Adoption of New Technological Innovation by SMMEs in South Africa - Information Accessibility a Key to Successful Technology Uptake

This paper investigates the impact of information accessibility on SMMEs in South Africa in the process of evaluation and adoption of new technology for the business. Information provides SMMEs to have an informed foundation on which to base their decisions on the new technology. The lack of information is perilous to the management of SMMEs, because it limits the ability to adopt, and the affinity to make an informed decision and choice of a new technology. The paper uncovers challenges of information accessibility by SMMEs and their understanding of its impact on adoption. A multiple case study strategy is used, with a multiple methods approach within the qualitative study. Findings from the online survey were analysed in a descriptive manner in line with a qualitative approach. Focus is on data relating to information accessibility forming part of the initial online pilot study leading on to the qualitative interview section. The number of survey respondents was limited to 22 SMMEs and does not support generalization beyond its immediate environment. Thus results from the pilot online survey were applied to give direction to the interviews to obtain deeper and richer context from 15 SMMEs selected. Findings revealed that SMMEs lack knowledge of some factors affecting technology adoption and the roles these factors play in the business and adoption process. There is an acknowledgement that SMMEs lack access to information to identify the functions and features of a new technology with potential before making a decision based on relevant facts and knowledge.