Predicting Student Use of the Internet in Bruneian Technical Colleges: a structural equation model

In the educational setting, the Internet is profiteering among academics and students. In fact, this has changed the functioning of the educational establishments. However, the success of use of the Internet is largely dependent upon the user’s behaviour that in turn affects their attitudes. Even when the formidable opportunities exist for the deployment of technology, adverse attitude can inhabit the use. Keeping this in view, a survey of 266 students of four technical and vocational colleges was conducted to study the attitudes of the students toward the use of the Internet. The present study develop a normative model by using Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and validates two specific attitudinal variables; perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use that are hypothesised to be fundamental determinants of the attitude that in turn predict the students’ use of the Internet. By adding external variables such as demographics, task characteristics, computer exposure, and institutional support further test the parsimony of the model. A Structural Equation modelling techniques is used to validate the model. The study has confirmed that majority of the students (85%) are using the Internet. The final model has confirmed that external variables do contribute towards both of belief parts: perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness that further affects the attitude of the students in predicting the Internet usage

Evaluating Information Technology Strategic Planning Process: Lesson Learnt from Bruneian Small Businesses

The chapter investigates the 85 small and medium organizations in Brunei Darussalam within the context of information technology (IT) strategic planning process. The study results reveal that although the surveyed Bruneian SMEs are familiar with IT strategy basic methods, however, the use of any of the basic IT strategic development process is at the grassroot level. The results further found that only three methods have indirect influence on IT strategy development such as critical success factors, transaction cost, and balanced scorecard. Conclusion from these findings further suggests that no statistical difference exists among SMEs on the basis of organization size and industry sector. These findings are useful for both the researchers and practitioners. For researchers, it helps in building a theoretical foundation in developing the repository of organizational use of IT strategy basic methods and for practitioners to gauge the performance of SMEs in relation with developing IT strategy basic methods in designing the relevant policies

Examination of factors influencing employees’ adoption of mobile commerce and services in Turkey

This study first reviews and discusses mobile technology issues from a global perspective, and then investigates the impact of demographic (gender, age, income), personal (ICT experience, work experience), and organisational (sector) factors related to employees on adopting mobile commerce (m-commerce) and mobile services (m-services). A survey is conducted among employees from government- and private-sector organisations for this purpose, assuming that this group plays an important role in helping to adopt new technologies in societies. Based on this survey, the results indicate that gender, experience, and sector have an impact on attitude towards using m-technologies and that such attitude has a significant effect on the actual use of m-technologies

Use of computers and applications by senior executives

Purpose: Analyze the relationship between the senior executive and ICT use. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical research through which we propose a framework to establish the main factors that might lead to an increase in ICT use by senior executives. Findings: The main contribution of the present study is the creation of the list of factors that affect the use of computers and applications by senior executives and a smaller group of categories. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this research is that it should be confirmed by means of quantitative research that would allow us to test the validity of the proposed framework, and also to ascertain the relative importance of each factor. Practical implications: Thus reducing the number of factors and forming a smaller group of categories that can facilitate research. Originality/value: The list of factors that affect the use of computers and applications by senior executives and the smaller group of categories.Peer Reviewe

Government e-services delivery requires citizens awareness: the case of Brunei Darussalam

This study examines citizens awareness and usage of government e-services. Governments use Web-based Internet applications to enhance their citizens access to government services. However, in a case study in Brunei Darussalam, it was found that the government s initiative in providing e-services in last few years has not been as successful as it could have been as the services have not been citizen-centric. This was due to the availability of e-services being unknown amongst the citizens and that a silo-based approach existed for each government ministry. One notable finding was that although the ICT literacy of Brunei citizens has rapidly improved, this has not been reflected in the citizens interaction with government. There are several challenges for citizens awareness and use of government e-services that occur on e-government initiatives. Failure in managing such problems, results in a high probability of these services becoming a white elephant , with inefficiency, wastefulness and cost overruns on e-government projects. E-government management agencies still do not have an organized citizens awareness strategy approach to managing knowledge in e-government initiatives. The proposed Government e Services Citizens Awareness Strategy (GeS-CAS) framework, incorporating communication, management and education strategies, can effectively be used to enable e-government agencies to deal with e-government projects problems and risks in an organised and efficient way. It is concluded that e-government initiatives management can be improved if the knowledge dimensions of the problems are well understood and are conveyed to the right people, at the right time and the right place, and are appropriately managed. This research has developed an integrated citizens awareness strategy Knowledge Management framework that provides a structured approach to achieving this which is easy to understand and put in to practice by e-government agencies, and can be used to solve citizen awareness problems, explore opportunities and make decisions

FACTORS AFFECTING THE BEHAVIOR OF GOVERNMENT AUDITORS FOR THE SURVEILLANCE OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

This research is intended to present the important factorswhich affect the behavior of government auditors, who are responsiblefor the surveillance of the public sector of Pakistan. Governmentauditors bring accountability and transparency through financial,regulatory and compliance audits of the public sector.The behaviorof government auditors has been studied through a model whichconsists of four independent variables-human resource practices,audit facilities and external factors. A questionnaire with five pointLikert scale has been developed. Three hundred government auditorswere selected as a sample of the study. The response rate remained at83%. Simple and multiple linear regression have been applied to testthe relationship between the independent and the dependentvariables. It is concluded that HR practices, audit facilities, externalfactors and behavior of the auditee have positive and significantrelationship with the behavior of auditors. If these factors arestrengthened, the auditors can work in an effective manner

Identifying Facilitators and Challenges for IT Adoption at a Local Malaysian Retail Company: The IT Management Perspective

Substantial research that examines the adoption of IT-enabled initiatives by organisations has been conducted in the context of western countries. Existing research shows that IT systems and their adoption are largely shaped by the characteristics of organisations, organisational culture, and business environment. To address the limited understanding of IT adoption practices in developing countries, this paper investigates facilitators and challenges related to technological, organisational and environmental contexts for IT adoption. For this purpose, a case study was conducted with a local Malaysian retail company which experiences enormous competitive pressure from influential international retail giants operating in Malaysia. The findings of the study offer important lessons for organisations operating in developing countries