Background: Major attention in researches within the field of internet technologies andits usage in service providing Small and medium Enterprises has been devoted in thedeveloped countries. Little or almost no attention or studies have been given on most ofthe developing or third world countries specifically, Ethiopia which can be consideredas a black hole in related researches. Recently there are some encouraging signals hereand there, with a hopeful transition to the digital era and utilization of internettechnologies, in the service providing small and medium enterprises businesses. Thearea of attention here is directed to Ethiopia, in the existing internet technologies usagein SMEs with the prospects, benefits and problems of utilization in the businessoperations. Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to find out the benefits, prospects and utilizationproblems of internet technologies in small and medium size service enterprises inEthiopia. The study discusses the service business operations and their internet usage inthe small and medium enterprises value chain activities theories. Definitions: The term SME (Small and Medium size Enterprises) generally refers to, inmost developing economies, the following broad categories: For this research purposeUNIDOs quantitative and qualitative SMEs definition criterions will be used: Micro enterprises: employment level below 10; Registered Capital < $ 42,000  Small enterprises: employment level from 10 to 49; Registered Capital > $ 42,000 Medium enterprises: employment level from 50 to 249. Registered Capital > $ 42,000 Internet Technology: is all about connectivity, accesses and utilization of internet. Realization: This study is based on multiple case study of 5 small and medium sizedservice enterprises‘ using internet in their business activities. Unstructured interviewwas handled with managers in the business, for this purpose qualitative research methodis applied with an inductive approach more dominantly. Completion and Results: A qualitative multiple case studies on SMEs businesses inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia was carried out and the results revealed that:      The Benefits of Internet Technologies as :  The falling costs and increasingutility of cutting edge technologies without bearing the high costs of discarding olderlegacy systems and carrying massive cost of technological  R & D, Historicopportunity  for SME‘s to create new information rich industries and competitiveentrepreneurships of global reach with no abstraction/ marketing chains or less capital , Provided Product/service and Operation / Processes Efficiency for SMEs, Enhancedthe businesses‘ value proposition, quality and flexibility,  SMEs  are better positionedto participate in global value chains, with minimal capital , R&D and Technology cost.  The Problems of Internet Technologies as: - Poor literacy, both computer basedand formal education, - Lack of good infrastructure, both physical and regulatory - lackof access to technology in rural or remote areas with lack of content in local languagessettings (Language & Diversity Barriers), - Service interruptions in basic infrastructuresuch as telecoms and electricity interruptions, - And lack of expertise in IT.   The Implications and Conclusion as: The utilization of internet technologies andthe growing number of entrepreneurial firms(SMEs) signals the way forward inEthiopia is  with a lot of  prospects among them are opportunities of  participating in theglobal market arena, strategic alliances with local and foreign firms that creates hugepossibilities of exploring and exploiting information, knowledge and culture industrieson which the country is endowed with, provided that the above mentioned impedimentsare addressed.  The theoretical issues in this research indicates that unlike the developedeconomies perspective on the value activities of firm which states the primary activitiesas a critical and detrimental activity in the value chain, in this research the supportactivity is found to have an equivalent, if not, a greater influence in the value activitiesof Ethiopian or developing country context that challenges the pre-establishedtheoretical concept (Porter, 1985)in the matured and developed economies giving muchof the credit to primary activities.  The underlying conclusion in this research is that, thesupport activities mentioned on Porter (1985) and (Rayport &Sviokla ,1995) as in bothcases (physical and virtual SMEs presence) are found to be equivalentlycritical/determinant as it is analyzed in the cases and shortly portrayed in the conclusivetable, where the support activities are found to be playing a significant role andcontribution  even in the sustenance of the primary value activities   and further to thewhole value system as far as the internet connectivity to business presence/ [VISIBILITY,MIRRORING CAPABILITY& NEW DIGITAL VALUE] (Rayport &Sviokla ,1995)  is takenin to consideration. Therefore an adapted / amended model to the context of developingcountries/Ethiopia is suggested based on the empirical findings and analysis. Search Terms: - Internet Technologies (ICT), Small & Medium Service Enterprises(SMEs), Infrastructure, Human Resources, Primary and Secondary Value Activities,Physical &Virtual Value Chain, Search, Evaluation Problem Solving & Transaction.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 68 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-55).

