The Use of Communication Tools for Small-Scale Businesswomen in Tuticorin Region South East India

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UPPSALA UNIVERSITY 2009-12-16 Department of Business Studies

Degree Project 15 hp Fall 2009

Tina Eriksson

Beata Thorstensson Academic Supervisor: Malena Ingemansson

The Use of Communication Tools for Small-Scale

Businesswomen in Tuticorin Region South East India

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Abstract

India is often considered to be a high tech country; however there are substantial differences in both adaptation and use of new technology between urban and rural areas. Many times women are excluded from the technological development due to social norms and traditions. The use of cell phones in India has increased profoundly in recent years; meanwhile the use of computers spreads at a much lower rate. Still the women are not making full use of these new communication

technologies.

In order to investigate this, a field study in Tuticorin area in South East India was conducted, where interviews with small-scale businesswomen were carried out. The purpose of this degree project is to investigate the current use of Information and Communication Technologies, ICT, among women in the area in order to assess the value of cell phones and identify barriers for the use of computers as communication tools.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to give a special thank you to all the people that helped us to complete this degree project.

First of all, we want to thank Eva Lindén from Nyköping Folk High School for letting us become a part of your project, for helping us organize the trip and for sharing your experiences. We are very happy that we got the possibility to do this. We would also like to thank Britt-Marie Sundell and Inger Löfgren for your encouragement and experiences.

Without the hospitality and help from Dr. Edward JK Patterson and Dr. Jamila Patterson at the SDMRI research institute, nothing of this would have been possible. We thank you for welcoming and taking care of us and for helping us to get in contact with the women in the villages. We would also like to thank you for all the time that you have devoted to our project and for answering all of our questions.

Further, we would like to send thanks to all of our informants, the women in the villages, who were very friendly, opening up to us and answering all of our questions. Thanks to you we learned so much from this experience.

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List of Illustrations

Tables

Table 1. Summary of themes and opening questions for the interviews. Table 2. Overview of the businesses covered within the study.

Table 3. The price of computer training in the different villages.

Pictures

Picture 1. Project location Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India. Picture 2. Map of the project villages. (Own production) Picture 3. An Indian woman using a cell phone.

Picture 4. Map of South Tamil Nadu.

Picture 5. Women attending computer training in Siluvaipatti.

Figures

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Acronyms

ICT Information and Communication Technologies IMP group Industrial Marketing and Purchasing group INR Indian Rupee (1 INR ≈ 0.16 SEK, 2009-08-25) SDMRI Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute SHG Self Help Group

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1. Introduction

"Technological change is an evolutionary learning process that occurs very unevenly through time and space." (Dicken, 2003, p. 510)

The use of new technology has been shown to be a driving force for economic development. According to Dicken (2003, p. 85) the „new economy‟ that emerged in the United States in the 1990s was driven by the technological development in Information and Communication

Technologies, ICT. The concept of ICT refers to cell phones, computers and Internet as means of communication and as a source of information. During the last decades industrialised countries have experienced an enormous growth in availability and use of ICT-tools, both within businesses and households. (Schrum et al., 2006, p. 17) However, in recent years the use of cell phones has also increased in developing countries and there reached a cell phone penetration rate1 of 49.5 percent, compared to zero percent 10 years ago. The cell phone is the single most used ICT-tool in the world today. The main reasons for this are ease in use and availability. The number of Internet users has also increased, although at a lower rate than for the cell phone. (International

Telecommunication Union, 2009, pp. 1-3)

1.1 Background

Variations of availability and use of new technology can also be observed within a country. For example, India is well known for its skill within the field of Computer Science. According to BBC News (2007) there are currently more than 500 multinational IT-companies that have offices in Bangalore alone. Cisco System‟s Chief Globalisation Officer, Wim Elfrink, believes that India is the hub for the world within the ICT sector. (BBC News, 2007) In July 2009, the number of cell phone subscribers in India increased by 14.4 million and has now reached a total of 479 million nationwide. (Dagens Nyheter, 2009) However, India with a population of more than one billion is a very diverse country when it comes to accessibility to technology. Although India has many high tech cities and a high presence of multinational companies, the poor rural areas in India are not equally included in this new development. (CORDIO, 2006) Poverty is closely connected with unfavourable conditions such as lack of assets, illiteracy, lack of employment, and traditional and social norms. It has also been shown that a clear majority of the world‟s poor are women. (Mohsin, 2000, p. 102) In order to increase confidence and reduce poverty among the poor women in rural India the concept of Self Help Groups, SHGs, was introduced in 1992 by the National Bank for

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Agriculture and Development, NABARD. Today this program reaches almost three million SHGs in India. (SHG gateway, 2009) An SHG usually consists of 20 women and their main objective is to save money and apply for loans in order to become self-sustainable. (Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society, 2008)

In 2007 the Indian Marine Research Institute SDMRI2, in cooperation with Nyköping Folk High School and funded by SPIDER3, started an ICT-project in Tuticorin on the southeast coast of India. The overall objective of the project “Empowering women groups in Kenya and India through ICT, Adult Education and Alternative Livelihoods” is to strengthen women‟s confidence through education and to help women identify viable livelihood opportunities. Seeing how ICT is strongly localised in urban areas and has yet to make significant impact at the village level, the project focuses on rural areas. The implementation of ICT in villages will provide the women with an important tool for learning, acquiring information and hopefully help them reach new markets for their businesses. (CORDIO, 2006)

Picture 1. Project location Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.

The SDMRI project focuses on exploring three primary benefits of ICT implementation for the women in the SHGs. The first aim is to improve communication between SHG members as well as coordination with SDMRI. The second purpose is to improve the SHG members‟ access to markets, enabling them to find out information on prices, market locations, demand for products etc. Finally, ICT can be used to improve information management and access. (CORDIO, 2006)

2_{Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute}

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1.2 Purpose and Question Formulation

As shown, the spread of ICT throughout the world, and within countries, has been very uneven. The urban areas in India have a high level of technological development; meanwhile the current

situation on a rural level is completely different. The use of cell phones has spread at a much higher rate than the use of computers. However, regardless of the spread of these ICT- technologies

women are still partly excluded from the benefits they can provide. Why is it that the women cannot make full use of ICT and why is it that computers spread at a much lower rate?

