AbstractsBusiness Management & Administration

Abstract

The thesis was on the impact of IS on the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector had experienced many challenges that led to closures of many companies. In 1980, the sector had 1260 companies (Kanyenze 2006) and the number went down to 912 by 2012 (ZIMSTAT 2012). The employment rate declined from7.2% in 1997 t0 -3.1% in 2004.The sector lost its qualified and experienced personnel to neighbouring countries and technologically the country had fallen behind other countries (UNDP 2008).The information technology sector went down in the face of foreign currency shortages. The introduction of multi-currency in 2009 improved the situation. The capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector had rose from 10% in 2008 to 57.2% in 2011 (CZI 2011). IS models were developed in developed countries and these contributed in the companies’ understanding of IS investments values. In Zimbabwe and Africa this was a missing link. The researcher explored this area to enable the manufacturing companies in Zimbabwe to assess there IS investments. This thesis applied the DeLone and McLean IS success model (2003) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing industry. A qualitative research paradigm was used as the researcher sought detailed understanding of the impact of IS on the manufacturing sector. This approach was chosen because it produced in-depth experiences of participants. Phenomenology was used as the research method as it captured views and experiences of participants. Interviews, observations, document analysis and open-ended questionnaires were employed for data generation. Purposive sampling was used to select the companies that had automated their production systems and could provide relevant information. In data analysis, triangulation was used to achieve confirmability and reduce researcher bias. It improved trustworthiness of research results. The findings produced two different models for the Zimbabwe manufacturing sector. One model was used for the semi-automated manufacturing systems and the other for the automated systems. The impact of IS on the automated systems was higher than the semi-automated systems. The results also showed that there was a technology gap between Zimbabwean manufacturing sector and the ERP systems used in the developed countries and some countries in Asia. The findings also revealed that women were marginalized in the use of technology in the manufacturing processes. The researcher recommended further studies in the area to validate the suggested models. A positive change was recommended for the current Government indigenisation policy that appeared to unsettle the manufacturing companies. Partnership between universities IT faculties and /or departments and the companies was also recommended in order to achieve systems integration in the companies as IT students could provide integration software solutions. The research was the first of its type in Zimbabwe and Africa so it supplied new manufacturing knowledge to the companies and other researchers. The weaknesses of the DeLone and…