Digital Bricolage and Its Limits: How Micro-Enterprises Undertake Digitalization in Resource-Constrained Environments

Abstract

Departing from traditional theory on digitalization, we argue that smaller enterprises in resource-constrained environments may take a different route to digitalization that is less strategic and more emergent; less engineered, and more oriented to the situation at hand; less driven by sophisticated technology and more likely to embody frugality. We ask, “how do micro-enterprises ‘make do’ their digitalization in resource-constrained environments?”, addressing the question through a large-scale qualitative study in Ghana. The study comprises 69 interviews across micro-enterprises, government actors, and technology firms. Building on and complementing existing research on bricolage and digital value creation, our findings motivate a new theory of digital bricolage as distinct from entrepreneurial and IT bricolage. We identify three digitalization pathways: parallel bricolage, selective bricolage, and digital planning. Together these capture a spectrum from an emergent, resource-constrained (parallel and selective digital bricolage) to a more strategic, planned (digital planning) approach to digitalization. Our findings challenge the assumption that digital resources inherently enable limitless recombination and boundless value creation. They show that digitalization through digital bricolage can have both enabling and limiting impacts. While digital bricolage fosters micro-enterprises’ short-term innovation, survival, and adaptations to resource-constraints, overreliance on this digitalization path can paradoxically constrain long-term value creation due to limited functionality, integration issues, and reliance on the bricoleur’s personal capabilities. This leads to a digital bricolage trap, where accumulated compromises lock enterprises into fragmented, low-capability digital states. We offer an alternative perspective to traditional digitalization theory, which assumes access to mature digital infrastructures, advanced technologies and straightforward value generation. Our findings better account for the digitalization of smaller enterprises as a process of customizing affordable digital tools in ways that reflect local creativity and constraints.

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ORCID for P.K. Senyo: orcid.org/0000-0001-7126-3826

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