The purpose of this degree project is to investigate the current use of ICT among businesswomen in the area, in order to assess the value of the use of cell phones as communication tools. From these results, barriers and enabling factors for the use of cell phones, for these women, will be identified. Seeing how computers are not as spread as cell phones, the results from this degree project will also be used to compare these two communication tools with each other. The first question is based on four chosen women and their business situation, while the second question is more general and based on empirical findings from all of the women met. The third question reflects our attempt to compare the two communication tools. The following questions will be studied:

- How are cell phones used within the businesses of the women in the four chosen cases and what is the result from this use?

- Which barriers and enabling factors can be identified for the use of cell phones, for the businesswomen in the area?

- How do the barriers and enabling factors distinguished differ between the two communication tools?

1.3 Delimitations

This degree project is limited to investigate the villages involved in the SDMRI project. Furthermore, we focus only on women as members of SHGs. However, our study is not a

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that all the women we met did have businesses and therefore sometimes when we write only women it is as a precaution.

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2. Theoretical Framework

In order to analyse the results from our field work, we have chosen to use the 4R resource theory as part of the work of the IMP group4 presented by Håkansson and Waluszewski. In this theory

resources are looked upon with a network perspective. It is important to understand the concept and function of networks in order to see how resources can be used and create value for a business within a network. Therefore, this section of the thesis will start with an introduction to the IMP group’s network theory, followed by a presentation of the basis of the 4R theory.

2.1 The Network Theory

A network view refers to the idea that companies are not isolated entities but instead parts of

complex networks. All companies are interdependent and therefore heavily rely on the relationships and interactions with other companies. According to the IMP group the interdependencies of

companies have three elements of importance: the resources of the companies within the network, the actors involved and the activities of the actors. (Ford et al., 1998, pp. 76-79) When modelling a single relationship within a network the three elements, mentioned by the IMP group, are completed with the three dimensions of the relationships. These dimensions are resource ties, actor bonds and activity links, and their features are useful in order to locate a company‟s position in the network. (Ford et al., 2007, pp. 27-29)

2.1.1 Resources, Actors and Activities

A resource can be fixed, meaning it is owned by the company i.e. an internal resource. Another way for a company to gain access to a resource is through a relationship with the owner of the resource i.e. an external resource. Companies have different strategies for handling resources. While some strive to own most of the resources themselves, the IMP group means that external resources are an essential factor for a company‟s effectiveness and efficiency. (Ford et al., 1998, p. 94) Resource ties refer to the tie between different companies‟ resources that are generated through relationships. (Ford et al., 2007, p. 29) This basic introduction constitutes the foundation of the view on resources in the 4R theory, which will be developed further below. Since resources can be external the

function of actors and activities are important in order to understand how resources can be acquired.

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Actors are the individuals and companies that form the network. Since business relationships tend to depend on individual interactions, the actor bonds give a social dimension to the network. (Ford et al., 2007, p. 30) An actor bond is the interaction between individual actors within different companies and together they create the structure of the network. The individual actors will

exchange experiences and through their interaction create mutual trust by learning more about each other. (Ford et al., 1998, p. 42) The relationships enable shared knowledge and collaboration when solving problems. (Ford et al., 2007, p. 221)

Activities are the actions performed by the actors, such as developing, producing and selling a product or service. (Ford et al., 1998, p. 42) The activities are linked through the relationships between the companies. When two or more companies have joint activities an activity link is created between them. Examples of joint activities are basic services, production or activities affecting the production process. (Ford et al., 2007, pp. 27-28)

The strength of the bonds, ties and links determines the involvement of the relationships between different companies. The stronger they are the more involved are the two companies. The degree of involvement is therefore not something that either company can decide about themselves; instead it is set by their interaction. (Ford et al., 2003, p. 72) With this network view in mind we will now further develop and explain the concept of the resource based network model, 4R. This theory allows relationships to be looked upon as a resource in itself and not only as a link to other resources. We see this as important because it is not limited to focus only on the result, since a relationship might not have a clear outcome but can still be valuable. Further, as will be discussed later, relationships as well as other resources do not have a constant value; instead it can change over time depending on how it is being used and combined.

2.2 The Resource Theory 4R

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- Products represent all the artefacts that are being exchanged between different companies. This includes the whole range from raw material and small components to final products. - Facilities are also artefacts but their purpose is to transform products or information. Different

examples of facilities can be of the type: machines, space, equipment, transportation and ICT-tools.

- Business units are representing intangible resources such as reputation, personnel, competence and structure.

- Relationships create the network and are a form of social resources.

All companies are made up by a combination of resources. Applying the 4R theory, that has its focus on indirect and direct resource interaction; it is possible to examine how a business‟ technological solutions are developed and combined within a specific business. It also makes it possible to investigate how resources are combined within a network. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, p. 17)

2.2.1 Knowledge

One important resource for the use of technology is knowledge. Knowledge can be created and developed in combination with other resources and can thereafter be put into use in a business setting. Every day a substantial amount of knowledge is used within a business. Behind a simple operation there can be years and years of development. Nevertheless, all the knowledge that exists does not come to use within a business. According to Håkansson and Waluszewski (2007, p. 1), companies and organisations are very selective when it comes to what knowledge is being utilised. Therefore, a great deal of new knowledge often ends up unused since companies insist on keeping old solutions. What kind of knowledge that is useful, depends on the specific business. Håkansson and Waluszewski (2007, p. 3) mean that in order to make use of new knowledge, within a business, it has to be able to co-exist and be combined with current resources. Searching for knowledge from other individuals through interaction can be difficult. This is because knowledge is rarely visible but instead often embedded into artefacts or people in the form of tacit knowledge. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, p. 3)

2.2.2 Interactions and Interfaces

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have access to. The 4R theory, on the other hand, looks at resources from a heterogeneous point of view. In opposite to the previous view, this means that the value of a resource depends on how it is combined with other resources and how it is being used by a company. (Håkansson &

Waluszewski, 2002, p. 31)

Håkansson and Waluszewski (2002, pp. 11-12) claim that interaction is a key ingredient in technological development and use of technology. Since a company is constantly confronted with the technological ambitions of other companies, the interaction process gives a company ideas on how to develop and it is therefore working as an inspiration. Thus, technological development and the use of technology can be seen as a learning process that occurs over time. Therefore, social interaction and technical adaptations are closely tied together. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2002, p. 28) However, there is a difference between knowledge about a technology and knowledge about the use of a technology. While tacit knowledge is difficult to copy, social interaction can be useful in order to learn how to make use of a technology since this is more visible.

