Green E-Business Applications among the SMTEs in Tanzania: Analysis using the Green IT Reach-Rich Matrix

Abstract

This paper is part of an ongoing study, which investigates the Green E-Business Applications among the SMTEs in Tanzania. The idea was motivated by the need to identify a set of processes involved in the development, adoption, use and disposal of ICT among the SMTEs in Tanzania. In pursuit of that, it employed the Green IT Reach-Rich Matrix to assess the IT activity chain from Sourcing, Operational practices to End-of-Life Management. The qualitative data collection technique, was used, an approach that was planned after the analysis of the quantitative data, such that the strongly featuring facts were subjected to a word of mouth explanations to get the whys and hows. The study revealed that Green E-Business was a new phenomenon and thus was not practiced by most of firms visited. Where it was, the initiatives were rather haphazardly and rudimentary conducted with no appropriate policies and regulations to guide. Consequently, regardless of the fact that, SMEs are resource and information poor there were no facilitating conditions from any part to ease the adoption. The study is opinion that, establishment of appropriate policies and regulation will assist to both persuade and reinforce the green behavior among the SMTEs. The study also calls for green entrepreneurs to venture into the e-waste management hence making one s discarded garbage, an entrepreneur s treasure.