Factors driving the adoption of platform-based solutions in rural/underserved markets
Date
2022-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Rural to urban migration causes an increase in economic activities, however, this trend also leads to a strain on urban infrastructure such public and private services e.g. transport, energy and health care infrastructure. The migration trend was overlaid with the platform business model such as online platform services which attempt to assist in addressing the infrastructure issues caused by the urban migration. There are factors which intervene in the migrant’s decision to either move from the rural area to the urban areas which is typically their place of work. Where the rural area provided more benefits, which caused the potential migrant to remain in the area, the factors are described as pull factors. If the rural area provides less reasons for the migrant to remain in the rural area, these factors are seen as push factors – which drive the migrant to move the urban area. These movements are largely pushing migrants to urban areas which causes a strain on urban infrastructure. Globally, online platforms services (e-commerce, e-government,social media, fintechs) are gradually becoming a key part of communication, job productivity, and daily living activities for both employers and customers. Locally, factors which drive migration to urban areas were also being influenced by online platform services which are becoming more accessible in the daily facilitation of life by both the employers and employees. In the studies reviewed, there has not been much done to evaluate whether technologies such as online platform services could aid in addressing the urban migration issue. There are polarities in thought that observe that while urban migration causes an increase in rural economic activities, it also causes strain on urban infrastructure as the population increases beyond the capacity of the urban infrastructure. The study investigated whether factors such as
family, employer, employee, and online platforms caused an effect in the reduction of urban migration. Employers were found to be typically located in urban areas. The hard lock-down enforced due to the covid-19 pandemic helped satisfy that employee, employers, family and online platform services can be used to maintain productivity remotely (away from urban areas). The study found that (1) the employee was likely to migrate to urban areas based on their level of education and their province of origin, (2) the employers used online platform services to enable 2 productivity and there was adoption and lastly (3) there was low family influence on the decision to migrate. A recommendation for future research would be to investigate the migration efficiencies created in the context of the employer or the rural/underserved economy by the adoption of the online platform services.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administation to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022
Keywords
Platform solutions, Online platform services, Urbanization, Migration, Platform business, UCTD
Citation
Nhlapo, Palesa. (2022). Factors driving the adoption of platform-based solutions in rural/underserved markets [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38847