All the four groups of resources (products, facilities, business units and relationships) are essential for a company and its network. They are all created and formed through interaction processes. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2002, p. 31) In accordance to the heterogeneous view on resources the effect on the resource from interactions varies depending on the circumstances. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, pp. 19-20) However, interactions are essential in order to combine resources and create value.

When resources interact specific interfaces are developed between them. An interface is a place or an area where resources meet and affect each other. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, p. 29) Two types of new knowledge will be developed alongside with the interfaces. First, knowledge will be build into the interface and second knowledge about the interface will be created. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, p. 19) Certain features of single or combined resources will be developed and embedded into each other. Interactions can take place between artefacts, as well as between people. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2002, p. 33)

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The introduction of new resources will, according to Håkansson and Waluszewski (2007, p. 20), create friction on the already existing assets and their interfaces. Depending on the heaviness, the depth and the width of the interfaces, development can create more or less friction. Further, friction is usually connected to economic factors. If heavy investments have been made earlier, a company will be less eager to introduce new technology that will make the former technology obsolete. In other words, the company will strive to introduce resources that fit in with the already existing business activities. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007, p. 20) However, small adjustment of one resource can have a remarkable impact on the value of related resources. (Håkansson &

Waluszewski, 2002, p. 193)

2.3 Comments on the Theory

Since a resource always can be combined with new resources and used in innovative ways, it is impossible to try to capture more than parts of its development. Further, one resource can have different values in different settings and multiple areas of use. When trying to analyse the utilisation of resources and their interaction it is necessary to pinpoint some contradictions which will become apparent. If this is not done, all the attempts to capture the resource development may be fruitless. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2002, p. 39)

According to Håkansson and Waluszewski (2002) there are a number of constraints of the 4R-theory. We find three of these important to take into consideration in our specific study. First of all, a resource, such as an ICT-tool, must be considered from two perspectives at the same time. It must be looked upon as a single unit as well as a part of a network, meaning that we have to consider the technology and its features, as well as the possibility for use in the specific network. Secondly, there is also a contradiction between different actors’ views or images of a technology. Therefore, there will be a difference between how we see a facility and how different Indian women see it. Thirdly, a resource has to be regarded as given and non-given at the same time. This means that a resource can always change and develop, but when we study it we need to look at it as given. In our study this means that we cannot consider future uses of ICT-tools, but instead we examine how it is used today and compare this to earlier uses. (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2002, pp. 39-40)

By using this analytical tool we aim to identify how ICT is used in combination with other

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other companies. This results in networks consisting of several actor bonds, activity links and resource ties well embedded in the network on multiple levels. In our case all the companies are small-scale enterprises but these dimensions are nevertheless visible. The businesses of the women are still interacting with other businesses and can therefore be considered as part of a

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3. Methodology

In this section we will present and discuss the methods used for conducting this study and analysing the results. First, we start with an introduction to the field study and project location. Second, we introduce the methods used to gather primary and secondary data. Finally, we present how we have chosen to apply our theory and model.

3.1 The Field Study

In order to fulfil the purpose of this thesis, in the best way possible, we chose to conduct a field study. Since the objective of this degree project is to identify the value, barriers and enabling factors for the use of cell phones and distinguish the differences for the use of computers, for the

businesswomen involved in the project, a trip to the project location in South East India was necessary. The trip to the Tuticorin region took place between the 21st of August and the 6th of September in 2009. The purpose of the trip was to conduct a qualitative study of the ICT-level among the women involved in the project. Our main objective was to observe the actual living situation of the women and their business environment and to localise women of interest for our study. A qualitative study was chosen because we wanted the possibility to gather more extensive information from a few women, rather than making generalisations. (Holme & Solvang, 1997, p. 14) Another reason was that we were unfamiliar with the area and the culture, making a qualitative method more suitable for discovering unexpected results.

3.2 The Project Location

The town of Tuticorin, being located on the coast, has a population heavily relying on fishing as the main source of income. Overfishing and use of destructive fishing methods has led to a decrease in the fish population. The project started as an effort to make villagers along the coast less dependent on coral reef resources by providing opportunities for income diversification and alternative

livelihood. By allowing the women to take part in alternative livelihood activities, and by doing so generate additional income to the household, the fishermen can be diverted from destructive fishing. The research institute SDMRI selected five coastal villages for their project: Arockiyapuram,

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Picture 2. Map of the project villages. (Own production)

Before our departure we studied the project, the geographical location and the Indian culture to facilitate interviewing and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. We also had meetings with the Swedish representatives from Nyköping Folk High School, which gave us a good understanding of their previous experiences.

3.3 Primary Data

To retrieve primary data two main methods were combined; observations and interviews. All primary data gathering was performed on location in the Tuticorin region.

3.3.1 Observations

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confirmed with the informants in order to assure the quality of the material. (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2005, pp. 120-123)

3.3.2 Interviews

The first step in gathering information was to meet with all the coordinators involved in the project. Each village has two coordinators in charge of the execution of the project and the performance within their own village. They are also responsible for the adult education and the computer training. The coordinators have been chosen by the project initiators from SDMRI. All the

coordinators are themselves members of SHGs and were selected since they were respected among the other women and had a relatively high level of education. (Patterson, 2009) We met with all these coordinators during two group interviews in order to get a better understanding of their work and the general conditions in the villages. This gave us an introduction to the types of businesses available and the ICT-level in the villages.

To increase our insight, the next step was to visit all the five villages individually and to perform group interviews. The women present during these interviews were the ones participating in the adult education or the computer training provided by the project. During each interview there were between 12 and 30 women present. Through these interviews we were able to identify the different types of businesses present in each village. Based on this information we later decided which businesses and individuals to focus our study on. After conducting the group interviews we identified eight women, of special interest for our study, for personal interviews. They all represented different businesses and were using different methods and resources.

We chose a semi-structured interview method for two main reasons. First, we wanted to get the informants perspective on the issue and not be tied to preconceived questions. Second, we used the interviews as a mean to confirm information and hypotheses retrieved from observations.

