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144 Lubbe and Pather
The next step is to secure funding for the project; sometimes this can forestall
going any further. A gradual approach to start-up is called for most of the time. The
next step would be to construct the website and e-mail systems. The last step would
be to execute marketing strategies.
Research Methodology
The foregoing sections have highlighted various factors that impact implementation
and adoption of e-commerce. Several issues, both positive and negative,
were examined. In this section, the research methodology that will be applied in
analyzing the literature is discussed.
Aims of the Research
The aims of the research are:
• to identify, study and evaluate e-commerce success factors;
• to develop a preliminary theory of good practice in the field of e-commerce;
• to test this theory or theoretical conjecture by reference to South African
organizations and practitioners; and thereby,
• develop the theory into managerial guidelines.
Research Options
The research has a theoretical underpinning from the literature review. This
was the result of the study of the research area through the writings of others and
through discourse with learned or informed individuals. The theory produced a list
of success factors through content analysis (See Fig. 2) and these would be tested
in practice. These factors would also be tested using a questionnaire based on
ranking and on preference using a seven-point Likert scale.
Analysis of Theoretical Evidence
The main approach to the analysis of evidence obtained from the literature was
to use content analysis in the pilot study as described by Huberman & Miles (1994).
Because content analysis was used, a positivist approach was followed by a realist
and interpretive approach to discuss the results and interprets in order to apply the
conclusions. These techniques require the researcher to carefully comb through the
evidence collected from the literature in order to find patterns that display general
principles applying to e-commerce. Because of detailed work, empirical generalizations
and a theory could be developed.
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