The Impact of Covid-19 on Profitability of Ict Small and Medium Scale Enterprise in Kaduna North Local Government Area
CHAPTER ONE
Purpose of study
The purpose of this study is to;
- To explore how ICT small and medium scale businesses are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,
- To identify how their value chains are being affected
- To identify how the SMEs are dealing with Covid 19.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Overview of Coronavirus Disease
Coronavirus Disease is a contagious disease that first emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019. It was later coded โCOVID-19โ by the W.H.O which stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019. The Coronavirus outbreak remains one of the worst global pandemics for decades. The mortality rate soared and the easy of spread was upsetting. Research shows that older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer were more likely to develop serious illnesses from coronavirus (W.H.O, 2020). Some of the symptoms of Coronavirus include; Sore throat, runny nose, constant coughing/sneezing, breathing difficulty and fatigue.
Image 1: Illustration of the Morphology of Coronaviruses; the club-shaped viral spike pelomers, coloured red, create the look of a corona surrounding the virion when observed with an electron (Wikipedia,2020a-SARS- CoV-2 without background.png).
As at the time of this study, there were no reliable treatments for Coronavirus, but a series of researches were in the pipeline across the world towards finding a clinical vaccine for the contagion. However, recent events shows that behavioural change can help contain the spread of coronavirus. Some of the suggested measures to halt the coronavirus pandemic include; improved individual habits such as personal hygiene, including constant washing of hands with alcohol-based sanitizers, good respiratory attitude (close coughing and sneezing), and other personal protection practices like wearing of face mask, social distancing, avoiding touching of the face, and reducing contacts with people through self-isolation at home or avoiding nonessential travels or gatherings. Coronavirus is a global problem that requires more action coordination and global cooperation to successfully contain the outbreak and to deal with its aftermath effects. Consequently, the United Nations appealed for 2 billion dollars to support global response efforts towards tackling the coronavirus pandemic. The consequences of COVID-19 could be more severe; if people do not comply or adhere strictly to public health regulations and advice.
CHAPTERย THREE
RESEARCHย METHODOLOGY
Researchย Design
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The study used descriptive research design. A descriptive study involves collecting dataย that test the validity of the hypotheses regarding the present status of the subjects of theย study. In this study, the design was used to determine the effects of Covid 19 pandemic whichย was the independent variable on ICT SMEs which was the dependent variable inย thisย studyย in Kaduna North L.G.A.
SECTION FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
ย Demographic Data of respondents
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND CONCLUSION
Discussion
Three of the respondents stated that they have not been too negatively affected by Covid-19ย and have therefore not made any major changes in their business operations and the businessย environment is almost the same as before. Digitalization is a key factor as to why some ofย these companies are not being too affected and Buer et al. (2018), explains that digitalizationย is a core element for creating an effective plan and control in a company. The authors argueย that digitalization allows these 3 companies to have all the resources they need to operate asย normal as possible during these times, and it allows the employees in the firms to have lessย human contact but still being able to work, as they can do it through digital channels. Theseย companies being e-commerce further allows them to operate as usual and still have customersย during a pandemic, as they donยดt have to think about closing the store or adjust their openingย times like physical stores have been forced to during the pandemic and this also relates toย Wigand (2006), who stated that electronic commerce has shifted the definition of a companyย due to the abilities they have. The interaction between a company and customer no longerย needsย to beย physical andย they canย instead interactย trough digital channels.
Conclusions
The Covid-19 situation can impact e-commerce firms differently, depending on what kind ofย firm they are, which sector, and where in the world they have production and manufacturingย facilities. Covid-19 has also shown signs of positive impacts for some of the e-commerceย firms from the empirical findings in this research. The outcomes of the situation, and how it willย further impact them in the future, is however unclear. The current information that there isย about e-commerce and Covid-19, points to the fact that e-commerce is growing and makingย even more profits than before, due to the situation. The growth is mainly caused by people notย wanting to go out and expose themselves to the virus, and therefore shops from e-commerceย rather than physical stores during this period. Most e-commerce firms have experiencedย increased sales, which affects their business operations to some extent, however, some e-ย commerce firms are responding differently and are being affected in other ways than most,ย and others are almost not impacted at all. The purpose of this research is to answer the followingย main research question (RQ): How are ICT small scale enterprises affected by the Covid-ย 19 outbreak? To be able to answer this question more explicitly, first, the following sub-ย questions needs to be answered: (1) Which parts of their value chains are being impacted byย Covid-19?ย and (2) How areย they dealingย with theย Covid-19 situation?
Recommendations
The findings of this research show that e-commerce firms have been affected and the analysisย can be useful for other e-commerce manager as instruments to compare the actions with otherย firms in order to make better decisions. These findings can provide another point of view forย managers to understand processes from other responses. From the conclusion, e-commerceย firms have been affected dependent on their current digital business environment. Due toย certain experiences, the data revealed that some firms have made changes and efforts thanย others. The findings can contribute to other similar industries as sources of effects on e-ย commerce firms. By obtaining an understanding of this situation, e-commerce firms can haveย issues to operate as usual during the Covid-19. However, due to social distancing firms haveย realizedย thatย theyย canย keepย theirย businessย operationsย ongoingย throughย digitalย platforms.
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