and what can be done to
help them improve in the adoption of the technology .

However, most of the existing literature on the adoption of Big Data Analytics refers to
experiences in other countries mainly in Europe, Asia and America. There is no literature that
relates to Zimbabwe. Therefore, the available literature is weak because it does not address the
research objectives cited below which are confined to Zimbabwean insurance sector a case of

1
Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI) , hence this investigation aims to highlight
factors that influence the adoption of big data analytics in the Zimbabwean insurance
industry.The rest of chapter one will cover the background to the case Study, that is factors that
influence the adoption of big data analytics in the Zimbabwean insurance industry, the problem
statement, primary and secondary objectives, research questions, proposition, delimitation to
the study, significance of the study, the structure of the research and conclusion.

1.2 BACKGROUND

As is the case in in the insurance industry the main goals are, improving efficiency, customer
service and access to health services and claim processing. The healthcare insurance sector is
a data-driven industry that produces huge amounts of accumulated records, both organized and
unstructured. Consequently, there is a remarkable continuous raise in the amount of data in
medical insurance companies in recent years. Situation has been made worse by social media
and the internet of things which introduced more huge amounts of data from a number of new
sources, which could have an impact on an insurer’s brand, products, and customer perception
and beyond.

1.2.1 Industry Analysis

The increasing pace at which emerging technologies, such big data analytics has revolutionized
business operations in the insurance industry .Using Porter’s five forces model we can carry
out Zimbabwean healthcare insurance industry analysis. The main players in the healthcare
insurance are Premier Service Medical Aid Society, Cimas Medical Aid Society, and Fidelity
life medical aid society

Competitive Rivalry

It defines the level of competition in the industry and is an influencer in the pricing and
marketing strategies of products and services. Today, there is little product differentiation in
the insurance sector. In Zimbabwe prices of insurance products are regulated. The best way
the insurers are differentiating themselves by the quality of policyholder services provided.
Cimas is proving to be a cut above the rest with its policies which are subscribed using forex.

Threat of New Entrants

Just like every industry faces the threat of new competitors entering the market. Technology
movement is giving rise to new entrants and operating models.

2
Econet is the new kid on the block with its Eco Sure which offers hospital cover.Eco-sure offers
usage based insurance with cash back facilities.

The Bargaining Power of Buyers and Suppliers

The power of buyers and the power of suppliers, speak to a elementary law of commerce, which
commands the rules of supply and demand. Buyer influence, can be a force to be reckoned with
in any industry if multiple alternatives for procuring products and service are available. Today
large corporate clients such as ZESA, Telone and Zimplats are paying millions of dollars in
premiums have bargaining power to have prices reduced.

Also with the emergency of social media the information gap is reduced. Today’s individual
policyholders have full information on coverage, pricing, and services. IN the end they
demand more personalized attention and care for the premiums paid. To meet these
expectations, insurers are investing in user-friendly workflows for customer-facing processes,
including online services and social media channels.

Thread of Substitute Products or Services

This is the customer’s propensity to substitute a product or service with another today , the
insurance technology movement has made this made this significantly more of a reality by
aiding innovation in insurance products, usage-based insurance products, which has an
extraordinary appeal to more youthful ages .Registration and creation of accounts has been
made so simple that its offered online

1.2.2 Background to case study

PSMI is a listed company with a varied network of medical facilities across the country and is
a large competitor in its sector. PSMI has got 126 service centres strategically spread across
the ten provinces of Zimbabwe. When it was formed its primary focus was on medical
insurance and it later tapped into the low hanging fruit forward integrating into healthcare
provisions when public health care institutions were deteriorating. PSMI has however fallen
on tough times; failing to declare dividends for its shareholders in the last accounting period.
There also has been a record of low throughput and revenue collected from medical facilities
and claims processing across the 10 provinces, this is compromising the way business is
operating and performing.

3
Figure: 1.1 below shows the historical performances from 2016 to 2020. From the year 2019
PSMI was in a loss situation.

Historical Performances

US$000,000

US$35.0

US$30.0

US$25.0

US$20.0
Turnover
US$15.0 Net loss

US$10.0

US$5.0

US$0.0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 1.1 Turnover and Net Loss

In the previous accounting periods 2019 and 2020 PSMI posted huge loses and lost a huge
chunk of customers in the market .Traditionally, PSMI used to deal only with structured data
while making decisions; however, the explosion of social media and new data added new types
and large amounts of unstructured data. Another dimension is the velocity which implies the
need for faster techniques when processing such enormous diverse and unstructured types of
data sets. In this internet age individuals are obtaining increasingly better insights into their
individual risks and into what they are exactly getting for the insurance premiums they pay.
This transparency destroys the information asymmetry gap. Individuals know precisely what
their risks are. Resultantly , extreme outcome could be that the low-risk individuals no longer
want to insure themselves since paying the premium is more costly than paying the damage or
cost in case of an accident or illness.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As highlighted in the introduction, literature indicates that the use of data analytics improves
accuracy of predictive analysis in the insurance industry. Big data offers numerous advantages
along key elements the Operational Efficiency, Profitable Growth through acquiring more
4
consumers and trying to fulfil their requirements, and Risk Management in capital efficiency
and operational risk management. Big data analytics offers the solution, insurer companies are
acquiring process and exploit both organized and unstructured data within flashes, rather than
at fixed intervals in the week, month.

Contrary to literature, PSMI does not exhibit benefits associated with Big Data analytics. In
spite of the huge presence across Zimbabwe, PSMI has not recorded meaningful profits in the
past four years. To add injury to the wound, debtors are not remitting payments resulting in the
company being owed over US $ 120 million with a bulk of them being small to medium
enterprises that are shutting down their operations to financial challenges .Furthermore PSMI
is facing a myriad of challenges including lack of public confidence, slow turnaround times
and members being charged shortfalls and co-payments. All these problems gave birth to
decreased membership and very slim financial base with members renouncing their
membership.

The negative trajectory is set to continue if PSMI management does not employ strategies to
mitigate this dire situation. The business is set to continue making loses with a shrinking client
base unless a meaningful solution is adopted. The study is, therefore aimed at improving
situation at PSMI that will result in reaping benefits of Big Data Analytics in line with
literature.

1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS

1.4.1 Main Objective

To evaluate the aspects that influence the adoption of Big Data Analytics at (PSMI)

Specific objectives
1. To determine the role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data
Analytics at PSMI
2. To measure the impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data
Analytics at PSMI
3. To analyse the impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at
PSMI
4. To determine the impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics
at PSMI

5
1.4.2 Research question(s)

1.4.3 Main question

What are the aspects that influence the adoption of Big Data Analytics?

Specific questions
1. What is the role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data
Analytics at PSMI?
2. What is the impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at
PSMI?
3. What is the impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at PSMI?

4. What is the impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at
PSMI?

1.5 RESEARCH PROPOSITION

The adoption of big data analytics in the medical insurance sector in Zimbabwe is limited
because there is no clear government policy, low organisational readiness, poor technological
context and weak organisational structure.

1.6 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The research study focused on the factors that influence adoption of data analytics in the
insurance industry. Special attention being given to the healthcare insurance this will be
achieved by strictly focusing on the insurance industry in Zimbabwe. The researcher will
sample five private facilities. The respondents will be all insurance personnel and institute‘s
senior management.

1.7 RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS

RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS The assumptions are:

 The respondents will be willing to actively participate in the investigation and answer
all questions.
 The participants will be well-informed, with full knowledge of the area under study and
will give authentic and reliable information.
 Response rate will be adequate to validate findings.

6
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

According to Palvia et al. (2012), leaders in the developing world can make improved decisions
about technological investments and adopt efficient technologies .Also, high-level policy
makers can craft better strategies and policies for their countries’ systems by having access to
technology (Palvia et al., 2012). The outcomes from this study might contribute to these
preferred business practices by providing a compilation of strategies and resources leaders need
in the adoption and implementation of technology in the Zimbabwean Medical Insurance
sector. These strategies might also prompt successful technology implementation and thus lead
to reduced turnaround times, increased profitability due to optimized processes and rapid
service delivery. The findings could also provide a foundation on which leaders can utilize
technological innovation to enhance organisational performance that will, in turn, improve
organisational competitiveness and profitability.

Adoption of big data analytics in the insurance sector could result in improved decisions and
in positively influencing the customer’s experience (Palvia et al., 2012). Affirmative social
change can occur through improving customer experiences in insurances as superior
satisfaction aligns with a higher quality. According to Palvia et al (2012), Positive social
change may, in turn, lead to increased profitability of the insurance industry. Technological
innovation through the use of big data analytics also provides the insurance industry a valuable
platform through which leaders can improve business decisions. By using technology,
insurance institutions can position themselves more competitively in the industry while
focusing on initiatives that can improve the quality of service (Palvia et al., 2012).

1.9 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH

This research comprises five (5) chapters as of which Chapter 1 has already been outlined
covering introduction of the research. Chapter 2 outlines the literature review. The study aims
to analyse the work that has been carried out by other researchers and their point of view on
big data analytics. Chapter 3 focuses on the research methodology. In the chapter the researcher
clearly indicates how data was collected for the study and the tools that were used to analyse
the data. Chapter 4 focuses data analysis and discusses the study’s findings. Chapter 5 presents
the conclusions and recommendations of the study findings.

7
1.10 CHAPTER CONCLUSION
Chapter one explained above covered the introduction, background, problem statement,
research objectives, research questions, research hypothesis, significance of the study,
limitations of the study, delimitations of the study, dissertation outline and chapter summary.
The next chapter concentrates on literature review.

8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

According to (White, 2000), literature review is done to aid the prevention of working on what
has been done already without any perceived particular added value of the research. (Kumar,
2011) also went on to stress that literature review also helps to bring clarity and focus to one’s
research problem, through giving a better understanding of the subject area thus helping with
the conceptualization of a research problem precisely and clearly .

Accordingly, this chapter will critically examine literature on the elements that influence the
adoption of Big Data Analytics; with particular focus on the medical insurance sector. It seeks
to discuss factors that impact its adoption and perceived benefits. The literature review takes
off with the definitions of some of the terms closely associated with the research. The literature
review then addresses the major theories in the adoption of technology.The chapter seals off
with a summary on the key literature areas, a critique of prior literature and a conceptual
framework for the present research.

2.2 DEFINITIONS

2.2.1 Technological innovation (TI)

The process of innovation involves getting new ideas accepted or new technologies adopted
and used (Tatnall, 2005).Technological innovation is the adoption of new technologies that are
fused into processes or products (Damanpour et al, 2019). Baranano, (2011) and Boer & During
(2010) concurred that innovation in firms is not just about developing and applying new
technologies but also to adopt and re-organize business routines, internal organisation, external
relations and marketing.

