CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to Study

Information technology (IT) is widely recognized as the building block for an organization to survive and compete favorably with others. Hence, managers are motivated to adopt information technology in their operations to achieve efficient and effective organizational performance. Businesses especially those in the retail sector operate in a complex and competitive environment, characterized by changing conditions and highly unpredictable economic climate and information technology trends. 

Information technology capabilities of managing information flow affects dimensions of the supply chain, such as cost, quality, flexibility and timely delivery of goods and services and Ultimately profit of organizations (Droodchy & NickMehr, 2008). A supply chain consists of a network of partners and various channels operating throughout the organization which affect the utility of the supply chain headquarters, and its management entails integrating activities through improving chain relationships to access stable competitive advantage (Gilaninia, ShChirani & Ramezani, 2011).

In most modern enterprises, regular supply chain processes are managed by software packages such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS). However, these systems are not enough to face the increasing challenges of today’s supply chains; such as flexibility, responsiveness and agility (Reaidy et al. 2015). Hence, new approaches have been introduced to meet these challenges. With the imminent global shift towards Industry 4.0 and smart organizations, Internet of Things (IoT) technology is playing a vital role in this transition. The core concept of IoT is that “everyday objects can be equipped with identifying, sensing, networking and processing capabilities that will allow them to communicate with one another and with other devices and services over the Internet to achieve some useful objective” (Cortés et al. 2015).

One of the common definitions of the supply chain is, “A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain includes not only the manufacturer and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and even customers themselves” (Chopra and Meindl 2013). It describes a collection of processes and resources needed to produce and deliver a product or a service to the customer from the start to the end. “Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the interconnection of organizations that relate to each other through upstream and downstream linkages between the process that produces value to the ultimate consumer in the form of products and services. The ongoing diffusion of new Information Communication Technology (ICT) and e-business technologies among firms is a current example of the dynamics of technological change and economic development (Koellinger, 2006). IT can have a significant influence on the mobility of people and goods; IT is a potentially important enabler of change in social and organizational practices, thus affecting the demand for transport in spatial and temporal terms. Technological trends will meet the demand for comfort, safety and speed through advances in IT in the field of telemetric (Capgemini, 2008). This covers systems for traffic and transport management, travel information and reservations, vehicle guidance, and mobility cards. Over the last few years, firms operating in the transport and logistics sector have made significant progress in their adoption of new technologies, particularly those linked to the internet and business (Koellinger, 2006).

The dissemination of IT has affected the competitive scenario of the third-party logistics (3PL) industry in recent years contributing to change the supply chain role of Third-Party Logistics (3PLs) significantly. Logistics service companies play a more important function than in the past insofar as they are entrusted with the task of integrating and accelerating physical and information flows at multiple levels of the supply chain (Kenneth & Laudon, 2007). This new supply chain role of 3PLs has emphasized the need to measure their performance. There has been little empirical research focused on 3PLs performance measurement, especially to structure 3PLs for the evaluation of value-added services. In addition, the impact of IT on logistics service companies has amplified the difficulties in measuring performance, as it is particularly hard to identify the specific contribution of IT in generating superior company performance (Kenneth & Laudon, 2007).

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) as being the study, design, development, implementation support, has defined information technology and/or management of any computer-based information systems (Kenneth & Laudon, 2007). This relates particularly to software applications and computer hardware. Information technology deals with using electronic, computers and software to convert, store, protect, process, retrieve with security or transmit any information (Kenneth & Laudon, 2007).

Information technology is concerned with improvements in a variety of human and organizational problem-solving endeavours through the design, development, and use of technologically based systems and processes that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of information in a variety of strategic, tactical and operational situations. Ideally, this is accomplished through critical attention to the information needs of humans in problem-solving tasks and the provision of technological aids, including electronic communication and computer-based systems of hardware, software and associated processes. Information technology complements and enhances traditional engineering through the emphasis on the information basis for engineering (Capgemini, 2008).

In realizing the importance of technology in today’s digital world, Tanzanian Electricity Company has facilitated several ICT Programs to speed up management decisions based on reliable and timely information system urgently. This supports business objectives and helps provide efficiency and effective service delivery to customers. Tanzania Electricity Supply Company have engaged on several projects implemented with both short and longtime effects in improvement of ICT Quality of service delivery, Development of E-payment System to replace HiAfinity in payments receipting using the cashier module, Coyform system as well as several upgrades of LUKU System, iScala and Service Delivery management system. The importance of this study dwells on two important variables IT -information technology and supply chain performance. However, the essence of deploying information technologies (IT) is expected to improve the supply chain performance which can be measured qualitatively as customer satisfaction, quality customer service and on-time delivery; and quantitatively as lower cost, higher sales volume, higher profit, inventory investment and higher percentages in Return on Investment (ROI) (Beamon, 1998).Owing to the rapid adoption of the internet in all the nooks and crannies of our society, it is pertinent for companies to adopt information technologies in carrying out their supply chain activities to satisfy customers demands and needs. This study examined the functional role of IT in the distribution of hard supplies and reveals that the adoption of information technology tools by a company  in mile3 Metropolis.

This is the third RIA Sector Performance Review (SPR) for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Cameroon. The first SPR, published in 2008, generated debates and research relating to RIA’s contentions regarding the country’s ICT performance. The second set of RIA Cameroon ICT data, captured in 2010 returned to the trends underscored in the first country report. Development of this third SPR, for 2012, took place while Cameroon was gearing, to some extent on the basis of the recommendations put forward by RIA, towards a new phase of ICT sector development. The current Minister, appointed as the head of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) three years ago, has made it a point of honor to bring more competition to the mobile sector and to improve the telecommunications regulatory landscape. An outsourced professional social research provider collected the RIA ICT Survey data outlined in this report. The general finding after data collection and analysis it is that there has been no significant breaking of new ground in recent years in terms of ICT sector performance in Cameroon. While some sector dimensions have seen some slight improvement, generally the sector has not lived up to expectations in terms of job and wealth creation, and in some respects (e.g. quality of service [QoS]) the sector has deteriorated. The mobile sector has remained a duopoly held by MTN and Orange, which has affected the dynamism of the whole sector to a great extent and has maintained very high costs for telecommunications services. Meanwhile, the fixed-line service provided by the incumbent CAMTEL is perishing, and the national objective of providing universal and affordable access to a full range of communications services is yet to become a reality. The average monthly expenditure on telecommunications services in Cameroon stands at around 2700 CFA per month per customer, with no significant difference in average expenditure between users in urban or rural areas. But while the urban-rural divide in access to voice services is decreasing, the divide remains high for internet access. The overly-freewheeling nature of the mobile sector at present is threatening some of the gains made in the sector’s earlier development stages. Loopholes in regulation have enabled mobile operators to enter the gambling industry, thus potentially contributing to poverty and family dysfunction in the country. This 2012 RIA Cameroon SPR includes findings from the third RIA Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) assessment of Cameroon. Cameroon’s TRE scores have for the most part declined with each successive TRE exercise, from the 2006 assessment to the 2009 assessment, and from the 2009 assessment to the 2012 assessment outlined in this report.