A survey of the strategic value of information and communication technology (ICT) among companies listed on the Nairobi stock exchange

Abstract

Information Communication technology plays a significant role in the growth of economies all over the world. The objective of this study was to determine the strategic value of information and communication technology among companies listed on the stock exchange. The study was a survey based and utilizing primary data collected from the listed companies. The study targeted all the listed companies on the Nairobi stock exchange. The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire that was administered to the target respondent. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social scientist with the help of descriptive statistics and content analysis. The study revealed that most companies had less than 5 branches in Kenya, with core businesses being online. In case of system failure the response time is faster even though there will be no major business loss. For many companies there will be no serious consequences to internal users if the response time is delayed beyond one second but there will be there for external users. In case of repeated service interruption it will take a shorter duration for serious consequences to be felt. It was found that the current system works provide a cost reduction and the internal systems are invisible to suppliers and customers The following problems were considered critical to ICT adoption in Kenya; Maintenance of the system, Lack of technological expertise, Training of personnel, Use of pirated software’s, Resistance to change, Declaring employees redundant, High initial cost of setting up the system, Systems corruption due to viruses, Frequent changes in technology is very expensive and Frequent failure of systems