Optimising management information systems for Local Economic Development practice in KwaZulu-Natal
Priscilla X Majola
Local Economy, 2020, vol. 35, issue 5, 511-522
Abstract:
Local Economic Development is at the epicentre of South Africa’s growth, and government is emphasising its implementation in policies, strategies and developmental goals of the country. Therefore, different government institutions, private sector entities, civil society organisations and even communities have been tasked with the implementation of Local Economic Development in their local areas. However, in reviewing the implementation processes, there is evidence of a lack of information sharing amongst all respective stakeholders as well as information quality constraints relating to relevant, accurate and up-to-date information regarding Local Economic Development implementation. The research in this paper undertook an exploratory approach aimed at identifying and establishing how a management information system can be customised to be used by all relevant Local Economic Development stakeholders within the province of KwaZulu-Natal and a framework was produced. A qualitative design was utilised through conducting 16 in-depth interviews with Local Economic Development managers from three government departments and district municipalities and one metropolitan municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and two development agencies. The overall findings of the paper revealed that there is currently no integrated management information system in place for Local Economic Development stakeholders to create, store and share critical information required for effective and efficient economic development practice. Results imply that such information sharing could, in turn, enhance Local Economic Development implementation in various ways if designed according to the needs of the users. Recommendations include each stakeholder to address internal-oriented data-management techniques for information management strategy or culture.
Keywords: Local Economic Development; management information system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269094220936216 (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:loceco:v:35:y:2020:i:5:p:511-522
DOI: 10.1177/0269094220936216
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in Local Economy from London South Bank University
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().