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Theme Opening Question

Personal situation Describe your family situation? Business situation Can you describe your business?

Supply side What kinds of supplies are needed for your business and how do you acquire them? Customer side Who buys your products?

Communication Do you have a cell phone?

Computer training Have you taken any computer training?

Table 1. Summary of themes and opening questions for the interviews.

Nine personal interviews were performed and among these one of them was with our interpreter, who was also in charge of the execution of the project. The informants were all women and housewives between 24 and 50 years old. Among these eight women 11 different businesses were represented. The interviews were performed in the women‟s villages and were between 30 and 60 minutes long. Often the coordinator, who also set up the interview, was present. The 11 businesses covered within the study are the following:

Business Activities

Rice Buying and selling

Tailoring of clothes Making and selling

Goats Growing and selling

Juice Preparing and selling

Beautician Makeup and other beauty treatments

School bags Making and selling

Sari (clothing) Buying and selling

Plastic baskets Making and selling

Vermicompost Preparing and selling

Papers from recycled materials Making and selling

Detergents Preparing and selling

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Out of the eight interviews with the businesswomen, we have chosen to present and analyse four cases where the cell phones were used to different extents. By selecting a limited number we could focus on a more extensive presentation of the individual cases and get a deeper understanding. Moreover, a presentation of all of the cases would not add any essential information.

3.3.3 Credibility of the Interviews and the Informants

All the interviews were carried out with a female interpreter with good knowledge of the local language Tamil, as well as English. The interpreter is also one of the initiators of the project. She is responsible for the implementation and coordination of the project at SDMRI. (Patterson, 2009) None of the women in the villages could speak English and therefore an interpreter was essential in order to perform the interviews. However, the language barrier between the interpreter and us might have caused certain loss of information. Since English is not ours, nor the interpreter‟s, mother tongue this might have caused misunderstandings in the translation.

There were clear advantages to have access to an interpreter who was familiar with the project. First, she was well aware of the purpose of our study and our motives. Her knowledge about the project and the area made it easier for her to understand our questions and translate them into Tamil. Second, she already had established relationships with the women involved in the project, which made it easier for them to open up to her and for us to find the information necessary to carry out our study.

There were also some evident disadvantages with using this interpreter. Her superiority and dominant position in the project might have caused the answers given by the informants to be biased. Further, the interpreter might have chosen only to translate what she found to be interesting or favourable to the project and thereby excluding information from us. Another problem with using an interpreter is that the way we asked a question might not have been the same way the interpreter translated it to the informant, concerning nuances in voice and formulation of questions. Further, we cannot be sure that the interpreter took into consideration that we asked different questions in different interviews. If the interpreter had heard one question in the first interview, and we changed it for another one, we cannot be certain that she understood that. We have taken the disadvantages of using our interpreter into consideration during the process of writing this thesis.

Concerning the answers given by the informants it was sometimes difficult to get them to

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order to get any answer at all. Seeing how all our informants, and all the participants in the project, are women we considered it to be of great advantage to use a female interpreter. We also carefully made sure that only women were present at the time of the interviews. It is our belief that this made it easier for the informants to open up to us. The Indian society has not yet reached a high level of gender equality and women are, in many cases, subordinate to men. (Patterson, 2009) Our study has been carried out with female informants, but our focus has not been on differences between the genders. However, the fact that all the informants are women will naturally influence the outcome of the study.

3.4 Secondary Data

The main sources of secondary data are articles and publications from SDMRI and Nyköping Folk High School about the project, its execution and results. The reports from SDMRI are mainly concerning evaluations of the project. We have also used research material within the field of ICT in developing countries to get an overview of what has been done previously within the field and get inspiration for our study. Additional research material about education and gender has been used for this degree project. Regarding the reports from SDMRI and Nyköping Folk High School we are aware of the fact that it is difficult to evaluate your own project. This may have led to reports lacking objective analysis of the results of the project.

3.5 Application of the Theory

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facilities. Therefore, the number of facilities is limited and we will focus this study on facilities in the form of ICT-tools.

The next step is to make out the value of the result from the use of cell phones. The 4R theory will be used to identify the resources available for single actors within a network. Then the output from the model will be used to analyse the usage of cell phones, where usage refers to the actual use of as well as the result from the communication. By analysing the usage of cell phones it is possible to identify some of the enabling factors, as well as some of the barriers. In the following step the cell phone and the computer are being compared with each other by identifying the resources needed for the use of each of them. However, the computer does not necessarily have a given place within the networks of these women.

This study is not meant to investigate the development of communication tools over time, but rather to look at the present situation. Our purpose is to gain an understanding of the value of the cell phone as a resource. Since the value of a resource can vary over time, we refrain from looking at the development of the use of these communication tools. However, there is a need to get an

understanding of the situation prior to the introduction of the cell phone in order to define its value. This value will represent the women‟s subjective view since we have not been able to compare the current situation with the prior. Further, the resources that have been investigated are limited to the ones that the women are aware of themselves and they are only seen from the women‟s

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4. Presentation of Empirical Findings

In this section we will outline the empirical findings made during our stay in the Tuticorin area in South East India. We will start with an introduction to the general situation in the area through the three subsections about cell phone usage, transportation and computer training. This is followed by a closer presentation of the four chosen cases, focusing on the use of cell phones within their businesses.

4.1 Tuticorin Region

India is a diverse country with large differences between urban and rural areas. Tuticorin town can, despite its size and one million inhabitants, be referred to as a rural region. The villages situated in proximity to the town have a relatively low standard. However, the access to electricity is good and the coverage of the GSM-net is sufficient for cell phone communication. The majority of the men in the villages are fishermen and many of the women are housewives. In recent years, and with the introduction of SHGs, more and more women have started small businesses that they conduct in their homes. (Patterson, 2009)

4.1.1 Cell Phone Usage

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The husbands are the ones in charge of the families‟ finances. Often, the women who owned cell phones had continuously saved a small amount of the household money in order to afford it. When asked, the women answered that the cell phones were mainly used for calling family and friends, but could also be used for business purposes. The number of women owning a cell phone varied in the different villages. In the villages closer to Tuticorin town the amount of women having their own cell phone was higher than in those further away. The main reason for not having a cell phone was the cost. (Inigo Nagar 2009, group interview, 28 August)

The most common subscription for cell phones among the people interviewed was prepaid cards. In all the villages the coverage was sufficient and the access to electricity was good, except for two hours of power cut every morning. There were phone booths available and landlines were fairly common among the households, or used to be. (Rajapalayam 2009, group interview, 25 August) The standard price for a one minute cell phone call within Tamil Nadu is 1 INR and the minimum recharge coupon costs 30 INR. (Airtel, 2009) A new Nokia 1203 cell phone costs around 1249 INR. (The Mobile Store, 2009) To get a better understanding of the price levels this can be compared to an average monthly income of 2000 to 4000 INR for a fisherman in the area. (Patterson et al., 2006, p. 95) For a housewife with a tailoring business the monthly income is about 2000 INR. (Purairaj, 2009)

Picture 3. An Indian woman using a cell phone.