2.2.2Internet of things (IoT)

“The Internet of Things” will connect everyone to everything in an integrated whole worldwide
network (www) and this will happen through collecting and linking every aspect of economic
and social life (Halpern, 2014). The internet of things (IoT) is a co-ordination of interrelated
computing devices, digital gadgets, objects and human beings that are provided with unique
identifiers and has the capacity to transmit information over a network without human
interaction. Imagine the reality where persons, natural resources, machines, logistic networks,
consumption habits, production, recycling flows, and virtually every other aspect of life are

9
associated and interconnected via software and sensors that feed the “Internet of Things”
platform. Gartner, Inc. guesses that by the year 2020 over twenty-six billion Internet devices
will be interconnected. In turn, this collecting and linking of data will generate what we know
as Big Data in real-time (Sagiroglu and Sinanc, 2013).

2.2.3 Big data

The definition of big data in the context of healthcare insurance has been in debate .Generally
Big data alludes to the immensely increasing volume and velocity of data sets that are being
accessed and connected. The capacity to compile and analyze those massive unstructured data
sets is currently transforming the way insurers see enormous pools of consumers and how they
price risks. This will have consequences for the asking price and availability of insurance for
all consumers. Using the data collected efficiently helps a company to better sell products or
services, target marketing efforts, and improve services and products overall (Uğur and
Türkmen Barutçu, 2016b).

There is a general agreement among scholars that healthcare big data is a composition of large
and complex data sets, which cannot be handled with traditional systems and which consists
of data such as patient information (Ganjir, Sakar & Kumar, 2016). Studies have shown that
generally big data can easily be defined with four (4) V’s of big data (see Figure below).

Veracity

Availability
Accountability

Variety Volume
4 Vs of Big
Structured Data Terabytes
Unstructured Petabytes

Velocity

Fast
generation
Figure 2.1 Characteristics of big data Source: Adapted from Acharjya & Kauser, 2016)

10
Wyber et al. (2015) state that the analysis of big data can help in improving outcomes in
healthcare. Additionally, the healthcare insurance industry has a huge potential to improve
service delivery through their use of predictive analysis using big data. However, these
solutions lead to other challenges such as the accumulation of data at rapid speeds as explained
by the four Vs. This brings about the need for solutions such as big data analytics.

2.2.4 Big Data Analytics

Big data is known to create value, states Watson (2014); however, that can only happen once
it is analyzed using data analysis tools. some scholars went on to describe big data analytics as
the aptitude to compile and analyses those granular data sets is currently transforming the way
insurers see enormous pools of clients , manage risks and at the same time able to satisfy their
customers different needs . Elragal (2014) state that a simpler description of big data analytics
is that it is the application of analytics techniques on big data. These techniques can also be
applied to insurance big data. Scholars appear to agree that analysis of big data can help unearth
patterns and relations in medical insurance industry. In support of this, Eswari, Sampath and
Levanya (2015) state that the analysis of big data not only aids in discovering patterns but also
supports in anticipating results (Predictive analysis). Data analytics tools are essential for
insures to better exploit their voluminous data sets .

With Big data analytics there are many use cases in the healthcare insurance industry such as
credit scoring and pricing models .this enables insures to improve their client relationships and
experience by further understanding client’s needs and behaviors .Improved policy holder
relationships and experience is necessitated by provision of quality service through
communication, marketing contacts and claims management . From the client’s point of view,
data analytics can assist in providing clients with more accurate information that can help in
decision making through the analysis of their data and help them make informed decisions

11
2.3 THEORETICAL LITERATURE: UNDERPINNING THEORIES

It is crucial, therefore, to understand the determinants of big data analytics adoption and the
theoretical models that have arisen addressing its adoption. This study focuses on technology
adoption models for firms such as the Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure
(BOE) model, The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI)
model.

2.4 Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model (Rogers, 1995)

This study is going to use this model because it expounds objectives highlighted in chapter
one mainly, internal organizational structure furthermore, external characteristics and qualities.
That is system openness of the organization. DOI is a hypothesis of how, why, and at what rate
novel thoughts and innovation spread through societies, working at the individual and firm
level. Rogers defines the Diffusion of Innovations as: “the process by which an innovation is
imparted through specific channels after some time among the individuals from social
frameworks” (Rogers, 1995:5).This entails that, a decision not to implement an innovation
relates to the dismissal of the novel idea.

The existing literature especially from Rogers strongly asserts that a technological innovation
embodies information, and that this information has the prospective to diminish uncertainty.
Diffusion is thus accordingly viewed as information exchange process amongst individuals of
a communicating social network driven by the requirement to reduce uncertainty. Rogers
(1995) claims that organizations who responds and adopts innovation early have unique
features compared to those who adopt an innovation at a later stage. Roger (1995) went on to
group adopters into five categories namely: innovators, early adopters, early majority, later
majority, and laggards.

DOI theory at firm level (Rogers 1995), innovativeness is related to three independent variables
such as individual (leadership attitude towards change), internal organizational structure
(centralization, complexity, interconnectedness, the number of employees) and External
characteristics that is system openness of the organization.

a) Individual (leadership attitude towards change)

Gjendem, Manovel and Mckenna (2019) believes that together with technical expertise, firms
will require effective change management and leadership capacity to redesign internal
processes, identify changing team needs, redevelop career pathways and ensure organizational
buy-in to technological innovation .
12
Both PwC (2019), (2018), Mckinsey Global Institute (2019) agrees that leadership support is
a core success factor for businesses looking to adopt technologies. Organizational leaders will
need to ensure their employees are prepared to embrace and understand, the significance of
adopting technological innovation. This requires constant communication and clear
articulation of the purpose of each step (Bérubé et al., 2018).

b) Internal organizational structure (centralization, complexity, interconnectedness, the

number of employees)

Establishing an innovative, resilient, and collaborative culture can help companies adopt new
technologies quickly. While the acquisition of the right talent and infrastructure is very
important to the adoption of technology, organizations will also need to invest in appropriate
business processes and supports to properly integrate and derive maximum value from these
components Villeneuve (2019). To successfully incorporate necessary skills, firms will need
to reconsider or develop new job roles and career paths (Bérubé et al., 2018). This not only
includes building in organizational agility to quickly deploy systems and organize people to
take advantage of new opportunities, but also requires developing and accepting new ways of
working and making decisions to improve a firm’s ability to overcome bureaucratic roadblocks
that hinder transformative change (Stuart et al., 2018; PwC, 2019 and Palvia, 2019).

c) External characteristics.

Access to robust, permeating and affordable broadband infrastructure is a prerequisite for new
current technologies, Sub-Saharan Africa still has more to do to ensure adequate connectivity
infrastructure is in place (Zakaria, 2017). According to PwC (2019), there is a growing interest
among the general public to engage in new ways, with new technology, for their health and
wellness needs. This in turn creates a positive customer buy in to technological innovation.
According to Rayapati (2019) and Winter and Davidson (2019), data governance empowers
users to have trust and confidence in the predictions of analytics models in their decision
making because there is certainty that the data and algorithms can be trusted.

13
 The Theory of Diffusion of Innovation is explained in the diagram below.

Individual (leader)
characteristics
Attitude toward change

Internal characteristics
of organizational
structure
Centralization
Complexity Organisational
Formalization innovativeness
Interconnectedness
Organizational slack size

External characteristics of
the organization

Figure 2.2: Diffusion of innovations (Rogers 1995)

2.5 Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure (BOE) model

Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure model (BOE) was developed to
understand the adoption of Electronic Data Interchange technology (EDI) Dasgupta and
Wendler (2019 .The (BOE) model has since been used as a general technology adoption
model. Iacovou et al. (1995) analysed inter organizational systems (IOSs) characteristics
that influence firms to adopt IT innovations in the context of EDI adoption. It is based on
three factors (see Figure 3)

a) Perceived benefits

According to Youssef Mohamed Badr Senousy , 2018 ‘International Journal of Computer

Science and Information Security’, Vol. 16, No. 12,pp39 ,technological innovations offers
numerous advantages along three key elements:
(i) the Operational Efficiency which aims to reduce cost, demand management, and
production methods
14
(ii) the Profitable Growth through acquiring more clients and trying to satisfy them
(iii) the Risk Management in capital efficiency and operational risk management

b) Organizational readiness

It is very crucial to guarantee that the workforce is ready for the adoption of technological
innovation. For any technological innovation to be useful, it is necessary to have organisational
culture ready to embrace it. Employees must be equipped to use the technology and providers
must be certain that their network is high-performing and dependable (eHealth Initiative,
2018). There is general acknowledgement from authors particularity Villeneuve (2019) and
Accenture (2019) that talent and skills are very essential for the successful technological
adoption. Accenture (2019) proposes that developing transformative artificial intelligence
applications for businesses will require teams that comprise a diversity of skill sets. This
includes individuals with proven technical skills in areas such as machine learning, data
analysis and programming. Even a technological backbone in place, firms will not be able to
generate value from technological innovation without access to the skilled labour and
experience needed to operate and maintain this infrastructure (Bughin et al., 2018).

c) External pressure

Villeneuve (2019), Accenture (2019), PwC (2019),) and Zakaria (2017) emphasized that policy
regulation can be a powerful tool for governments to promote technological adoption by
encouraging innovation. Scholars agree that first world countries or leading economies ‘s
governments are actively involved in regulation and adoption of technology .Third world
economies Zimbabwe included are not active in policing technology adoption ,this hinders
early adoption of Big data analytics in the medical insurance industry . African governments
should take a proactive approach rather than reactive approach and implement technology
friendly regulation, policies. (Zakaria; 2017 and Joshi and Morley; 2019). To conclude PwC
(2019) and Delponte (2018) highlighted that the conjunctive regulatory environment is a
critical enabler for adopting new technologies.

15
 Perceived Organisational
Benefits of Readiness
Innovation Financial
readiness
ICT resources

Adoption
Of
Innovation

External Pressure
Competitive Pressure
Trading Partner Power

Figure 2.3 Benefits, organisational readiness and external pressure model

Source: (Iacovou. et al., 1995:480)

2.6 The technology, organisation, and environment context (TOE) model

The TOE framework provides a useful analytical framework that can be utilised for
appreciating the adoption of different types of technological innovation. This framework is in
line with the DOI theory, in which Rogers (1995) stressed on variables such as individual
attributes, and together the internal and external characteristics of the business, as enablers for
adoption of technological innovation. According to Yang, Kankanhalli, Ng and Lim (2013)
technology, organisation, and environment context (TOE) model is viewed as a more
comprehensive lens for the study of the adoption of technological innovations at the
organisation level.

