ICT adoption in road freight transport in Nigeria - a case study of the petroleum downstream sector

This paper advances the ICT adoption discourse to explore ICT mechanism use, adaptation and contextual influences on management strategies in Africa. A polar-type multiple case studies approach is used to guide empirical data collection across 10 individual cases. 21 interviews were conducted with top executives and these were corroborated with over 30 h of non-participant observations and archival documentation from these cases. Using a tripartite coding frame, thematic and content analyses were performed to identify patterns and themes in the collected data. Findings of this study evidence ICT use at firm level with significant links to local contextual factors. Additionally, whilst affirming relationships between size and adoption, the findings also suggest an inverted parallel between both variables. The paper contributes by empirically highlighting the influence of contextual factors on ICT use in road freight transportation as well as highlighting the potential for ICT developers and OEMs to acquire innovative input from local adaptation practices within the industry.