4.1.2 Transportation

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in. The majority of the women do not own any means of transportation, not even a bicycle.

Therefore, the most common way of transportation to and from town is by bus. (Thiraviurn, 2009) If the women have large amounts of goods to carry they might need to take an auto5, which is more expensive than a bus fare. For the villages furthest away the bus fare is normally around 10 INR and an auto costs around 70 INR. (Patterson, 2009) The women made their purchases for their

businesses either in Tuticorin town, in Thirunelveli or in Madurai. The time and the money spent to travel to these places naturally depend on the distance.

The rate of illiteracy is high in the country; in 2007 47 percent of the world‟s illiterates were from India. (Geeta Ganhi Kingdon, 2007, p. 165) The level of education among the interviewed women varied and adult education was offered to those who had not yet learned how to read and write in school. (Patterson, 2009) The benefits that the women identified from their adult education were that they had learned how to read, write and calculate. This new knowledge allowed them to read and sign the contracts to acquire the SHG loans, to read the bible and to read the signs on the buses. When the women were able to read the bus signs it was also possible for them to travel alone without the company of a man. (Patterson et al., 2008, p. 404)

Picture 4. Map of South Tamil Nadu.

4.1.3 Computer Training

Within the scope of the project more than one hundred people have received computer training, including women, men and children. Initially the coordinators of the project received training from the research institute SDMRI and they are now teaching the courses. The participants have learned the basics of the MS Office programs and the focus of the training is on typewriting. The villages have all received two computers and one printer each. (Patterson, 2009) In some of the villages they

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have experienced problems with finding a suitable space for the computers, which has resulted in various solutions. (Tuticorin 2009, group interview, 21 August) In Thirespuram the Catholic Church has made its premises available for the computers. The village is the largest one in the project and about 30 households already have their private computers as well. Internet, on the other hand, is not available in any of the villages. The women who are familiar with computers have to use Internet cafés in Tuticorin town to write emails. Computers with Internet access are also

available for the village women at SDMRI, under supervision. (Tuticorin 2009, group interview, 22 August) In Siluvaipatti there are no other computers available except the ones donated by the project. Other villages had a few homes with computers. (Siluvaipatti 2009, group interview, 24 August) The price of a new LG desktop computer is about 14 000 INR. (Computer Price, 2009) The majority of the coordinators allow the residents of their villages to use the computers and printers for making printouts, for example printing hymns for church and resumes for job applications. (Tuticorin 2009, group interview, 21 August)

None of the coordinators allow the women to take computer training unless they are school educated or have participated in the adult education supported by the project. In order to use the computer they have to understand some basic English6 since this is the standard language. However, it is possible to write in Tamil using plug-in software. (Siluvaipatti 2009, group interview, 24 August) The main reason for participating in the computer training has been to get employment. For example, young school educated girls and boys have received computer training and they are currently employed by the cable network. Other reasons mentioned for taking

computer training, are to be able to teach their children about computers and also for business purposes. (Arockiyapuram 2009, group interview, 25 August) The majority of the women involved in the project are currently not taking part in the computer training. When the women were asked about the reasons why they were not participating in the training the answers varied. Some women thought it was too expensive or that they did not have the time because of their household duties, others thought they were too old and there was also a group of women that thought they did not have enough education. (Rajapalayam 2009, group interview, 25 August) However, there were many that wished to start their computer training as soon as they had finished their adult education. Everybody who could use a computer had learned it from attending some kind of computer training. The prices for the computer training provided by the project vary in the different villages as shown below:

6

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Village Cost for Computer Training

Arockiyapuram Free

Inigo Nagar Adults: free

Children 2 INR/hour

Rajapalayam Adults: 70 INR/month

Children: 10-15 INR/month

Siluvaipatti Free

Thirespuram Adults: 5 INR/hour

Children: 2 INR/hour

Table 3. The price of computer training in the different villages.

The reason the price varies is that the expenses for keeping a computer vary in the different villages. In the villages where the coordinators have to pay rent for the computer room the prices are higher. (Michel, 2009)

Picture 5. Women attending computer training in Siluvaipatti.

4.2 The Four Cases

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4.2.1 The Rice Business

Elisabeth Purairaj is a 47 year old woman who lives in Siluvaipatti village. Together with the other members of her SHG she is doing business selling rice in Siluvaipatti and neighbouring villages. She is educated up to 10th standard in the Indian school system and she has also been running a tailoring business in her home for 20 years. (Purairaj, 2009)

Before they started their rice business two years ago, a businessman came to the village regularly, walking to each home and selling rice. Elisabeth and her SHG made an arrangement with him and took over the distribution part of the business. They chose to do rice business because of the contact with the businessman and since it was the business with least effect on other businesses and shops in the village. They came to an agreement with the shop keepers that the SHG could start selling rice in the village. (Purairaj, 2009)

Elisabeth, as president of her SHG, sells most of the rice and the delivery is made to her home. The other SHG members mainly use the rice for their own needs, but to some extent they also help with the distribution. The earnings for each member are 10 INR per month. Elisabeth advertises the business when people come to her house for tailoring purposes and therefore it does not require a lot of extra work or time to sell the rice. Since she stores the rice in her house, and the space is limited, she is not able to order and sell as much rice as she would like to. Elisabeth does not own her own cell phone and therefore she uses her husband‟s in order to call the supplier and arrange the delivery. For example, during the wedding season larger quantities of rice are sold to single

customers and therefore Elisabeth orders four times the regular amount of rice. Sometimes she borrows her husband‟s cell phone for making calls to her family and friends as well as to other SHG members. Elisabeth has not yet participated in the computer training but she plans to attend in the future. (Purairaj, 2009)

