Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs)

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Browsing Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs) by Author "Christopher, Anton"

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    Competitiveness of South African ICT companies
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Christopher, Anton; Horne, Renee
    A key issue facing the South African economy is the competitiveness of the ICT industry. With the growth of ICT multinationals in South Africa, the competitiveness of the local ICT industry is under scrutiny. A grounded theory-based qualitative methodology was deployed by interviewing participants drawn from the South African ICT industry and ICT multinationals in the country. Participants have experience of more than 20 years in ICT industry and worked at executive or senior management level. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews until theoretical saturation was reached. Data analysis was carried out using ATLAS.ti software. The study indicated that the South African ICT industry is only competitive within the South African ICT service sector, while not being globally competitive in the ICT manufacturing and ICT software development sectors. The study also found that ICT multinationals are competitive because of their strategically valuable resources (SVRs). These resources are both internal and external. External strategically valuable resources (SVRs) are their respective government policies and funding. Internal resources include cost-effectiveness, work ethics and innovation. Some of these resources are country-specific, while others are firm-specific. The study also showed that historically, the South African ICT industry was competitive and possessed strategically valuable resources (SVRs). It was also found that the South African ICT industry still possesses some strategically valuable resources (SVRs), these being mainly in the ICT service sector. Finally, the study also determined a framework of strategically valuable resources (SVRs) that can make the South African ICT industry competitive again. This research makes a significant theoretical contribution by enhancing resource- based theory, doing so by extending the theory – specifically an enhanced resource-based view – to a country and a heterogeneous ICT industry. This research also contributed a theoretical framework to the existing literature on resource-based theory. An empirical contribution is reached by firmly establishing the link between the competitiveness of ICT multinationals and their strategically valuable resources x (SVRs). A methodological contribution is gained by employing grounded theory-based qualitative methodology to research the ICT industry. Finally, the study provides practical recommendations to government policymakers and other stakeholders