The complex nature of small business operations has led to adopting IT as a tool to enhance the productivity, efficiency and growth of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMMEs). Despite the increased spend on IT, many SMMEs do not understand the importance of IT investment evaluation, which adversely impacts their technology and decision-making ability to realise benefits. The study explores the role evaluation plays in SMMEs' decision-making to adopt the technology, and the ability to evaluate technology potentials thereof. Case studies were conducted, data collected analysed using the thematic analysis, with hermeneutics employed to derive deeper and richer meanings from the findings. SMMEs often base their decision to adopt the technology on speculative and empirical knowledge from personal judgement, communication preferences and individual experiences. Implications of TE potential may lead to the adoption of inappropriate or non-adoption of the technology, with adverse effects on business sustainability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.