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To enhance the capacity of public institutions in Ethiopia and to create an ideal environment for investment and economic growth, the public sector has gone through a series of reform processes including the civil service. This article attempts to assess the outcomes of the Public Sector Capacity reform, based on a small‐scale survey conducted in two ministries. The survey, which was conducted between March and May in 2005, reveals a notable transformation of service delivery in each organisation. Very high levels of user satisfaction and spectacular improvements in performance were also recorded as a result of the introduction of business process reengineering (BPR). Although the change process in both organisations tended to be sluggish, these improvements appear to be outstanding within the context of Ethiopia's system of public administration. However, one challenge will be for the government to maintain the momentum of reform and to cascade BPR and other elements of the reform to other divisions, departments and work units in the government. Putting in place incentive schemes and an appropriate monitoring system should protect the reform from backsliding. Despite the pessimistic accounts of public sector reform in African countries, this article reveals that there are positive findings of interest to the field of development administration. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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This study explores mechanisms of frugal knowledge sharing for frugal innovation diffusion drawing upon concepts from social capital and diffusion of innovation theories. Three frugal innovations projects from Uganda, Malawi, and Ethiopia are used to undertake a preliminary appraisal of a proposed theoretical model. The study identifies a frugal knowledge sharing mechanism based on “The Church lady model”. From a practice perspective, the study informs how to leverage social capital to facilitate frugal knowledge sharing. Insights drawn from this study cover the surrounding network structure, mode of communication, frugal knowledge sharing modalities, and the opportunity for combination and exchange to spark varied frugal IS innovation projects. From a research point of view, it serves as a basis for frugal knowledge management for frugal innovation diffusion in an African context.

A nation's telecom system plays an important role in its socio-economic development. This case study assesses the technical and organizational readiness of Ethio-Telecom to implement Cloud Computing services to serve Africa's fast-growing demand for Cloud Computing. The study used the STOPE (Strategy, Technology, Organization, People, and Environment) model as a theoretical base. A structured survey questionnaire was used to gather data from 100 mid and operational level employees. An interview was conducted with top-level officials to elicit information about the strategic direction of the company. We used structural equation modeling software for analyses and model testing. The SMART PLS results point to the appropriateness of the STOPE model for the assessment of Ethio-Telecom's Cloud Computing readiness. Additional analysis revealed that Ethio-Telecom's Strategy, Technology, Organization, and Environmental dimensions need only minor improvements while the People dimension requires significant improvements to successfully implement Cloud Computing services. We mapped interview and document analysis data to the STOPE model constructs. This qualitative approach further validated the results we got in the quantitative analysis. We believe the mixed methodology, SMART PLS for quantitative analysis and e-Learning Readiness Survey to determine individual dimension readiness, and quantitative analysis, used in this study have added to the body of knowledge.