Library and Information Serviceshttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14155/1752024-03-29T05:39:24Z2024-03-29T05:39:24ZIntention to adopt blockchain technology for collaborative business processes by academic libraries in South AfricaLengoatha, Lebohanghttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14155/17622023-06-01T09:52:44Z2022-01-01T00:00:00ZIntention to adopt blockchain technology for collaborative business processes by academic libraries in South Africa
Lengoatha, Lebohang
Globalisation has compelled academic institutions to leverage digital innovations that present new capabilities and novel opportunities because of the stiff competition and movement restrictions during pandemic such as COVID-19, in their operating environments. In this digital era, academic libraries, like any other institution are compelled to re-think of their ways of providing information services to remain relevant to their communities as there are various other sources of information which attract users' attention. Growing demand of information services, declining budgets, rapidly changing world around academic libraries and increase in prices are common challenges experienced by the university libraries globally, which are mostly too complex and large for the institutions to handle on their own. These challenges led to the consortia formation both in developing and developed countries for collective acquisition and sharing of resources. Collaborative technologies should, therefore, be adopted to integrate internal systems for seamless information exchange between different institutions and eliminate duplication of efforts. However, it becomes a challenge to integrate these systems across independent institutions because of lack of trust between the involved parties, in terms of who will control the collaborative business processes. For collaborative processes which are in place, academic libraries still depend on a third party to facilitate their collaborative activities, and consequently incur costs for coordination of such processes. Blockchain represents one of the disruptive technologies with potential to streamline the collaborative activities across academic libraries with high level of trust without the third party intermediation. Although, blockchain technology has caught the attention of different industries, it is still at an infancy stage and yet to find its traction in various business processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the intention to adopt blockchain technology for collaborative business processes by academic libraries in South Africa. The study was anchored in the Technology Adoption in Supply Chain (TASC) model which has been adapted to answer the research questions formulated. Quantitative research approach was adopted, using survey questionnaire. From the questionnaires sent to 23 South African academic libraries which are members of the regional consortia, only 95 usable responses have been collected and analysed using SPSS version 26. Potential applications of blockchain technology were found to be in distributed metadata sharing, a credentialing system, and a library network connection to form Inter-Planetary File System (IPFS). However, participants are uncertain of the intention to adoption blockchain by their academic libraries. Looking at the results of the descriptive analysis, it is evident that academic library workers are positive about relative advantage, compatibility, IT readiness, and interorganisational trust of blockchain technology in their profession. They are not aware and/or have mixed perceptions of the technology complexity, cost, management support, industry support, customer pressure, and security/privacy concern of blockchain technology. This warrants the need to impart knowledge about the technology and its potential value to their profession. Among the adoption factors included in the model, only customer pressure (CP) was found to be significant in influencing the intention to adopt blockchain, while relative advantage (RA), compatibility (CT), complexity (CX), perceived cost (PC), organisational size (OS), management support (MS), IT readiness (IR), industry support (IS), security concern (SC) and inter-organisation trust (TR) were insignificant. This research contributes to the limited empirical research literature in the blockchain technology adoption intention in academic libraries, while also provides the insights for practitioners in the technology adoption decision making, and technology vendors, in the context of developing countries.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZA framework for knowledge retention to support business continuity in the cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry in LesothoTseole, Tahlehohttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14155/16362023-12-06T09:18:28Z2021-12-01T00:00:00ZA framework for knowledge retention to support business continuity in the cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry in Lesotho
Tseole, Tahleho
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate a framework for knowledge retention to support
business continuity in cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry in Lesotho.
Design/methodology/approach – This study applied a qualitative case study, with data collected
through interviews from a purposively selected sample of staff members who held managerial positions.
Information in this study was partially extracted from the PhD thesis of Dr Tseole ET supervised by Prof
Ngulube P at the University of South Africa completed in 2021.
Findings – The study discovered that a considerable amount of knowledge may have been lost because
employees who either left the organisation or those who were apparently forced to resign during the process
had left without any proper knowledge retention arrangements.
Research limitations/implications – The framework proposed in this study may be used in framing
future studies as a theoretical framework. The study also provides new literature for review and discussion of
background in future related studies.