The thesis undertakes pioneering work in the study of Web production, representation and consumption through its focus on ethnic minorities. The comprehensive crosssection of Web content discussed shows significant ethnic minority activity despite the apparent white, Western, male and middle class profile of cyberspace. This empirical dimension of the research not only complements the large body of theoretical work that has been done about cyberspace, but also uses theoretical models from a range of academic disciplines (especially media studies) to anchor its analysis of the Web. The particularities of the Web are investigated empirically through the involvement of a group of ethnic minority women, including myself, who were the research subjects. This demanded methodological innovation given the comparatively minimal empirical work that has been done on the Web and subsequently, the lack of any conventional approaches to studying this new technology. The research was also made methodologically complex through the educational environment and larger pilot study of which it was part, and the resulting matrix of power relations arising from it. But it also takes full advantage of these circumstances, and is self-reflexive in doing so, thus creating a robust examination of the Web centred on the experiences of women from ethnic minorities. The research subjects' interactions with the Web are not only the basis for exploring Web consumption, but their findings are discussed as the interface between producers and consumers, the point of representation. This in-depth consideration of Web content explores depictions of ethnicity in terms of the traditional representational practices of other media and how these have been reinvented and adapted for the Web. The Web texts also suggest how ethnic minorities are negotiating and diversifying their own representation on the Web in response to the limits of older media industries. The thesis does not theorise the Web as a technology of infinite possibility, because its empirical grounding highlights the constraints as much as the strengths of the medium in comparison to other technologies of representation. The limitations of access, representation and even to studying the Web are examined in detail without recourse to simplistic conclusions or recommendations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No

The advent of globalisation and technology has had a profound effect on the business environment. This has changed both the manner and speed with which business is conducted globally. Technology has facilitated the expediency and closure of major business deals at the click of a mouse, to comply with the shift in consumer tastes, values and preferences. This paper will focus specifically on the impact that the World Wide Web, the Internet has had on the print media, the latter being narrowed down to newspapers generally and that specifically published by the Independent Newspaper Holdings stable. The literature review will expound the debates of various acclaimed academics. The works of Michael Porter on competitive advantage, Hamel and Prahalad on core competence, issues of leadership and change management by Kotter will be reviewed and the data collected by way of interviews and surveys will be evaluated in support of the findings. Strategic management tools (SWOT, PEST and Porter's Five Forces) will used to examine the strategic and operational environments in which Independent Newspapers is operating. This will be supported by the research findings, which will attempt to make recommendations of the strategies that must be implemented for the sustainability of the Group. Furthermore, since 1994, South Africa has experienced a change in government and its laws have changed causing global and local competition to intensify. Businesses also have to contend with a service quality revolution between consumers and service providers. Following the introduction of new labour laws, the workplace has become diverse in its composition and culture, resulting in workers, shareholders and customers demanding to be included in the decision - making process. Ethics is another key factor, which pervades almost every aspect of business. This code of ethics evolves with changing societal values. This is a primary dimension, which must be taken into account in charting the way forward. The existing code of ethics must be revisited, given the changes that have taken place. It is imperative that this framework be continuously evaluated. Management of all types of organisations has to rethink their approach with regard to their operations, human resources, marketing and the physical environment. This paradigm shift is causing new organisations to emerge, which are more responsive to both their internal and external environments. (Kasirnoglu 2000). / Thesis (MBA)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 360-381).

Master's Thesis deals with optimalization of firm's Intranet/Internet processes used in projection engineer's office. It also deals with possibilities of implementation of Intranet into whole company, improvement of internal communication and monitoring of semifinished work overview.

