Bums in the Seats: A Study of the Relationship Between Website Functionality and Small Businesses in Developing Countries Through the Experiences of Four South African Tour Operators

Author: Mike Jaffe
Graduation Year: 2003
Advisor: Jessica Davis
Reader: Father Eric Zimmer
Date: 07 March 2006
Link to Thesis: MichaelJaffeThesis.pdf

Throughout the developing world, people from many diverse fields ? business, government, NGOs, academia, and the general population ? are coming to realize that the Internet holds great promise to spur economic development. Similarly, there is growing recognition that a dynamic small business sector is essential for developing countries to achieve self-sustaining economic growth. In recent years, much research has been done to examine each of these concepts. Yet, surprisingly little research has apparently been done to examine the relationships between small business, the Internet, and economic development in a comprehensive way. This project will investigate common threads among these three component concepts.

Over the last several decades, economic development efforts have tended to focus on a few large-scale issues, such as publicly-funded infrastructure projects, the activities of multinational conglomerates, fiscal and monetary policies of governments, and the flows of the international financial markets. These and other ?macro? issues are certainly important. But too often, the role of indigenous small enterprises as a force for development is overlooked. In fact the small enterprise sector is critical for economic growth in developed and developing countries alike. Small business facilitates employment, investment, innovation, and economic opportunity, provided that small business people have the freedom to pursue success. In many ways, the existence of a dynamic small business sector is a barometer of a country?s economic activity and development potential.

Small businesses confront a variety of challenges in achieving profitability and sustainability, even when operating in a fully industrialized country. Yet these challenges are multiplied when attempting to cope with the inadequate infrastructure, poor governance, and limited consumer markets that characterize many developing countries. In the industrialized world, many small businesses are finding that the Internet can be an invaluable tool for dealing with their challenges and expanding their opportunities. The Internet has enabled them to supplement their marketing, reach new markets, and strengthen their customer relationships. Similarly, many development experts and aid organizations believe that information and communication technology (ICTs) in general, and the Internet in particular, hold great promise for developing countries to achieve economic growth and ?leapfrog? the stages of development.

Internet advocates argue that the Internet can improve small business productivity and the efficiency of rural agriculture, industry and social services. However, small businesses in developing countries have few resources to help them understand how to make the Internet work for them. Small business managers in the developing world may not be aware of the Internet?s capabilities, or how those capabilities can be harnessed to help their businesses succeed.

The goal of this project is to critically examine the features of the Internet, specifically of the World Wide Web, and explore their relationship to the unique challenges and opportunities confronting small businesses in the developing world. In order to provide a sharper focus to this project, the research will focus on one particular type of small business ? tour operators ? in one particular developing country ? South Africa. Hence, the title, " Bums in the Seats: A Study of the Relationship Between Website Functionality and the Success of Small Businesses in Developing Countries Through the Experiences of Four South African Tour Operators." The research question guiding this study will be: What is the relationship between the website functionality of South African tour operators and the success of those firms?