Abstract
This paper reports the results of the study that was carried out on one of the non-governmental organizations called Save the Children International in Malawi. The aim of the study was to find out the barriers that prevent the international non-governmental organizations from adopting e-business and how they could overcome them.
A case study method of investigation was used to analyse the level of e-business knowledge among the staff and internal and external barriers to adoption of e-business. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design in which all the staffs on managerial and directorship levels in Save the Children were the study population. The study used stratified and random sampling techniques in coming up with the sample for the study. The study used questionnaires and interviews as tools for collecting data. The questionnaire was semi-structured made up of both open and closed-ended questions. Qualitative data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and open coding.
The identified major internal barriers by the study were the senior management, staff with the technical capacity and failure to exploit the existing technological capacity. The external barriers identified by Save the Children staff were the information communication technological infrastructure, the level of awareness of the general public on e-business and the low levels of economic development in the country.
To overcome these internal and external barriers, the study suggested a deliberate approach by the senior management team to spearhead the adoption of e-business, an active role by the information technology staff in encouraging staff to adopt e-business in their operations and the increased usage of the existing technological capacity to include doing business on the internet over and above the current utilization levels.