Recently Alan Andreasen (2003) argued that social marketing is in the 'growth phase' of development following four decades of research and practice. During this same time period, marketing has also witnessed new theoretical ideas and practices that have evolved from the influence of new interactive technologies such as the internet. Only limited scholarly work however has been undertaken to draw these marketing sub-disciplinary areas together. The research undertaken in this thesis bridges this gap and explores the role of the internet as means to further extend social marketing theory and practice. Three research questions informed the study. The first of these questions focused on how internet users describe their experiences of the internet as an everyday technology. The second question investigated the different profiles of internet users' opinions, attitudes and actions, and the third question examined how social marketing can be more responsive to internet user behaviour. To address these research questions the research design used both qualitative methods of focus groups and in-depth interviews together with Q methodology to quantitatively represent the structure and form of individual users' subjective disposition towards the internet. Although Q methodology is relatively absent from marketing literature, it was a useful method for identifying types of people with similar experiences and views of the advantages and disadvantages of internet interactions and relationships. The research process in the study was operationalised using a three-study design. The first study drew on sixteen interviews and two focus groups with internet users, the second study involved Q sorting with thirty-two internet users, and the third study engaged interviews with twenty social change agents. This study of internet users is embedded in a particular theoretical and epistemological position. Three issues are relevant. First, a social constructionist epistemology is engaged. This emphasises that technology is a social process, patterned by the condition of its creation and use, and informed by human choices and actions. Second, the research is situated across disciplinary boundaries. Marketing practitioners initially adopted a commercial, albeit simplistic, lens when considering the value of social aspects, such as virtual communities and the social networks of connection that link internet users into longer term relationships and exchanges of knowledge, emotion and shared confidences online. However, the intangible non-material resources shared between customers, organisations and other users online are of import to understanding the value of the internet for social marketing strategy. This required looking beyond the social marketing theory and research, to the literature on the sociology of technology. The third way in which this research is different epistemologically and theoretically is in its interpretive focus. Accordingly, the thesis contributes to the shift in academic focus towards critical marketing, which Hastings and Saren (2003) argue provides a more detailed critique and understanding of social marketing processes and outcomes. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of a strategy map for online social marketing. The map is derived from findings from the three studies. Study 1 explained that the internet is a social and personal technology which has been incorporated into users' everyday lives and activities. Study 2 identified different profiles of internet user opinions, attitudes and actions and interpreted these as internet user segments described as: the Internet Communitarian, the Information Networker and the Individualised Networker. Study 3 delineated the findings from the downstream users' perspective and presented a strategy map derived from the experiences of upstream internet users. Three principles inform this strategy map. First, social marketers need to adopt customer-centric marketing. Secondly, they should apply an exchange continuum that embraces a relational perspective. Thirdly, social marketers using the internet should plan online strategies that focus on the internet as a recombinant technology that can be "remade" by individual users' needs and desires. Several identified limitations of the study should be considered when reviewing this study. Firstly, the study's interpretive methodological focus precludes quantification and generalisablity to larger populations. Secondly, sample bias in terms of age and gender demographics was evident. Thirdly, a further limitation of the study is the nature of the technology under investigation in this thesis: the recency, and hence the salience of the findings, are mitigated by the fact that the internet is a dynamic technology. Finally, the generalised rather than particularised perspective on social issues and problems adopted in this study as a means of discussing social marketing, may also be seen as a limitation. This research is of significance to both an academic and practitioner audience. In terms of scholarly significance, the study is important theoretically and methodologically. Social marketing theory has a well established view of the customer as an operand resource. This thesis is significant as it demonstrates the need to conceptualise customers as more than simply 'targets' of social marketing campaigns. It illustrates how social change customers become operant resources who produce effects, based on their sharing behaviours, and make online contributions to behaviour-change processes that give target audiences (operand resources) a sense that they can enact the behaviour. As well, the evolving customer roles -- user, social actor, co-creator, resource -- theorised from the study findings inform a shifting exchange continuum involving 'transactions' to 'relationships'. Finally, this research is of theoretical significance in elucidating the conceptualisation of the continuous-process perspective which reveals that exchanges are not just the discrete, 'transactional' variety, but rather are long in duration and reflect an ongoing relationship-development process. Methodologically, the study has also demonstrated the potential value of Q methodology as a means of revealing subjective experiences and perspectives, which are the foundation of social products regularly dealt with by social marketers. For social marketing practitioners the study also demonstrates the need for engaging a more holistic view of the internet and its customers to facilitate social change campaigns. This, however, does not negate the fact that there may be potential challenges and unintended consequences facing social marketers in engaging the internet.

From 1995 the Internet attracted commercial investment, but financially measurable benefits and competitive advantage proved elusive. Usage for personal communication and business information only slowly translated into commercial transactions. This reflects a unique feature of Internet development. Unlike other media of the 19th and 20th centuries, widespread Internet use preceded commercial investment. The early military and research use led to an architecture that poorly supported the certainty and security requirements of commercial transactions. Subsequent attempts to align this architecture with commercial transactional requirements were expensive and mostly unsuccessful. This multi-disciplinary thesis describes these commercial factors from historical, usage, technical, regulatory and commercial perspectives. It provides a new and balanced understanding in a subject area dominated by poor communication between separate perspectives.