Impact of ICT on Business Performance in Small and Medium ManufacturingIndustries in Tanzania

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of ICT on business performance in
small and medium manufacturing industries in Tanzania, following a
lack of studies on ICT and business performance. The study adopted
a quantitative approach and obtained data through survey research
that was conducted in four (4) selected regions, namely Dar es
Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, and Morogoro. These regions were
selected because they have more than 50% of all the manufacturing
industries in Tanzania. Purposive sampling was carried out, whereby
only manufacturing industries that use ICT in their daily operations
were selected for the study sample. The sample size of 474 justified
the use of structural equation modelling through IBM Amos Version 26
software. The results showed a level of significance of 0.75, which was
interpreted as the relationship between ICT and business
performance in small and medium manufacturing industries in
Tanzania. The study demonstrated that ICT use helps Tanzanian
industries improve their business performance. Therefore, this study
recommends that decision-makers continuously use ICTs, sales
strategies, and promotions of new products as well as the redesign of
existing ones to achieve higher levels of competitiveness in business
performance.