4.2.2 The Sari Business

Jayaseeli Sunderaj is 49 years old and lives in Arockiyapuram village. She is making business buying and selling material for clothes and saris7, as well as female underwear. She is currently attending adult education one hour every day. (Sunderaj, 2009)

Jayaseeli started her business just after joining an SHG about ten years ago. However, the members of her SHG do not do any business together since they think it would create conflicts within the

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group. Instead they only use the SHG for saving money and to get loans from the banks. After receiving the money the women can use it for their own different businesses or for other purposes. Jayaseeli is using her part of the loans for her business and she has also used the profits from her business to buy a sewing machine. She used to be able to make blouses but today her vision is impaired and she can no longer use the sewing machine. (Sunderaj, 2009)

In order to acquire the saris and other material needed for her business she travels to Madurai, a city located 135 km from Tuticorin. However, it would also be possible to buy them in Tuticorin town but then the prices would be higher and the selection of quality and patterns would be limited. Instead she goes to Madurai once a month by bus to buy the materials. The cost for one return ticket is 120 INR per person. The whole trip takes about a day and since there is often a lot to carry, and because she does not get back home until midnight, she brings her husband with her. Jayaseeli says it would be possible to have the materials sent to her home by lorry, but it has not yet been

necessary. It would be possible to place orders for material over the phone but Jayaseeli says she wants to choose the colour and design and she would not trust the supplier to send the correct material. (Sunderaj, 2009)

The customers are mainly located in Arockiyapuram village but also in the nearby villages. Jayaseeli markets her products by walking around to people‟s houses offering them to buy her products. She also advertises through the meetings with her SHG and other SHGs. Her customers are allowed to pay for their purchase immediately or they can choose to pay at the end of the month. Jayaseeli does not have a cell phone of her own; instead she uses her husband‟s cell phone in order to contact her relatives. However, Jayaseeli is planning to buy her own cell phone in order to use it for her business. One of her closest relatives, her sister, lives in a nearby village and helps her with marketing her business there. Other relatives are also important customers. Jayaseeli is not

interested in getting computer training. She thinks she is too old and her vision impairment will hinder her from seeing the screen. (Sunderaj, 2009)

4.2.3 Manufacturing and Selling of Schoolbags

Thomasanmal Belavendram is 37 years old and she lives in Thirespuram village, the largest one out of the five villages. She is educated up to 9th_{standard and has been involved in a business making}

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she only has to do housework until 10 am every day and therefore she has time to spend on the business. (Belavendram, 2009)

Currently the church in the village is running the business and Thomasanmal is an employee working in their shop. However, the plan is that she will take over the business and run it herself within two months time. The father of the Catholic Church in Thirespuram will donate a sewing machine and other equipment necessary for making school bags such as scissors, tape measure, thread and other material to Thomasanmal. When she takes over the business she will have to manage it from home since the rent for a shop is too high. In order to receive some initial capital for her activities she is going to apply for loans through the SHG or if she is denied, the father has promised to lend her the money she needs. (Belavendram, 2009)

The material used for the bags can only be bought in a shop in Madurai. Usually Thomasanmal travels there in order to buy the material. She also mentions that it would be possible to order the material over the phone. However, the material can vary in quality and colour, and to ensure she gets exactly the type she wants she prefers to go there herself. When the material has been ordered the shop will send the things to her by lorry, because it is too much for her to carry herself.

(Belavendram, 2009)

Originally all the bags were sold to members of other SHGs in the area, but the word spread and today a lot of the customers come from other villages and from Tuticorin town. Thomasanmal owns a cell phone that she bought only for business purposes. It is currently used for communication with her employer, the father, and with other women in her own and other SHGs. Thomasanmal also finds her cell phone very useful in order to reach out to new customers. She has ordered business cards with her name, business, address and cell phone number from a printer in town. These cards are given to the customers and they pass them on to other potential customers among their friends and families. The cell phone enables the customers to call her and place orders instead of going to her shop. (Belavendram, 2009)

Thomasanmal has every intention to learn computers and to buy a computer when she has earned enough money. The computer will be used to store and keep track of the names and telephone numbers of customers as well as information about the bag material. In Thirespuram village the computer training is free for SHG members. However, it has not yet started because all the

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to exchange email addresses with others during this training and through this reaching out to new customers. (Belavendram, 2009)

4.2.4 The Beautician

Pratheba Suresh is 28 years old and she is working as a beautician. After finishing 12th standard in the Indian school system she attended additional nursing and teachers training. However, after her marriage she decided that she was more interested in beauty and decided to take a three month course in Tuticorin town in order to become a beautician. The training was paid by her husband at a cost of 10.000 INR. (Suresh, 2009)

Pratheba has been running her beauty business for almost ten years, but she attended the training only four years ago. In order to perform her activities she needs a number of products and tools. For weddings and other festivities she does makeup and hair using cosmetics, scissors and different decorations. Once a month she travels by bus to Thirunelveli, 52 km from Tuticorin, to buy the cosmetics needed for her business. It costs 50 INR to travel back and forth and since cosmetics are lightweight she does not need any company to help her carry. She found out about these suppliers from other beauticians when she was attending the training. (Suresh, 2009)

Most of the activities are carried out in her home where she has a beauty parlour. However, when doing bridal makeup and hair she normally travels to the bride‟s house. In total she performs around five facial treatments per week and three bridal makeups every month. (Suresh, 2009)

Pratheba‟s advertising was initiated by her brother in Thirunelveli. He has made business cards and posters for her. She distributes the cards to her customers and she also uses word of mouth for her advertisement. Further, she has created an album with pictures of her beauty creations that she shows to potential customers. Some of her customers also come from Tuticorin because her services are cheaper than those offered in town. They can call her in advance to make an appointment. (Suresh, 2009)

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5. Analysis

In this section the theoretical model presented will be applied on the empirical findings of the study. It starts with an analysis of each of the four individual cases, in respect to their use of cell phones, moving on to a comparison between them. This is followed by a presentation of the barriers and enabling factors for the usage of cell phones for the women in the area. The last part presented in this section is a comparison between the barriers and enabling factors for cell phones and

computers, as means of communication.