The TOE framework was concepualised in 1990 (Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990). It recognizes
three aspects of an enterprise's context that impact the process by which it adopts and
implements a technological advances which are technological context, organisational context
and environmental context,

16
a) Technological context

According to (Starbuck 1976) technological context defines both the internal and external
technologies pertinent to the firm. This embraces current practices and technologies internal to
the firm, as well as the set of technologies and inventions external to the organisation
(Thompson 1967, Khandwalla 1970, Hage 1980). On reliable and supportive infrastructure
many

Scholars like Villeneuve (2019), and Zakaria (2017), all concur that deploying any
technological innovation effectively requires robust digital infrastructure that can support large
data sets and continuous iteration. Big Data analytics relies heavily on a range of digital
hardware and software components.
While lately there has been a sensational improvement in the amount and quality of
telecommunications infrastructure, Sub-Saharan Africa still has more to do to ensure adequate
connectivity infrastructure is in place (Zakaria, 2017).

b) Organizational context

Organizational context alludes to illustrative measures about the business such as scope, size,
managerial structure and integration of workflow processes .While acquiring the right kind of
talent and infrastructure is very important to the successful adoption technology, organisations
also need to capitalize in appropriate business processes and supports to properly integrate and
derive maximum value from these components. To incorporate the necessary talents and
critical skills, firms should reconsider or develop new roles and career paths (Bérubé et al.,
2018). This not only embraces building in organisational agility to quickly organise systems
and organize human capital to exploit new technologies, but also requires developing and
promoting new ways of making decisions to improve a firm’s capacity to defeat bureaucratic
roadblocks that hinder transformative change (Stuart et al., 2018; PwC, 2019 and Palvia, 2019).
Furthermore establishing an innovative, resilient, and collaborative culture can help companies
withstand disruption associated with organisational and technological transformation (Bughin
et al., 2017; Stuart et al., 2018).

c) Environmental context

Environmental context is the atmosphere in which a firm carries out its business that is its
industry, competitors, and businesses with the government (Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990).

17
Dealings with government brings in regulatory environment or policy framework. PwC (2019)
and eHealth Initiative (2019) stated that government policy can be a powerful tool to promote
and enhance technological adoption by encouraging innovation and investment. African
governments are encouraged take a proactive approach rather than a reactive one and
implement AI-friendly regulation, policies and initiatives (Zakaria; 2017 and Joshi and Morley;
2019). In particular, the medical insurance industry as a whole is highly regulated in many
countries across the globe and governments are at risk of developing policies that are reactive
rather than proactive (PwC, 2019).

Zakaria (2017) went on to propose that policy makers can design policies that encourage and
incentivise innovation, while protecting citizens. To do so, African governments should
consider a proactive approach and measures aimed at ensuring that countries have supportive
infrastructure, a regulatory an policy framework and a collaborative environment (Zakaria,
2017).

2.7 The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Davis (1989) described TAM as measures for illustrating adoption and use of technology .In
this study technology to be adopted is big data analytics. TAM has emphasis on two theoretical
concepts namely perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. TAM assumes that a
technology user normally acts rationally and uses information in a systematic manner to decide
adopting this particular technology or not in the working environment. TAM hypothesizes that
the influence of external variables (such as system characteristics, market forces, government
regulation, organizational structures, and technological availability development processes or
training) on intent to use the technology are mediated by perceived usefulness and perceive
ease of use. As shown in Figure below, Davis (1989) explained the core determinants of
technology acceptance.

18
 Perceived
Usefulness

External Attitude Behavioura Actual

Variables Toward l intention behaviour
Behaviour

Perceived
Ease of
Use

Figure 2.4: The Technology Acceptance Model (Fred D. Davis, et al., 1989

2.8 CRITIQUE OF LITERATURE AND RESEARCH GAP

Most of the existing literature on Big Data Analytics refers to experiences in other countries,
mainly America, Europe and Asia. There is no literature that is closer to home that relates to
Big Data Analytics in Zimbabwe. The reviewed literature does not clearly state the factors that
impact the adoption Big Data Analytics in the medical insurance sector, more so in the
Zimbabwean scenario. This could therefore mean that there are other forces working against
achieving what literature has prescribed and this study is therefore is meant to assess on all
possible factors. Moreover, the available literature is weak because it does not explicitly
address the research objectives cited above; hence this research was aimed at filling this gap.

2.9 EMPERICAL RIVIEW

According to (Deloitte 2018), in the course of recent years most insurers have devoted their
resources in Data Analytics solutions and appreciate that investing in Data Analytics is key to
survive in a fast changing environment. This is because of Data Analytics solutions, like:
enhancing the consumer experience by improved customer segmentation and targeted offers,
refining risk appraisal in guaranteeing, reducing the cost of claims and enhanced profitability.
The medical insurance industry is data-driven and generates enormous amounts of accumulated
records including demographics, both organized and unstructured hence the need for predictive
analysis.
19
 The current environment which is characterized by rapid digitalization ,is accelerating the
medical insurance industry to adopt big data analytics .Data analytics plays a crucial role in
organization’s transformations especially when it comes to deployment of innovative tools
such as Artificial intelligence .Big Analytics processes such as data mining and processing
feeds into artificial intelligence According to Zakaria (2017) and Palvia (2019), artificial
intelligence solutions can help scarce personnel and facilities do more with less. Also the
current health crisis (Covid -19) has necessitated the adoption of technological innovation
where many people have to work from home.Outside rapid digitalization there is customer buy
–in. The PwC (2019) report states that individuals are progressively willing to draw in with
artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robots if it means better access to healthcare.

2.10 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ON ADOPTION OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS

The study will be guided by the conceptual framework below:

Independent Variable Dependant Variable

Organisational Readiness Big Data Analytics

and its
Perceived Benefits
Internal Organisational
Structure
Operational efficiency
External Characteristics Improved profitability

Improved service offering

Technological context
Improved customer experience

Talent and Skills

Workforce readiness
Supportive infrastructure
Customer buy-in

Mediating Variable

Figure 2.4: Conceptual Framework

20
2.11 CHAPTER CONLUSION

The core purpose of this chapter was to place each theory/ model with regards to its
commitment to comprehension of the study problem being researched. The researcher aimed
at aspects that impact the adoption of Big Data Analytics in the insurance sector. The chapter
further highlighted on how different scholars conceptualized the variables. The researcher
revealed gaps that exist in the literature. The next chapter will stress on the methodology that
the researcher utilized to collect and analyze data in order to meet the research objectives

21
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In this section, a reiteration of the research technique behind this specific study was done. The
chapter discusses the research design, research philosophy, research paradigms, research
tactics, research strategy, data collection instrument, instrument development, population and
sampling techniques, credibility issues, data analysis and ethics as adopted and applied by the
researcher during the undertaking of his research. Creswell (2014) defines research
methodology as a strategy which address the concepts of research design, measurement of
variables and data analysis in a research paper. This section gives a vivid explanation of the
research methodology adopted by the researcher. One citation is enough

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

Mörtl and Gelo (2015) describe research design as a plan of action which creates a link between
the philosophical assumption and also the methodological approach. Exploratory, explanatory
or descriptive are the three conceivable designs in research. This study assumes the exploratory
research design it plans to foster an overall comprehension of the research problem through
qualitative data, and then to explain on the qualitative results.

The researcher used exploratory research design. Exploratory design is explained as a valuable
means of finding out what is happening, probing questions and assessing phenomena in a new
light and seeking new insights that are useful to clarify understating of a problem. Thus,
according to Saunders et al (2009). The justification for choosing this design is because PSMI
is a typical of the Zimbabwean medical insurance company. The results of the research are
applicable to other business in the similar sector which operate in medical insurance.in
adequate justification

3.3 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES

This research paper followed an objective research philosophy stated by Kumar et al (2012)
says that a study can either take an objective approach or a subjective approach. To reach the
ultimate point of conclusively determining the role which big data analysis play in the
Insurance industry, the researcher had to assume the objective approach which lays out more
of facts than fallacies. According to White (2000) examination can be completed by either
using the qualitative or quantitative approach or a combination of the two approaches, and the
method of enquiry in science is the same whatever method is used.
22
Avoid too many citations
Burns and Bush (2014), states that quantitative research approach reveals generalizable
information for a large group of people and the data collected is quantifiable. Wilson (2006)
defines the qualitative approach as an unstructured methodology that is carried out using a
small number of carefully selected individuals to produce non quantifiable insights into
behavior, motivations and attitudes. Qualitative methods use open-ended interviews to explore
opinions, behaviors and attitudes of individuals or groups of individuals (White, 2000). The
data gathered using such methods is ordinarily as portrayals of descriptions. The advantage of
this method is that it gives a more profound comprehension of social marvels than would be
acquired from simply quantitative data (Silverman, 2000).

3.3.1 Selecting the suitable philosophy

According to Denzin and Lincoln (2005), the main difference between qualitative and
quantitative method is that the former generates, rich, detailed and valid data that contributes
to in-depth comprehension of the context while quantitative research generates generalizable
and quantifiable data for a large population. The choice of whether to use quantitative or
qualitative research depends on the idea of the research, the variety of information, availability
of resources and the background of the study (Yin, 2008).

This research used a qualitative philosophy as recommended by (Silverman, 2000).The

information required to retort the research questions was obtained through personal interviews
to explore experiences, ideas, perspectives, views and situations with a small number of
respondents .This enabled the researcher to obtain an in-depth comprehension of the adoption
of BDA in the medical insurance industry . Mark et.al, (2005) further stressed that qualitative
research, through the utilisation of interviews, is the most appropriate philosophy as it enables
the researcher to respond directly and immediately to respondents’ responses.

3.3.2 Merits of Qualitative Research

Qualitative methods are more flexible as they permit greater suddenness and variation of the
collaboration between the analyst and the respondent (Mark et al, 2005). Qualitative methods
use open-ended questions contrasted to quantitative methods which uses a pre-coded
questionnaire (with close end questions). Open ended questions allow the respondents to give
their responses in their own choice words and can thus provide more detailed information
unlike the quantitative methods that are rigid and require respondents to pick from listed
responses. However, sometimes the responses may be rather complex.

23
Data gathered through qualitative means is commonly in the mold of descriptions. Silverman
(2000), adds on that the merits of this method is that it offers a profound understanding of
social sensations than would be acquired from merely quantitative data.

3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY

There are several ways of doing research these are surveys, experiments, case studies, histories
and the exploration of archival information Yin (2008). Yin (2008) further argues that each of
these strategies has peculiar merits and demerits and are dependent on three conditions namely:
Nature of research question, Control the investigator has over actual behavioral events and
Focus on contemporary as opposed to historical phenomena. As presented in the Table 3.0
below.

