Action research based case study on adopting IT for small and medium enterprises

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a major tea supplying country to the World tea market. The Tea Small Holdings (TSHs) sector is the main green leaf provider. However, for the past five years, the national tea production is in a declining trend. Recently, researchers have attributed this decline to lack of productivity, high production costs and labour shortage while poor business practices and poor knowledge on cultivation techniques are the main reasons for lack of productivity in TSH sector. In addition, there is a lag in distributing knowledge and support from Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) to TSHs. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been acknowledged in the agricultural sector in the form of information sharing networks for supply chain management and decision support software systems such as ‘precision agriculture’. Several studies have suggested to adopt ICT to tea industry for better coordination and for better information sharing. The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) considered information technology as a facilitator for competitiveness. However, there are inhibiting factors when adopting Information Technology (IT) to tea small holdings. This is an action research based case study that develops an IT system for a tea small holding in Sri Lanka, for its internal operations. The Design science research methods have been used for the development of the system. The adoption of the technology made use of the concept of IT therapy to overcome certain barriers such as lack of IT knowledge. The case study revealed a successful IT system for the internal operations of TSHs. Further research is needed to find the effects of the system on the productivity of TSHs. The adoption of IT could be facilitated by giving IT therapy. The study suggested to give free IT therapy to TSHs prior to the investment on adopting IT by a government or non-government agency.