Emerging digital business models in developing economies: The case of Cameroon

• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2188
• Author: Zisuh Michael Ngoasong,Dev Kumar Boojihawon

RESEARCH ARTICLE

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2188

Strategic Change. 2018;27(2):129–137. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jsc © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 129

Abstract

ICTs and digital technology, logiscs, and mode of transport can facilitate the development of

digital business models in resource‐scarce sengs as in the case of Cameroon. The study shows

that digital business models in developing economies are sll at an early stage and are in need of

instuonal aenon in order to develop the necessary know‐how, skills and networks for sus‐

tained value creaon and capture. Technology, environment, and organizaonal contexts inu‐

ence the entry behavior and postentry strategic decisions of microdigital entrepreneurs. Results

reveal the digital value proposion, network architecture, and digital value capture of emerging

digital business models. Digital entrepreneurs require business knowledge/skills and instuonal

support to create a network infrastructure to eecvely generate and capture revenue.

1 

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 INTRODUCTION

In 2012, the African Development Bank released a comprehensive

report that highlights the rapid growth of home‐grown technology

hubs in Africa, which are becoming the primary drivers of entrepre‐

neurship across the connent. The developments in the diusion and

use of the informaon and communicaon technologies (ICTs) is cre‐

ang opportunies for creang digital businesses and boosng eco‐

nomic development (Berman, 2012; Javalgi, Todd, Johnston, & Granot,

2012). Despite the evidence of increases in the number of small digi‐

tal businesses in Western economies, “academic enquiry to date has

merely skimmed the surface as to how small internet rms in poorly

resourced and instuonally weak environments develop” (Javalgi

et al., 2012, p. 743). This arcle contributes to lling this gap by

uncovering the nature of digital business models in Cameroon, a low

middle‐income developing country. A developing country context is

consequently signicant because, although exisng research explores

the adaptaon and use of ICTs to improve work processes and per‐

formance in exisng small businesses (e.g., Kyobe, 2004; Manseld

& Fourie, 2004; Okolo & Obidigbo, 2014), research in more advanced

and emerging economies suggests that digital businesses are dierent

and go beyond simply adopng and using ICTs.

For digital businesses, ICT and digital technology is both the trigger

and enabler of strategy formulaon and implementaon, as well as the

architecture within which the business is operated, and value created

and captured (Javalgi et al., 2012; Manseld & Fourie, 2004; One,

Zucchella, Jones, & McDougall‐Covin, 2012). Digital businesses range

from those that provide e‐commerce services (Javalgi et al., 2012),

produce servized products such as e‐books (Vendrell‐Herrero & Wil‐

son, 2016), develop and commercialize hardware, soware, and digital

applicaons (Hair, Wetsch, Hull, Pero, & Hung, 2012) This suggests

we need to look more closely at digital business models in developing

economies, to beer understand the signicant entrepreneurial and

business paerns, processes, acons, and behavior that characterize

the growing number of digital business models. Two central quesons

follow: (a) What is the nature of digital business models? (b) How do

contextual factors inuence the design and implementaon of digital

business models in a developing country context?

Our objecve in the current arcle is to use the business model

literature in order to analyze case studies of small digital businesses,

and to uncover the entry choices and postentry strategic decisions

that digital entrepreneurs make when developing and operang their

digital business models. This is because past decisions (entry choices)

can facilitate or constrain future changes (postentry decisions) in a

business model as a result of contextual factors (e.g., increase in inter‐

net penetraon rate and developments in digital technology) and ris‐

ing consumer demand for online services (DaSilva & Trkman, 2014).

Emerging digital business models in developing economies:

The case of Cameroon*

Dev Kumar Boojihawon1 | Zisuh Michael Ngoasong2

1 University of Birmingham, Birmingham,

United Kingdom

2 The Open University, Milton Keynes,

United Kingdom

Correspondence

Dev Kumar Boojihawon, Birmingham

Business School, University of Birmingham,

B15 2TT Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Email: d.k.boojihawon@bham.ac.uk

* JEL classicaon codes: L2.