5.1 The four cases

As mentioned in the theoretical framework section the value of a single resource is determined by how it is used and combined with other resources and therefore a resource has no value by itself. In this study the result from the cell phone use can be described as the value it creates for the

businesses. However, the use and the value of the cell phone in the four different cases vary. As discussed, the small-scale enterprises are looked upon as single business units and the focus is on the cell phone as a facility.

5.1.1 The Rice Business

The access to a cell phone enabled Elisabeth to start her business. Due to the distance to Tuticorin and the limited access to means of transportation, there was a business opportunity in purchasing and selling rice in Siluvaipatti village. By using a cell phone to order the rice and have it delivered to the village, the amount of time and money spent on travelling to town can be reduced.

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time of his absence. Consequently, the flexibility of the cell phone use is reduced since she does not have constant access to it.

Regarding the communication with her customers it is difficult to see any clear benefits from the use of a cell phone. Even though she sometimes uses the cell phone to contact her customers the value it creates for her business is hard to determine. This is due to her irregular access to the cell phone and the fact that she is not using it in order to expand her clientele.

5.1.2 The Sari Business

For Jayaseeli the cell phone is mainly used for contacting her relatives and, from what can be seen, these relatives are also important for the product distribution within her business. However, as in the case above, there is no direct evidence of her using the cell phone in order to expand her clientele. As a part of the added value of her product she allows her customers to obtain the merchandise and pay at a later time. This requires a certain amount of trust in the relationship and consequently making it difficult for her to initiate new relationships with the use of a cell phone. Further, her business demands at least one or more physical encounters for exchanging money and products. A cell phone cannot replace either of these encounters nor can it be used for expanding her clientele, and therefore, it has no obvious area of use on the customer side of her current business.

At present, Jayaseeli does not use the cell phone on the supply side of her business. It is likely that using a cell phone could save her both time and money, from not having to travel all the way to Madurai. However, for Jayaseeli, who is attending adult education, the opportunity to travel and make use of the skills retrieved might be more important than saving time and money. Further, she values the possibility of choosing materials herself. Ordering via cell phone would not ensure that her requirements were properly met. In conclusion, given the circumstances, it is not possible to see any clear benefits for her business from the current use of the cell phone.

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5.1.3 Manufacturing and Selling of Schoolbags

Thomasanmal owns her own cell phone that she bought in order to keep in touch with the father of the Catholic Church, who was the initiator of the business. Today she uses it to keep in contact with current clients, increase her clientele and enable customers to place orders over the phone. Since many of her customers are located in Tuticorin and surrounding villages this possibility is a clear advantage. This extra service, made possible by the use of a cell phone, adds value to her product. Often the purchase of a school bag consists of two encounters. First of all an order is placed, either over the phone or through a physical meeting. The second encounter, however, has to be of a physical nature, since it involves exchange of artefacts in the form of products and money.

Advertisement is done through business cards with Thomasanmal‟s cell phone number and

encourages customers to call her, enabling an expansion of her clientele. Through this activity and simple measures the value of her cell phone increases, showing that a small adaptation of a related resource, such as a business card, can have a significant effect on the value of a facility. Today Thomasanmal‟s cell phone is not used for obtaining supplies; instead the contact with the supplier is based on physical transportation, affecting other resources such as time and money.

Thomasanmal does not think it would be possible to place orders for material over the phone. Her main argument is that she does not trust the supplier to send the correct material. Further, she prefers to see the material prior to purchase. A cell phone is limited as a facility since it is not a visual tool and therefore she does not find that it meets her requirements. Consequently, the cell phone does not create any value for her business during this phase. However, there is potential for the use of a cell phone to replace the transport required for purchase. Initially, this switch would save time and money for Thomasanmal; however other possible effects on her business are not clear. For her these other effects, such as guaranteed quality of the material, are more important. This might be a result from the features of the tool as such, but also from the features of the relationship to the supplier. Today the relationship does not seem to have enough trust. However, for Thomasanmal‟s overall business the cell phone is essential in order to maintain and create relationships with customers.

5.1.4 The Beautician

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The reason people choose Pratheba‟s services is because she is cheaper than competitors in town. Therefore she attracts customers from other villages and from Tuticorin. Even though her service requires physical meetings, the first contact, when setting up an appointment, does not have to be of physical nature. Here the cell phone plays an important role, since customers from far away can use it to make reservations, replacing transportation to Pratheba‟s village with a phone call. The

customers benefit from her using a cell phone and therefore it adds value to her service, by reducing the price and increasing the convenience for her customers.

On the supply side of her business she does not make any visible use of her cell phone. She only has to travel to a nearby city in order to retrieve her goods and therefore the potential for saving time and money is not as great as if she would have to travel to Madurai. The products she buys are of various kinds making regular deliveries and ordering over the phone complicated, since no such services are available for the time being. In this case her suppliers‟ resources have not yet been adjusted for the increasing use of cell phones among their customers.

5.2 Comparison of the Four Cases

The main purpose of the cell phone use, in all of the four cases, is for contacting the private network. However, it is often through these personal relationships that the women conduct their business. In all of the cases the customers are initially the members of the business unit‟s private network. At a later stage the clientele also comes to include their extended network i.e. their friends‟ and relatives‟ networks. Thus, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a distinction between the private and the business network of these women. Single relationships may, however, be more or less private within the network. The only case where a relationship with the supplier was apparent was in the case of the rice business. Had the others had relationships with their suppliers, the cell phone might have been more useful during this phase of their business too. This would enable the women to economise with other resources such as time, money and storage space.

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5.3 Enabling Factors and Barriers for Cell Phones

By using the information above, some enabling factors and barriers for the cell phone use can be identified. When adding more information from the empirical findings it is possible to extend this analysis to also cover other aspects than those mentioned in the four specific cases.

5.3.1 Enabling Factors

The use of cell phones has increased significantly in the last year due to favourable conditions. Firstly, the coverage of the GSM-net is sufficient as well as access to electricity, even in the rural areas of India, which is a prerequisite for cell phone communication. Secondly, the step between using a landline and a cell phone is small and knowledge about the facility is easy to acquire. If a person is interested in purchasing a cell phone there will be someone in his or her close network that already has one, so there is a great possibility to try and touch. No other training is needed to operate a cell phone and therefore it spreads fast through social interaction. There are already well established social interfaces, such as the church and SHG meetings, where women can meet and exchange this type of knowledge. Thirdly, the price paid to obtain a cell phone is relatively low, which allows more people to buy one. Investing in a cell phone does not require any extra space or installations in the household, since it is a small artefact using already existing infrastructure. Seeing how the cell phone is well spread and more and more people are using it the incentive for getting one, and the value of it, increases.