Table 3.0: Applicable circumstances for various research strategies

Strategy Form of research Requires control of Concentrations on present-
question behavioral events day events
Experiment How, why? Yes Yes
Survey Who, what, where, No Yes
how many, how
much?
Archival Who, what, where, No Yes/No
analysis how many, how
much?
History How, why? No No
Case study How, why? No Yes
Source: Yin, 2003

3.4.1 Case Study Strategy

The case study strategy was the most suitable strategy for the research. The case study method
was picked because the researcher wants to ask questions ‘how’ and ‘why’ on the adoption of
BDA in PSMI. The focus of this research was to respond to “how” and “why” questions about
the adoption of BDA in the medical insurance industry Furthermore case study method was
chosen because it allowed the concentration on a small sample size to obtain an in-depth
knowledge through qualitative means as recommended by (Yin, 2003).

24
A case study allows utilization of multiple sources and methods as part of an investigation, to
manage subtleties and complexities; relationships and processes in a holistic manner resulting
in high validity (Yin, 2008). In short, a case study streamlines and simplifies multifaceted
concepts. Also, case studies also expose participants to situations that are real and they add
value to participants through improving scientific reasoning, correspondence, creating capacity
to bear various perspectives on a similar subject and capacity to protect one's own perspective
with rationale, Saunders et al (2009).

3.5 DATA COLECTION

3.5.1 Population

Scholars Polit & Beck, (2017), defined population total or entirety of the multitude of items,
subjects or individuals that adjust to a bunch of details that the researcher is keen on gaining
knowledge. In this research, the population constituted mainly top and middle management.

3.5.2 Sampling Strategy

According to Polit and Beck, (2017), sampling strategy is the is the way toward choosing a
part of the research population in a fashion that the individuals represent the larger group from
which they were selected, to participate in a study. According to Betram and Christiansen
(2014), there are two key sorts of sampling methods, specifically, nonprobability and
probability sampling. Probabilistic sampling is whenever there is a known possibility of
someone being chosen and non-probabilistic sampling, when it is not exactly known what the
likelihood of being chosen is.

3.5.3 Purposive sampling

Purposive sampling defines a non-probability sampling technique that enables the researcher
to make use of his/her judgement to select cases that will be best able to address the research
questions and to meet the research objective (Saunders et al., 2009). This is quite possibly the
most widely recognized sampling strategies which involve grouping participants according to
pre-selected criteria applicable to a specific research question (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). The
study used non-probability purposive sampling because it allowed the researcher to recognise
and choose participants who are best able to address the set questions and meet the set
objectives as recommended by (Saunders et al., 2009). In this research, purposive sampling
was used in which the top and middle management of the organization were selected because
of their strategic role and position in making strategic choices.

25
3.6 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

There are two types of data sources namely primary and secondary. Primary data is gathered
directly from the elements of the population. The study used primary data sources namely
questionnaires and actual interviews to collect data.

3.6.1 Questionnaires

A questionnaire is an instrument for social occasion self-report data from the respondents about
their perspectives, information, convictions and sentiments (Polit and Beck, 2017). A
questionnaire guide was drafted using semi-structured questions to collect qualitative primary
data. This was done in order to gather in-depth information and allow room for probing for
clarity on any answers. Using questionnaires has the following pros and cons (Salant and
Dillman, 1994).

Advantages:
i. There is anonymity and respondents are comfortable to answer any question
without feeling any pressure or bias.

ii. They are inexpensive.

iii. The questionnaire format was standardized for all respondents resulting in a rapid
and efficient data collection process.

Disadvantages:
i. The response rate may misread or misunderstand a question and as a result the
response given will not be the correct one.

ii. The response rate may be low if the respondent lacks interest.

3.6.2 Personal Interviews

This is a qualitative technique which require individual interaction with participants in order
for them to dwell on their perspective of the subject matter (Boyce & Neal, 2006). Interviews
do not only assist in gaining answers to the questions, but also in understanding the
participants’ experience (Seidman, 2013). The personal interviews were via zoom meetings to
save costs of travelling as well as maintaining social distancing

26
An interview guide with semi-structured and open-ended questions were employed. The
interview guide was pre-tested before use in to establish usability.The advantages of interviews
provided room for further probing which allowed the researcher to acquire in-depth
information. Nonverbal responses were noted which allowed the researcher to make some
conclusions and the responses were immediate which allowed the researcher to get immediate
conclusions to the research questions.

The study under research used this method of personal interviews so as to eliminate both bias
and cut on costs. These interviews were done with the senior and middle management in order
to obtain in-depth information at the strategic level of the organization. The departmental
supervisors who are usually involved in the strategic implementation were also interviewed so
as to give an insight of the success or failure of the strategy implemented.

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis is of great importance in research because of how it provides an important

platform towards the gathering of data and combining those findings with bigger ideas
(Hoonard & Hoonard, 2012).Neuman (2006), stresses that there is no standard format in data
analysis in a qualitative research. Qualitative data analysis can be explained as the as the way
toward seeming well and good from research members' perspectives and assessments of
circumstances, relating designs, topics, classifications and customary similitudes (Cohen et al.,
2007). The data was analysed by going through all the questions and establishing common
patterns and associations. The information gathered was all analysed against theory cited in the
literature review and the appropriate inferences were made.

3.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Due to the sensitivity of the field being researched (medical insurance) in this
study, ethical considerations were highly prioritized. Interviews were conducted on a
voluntary basis where participants had the liberty to withdraw from the study and also be
given the option of anonymity so as to ensure that the study poses no harm to them.
Some of the ethical considerations that the study adhered to include:

Confidentiality
During the research we were privileged to have access to some confidential reports and
communications from the PSMI group. Adequate level of confidentiality of the research data
was ensured, with information obtained only used for purposes of this research.

27
Honesty
In coming up with this study the researcher was honest in all communications, reported data
has been backed up with reliable references, results gathered as well as methods and procedures
are all truthful. No fabrication, falsification or misrepresentation of data was done therefore
misleading information, as well as representation of primary data findings in a biased way was
avoided.

Objectivity
Bias was avoided in data analysis, interpretation of the data and also different facets of research
where objectivity is expected or required. This was done mainly by applying qualitative
methods of data collection.

Informed consent
Respondents participated based on informed consent by providing adequate information and
affirmations about partaking to permit people to comprehend the ramifications of interest and
to arrive at a completely educated, considered and openly given choice about whether to do as
such, without the activity of any pressing factor or compulsion.

Language
The use of offensive, discriminatory, or other unacceptable language was avoided in the
formulation of the questionnaire.

Acknowledgement
Works of different authors utilised in this research have been fully acknowledged below with
the use of Harvard referencing system.

3.8 CONCLUSION
The contents of this chapter lay out the research process as executed and helps third parties to
this research paper to gain a vivid portrait of the research processes and stages through which
the research was executed. All the research methodologies chosen by the researcher are iterated
in this chapter of the research study. A case study was used and data collected using both
questionnaires and personal interview. Data displays and write-ups were chosen to analyse
findings. The coming chapter the researcher discusses and analyse the outcomes of the
research.

28
CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS, FIDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter explained the research methodology used to attain the goals of this study.
The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss the discoveries of this investigation in an effort
to see how the findings talk to the research objectives. Furthermore, the researcher presents the
research findings from the conducted online personal interviews that were done through the
use of interview guides. The data is then analyzed by means of summary tables. Tabulated
results will then be clarified and discussed their implications and relationship to literature.

4.2 PSMI EMPLOYEES

All interviews were done online face-face to maintain social distancing in the Covid-19
pandemic with the top and middle management. However, the ICT Business solutions Business
partner was not available for interviews. These interviewees were selected because they are all
at the strategic and decision-making level of the PSMI organization. They were also selected
so as to be able to extract a broad range of information.
4.2.1 Section A: Demographic information
Table 4.1 Demographic information of the respondents that were interviewed.
Respondent Age Length of Current Position Highest
service Qualification
Respondent 46-55 years 9 Manager Senior management
1
Respondent 36-45 years 12 Business Partner Senior management
2
Respondent 26-35 years 5 IT Engineer Middle -
3 management
Respondent 26-35 years 5 ICT Developer Junior Management
4
Respondent 26-35 years 5 Network Junior Management
5 Administrator

The respondents who have been in the PSMI organization for over 5 years showed that they
have a deep understanding of PSMI and its operations by virtue of their positions and the
number of years they have been within PSMI . The findings in table 4.1 show that the
respondents were all mature and at the managerial level of the organization. The above

29
discoveries showed that they were at the administration level of the association during the
period covered by the case study as demonstrated by the quantity of years (3-4 years) each has
been in their position.

4.2.2 Section B: Organizational structure

The researcher clearly explained to the respondents the motivation behind the investigation and
how this would have been responded by their reactions to the study questions. The sections of
the interview guide were each clearly explained and defined for the benefit of the interviewees.
This was done to guarantee that the respondents provide answers that are directly related and
pertinent to the subject matter under study.
Question 1: Does your organization have a flexible organizational structure? If yes, provide
the importance of a flexible structure to your organization? If no, explain why your
organization doesn’t have any. Table 4.2 below shows the appropriate responses given by the
respondents.

Table 4.2 Flexibility of the organizational structure

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Yes, it helps the growth of the business as far as management
and flow of information.
Responded 2 Yes , it gives quick response to the business needs cutting
down on all bureaucratic processes
Responded 3 Yes. It allows everyone to work efficiently as it removes
bottlenecks
Responded 4 Yes, motivates employees as it gives quick responses and
feedback on issues
Responded 5 Yes .When I joined the PSMI in 2014 there was a very rigid
structure. After the strategy review a new semi-flexible
structure was implemented which created an open-door policy.

The responses of the interviewees in Table 4.2 showed that all the respondents had a basic
understanding of a flexible organogram and its merits. The majority of the respondents replied
that the organization had a flexible organogram but this was however in disagreement with the
minority of the interviewees who are still to see merits of the new structure. This is in
agreement with Rogers (1995) who asserted that inventiveness is identified with such free
factors as interior attributes of hierarchical design such as centralization. Centralization is how

30
much force and control in a framework are amassed in the possession of a moderately couple
of people. Responses from respondents 1, 2and 4 indicated that a flexible organizational
structure improves flow of information by removing all bureaucratic process and bottlenecks
which aid the business to improve its turnaround times. Responded number 5 felt that the
organization initially had a rigid structure and only recently it was made little bit flexible
.Respondent number cited that a flexible structure improves efficiency in the execution of
duties ,responded went on to highlight it harmonizes business operations and processes to
ensure faster responses and the ease of doing business.

