Determining Business Environmental Factors In ICT Adoption by SMEs Owner Managers in Rural Kenya

Abstract

This study intended to analyse the Business environmental factors that influence ICT adoption by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) owner managers in rural Kenya with special reference to Nyeri County and identifying the knowledge gap therein. Under a mixed method research design a sample of 216 SMEs owner/managers were drawn from the list of 5428 SMEs located in rural areas and licensed by the Nyeri County government. Both simple random sampling and stratified random sampling were used in picking both sub-counties and business categories respectively. A questionnaire, an observation and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide were used to collect both qualitative and quantitate data. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS while the qualitative data was thematically analyzed. The study established that Environmental context influences ICT adoption by SMEs in rural areas of Nyeri County. This study could be used by ICT consultants and vendors in the development of ICT policies and ICT sales strategies respectively. Finally the same results can be used by the government in the development of ICT training and development policies, strategies relevant in enhancing ICT adoption and usage in the SME sector in rural Kenya.