Geopolitical Factors Impacting ICT4D: Comparing Singapore with Vietnam

ICT4D research orients to the empowerment of underdeveloped populations through the provision of Internet technologies, with an eye toward technology-supported economic development. Any development effort of this sort, however, faces geopolitical barriers to entry. In order to technologically enable a population, governmentally sponsored national infrastructure initiatives are required and these typically involve outside consultation, economic support and direct partnership to succeed. Yet, geopolitical forces may militate against this taking place. We consider the contrasting examples of Singapore and Vietnam as instances of national information infrastructure initiatives that were attempted and either succeeded or failed based upon geopolitical considerations. The result is a cautionary tale for scholars interested in ICT4D, in as much as the success of a particular project is dependent not only upon technological factors, but political and cultural ones as well

The driving factors of continuance online shopping: Gender differences in behaviour the case of Saudi Arabia

This study proposes a revised technology acceptance model that integrates expectation confirmation theory to measure gender differences with regard to continuance online shopping intentions in Saudi Arabia. The 465-respondent sample consists of 68.8% women and 31.4% men. A structural equation model confirms model fit. Perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and subjective norms are determinants of online shopping continuance in Saudi Arabia. Both male and female groups are equivalent. The structural weights are also largely equivalent, but the regression paths from perceived usefulness to subjective norms and to continuous intention are not invariant between men and women. The model was operationally generalized across the whole of Saudi Arabia. This research moves beyond online shopping intentions and includes factors affecting online shopping continuance. The research model explains 65% of the intention to continue shopping online. This research suggests that online strategies cannot ignore either the direct and indirect gender differences on continuance intentions in Saudi Arabia. The model can be generalized across Saudi Arabia

Evaluating TAM Antecedents in Saudi Arabia

Antecedents of the technology acceptance model have been the focus of research on user intentions toward, and usage of, new technology. This research has found that in developed countries, the antecedents of the technology acceptance model are valuable predictors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. These findings can potentially translate into new methods that businesses can implement to improve employee acceptance and use of new systems. The present study investigates whether these same antecedents are significant and valid predictors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in developing countries, specifically in Saudi Arabia. The findings indicate that the antecedents of the technology acceptance model do, in fact, apply in Saudi Arabia, and therefore also have implications for businesses in developing countries to improve the user acceptance and use of new technologies

The driving factors of continuance online shopping: Gender differences in behaviour among students in Saudi Arabia

This study proposes a revised technology acceptance model that integrates expectation confirmation theory to measure student gender differences with regard to continuance online shopping intentions in Saudi Arabia. The 234-respondent sample consists of 61.5% women and 38.5% men. A structural equation model confirms model fit. Perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and subjective norms are determinants of online shopping continuance in Saudi Arabia. Both male and female groups are equivalent. The structural weights are also largely equivalent, but the regression paths from subjective norms to enjoyment and subjective norms to continuance intention (in the men sample) and perceived usefulness to continuous intention (in the women sample) are not supported. The model was operationally generalized across the whole of Saudi Arabia. This research moves beyond online shopping intentions and includes factors affecting online shopping continuance. The research model explains 71% of the intention to continue shopping online. This research suggests that online strategies cannot ignore either the direct or indirect gender differences on continuance intentions in Saudi Arabia. The model can be generalized across Saudi Arabia

Cultures as Determinants of Innovation - An Evidence from European Context

Cultural studies have played a major role for a better understanding of innovation. In particular, cultural variables have always been integrated in innovation studies at different levels. Referring to Hofstede´s alytical framework, we thereby analyze how different cultural factors may concretely impact innovation at national levels. Data of Hofstede´s cultural dimension and innovation are derived from secondary data sources. 34 European countries with comprehensive scores of cultural dimensions and innovation indexes are finally applied in this study. The data are analysed through correlation test and multiple regression analysis. The correlation testhighlighted the importance of low power distance, individualism and low uncertainty avoidance, and the multiple regression analysis revealed the importance of power distance and long-term orientation that foster innovation in Europe. Finally, limitations of the proposed theoreticalarchitecture are discussed and potential consequences for further research are formulated

Organizational Culture, Supply Chain Management Practices and Organization’s Decision upon ERP Systems

In recent years, more and more Chinese organizations have tried to adopt enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems to improve their supply chain management (SCM) practices and efficiencies and subsequently to increase their competiveness in the marketplace. However, compared with their Western counterparts, the failure rate of ERP implementation for the Chinese organizations is much higher. Many of them find it very difficult to select an ERP system that fits their management practices. We believe that cultural differences could be the important reason contributing to the phenomenon that existing Western-based ERP systems cannot be directly adopted in Chinese companies. In this study, we propose a theoretical model that stipulates how organizational culture affects ERP decisions through influencing supply chain management practices. The object of this study is not only to provide insights for Western ERP vendors to modify/localize their existing systems to better fit local Chinese practices; but also to provide guidance for Chinese companies to select ERP systems or to develop their own systems. Empirical data will be collected to validate the proposed model. In order to develop measurement constructs for the survey instrument, company visits and interviews are conducted. In this paper, we shall reveal the initial findings from the interviews and discuss the steps forwar

A multi-country study of the adoption of ERP systems

Studies on the adoption of innovations by companies generally includemicro-level and meso-level variables in order to explain a company'sreceptiveness to innovations. This study adds to the literature byinvestigating the role of macro-level variables (i.e. nationalculture) to explain differences in innovation penetration levels andadoption decisions by companies across national cultures. Alarge-scale empirical study was carried out in 10 European countriesconcerning the adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) softwareby mid size companies. Results indicate variables describing nationalcultural to have a strong, significant influence on the innovationpenetration and adoption. In addition, we find adoption modelsincluding micro-, meso- and macro-level variables to performsignificantly better in explaining innovation adoption acrosscountries than adoption models that only include micro- and meso-levelvariables.innovation;cross-cultural;organizational behavior;ERP

Cumulating Conditions. An Empirical Analysis of the EIS Adoption by European Firms

In this paper we aim to empirically test the relative influence of internal and external conditions for the adoption of Enterprise Information Systems (EIS). For this goal data are used from the EU-initiated E-Business W@tch survey 2002/2003 among more than 10,000 organizations from seven different European countries. It appears that organizational size, sector and country all have significant and cumulative effects on the EIS adoption by organizations. More specifically, national culture matters if we control for size and sector

Cognition and Culture in ICT Experience

Chinese and western have two totally different systems of thought, holistic and analytic, respectively. Rooted in national culture, system of thought forms different cognitive processes toward the performance of using the technology. In this study, we empirically investigate the cognitive pathways underneath the proposed acceptance model in the two cultures. The findings suggest that culturally patterned cognitive processes make people in China and Canada have two contrast preferences on the causal relationships in the model to decide use of information communication technologies

Analyzing National Differences in IT Adoption Between Culturally Close Countries - A Conceptual Model

Cross-cultural research in IT adoption has so far most often concentrated on disparities in IT adoption between countries with highly different culture profiles. Instead, we argue that there are also differences between cultural closely related countries (which, e.g., are geographically close and share the same language) which need to be understood. The question raises whether the dimensions of culture applied in prior literature to analyze IT adoption in highly distinct cultures are sufficient for explaining the differences in a close culture context as well or whether a more differentiated model of cultural dimensions has to be drawn. Based on indicative results from a three-country comparison within Central Europe, we find substantial differences in adoption drivers (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use) which seem to be impacted by “microcultural” disparities. As a consequence, we develop a conceptual model based on human values and cross-national differences in IT adoption which will allow us to analyze and explain these differences in future research