Question 2 In your own view of the organizational conduct, do you think the organizational
hierarchy is efficient? If yes how do you rate the efficiency? If no, explain why it is inefficient.

Table 4.3 Efficiency of the organizational structure

Respondent Response
Responded 1 Yes. Excellent.
Responded 2 No, 45/100, it’s inefficient because it takes forever to make
simple decisions which should be made by low level
management not by middle or senior such as decision to recruit
operational team members.
Responded 3 To some extent good but there is that there is opportunity to get
better
Responded 4 Yes. A bit fair, improvement required on speedy decisions.
Responded 5 Yes, but sometimes there are no clear job descriptions
especially for administration officers

Respondents advised that there is room for improvement which may help the organization get
better since if a certain policy is followed. The interviewees detailed that in PSMI there are no
reasonable sets of job expectations and clear job lines, instructions sometimes come via emails
and telephonically and that it takes forever to make simple decisions for low line managers
who always have to consult their superiors. On A scale of 100, 2 of the responses from numbers
3 and 5 demonstrated that the proficiency of the hierarchical design was rated at 50 %, while 1
response from number 1 rated it to be very excellent which is above 80 % and respondent
number 2 rated the effectiveness of PSMI’s organizational structure below 50 %

31
Question 3 To what extent does management get involved with employees in nurturing
relations and creating an open-door policy?
Table 4.4 Management employee relationships
Respondent Response

Respondent 1 As management we assist employees when there are personal

problems so that they feel as a component of the group and we
ensure internal disputes settled amicably. We grace social functions
together.
Respondent 2 We celebrate personal achievements together such as birthdays and
graduations this ensures long term relations
Respondent 3 Management team rarely attend these social gatherings which are
meant to create personal relationships .They are always busy to
attend junior functions
Respondent 4 There are policies to celebrate each other’s birthdays and going out
for team building exercises during weekends .Sadly ,I don’t recall
celebrating any of our manger’s birthday .they should lead by
example
Respondent 5 We encourage firm loyalty to the organization’s values and mission
statements which includes teamwork, transparency and innovation

The answers of the respondents in Table 4.4 showed that the organization considers it to be
very important nurturing long term relationships. There is a culture of giving each other extra
attention on your birthdays and even during hard times. The top management pointed that there
are procedures and does set aside for involvement with staff in relationship building. From the
responses of the middle and junior management ,it was apparent that there is minimal
participation by senior management when it comes to team building exercises .The responses
also indicate that management and employees participation as one unit only partakes when
there are problems to be resolved. All responses except number 3 and 4 indicated that there is
management involvement in nurturing relationships with management. However, respondent
number 3 and 4 differed with everyone else and argued that senior management hardly attends
social gatherings. Responded number 4 went on to say that senior management do not invite
junior management to their social gatherings which is meant to break barriers improve
communication and motivation.

32
Question 4 What is the degree of responsiveness from your superior in-terms of innovative
ideas and transformative change from their subordinates?

Table 4.5 Degree of responsiveness to innovative ideas

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Generally, very good.
Respondent 2 Generally, its fair
Respondent 3 Mild response and every idea is scrutinized thoroughly before
being implemented.
Respondent 4 Mixed sometimes its high and other times very low
Respondent 5 Most of them are very responsive and welcoming but takes
forever to implement.

The respondents share a common position that response from their superiors is not at the level
they expect it to be. The respondents’ responses to the question above shows that the teams
have the same understanding rapid response enhances development of innovative ideas
purchases. However, the organization is not practicing the culture of rapid responses and if an
idea is finally responded to it takes forever for it to be implemented. PwC (2019), Joshi and
Morley (2019), Kolbjornsrud and Thomas (2017), Fountaine et al (2019), Accenture (2019),
Delponte (2018), Mckinsey Global Institute (2019) concur that leadership support is a core
success factor for businesses looking to adopt technologies . Respondents 1, 2 and 3 believed
that degree of responsiveness to innovative ideas from their superiors is generally fair and not
as overwhelming as they expect it to be. Responded number 4 highlighted that responses are
not consistent sometimes they are responded very well and other times the response will be not
convincing. Responded 5 cited that response is rate is very high, challenge comes only when
its implementation which takes forever to kick off .

33
Question 5 Does your organization have an innovative and collaborative culture that can help
it withstand disruption associated with organizational and technological transformation?

Table 4.6 Innovative and collaborative culture

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 We provide our employees with training and skills
development that promotes innovative ideas
Respondent 2 We encourage stern adherence to the organization’s core values
which includes innovation and teamwork
Respondent 3 Action on innovative ideas is greatly encouraged .Not every
new idea is taken directly into prototyping ,time is taken to
gather data and furthermore, settle on educated choices
Respondent 4 It’s a talk that innovative ideas is welcome but I think there
should be a day or event set aside where employees will be just
throwing their ideas for evaluation such as hackathons and
workshops
Respondent 5 Innovation should be rewarded .There are employees who
assisted the organization in implementing cost containment
measures they were only praised by email and not with tangible
rewards .This discourages and demotivates

In their responses the respondents indicated the organization values and appreciates
collaborative innovative culture but it’s not doing enough to promote this noble culture. The
tools identified such as staff trainings , skills developments and intrinsic rewards such as email
acknowledgments are used. The organization has a limited approach that is meant towards
innovative and collaborative culture as the respondents only cited these few elements. Two
respondents 1 and 2 concurred that the organization has innovative and collaborative culture
that can help it withstand disruption associated with organizational and technological
transformation through staff training and loyalty to organizational core values which are
innovation and team work . Respondents 3, 4 and 5 were disagreeing with 1 and 2. Respondent
3 pointed that in as much as innovative culture is encouraged there is not enough action to
implement it while responded 4 echoed that there should be attending workshops and seminars
where there will be sharing ideas with other players in the industry.

34
4.2.3 Section C: Organizational readiness
Question 1 Please explain how your organization recruits and selects for hiring employees
with talent and critical skill .What impact has this strategy had on adoption of technologies and
your organizational performance?

Table 4.7 Recruiting methods

Respondent Response

Respondent 1 Used Head hunting those with talent and competencies but
this has been greatly affected by lack of funding Because
those with best talents require hefty remunerations
Respondent 2 based on merit , on performance its affected by funding
Respondent 3 I would want to believe that we have a recruitment policy from
HR. But there are instances when staff is hired because of
emergencies or shortages because of the current high staff
turnover even if it was not best value.
Respondent 4 Try to follow hiring through recommendations. However,
there is room for improvement. if the policy is made
mandatory
Respondent 5 Sometimes they recruit untrained personnel which will have
to blend in with old staff to retain skills due to budgetary
constrains

The responses in table 4.7 shows nonexistence of clear cut recruitment policy or framework
that is being followed. Some interviewees advised that there is prospect to get improved which
may enhance organizational performance if a certain policy is followed. The respondents
echoed the same sentiments that financial constrain is the major challenge to recruiting skilled
personnel. This view is supported by Accenture (2019), PwC (2019) and eHealth Initiative
(2019).These scholar’s states that organizations that wish to adopt technological advances such
as data analytics and artificial intelligence should always have a budget in place to hire
consultants who will assist in the whole socialization process. All the five respondents in Table
4.7 concurred that PSMI used different methods to recruit and select. Respondents 1 and 3 also
said that PSMI used head hunting methods but it’s greatly affected by lack of funding.
Respondent number 4 further said that recommendations are though this is not done perfectly
there is possibility for improvement .Responded number 5 cited that with the unattractive
remuneration packaged untrained personnel end up being hired.
35
Question 2 Does your organization have a staff developmental plan? If yes, provide the
importance of a staff training plan to your organization. If no, explain why your organization
doesn’t have any.

Table 4.8 Staff developmental plan

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Yes the organization has a staff developmental plan ,it
addresses the skills gap and the weakness in the team
Respondent 2 Yes, it shows the employees that they are valued and it boosts
their morale
Respondent 3 Yes, a staff developmental plan enhances the company profile
and reputation .Also it makes it attractive to new recruits
Respondent 4 Yes, a plan is there and challenge comes on implementation
largely due to financial constrains
Respondent 5 It does though I have not seen it being implemented so I cannot
evaluate the significance of it

The responses of the respondents in Table 4.8 indicated that all the respondents had a basic
appreciation of what a staff developmental plan is about and its merits. Larger part of the
respondents replied that the organisation had a plan but this was however in disagreement with
the minority of the interviewees who alluded that that they have not seen it being implemented.
Some pointed to lack of funds for it not being implemented. Respondent numbers 1 and 2 both
concurred that a staff developmental plan is there and it motivates employees. According to
respondent number 2 plan is there and its never implemented because professional courses are
expensive to sponsor especially now with the unavailability of foreign currency. Responded
number 5 could evaluate something that he or she has never experienced.
Question 3 How do you rate your organisational readiness to adopt new technologies such as
Big Data Analytics in terms of business processes or integration of workflow processes?

36
Table 4.9 organisational readiness
Respondent Response
Responded 1 50 % ready there is need to engage consultants since this is
a new technology being introduced in PSMI
Responded 2 I don’t think we are fully ready , we ought to acquire the right
infrastructure and have experts in the data analytics domain in
our team
Responded 3 The level of readiness is not sufficient to take off or adopt
new technologies .In terms of business process there must be
a culture change .I don’t see a positive culture with regards to
selection of new technologies since responsiveness to new
advances is very slow
Responded 4 In theory it might be ready but it lacks the drive and vision to
implement.
Responded 5 The readiness at this moment is slightly above 50% due to lack
of funding .The Covid-19 crippled the organisation financially

The respondents as shown in Table 4.9 all agreed that the organisation is not yet fully ready to
adopt technological advances such BDA in terms of business processes or integration of
workflow processes. From the responses it was clear that there no skilled personnel as one
hinted on hiring consultants and organisational culture change. One manager as evidenced by
his response in Table 4. 9 identified unavailability of find and another sited unavailability of
infrastructure to embrace the new technology. This is in line with O’Reilly (1989) proposes
that some authoritative qualities, for example, hazard taking, transparency, shared vision,
regard and trust, are advancing cultural preparation for change, while others, for example,
hazard aversion, irresoluteness, and unnecessary rivalry, are debilitating change status and
exercises. Responded 1 and 5 reported that PSMI’s readiness to embrace new technologies
such as Big Data Analytics in terms of business processes is around 50% since there are no
skilled personnel and there is need to engage consultants .Responded 3 pointed lack of modern
ICT infrastructure which is key to technologies while responded 2 highlighted need to have a
cultural change which is welcoming towards dig data analytics.