Practical implications – The framework provided in the study may be used as a benchmark in the
knowledge management industry and/or organisations for policy development or improvements and
implementation of knowledge retention strategies.
Social implications – Through recommendations and framework provided by this study, organisations
will be able to improve their services to their sphere of influence in the surrounding communities. So,
community will be receiving an improved and good service at all the times.
Originality/value – A framework for facilitating knowledge retention in the cross-border mergers of
the telecommunications industry is therefore proposed and the researchers believe it will be helpful to
the organisation for improving knowledge retention going forward, particularly in the merger
process.
2021-12-01T00:00:00ZFacilitating knowledge retention in cross-border mergers in the telecommunications industry of LesothoTseole, Tahlehohttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14155/16042023-12-06T09:14:38Z2020-09-01T00:00:00ZFacilitating knowledge retention in cross-border mergers in the telecommunications industry of Lesotho
Tseole, Tahleho
Knowledge should be retained because it is an organisational asset. The management of
knowledge, particularly knowledge retention, has been widely researched by several
scholars. However, little research has been done on facilitating knowledge retention in
the organisational cross-border mergers of the telecommunication industry in Lesotho.
The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the process of knowledge retention
in the context of organisational cross-border mergers in Lesotho, particularly in the
telecommunication industry. This is a quantitative case study research that triangulated
interviews and questionnaires as instruments of data collection. Quantitative data were
gathered from all 14 the staff members of Econet telecom Lesotho who went through the
merger process as well as 14 former employees of the organisation who left the
organisation for different reasons during the merger. Qualitative data, on the other hand,
were gathered by means of interviews from selected staff members who held managerial
positions. The aim was to check for consistency and corroboration of the findings.
Quantitative data analysis was done with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) and qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis.
The responses from the questionnaires retained 75% and four informants were
interviewed. The results for the study indicated that although there were no formal policies
in place that guided the retention of knowledge, somehow knowledge was retained during
the merger process. On the other hand, a considerable amount of valuable knowledge
may have been lost because employees who either left the organisation during the
process or those who were apparently forced to resign just left the organisation with no
proper knowledge retention arrangement. The findings of the study also showed that the
Econet Telecom Lesotho merger was accompanied by a high staff turnover resulting from
both forced and voluntary resignations. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated
that the following were used during the merger: job rotation, communities of practice,
mentorship, job shadowing and storytelling. However, the interview findings showed that
ii
Econet Telecom Lesotho did not do anything to retain knowledge during the merger
process.
Moreover, the results showed that there was indeed visible cultural differences between
the two organisations. The cultural differences appeared noticeable even at the
managerial level. Furthermore, the findings also pointed to the fact that those cultural
variations tended to impede knowledge retention between staff members as they had
different cultural backgrounds.
Based on the study findings, the following recommendations are made: it is imperative to
have a knowledge management policy in place to guide all knowledge management
activities in organisations, including those in the telecommunications industry, and
consequently, the study recommends the development of a knowledge management
system at Econet Telecom Lesotho. This study also recommends a thorough cultural due
diligence exercise for future cross-border mergers.
2020-09-01T00:00:00ZAdoption of cloud technology services at the National University of Lesotho LibraryTseole, Tahlehohttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14155/16032023-12-06T09:15:12Z2020-04-14T00:00:00ZAdoption of cloud technology services at the National University of Lesotho Library
Tseole, Tahleho
The information landscape across the globe is swiftly changing owing to the latest
developments in technology and innovation. One aspect of such technological developments is
cloud computing, which over the few years become the buzzword in the information
environment. Libraries are no exception, as they are the powerhouses of information and
knowledge. Library and information professionals therefore need to have an understanding of
what constitutes cloud computing, and in particular, the issues of data storage, security and
retrieval. The purpose of this study is to examine the adoption of cloud technology services at
the National University of Lesotho library. This is a qualitative case study which made use of
interviews as instruments for data collection. Data was analysed manually by content analysis
using the notes taken by the researcher during the interview sessions. The study provides
valuable first-hand insight into the adoption and implementation of cloud computing in the
context of libraries in Lesotho.
soft copy
2020-04-14T00:00:00Z