Impact of Strategic Information System Planning (SIPS) on SMES in a Developing Country – The Case Study Of Northern Ghana

Abstract

The importance of information systems (IS) or information technology (IT) in supporting business operations is expanding, necessitating effective IS/IT planning. Firms can better link their IS and strategic business goals with effective IS/IT development. As a result of this alignment, firms can achieve competitive benefits from their IT investments. Despite substantial research into strategic information system planning (SISP) techniques in big businesses, work in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is relatively restricted, especially in developing countries. Given the rising relevance of IT to support many aspects of SMEs' operations, this topic warrants additional examination. Despite the specificity of how SISP has been examined by other researchers or scholars in recent years, there is still a scarcity of research in the domain of SISP's influence on SMEs. Moreover, it was revealed that very little research has been conducted in the area of SISP and SMEs, particularly from a Ghanaian perspective. Furthermore, a search for relevant literature from similar studies indicates that the majority of them do not employ any theory, concept, or framework. Due to this, a theory-based study is required in this study; and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) theory was seen as the most suitable one to perform this research in order to fill the gap in the literature. The purpose of this research is to see how advantageous SISP is for small businesses, as well as the issues that come with its use and implementation. The study is based on critical realism principles and adopts a qualitative methodological technique to gather the experiences of small business actors. Fifteen business operators from three different SMEs were interviewed for the study.