37
Question 4 In what way does the budgetary constraints influence organisational readiness to
adopt new technologies?

Table 4.10 Budgetary constrains

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Yes, finance plays a crucial role but there are also other
factors that influence organisational readiness such as
organisational culture and compatibility with existing
technologies.
Respondent 2 As I have alluded in the previous question financial constrains
plays a crucial role because there is need to invest in
infrastructure ,hire consultants and also Skilled personnel this
requires a financial muscle
Respondent 3 reduces their readiness due to liquidity issues
Respondent 4 lack of funding affects purchase of modern technologies
Respondent 5 Yes, funding affects the adoption especially with this corona
pandemic our business has suffered a lot of financial losses

In table 4.10 above, bulk of the respondents concurred that budgetary constraints negatively
impact organisational preparedness to adopt new technologies. The interviewees further
echoed that they have had challenges with the Corona pandemic which affected their cash flows
since the last half of the previous year. This negatively impacted the organization performance
since funding is the blood stream of any organisation. Respondent number 1 posited that not
only budgetary constraints are affecting them but also issues to do the culture and compatibility
of infrastructure negatively influence organisational promptness to adopt new technologies.
Respondent number 2 and 5 assumed that the budgetary constraints are as a result of the corona
pandemic that forced to business to operate at minimal levels for almost a year. Responded 3
and 3 simply agreed that budgetary constraints are affecting the organisation’s capacity to hire
skilled personnel and acquire modern technologies.

Artificial intelligence projects can consume a portion of a company’s resources, but digital
transformations always come at a cost (Delponte, 2018). Accenture (2019), PwC (2019),
eHealth Initiative (2019) all agree that there should be a budget to acquire the artificial
intelligence technology. PwC (2019) argues that an organisation can opt for cloud-based
services which can eliminate the costs of bringing in new servers and powerful processors

38
4.2.4 Section D: External pressure

Question 1 Is there a team that deals with customers, analyse and review customer’s
requirements and feedback. If yes, what benefits have you derived from this feedback system?
Table 4.11 Customer feedback
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Yes, there is a department under business performance, This is
very important as it highlights the level of satisfaction the
customers have.
Respondent 2 Yes, there is a customer relations department. Gives the
organisation room to change requirements that customers are
not happy with
Respondent 3 Yes helped to be efficient and proactive and key to the
customers .Feedback is done via toll free lines , and email
accounts and social media pages
Respondent 4 Yes, this helps to build a strong relationship with customers
which in turns increases customer retention and customer
loyalty
Respondent 5 Yes. Customer feedback help with settling on business choices
which are in line with customer expectations and requirements

As shown in Table 4.11 above, the interviewees all agreed that PSMI has a team that deals with
customers, analyse and review customer’s requirements and feedback. This feedback system
is enhanced through use of emails, toll free lines and social media services. Ones interviewee
highlighted that engagement with customers has been seen to be of benefit to the organisation
since the customer ‘s expectations are considered. The Networks administrator also highlighted
that it highlights the level of satisfaction the customers have is shown. The PwC (2019) study
indicates that shows that individuals are progressively able to draw in with new advances on
the off chance that it implies better admittance to medical care. All responses except number
indicated that there is team that deals with customers. Responded 1 and 5 highlighted that it
highlights the level of satisfaction while responded 2 argued that it give room to accommodate
the customers’ requirements. Responded 3 and 4 advocated that it helps to build customer
loyalty.

39
Question 2 Explain how government regulation and policies fosters the adoption of new
technologies.

Table 4.12 Government regulation

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Government over regulates the medical Industry hence private
individuals with new notions and technology are not taken on
board
Respondent 2 fostering collaboration between government agencies, private
sector on the adoption of technologies have a positive impact
Respondent 3 Government can craft policies to ensure that medical insurance
companies go digital and adopt technologies .Not only does it
make policies it should also walk the talk and lead by example
Respondent 4 Central government can create a conducive environment which
attracts investors who brings in new advances and much
needed capital to finance the adoption of modern technologies
Respondent 5 Too many laws and polices leads to overregulation
.Overregulation stiffens innovation and makes decision
making process long

Almost all respondents agreed that government regulation and policies can be a powerful tool
to promote technological adoption by encouraging it. The business partner concurred that
securing partnerships and collaboration between government agencies, private sector on the
acceptance of technologies have a positive impact. One respondent contended that
overregulation by the government stiffens innovation .According to PwC (2019) and Delponte
(2018) the right regulatory environment is a critical enabler for the adoption of technologies
and remains a widely debated topic that is impacting innovation across the world. Responded
1 and 5 concurred that over regulation stiffens growth by making decision process
unnecessarily long. Responded 2 and 4 highlighted that if there is positive cooperation between
government and private player then a conducive environment is created which will lead to
investments and innovation.

40
Question 3 To what extent does competitive pressure influences business decisions?
Table 4.13 Influence of competitive pressure
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Competition is always there in life .Competition in business
makes us who we are .without completion we wouldn’t be in
this position .It makes us strive for greater achievement
Respondent 2 Competition can be local or global .Any serious organisation
should be conscious of its environment and players in the
market .Yes competitive pressure influences business decisions
Respondent 3 Business thrive to satisfy customer needs and this brings about
efficiency in the business so competition has a positive impact
on business decisions.
Respondent 4 In business there is what is called competitive analysis .The
business asses its self-relative to other player’s industry .After
a competitive examination a decisions is made.
Respondent 5 Competitive pressure rarely seems to play a role in business
decisions.

The respondents had a unanimous response with regards positive impact of competition on
business decisions .From the responses above the Business Partner stated that competition
makes them strive for greater achievement as they try to outcompete each other in business and
the IT Engineer confirmed that competition brings about efficiency in the business so
competition has a positive impact on business decisions. The broking manager speaks of
service, amicable resolution of claims with a bias towards the clients. According to responded
1, competition makes the business strive for greater as far as each part of the business be it
quality or price .Responded 2 and 4 all agreed that competition makes the business to have a
self-reflection and strive to always to better and this in turn gives birth to acceptance of
innovative ideas .Responded 3 and 5 agreed that competitive pressure improves business
operations and efficiency .

41
Question 4 In your opinion, what are the main external barriers for your organisation to adopt
big data analytics?

Table 4.14 External barriers

Respondent Response
Respondent 1 There are a couple of them but the main one is lack financial
muscle
Respondent 2 Leadership attitude towards change I think ,funding plays a
role but organisations will always find a way to implement
cheaper solutions
Respondent 3 Lack of funding coupled with government over regulation
Respondent 4 Lack of expertise and unavailability of funds to hire consultants
Respondent 5 Budget constraint to acquire technology and the skilled
personnel

From Table 4.14 above, 4 out 5 responses cited lack funding as the main barrier for PSMI to
adopt BDA as a new technology .This was supported by Accenture (2019), PwC (2019),
eHealth Initiative (2019) who established that technological advances for example BDA and
AI are an investment and like any other business investment, it must be supported financially
for it to take off. Respondent number 2 however debated that the main barrier is the leaderships’
attitude towards the new technologies and once there is leadership support business will always
find a way to implement with cheaper alternatives. Responses from 3 and 5 also indicated
government over regulation and shortage of skilled personnel as a barrier respectively.

42
4.2.5 Section E: Technological Context
Question 1 Do you outsource or insource your technological services? How has this impacted
on your organizational performance?
Table 4.15 Insourcing vs outsourcing
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Both methods are used. Insourcing proves to be very cheap in
terms of cost and there is rapid deployment
Respondent 2 We mainly use available personnel and only outsource experts
with critical skills that are not available .This give the
organisation benefits of specialisation.
Respondent 3 Here and there we outsource some consultants, this gives
flexibility to quickly add and remove capacity to fit with
variable requirements.
Respondent 4 Sometimes Outsourcing though it is expensive but in-terms of
results turn around period its very effective
Respondent 5 Outsourcing. helps the organization in areas where they have
no sufficient skills and competencies

The responses from the respondents show that the organisation is using both insourcing and
outsourcing However, many reported that they organisation generally relies on insourcing first
before outsourcing owing to the high costs of outsourcing . A portion of the responses seem to
show that the organisation doesn’t really outsource technological services except in areas
where they lack sufficient skills and competences. Responded 1,2 ,3 and 4 all agreed that the
business uses both insourcing and outsourcing methods when it comes to technological services
but main emphasis is on insourcing . This is a direct result of the significant expenses that are
related with outsourcing were as insourcing there is rapid deployment of resources .Responded
number 5 emphasised on outsourcing justifying that the organisation does not have capacity in
terms of skills and know how .

43
Question 2 Referring to question 1 above, which one do you recommend to be the best your
for your organisation and why?
Table 4.16 Insourcing versus outsourcing which one is the best
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 Insourcing ,there is rapid deployment of resources .It’s
cheaper compared to consultants who charge exorbitant
consultancy fees
Respondent 2 Outsourcing ,reduced costs of employing someone on a full-
time basis only hire when necessary
Respondent 3 Insourcing ,but works well if the existing team is empowered
with the much needed essential skills it cheaper for the
organisation in the long run
Respondent 4 Here and there we outsource some consultants, this gives
flexibility to quickly add and remove capacity to fit with
variable requirements though its expensive
Respondent 5 I recommend insourcing because it proves to be fair
considering costs and motivates the available team by giving
them challenging tasks

The responses from the respondent’s show that they had mixed responses about the two
methods either to outsource or insource technological services as shown in the table above.
The other respondents reported that though outsourcing is expensive but it has helps the
organisation a lot in-terms of delivery lead times and flexibility to quickly add and remove
capacity to fit with variable requirements. Others retorted that insourcing is cheaper and
motivates the available team by giving them challenging tasks. Responded 1,3,4 and 5 all
accepted insourcing as the best method because of the advantages it brings such as rapid
deployment ,cheap deployment and flexible concerning reallocating resources .Another
reason they preferred insourcing was that it motivates existing team by giving them challenging
tasks and chance to grow their professional carriers .

