Information Technology in Context: Studies from the Perspective of Developing Countries (Voices in Development Management) (Hardcover)

This book testifies that information and communication technology (ICT) innovations in and of themselves seldom lead to social and economic development, but the lack of appropriate (automated) information systems can hinder the implementation of development projects and programs.

The book is valuable in that it responds to a need for stories about ICT innovations in developing countries. Developing countries have special problems in adapting ICT. Most ICT mass production is for developed country markets. The resulting products often do not fit developing country applications very well, but are frequently used with little adaptation, and sometimes carry unexpected cultural baggage.

I would suggest that in developing countries success is often best studied in terms of the current state of institutionalization of ICT capacity; for example, wise managers do not entrust their enterprise's critical success factors to untested technologies, and success in the early stages of institutionalization may be measured in terms of confidence building. The authors generally did not employ models specifying stages of the ICT institutionalization process.

Thoughtfully used, this book could help people learn to think in a more holistic and multidisciplinary way about ICT innovations in developing countries. Too often "techies," managers, and policy makers take too narrow a view, albeit each group in its own way. Some chapters would be especially useful. For example, Walsham's final chapter (19) would provide a useful introduction to a training program. Rohitratana (Chapter 2) provides a succinct and informative account of the introduction of a set of software packages into a food processing company in Thailand, emphasizing the role of the Thai cultural context. Volkow (Chapter 4) shows how a firm in Mexico integrated ICTs increasingly into its jewelry business as the context of that business changed with the passing decades. Bhatnagar (Chapter 6) briefly discusses context in case studies of successful projects in India and Viet Nam. Bada (Chapter 11) traces the complex history of ICTs in the banking industry in Nigeria, illustrating the effects of national crises and changes in government, as well as the role of the software industry. Taken together, these chapters illustrate the effects of a wide variety of contextual factors on ICT projects, and exemplify a variety of approaches to understanding such contexts.

I would caution readers to approach two chapters critically, those of Nulens (Chapter 17) and Van Audenhove (Chapter 18).