5.3.2 Barriers for Use

Even though there are a great number of enabling factors, there are also barriers for using a cell phone. For the women the main barrier is the ownership issue. The males in the households are more likely to have a cell phone since they are in control of the family‟s financial resources. The most common way for a woman to obtain a cell phone is through saving small amounts of the money given for household expenses. If a woman does not own a cell phone, but instead borrows her husband‟s, the fact that the cell phone is mobile can create a barrier for use. Since the husband will bring his cell phone with him to work, the woman will not be able to make use of it during this time. Further, and also due to the fact that the cell phone is mobile, a single family can no longer manage with only one phone, which increases the cost.

5.3.3 Barriers for Achieving Results

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of the business. If the business is small, targeting a limited number of customers living close by and purchasing the product or service regularly, the need for a cell phone for distribution is small. If the business requires direct sale, demanding physical contact for exchanging goods and money,

replacing this interaction with a cell phone call can be impossible.

When obtaining goods for a business it is important that the quality is high and that the goods are correct. If the travel for purchasing goods for the business would be replaced by ordering the goods using a cell phone, it might not be sufficient in order to fill the quality requirements, even if it could save time and money. In three of the cases mentioned the relationship with the supplier was not very deep and there was not enough trust in the relationship to place an order over the phone. However, in the case where a steady relationship was established the use of a cell phone for obtaining goods was essential.

Another barrier for achieving results is if the supplier does not have knowledge about how to make use of the cell phone and therefore does not offer that kind of services. Presumed here is that the supplier has access to a cell phone, which might not always be the case. In order to be able to call people within the network it requires that the other person or business unit has access to a phone. For the women in these cases it is essential that other women have constant access to a cell phone in order for them to make use of it. This is due to the fact that the majority of the women‟s networks are made up by other women. Yet another barrier is if the business unit does not have knowledge about how to make use of the cell phone within the business. If this knowledge is not present then the business unit might not be able to see how the business can gain from the use of this facility.

5.4 Differences between Cell Phones and Computers for Communication

Many of the factors identified as enabling in the case of the cell phone, actually create the barriers for the use of computers as a communication tool for these women. Among these factors are price, knowledge, amount of users, time and access, which are all closely related.

Financial resources are essential in order to acquire a cell phone or a computer. However, the cost is a lot lower for a cell phone. Further, the cost for using the cell phone is also lower than for using Internet communication. In the villages visited every person met had a prepaid card, which made it possible to avoid any kind of financial commitment, and in addition made it more flexible. Internet requires a subscription and therefore it is a fixed cost that cannot be adjusted after income.

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the other hand, can be time consuming which creates a barrier especially for women with a lot of housework and for whom time is a limited resource. Another cost to take into consideration is the cost for training. There is no education offered for learning how to use a cell phone as a

communication tool, still women are learning how to use it and how to make use of it. However, for learning computers some kind of training is necessary. The computer training offered within the scope of the project was free in some villages while in others, the women had to pay for it. The training does not only cost money but is also time consuming for the women. Their access to money as well as their spare time depends on their family situation. Women‟s access to financial resources depends on their husbands, since they decide about the money in the household. The amount of spare time the women have every day is often related to the number and age of the children in the household.

Technological development can be seen as a learning process. In this case it is the development of the use of the technology and not necessarily the development of the technology per se. In order for a facility, such as a cell phone or a computer with Internet connection, to be useful it has to create a value for the business. However, it is not enough for the women to know how to use the technology, but they need to learn how to make use of it in order for it to create value. How to use the

technology as well as how to make use of it can therefore here be seen as a learning process. As mentioned, social interaction and technological adaptation are closely tied together. In these cases it is clear that when the business unit has a relationship with someone possessing knowledge about technology the business unit itself is more likely to use this knowledge/technology. In the case of the beautician, her husband and brother inspired her to buy a cell phone and to print business cards. Further, she got inspiration from her beautician training on how to make use of a computer within her business and therefore she is now taking computer training. The computer training is the interface for acquiring knowledge about Internet communication. The women learn about the technology as well as what they can use it for. In the case of the school bag making business she also got ideas and learned about the use of a cell phone from the father of the Catholic Church. It is also evident that the fact that the husbands have cell phones encourages women to get one as well. This is not true in all cases but it has been generally observed. However, there is a higher number of interfaces for knowledge exchange for cell phones. Computers have far less meeting points for learning, which naturally depends on the number of users and the spread of the technology.

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the business and also with other people‟s resources. The computer as a communication tool has no value if it cannot be used for communication with others.

A computer could add value to these women‟s businesses if realised as a visual communication tool. This could allow them to order material via this facility, instead of travelling to Madurai. However, there are some difficulties with this since it requires that the shop in Madurai offers Internet services and that the women in question are literate. Today the cell phone service mainly used is voice. This makes it a lot easier to use and does not require any school or adult education. For the illiterate women it takes a lot of time and effort to learn how to use a computer, but they can easily learn how to operate a cell phone. Many of them will have to spend at least two years in adult education before they can start the computer training. Further, it is not enough to learn the local language Tamil in order to use the computer, but they also have to learn basic English. In addition, it is difficult to operate and learn new technologies if your vision is impaired and therefore age can be a barrier for the use of new technology, even more so for computers than for cell phones.

It is of interest to point out that different people have different views on technology and its use. Concerning the computer, among the women in this area, the focus of the training is on its

administrative features. While as for others, the computer is mainly a tool for communication and information. The view of a technology is the result of how other people within the network use the technology and the differences in their subjective views.

Even though the divide between the theory and the empirical findings in the beginning seemed very big; it has now been shown that this gap can be bridged. The model used is meant to be applied on large industrial networks and our study is on small networks in rural India, which means that there are big differences. However, the model has been shown to be applicable even in this case of the women‟s small-scale businesses. Nevertheless, this can only be done when we are aware of the differences and make the required adjustments.