44
Question 3 Explain measures in place that are meant to keep your organisation abreast with
technological advances.
Table 4.17 Measures in place to abreast with technological advances.
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 ICT audit by external players to identify gaps and areas where
we need to improve
Respondent 2 There are staff developmental programs
Respondent 3 Consultants are hired who bring in fresh ideas and technologies
Respondent 4 Staff developmental programs ,individuals attend professional
courses on their own
Respondent 5 Staff training

The responses indicate that the organization does have many activities that helps the
organisation to move with technological advances which is a key element in the adoption of
technologies. The organisation implements trainings through staff developmental programs .As
stated by the ICT developer hiring of consultants has resulted in the injection of fresh new ideas
from consultants .Responded 1 highlighted that external auditors identify gaps and advices on
best practices that are modern while responded 2 and 4 identified trainings through staff
developmental programs as measures to keep up with technological advances .According to
respond 3 ,consultants who are hired brings in fresh ideas thus helping the firm to keep abreast
with technologies .However responded 4 had a different view that it’s the individuals who help
the organisation to keep up by sponsoring themselves to attend professional courses .

Question 4 Explain the measures in place to make sure the organisation has reliable supportive
infrastructure.
Table 4.17 Reliable supportive infrastructure
Respondent Response
Respondent 1 There is an asset replacement policy for ICT equipment.
Respondent 2 Company is pondering investing in cloud technology for their
ICT services.
Respondent 3 Currently the PSMI Data center is being upgraded
Respondent 4 Experience, expertise involvement in projects and exposure
and more learning experience
Respondent 5 Asset replacement policy is there but importing ICT
equipment during the Corona pandemic has slowed down
movement of ICT equipment

45
According to the responses by the interviewees in Table 5.9, PSMI has a number of activities
to warrant that it has reliable infrastructure. Responded 1 and 5 raised an important element of
asset replacement policy which ensures that the organisation does not keep obsolete equipment.
This has been affected by liquidity challenges which resulted in assets being used way beyond
their expected asset life. Then responded 2 highlighted the issue of going to cloud technology,
this is an indication that the burden of investing in modern infrastructure will be passed on to
the cloud service provider. Upgrades are done as it was mentioned by the 3rd responded that
PSMI is currently upgrading its data center.

4.2 SUMMARY OF FUNDINGS

4.3.1 The role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

The responses indicated that there are frail internal organizational structural features. Control
is gathered in the possession of a couple of persons at the top of the hierarchy. In PSMI there
is a limited approach towards innovative and collaborative culture .As if not enough, it takes
forever for new ideas to be implemented .The important finding on this issue is that the
respondents stated that the organisation considers it to be very important nurturing long term
relationships through their staff engagement exercises.

4.3.2 Impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

As indicated by the examination results there are various components that cutoff the
organisational preparedness in PSMI. The management responses indicate that are serious
liquidity challenges and unavailability skilled workforces. The issues of funding remain the
greatest hindrance to the implementation technological innovations as alluded to by the
management. Another major constrain to PSMI is lack of skilled personnel and human
resources to adopt big data analytics mainly due unavailability of training in the new
technologies.

4.3.3 Impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

The study found that PSMI uses modern methods of customer input and feedback but with a
follow up schedule that is not competent ,it is done haphazardly. It is harvested and no tools to
store and analyse the information. Another significant finding is that there is over regulation in
the medical insurance sector by the central government and the policies do not incentivise
innovation.

46
4.3.4 The impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

The study found that supportive infrastructure is nonexistent and policies on acquiring modern
technologies exists in PSMI but they are not implemented effectively. The issues of funding
remain the challenge to the procurement of modern ICT infrastructure and importation of the
ICT equipment is slowed down by the corona pandemic.

4.4 CONCLUSION
This chapter was mainly concerned with reporting the research findings and discussing these
findings, their implications and link to literature. The following chapter covers the conclusions
made through the research, recommendations, the study limitations and areas for further
research.
SERIOUS PUNCTUATION AND WORD SPACING PROBLEMS

47
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 INTRODUCTIONS

This chapter deduces from the outcomes from fourth chapter, making the crucial deductions
and recommendations. This chapter also expounds the extent to which this dissertation satisfied
the objectives and aims that had been set at the beginning of the research study. Chapter 5 will
also reflect on the areas for future study and the precincts of the research.

5.2 CONCLUSIONS

The conclusion drawn from this examination is that despite the fact that Big Data Analytics
has a positive impact on PSMI performance, there are grey areas that need improvements, as
evidenced by the following conclusions to the research objectives:

5.2.1The role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

5.2.1.1 Objective
To determine the role of internal organizational structure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics
at PSMI

5.2.1.1.2 Finding
The study found out that agility lacks in the organisational structure as exhibited by the absence
of clear job roles, articulate business process and the heavy dependence on outsourcing skilled
personnel. This situation does not promote PSMI to quickly deploy systems and organise
human resources to take advantages of new business opportunities.

5.2.1.3 Conclusion

The study concludes that PSMI does not prioritise Information Communication and
Technology department as an enabler since their core business is medical insurance .More
focus and priority goes to their core business.

5.2.2 Impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

48
5.2.2.1Objective

To measure the impact of organizational readiness in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at
PSMI

5.2.2.2 Finding

It is further found out that the organisation is exposed to risks of inefficiency and less
productivity in its workforce. This is because PSMI lacks technical expertise in the Information
Communication and Technology department, since it is not investing in staff developmental
programs due to unavailability of funds. This minimises workforce promptness. The lack of
collaborative innovative culture in the organisational work flow processes is an adverse factor
to the successful adoption of big data analytics in PSMI.

5.2.2.3Conclusion

The research concludes that the organisation does not prioritise hiring properly trained
employees in the Information Communication and Technology department.

5.2.3 Impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics.

5.2.3.1 Objective
To analyse the impact of external pressure in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at PSMI

5.2.3.2 Finding
The research found that the levels of government regulatory and policy framework are not
commensurate with the levels of government regulation required to positively influence
adoption of big data analytics.

5.2.3.3 Conclusion

The absence of a regulatory framework inhibits the adoption of big data analytics in the medical
insurance industry.

49
5.2.4 The impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics

5.2.4.1 Objective

To determine the impact of technological context in the adoption of Big Data Analytics at
PSMI

5.2.4.2Finding
The findings in chapter 4 are a clear exhibit that there is absence of reliable and supportive
infrastructure in PSMI , this is justified by the fact that most of their ICT equipment is now
obsolete and asset replacement policy is not being followed due to liquidity challenges .This
has an adverse effect in the adoption of BDA.

5.2.4.3Conclusion

Finally, it is concluded that the current technological advancement policies are not being
implemented effectively to influence the adoption of big data analytics in a significant way.

5.3 EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSITION

The proposition is partially confirmed, because factors that influence the adoption are very
clear but there is no effective implementation and there is need for strategies to be structured
in line with literature.

5.4 RECOMENDATIONS

In view of the findings cited above this study makes the following recommendations for PSMI
to successfully adopt big data analytics.

5.4.1 Managerial recommendations

As the main recommendation from the findings, the study highly recommends management of
PSMI to look for alternative sources of funding.

5.4.2 Staff development and training

It is recommended that PSMI should set-up and run efficient and effective Staff training
programs because it the study found out that there is lack of experience and technical expertise
50
required for the successful adoption of big data analytics. In this regard it is recommended that
effort must be made to empower employees with the modern ICT qualifications

5.4.3 Functional policy innovation

Another recommendation is that Zimbabwean policy makers should factor in the issue of
investment on big data analytics thus the government should invest in supportive infrastructure
to create a conducive external environment.

5.5 STUDY LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER

RESEARCH

The major limitation was the limited time frame in which the research had to be carried due to
lock downs at the height of the corona pandemic. The second limitation was the difficulty in
obtaining information from the respondents .Some of them were scared to really open up on
other questions asked as they thought the information would expose their superior’s short
comings in strategy formulation and implementation and they feared victimisation .The
research was a single case study an analysis which only focused on PSMI. The results may be
inconclusive since more concrete inferences may be made by considering a number of similar
organizations to evaluate the adoption of big data analytics in the medical insurance industry.

From the study findings, it can be established that there are other factors that can influence the
adoption of big data analytics such as s individual pioneer qualities or pioneer's mentality
toward change and management strategy to achieve organisational goals. There is limited
literature in these areas and there is no literature particularly for the Zimbabwean medical
insurance industry. The influence and impact of these factors can therefore be further studied
to assist the medical insurance industry in Zimbabwe.

51
 REFERENCE

Accenture (2019). Injecting intelligence into healthcare. Accenture executive survey on AI in

healthcare multi-country. A survey. Journal of Artificial Intelligence adoption, 1-12
Aleksander, I. (2004). Advances in intelligent information technology: re-branding or progress
towards conscious machines? Journal of Information Technology, 19(1), 21-27.
Alsamhi, S. H., Ma, O., & Ansari, M. S. (2018). Artificial Intelligence-Based Techniques for
Emerging Robotics Communication: A Survey and Future Perspectives.
Amazon Web Services, Inc. (2019). What is a data lake? [online] Available at:
https://aws.amazon. com/big-data/datalakes-and-analytics/what-is-a data- lake/
[Accessed 10 Jan. 2020].
Andrews, D., C. Criscuolo and P. Gal (2015), “Frontier Firms, Technology Diffusion and Public
Policy: Micro Evidence from OECD Countries”, OECD Productivity Working Papers,
No. 2, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi. [Accessed 10 Jan. 2020].
Angeles, R., Corritore, C. L., Basu, S. C., & Nath, R. (2011). Success factors for domestic and
international electronic data interchange (EDI) implementation for US firms.
International Journal of Information Management, 21(5), 329-347.
Archenaa, J. & Mary Anita, E.A. 2015. A survey of big data analytics in healthcare and
government. Procedia Computer Science, 50(1): 408-413.
Armstrong, C. P., & Sambamurthy, V. (2016). Information technology assimilation in firms:
The influence of senior leadership and IT infrastructures. Information systems research,
10(4), 304-327.
Attewell, P. (1992). Technology diffusion and organizational learning: The case of business
computing. Organization science, 3(1), 1-19.
Azadegan, A., & Teich, J. (2010). Effective benchmarking of innovation adoptions: A theoretical
framework for e-procurement technologies. Benchmarking: An International Journal,
17(4), 472-490.
Bagozzi, R. P., Yi, Y., & Phillips, L. W. (1991). Assessing construct validity in organizational
research. Administrative science quarterly, 421-458.
Bi, Z., Xu, L., & Wang, C. (2014). Internet of things for enterprise systems of modern
manufacturing. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 10(2), 1537-1546.
Bigham, T., Nair, S., Soral, S., Tua, A., Gallo, V., Lee, M., Mews, T. and Fouché, M. (n.d.).
AI and Risk Management: Innovating with Confidence. Deloitte.
Caselli, F., & Coleman, W. J. (2011). Cross-country technology diffusion: The case of
computers. American Economic Review, 91(2), 328-335
52
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale
development. Psychological Assessment, 7, 309-319.

