Reexamining Technology Acceptance in Online Task Behaviors

With rapid advances in information technology, information systems and software have become more versatile and multifunctional. However, users may have varying degrees of preferences to different functions and tasks that can be accomplished using a single technology. In order to investigate this phenomenon, this study adopts a previous study by Gefen and Straub (2000) as a reference point and uses Internet technology to investigate two tasks: information search and online purchasing. The current study provides a more comprehensive picture of applying task behaviours by decomposing each variable in the technology acceptance model (TAM) according to the two online tasks. The proposed model was tested with survey data from 435 respondents. Results demonstrate that TAM holds its explanatory utility very well when applied to task behaviours. Convergent and discriminant validities indicate that each task possesses its own characteristics and variables. A structural equation modelling test was performed and the results show that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have significant relationships with intention only within its task but not outside. As a result, our results outperform those reported in the baseline study of Gefen and Straub. It is therefore advisable for organizations in deploying technology to delineate user behaviour by tasks and explore the impact of the technology on individual tasks

Perceptions of Value-Stream Costing and the Effect on Lean-Accounting Implementation

In response to the competitive global economy, lean manufacturing has become more prevalent in the United States. Manufacturing has changed, but cost accounting has not. Lean manufacturing has the potential to change the U.S. manufacturing economy, resulting in positive economic social change, yet it requires lean accounting to increase successful implementations. This study addressed the problem of lack of adoption of lean-accounting techniques like value-stream costing in lean-manufacturing enterprises. The purpose of this nonexperimental explanatory study was to investigate factors that influence the adoption of lean accounting. Using the technology acceptance model (TAM), based on the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior, this study examined whether management accountants- perceptions of the ease of use (PEOU), or perceived usefulness (PU) of value-stream costing may influence their intention (BI) to implement value-stream costing. The 2,307 attendees of the Lean Accounting Summit from 2005-2013 were invited to participate in an online survey; 70 attendees agreed to participate. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regressions were calculated. Statistically significant positive relationships emerged between PEOU, PU, and the intention to implement value-stream costing. Also, PEOU and PU for the individual accounted for 51% of the variance of BI, and PEOU and PU for the organization accounted for 49% of the variance of BI. This study added to the understanding how management accountants- perceptions positively influence their intention to implement value-stream costing. The relationships found by this study will create positive social change when used to influence the adoption of value-stream costing in order to increase the successful implementation of lean manufacturing in the U.S

Trust as an influencer of the intention to use mobile banking smartphone application in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this thesis is to propose and test a trust-based model in the context of mobile banking smartphone application in Saudi Arabia. This research contributes to the limited body of knowledge on trust judgements in mobile banking in the smartphone application era, by highlighting the role of ongoing trust in the customer’s intention to use mobile banking application. Banking has long been an area in which trust between banks and their customers has been regarded as pivotal. Despite this, research on trust in mobile banking smartphone applications has received little attention. Furthermore, distinct from other studies that have measured ongoing trust as a single variable, this study takes as its point of departure a theoretical framework, developed by Gefen et al. (2003) and McKnight et al. (2002), which proposes four dimensions of trust: familiarity with vendor, situational normality, structural assurance, and calculative based trust. In addition, the proposed model also includes technology adoption factors, usefulness, ease of use and information quality. The relationships between the trust dimensions and adoption variables were included in the research model to explain their effect on the customer’s ongoing trust and how the ongoing trust articulated the customer’s intention to use as outcome variable. Mixed method research, including survey and interview, were used to achieve the aim of this study. A survey amongst the customers of two Saudi Arabian banks generated a dataset of 640 questionnaires, which was subjected to structural equation modelling (SEM). In order to gain further insight into the relationships in the research model, interview data was also gathered from Saudi students in the UK who used Saudi mobile banking applications. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The findings from the survey show that trust factors such as familiarity with vendor, situational normality, structural assurance, and calculative trust were the statistically significant factors in cultivating participants’ trust, which in turn influenced their intention to use the mobile banking application. In contrast, adoption factors such as usefulness, ease of use and information quality were not statistically significant for customers’ trust, although the ease of use and usefulness had considerable impact on users’ intention to use the mobile banking application. The interview findings confirm that trust dimensions are crucial to the participant’s decision to use the bank application, and offer some insights into how and why this is the case. In addition, the interview findings confirm that usefulness and ease of use are fundamental for the participants’ intention to use the bank application but not for their trust. In contrast with findings from the survey, the interview findings show and explain that information quality is one of the most important factors for the participants’ trust and use of banking application. This study contributes to knowledge by formulating and testing a trust-based model in a new type of mobile banking, the bank app. This study demonstrates the importance of trust types in the smartphone banking environment, and it is one of just two studies that combine the adoption variables and types of trust variables in a study on mobile banking. This study also contributes to the knowledge by exploring the decision-making processes associated with mobile banking through the use of a qualitative approach and examines trust in banking in Saudi Arabia. On the basis of the findings in this study, it is recommended that Saudi banks should consider customer trust as a multidimensional construct and seek to enhance the underlying factors and processes that contribute to the cultivation trust in mobile banking apps. Findings from the interviews are particularly useful in assisting banks to critically examine their clients’ perception of trust dimensions and adoption variable factors when they undertake further developments of their banking app.Banks should pay attention to the customers experience through all the bank’s online channels, as customer experience in one channel can affect the expectations and trust levels for another