Traditional culture or political economy? On the root causes of organizational obstacles of IT in developing countries

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Abstract
The literature on informatics in developing countries seldom thoroughly discusses the crucial concept “developing countries”. Most authors seem to implicitly adopt the view that developing countries are “latecomers” which will sooner or later become similar to the “already developed” countries. In this view, the problems of IT development observed in organizations in developing countries are due to the hierarchical “traditional culture”. In this paper, indigenous computer‐related activities in South‐Western Nigeria (Yorubaland) are used as a case, and the organizational problems observed are compared with aspects of the traditional Yoruba culture of that region. The comparison does not support the cultural hypothesis. An alternative explanation is briefly introduced, based on a concrete historical analysis along a world‐system approach. Finally, the roles of ‘cultural’ and ‘socio‐economic’ factors in national brands of IT development are discussed more generally.

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