Castro, A., Richart, M., Baliosian, J., & Grampín, E. (2018). Opportunities for AI/ML in
Telecommunications Networks. In Proceedings of the 10th Latin America Networking
Conference (pp. 89-95). ACM
Chang, I. C., Hwang, H. G., Yen, D. C., & Lian, J. W. (2016). Critical factors for adopting
PACS in Taiwan: Views of radiology department directors. Decision Support Systems, 42(2),
1042-1053.
Dasgupta, A., & Wendler, S. (2019). AI Adoption Strategies. United Kingdom. University of
Oxford.
Dastin, J. (2018). Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women.
[online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/usamazon- com-jobs-
automation insight/amazon scraps- secret-AI-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias against-
women [Accessed 27 Nov 2019].

Tatnall, A. 2005. Actor-network theory in information systems research. In Encyclopaedia of

Information Science and Technology, First Edition (pp. 42-46). IGI Global.

Davenport, T. and Kalakota, R. (2019). Digital Technology. The potential for artificial
intelligence in healthcare. Future Healthcare Journal 2019 Vol 6, No 2: 94–8
Deloitte (2018). Canada’s AI Imperative: From predictions to prosperity.
Dudovskiy, J. (2015). The ultimate guide to writing a dissertation in Business studies; A step-
by-step assistance, Research-methodology.
El Khatib, M. M., Al-Nakeeb, A., & Ahmed, G. (2019). Integration of Cloud Computing with
Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Telecom Sector—a Case Study.
Eswari, T., Sampath, P. & Lavanya, S. 2015. Predictive methodology for diabetic data analysis
in big data. Procedia Computer Science, 50: 203-208.
Eysenck, M. W. (2014). Statistical and Methodological research. Organizational Research
Methods, Vol. 9.
Falch, M. (2017). Cost and demand characteristics of Healthcare networks. Healthcare reform:
Fast, E., & Horvitz, E. (2017, February). Long-Term Trends in the Public Perception of
Artificial Intelligence. In AAAI (pp. 963-969).

53
Fichman, R. G. (2014). Going beyond the dominant paradigm for information technology
innovation research: Emerging concepts and methods. Journal of the association for
information systems, 5(8), 11.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Intention and Behavior: An introduction to theory and
research.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable
variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research, 39-50.
Ganjir, V., Sarkar, B.K. & Kumar, R.R. 2016. Big data analytics for healthcare. International
Journal of Research in Engineering, Technology and Science, 6: 1-6.
Ganjir, V., Sarkar, B.K. & Kumar, R.R. 2016. Big data analytics for healthcare. International
Journal of Research in Engineering, Technology and Science, 6: 1-6.
Gjendem, F. H., Manovel, I. Mackenna, N. (2019). Injecting intelligence into healthcare.
Accenture executive survey on AI in healthcare multi-country. A survey. Journal of Artificial
Intelligence adoption, 1-12
Kumar, A., Irsoy, O., Ondruska, P., Iyyer, M., Bradbury, J., Gulrajani, I., & Socher, R. (2016,
June). Ask me anything: Dynamic memory networks for natural language processing.
In International Conference on Machine Learning (pp. 1378-1387).

Kwon, O., Lee, N. & Shin, B. 2014. Data usage experience and acquisition intention of big
data analytics, International Journal of Information Management Data quality management, 34:
387–389.
McGivern, Y. (2013) Research methods for marketers. 5th ed. England: Pearson Education
Limited.
Medhora, R. (2019). Data Governance in the Digital Age. Centre for International Governance
Innovation, pp.2-4.
Meek, T., Barham, H., Beltaif, N., Kaadoor, A., & Akhter, T. (2016). Managing the ethical and
risk implications of rapid advances in artificial intelligence: A literature review. In
Portland 136
Meiring, G. A. M., & Myburgh, H. C. (2015). A review of intelligent driving style analysis
systems and related artificial intelligence algorithms. Sensors, 15(12), 30653-30682.
Mithas, S., Ramasubbu, N., & Sambamurthy, V. (2017). How information management
capability influences firm performance. MIS quarterly, 35(1), 237.
Mugwagwa, J. T, Chinyadza, J. K. and Banda, G (2017). Private Sector Participation in Health
Care in Zimbabwe: What's the Value-Added? Journal of healthcare communication.

54
Müller, R., & Jugdev, K. (2012). Critical success factors in projects: Pinto, Slevin, and
Prescott– the elucidation of project success. International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business, 5(4), 757-775.
Murawski, J. (2019). Need for AI Ethicists Becomes Clearer as Companies Admit Tech’s
Flaws. [online] WSJ. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/ articles/need-for-AI-
ethicists-becomes-clearer as- companies-admit-techs-flaws-11551436200 [Accessed
27 Nov 2019].
Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L., & Jha, A. (2018). Health Care Spending in the United States and
Other High-Income Countries. Jama, 319(10), 1024-1039. Retrieved from
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/(Accessed: 5 Dec 2019).
principles, policies and regulatory practices, Technical University of Denmark, 107-
122.
PwC (2019). From virtual to reality in healthcare. Six imperatives for becoming an AI- ready
healthcare business. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/assets/aipredictions/
(Accessed: 5 Dec 2019)

Wyber, R., Vaillancourt, S., Perry, W., Mannava, P., Folaranmi, T. & Celi, L.A. 2015. Big data
in global health: improving health in low-and middle-income countries. Bulletin of the World
Health Organization, 93(3): 203-208.

(2016). Artificial intelligence: a modern approach. Malaysia; Pearson Education Limited.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2012). Research methods for business students. 5th
ed. England: Pearson Education Limited.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). The diffusion of innovation. 5th edition. Russell, S. J., & Norvig, P.
(2016). Artificial intelligence: a modern approach. Malaysia; Pearson Education Limited.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2012). Research methods for business students. 5th
ed. England: Pearson Education Limited.
Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. 5th
ed. Essex: Pearson.
Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. 5th
ed. Essex: Pearson.
Sun, J., & Reddy, C. K. (2013, August). Big data analytics for healthcare. In Proceedings of
the 19th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining
(pp. 1525-1525). ACM.

55
Sun, J., & Reddy, C. K. (2013, August). Big data analytics for healthcare. In Proceedings of
the 19th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining
(pp. 1525-1525). ACM.

56
APPENDICES

i) Cover letter for entry into an organisation

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE FACULTY OF COMMERCE GRADUATE SCHOOL

OF MANAGEMENT MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

09 March 2021

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

RE: ACADEMIC ESEARCH LETTER FOR MR SHADRECK RUKAT0 (R1810281)

This letter serves to confirm that Mr Shadreck Rukato is a bona fide Master of Business
Administration (MBA) student at the Graduate School of Management, University of
Zimbabwe. He is carrying out a research in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the MBA
degree program.

We kindly request you to provide her with the information he needs, and only aggregated data
will be used in the final analysis. Please note that the Graduate School of Management upholds
high levels of confidentiality and ethical standards in conducting research, therefore, the
information you provide will be used for academic purposes only and will not be disclosed to
third parties.

Thank you.

DR W MKUMBUZI

DIRECTOR, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT.

57
ii) Questionnaire/Interview guide

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE FACULTY OF COMMERCE GRADUATE SCHOOL

OF MANAGEMENT MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Dear respondent

The Researcher is a final-year postgraduate student with the University of Zimbabwe and
currently conducting a research study for the MBA Strategic Leadership Degree program. The
research topic is “The adoption of big data analytics in the medical insurance industry .A
case of Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI)”.

I would like to invite you to participate in this survey, which aims at investigating the adoption
of big data analytics in the medical insurance industry. The questionnaire consists of 5
sections and it will take a few minutes (less than 20 minutes) to complete.

Please be assured that all information provided in this survey will be strictly kept confidential.
Results will be reported in general terms, with no specific individuals identified in the report.
Your participation is very important in this study. Thank you very much for sparing your time
to complete this survey.

Your assistance will be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance for taking your
valuable time to complete this questionnaire. For further information, contact the
researcher on +263773460529 shaddien@gmail.com

.
THANK YOU

58
Interview guide for PSMI employees

Section A: Demographic and Background Information:

Tick where
appropriate
1.1 Gender Male
Female

1.2 Age Less than 25 years

26-35 years

36-45 years

46-55 years

Above 56 years

1.3 Employment status Permanent

Contract

1.4 Length of service Less than 5 years

6-10 years

11-15

16-20

More than 21 years

1.5 Job title ICT Developer

59
 Systems Administrator

Network Administrator

Infrastructure Business Partner

Network Business Partner

IT Engineer

Manager

Other (specify)…………………...

Current position Non-management

Junior management

Middle management

Senior management

Highest qualification A level

Diploma

Bachelor’s degree

Masters’ degree

Doctoral Degree

60
Section B: Organisational structure

1. Does your organisation have a flexible organisational structure? If yes, provide the
importance of a flexible structure to your organisation? If no, explain why your
organisation doesn’t have any.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

2. In your own view of the organisational conduct, do you think the organisational
structure is efficient? If yes how do you rate the efficiency? If no, explain why it is
inefficient.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

3. To what extent does management get involved with employees in nurturing relations
and creating an open door policy?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................

4. What is the degree of responsiveness from your superior in-terms of innovative ideas
and transformative change from their subordinates?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

61
5. Does your organisation have an innovative and collaborative culture that can help it
withstand disruption associated with organisational and technological transformation?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

62
Section C: Organisational readiness
1. How does your organisation recruit and select for hiring employees with talent and
critical skills? What impact has this strategy had on adoption of technologies and your
organizational performance?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

2. Does your organisation have a staff developmental plan? If yes, provide the importance
of a staff training plan to your organisation. If no, explain why your organisation
doesn’t have any.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

3. How do you rate your organisational readiness to adopt new technologies such as Big
Data Analytics in terms of business processes or integration of workflow processes?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

4. In what way does the budgetary constraints influence organisational readiness to adopt
new technologies?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

63
Section D: External pressure

1. Is there a team that deals with customers, analyse and review customer’s requirements
and feedback. If yes, what benefits have you derived from this feedback system?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

2. Explain how government regulation and policies fosters the adoption of new
technologies?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

3. To what extent does competitive pressure influences business decisions?

..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

4. In your opinion, what are the main external barriers for your organisation to adopt big
data analytics?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

64
Section E: Technological Context

1. Do you outsource or insource your technological services? How has this impacted on
your organisational performance?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

2. Referring to question 1 above, which one do you recommend to be the best your for
your organisation and why?
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

3. Explain measures in place that are meant to keep your organisation abreast with
technological advances.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................

4. Explain the measures in place to make sure the organisation has reliable supportive
infrastructure.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………

65