Mobile-phone users’ attitudes towards’ mobile commerce & services in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Case study

As the number of mobile phone users is growing, purchasing products and services using mobile phones and other mobile devices are also increasing. The purpose of this study was to provide the status of mobile-commerce in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in term of consumers' attitudes towards mobile commerce and mobile services provided by mobile operators. Oman, one of the GCC countries is used as the case study. The theoretical background of the study was drawn from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study showed that there is a promising future for m-commerce in Oman as above 66 percents of respondents said that they are willing to buy products and services using their mobile phones. Security of mobile transactions and the cost of products and services are great concerns to the mobile phone users. This study provides a list of recommendations based on the result of the survey that would be of importance to the mobile industry stakeholders in Oman, GCC, and other countries with a similar economy, market and consumer characteristics. The outcome of the study would be of a particular interest to the private and public telecommunication organizations; especially those that intend to invest in m-commerce in the GCC area and other developing countries

Internet adoption in travel agents across the United Arab Emirates (UAE): evidence from four Emirates

[Extract] Internet adoption has been widely discussed in the context of travel agents (TAs) such as in regard to supplier-networks (e.g. Andreau, Alda, Bigne, & Mattila, 2010), traveler relationship development (Harris & Duckworth, 2005), or the TA industry at large (Abou Shouk, Lim, & Megicks, 2013). Some of the key benefits derived from Internet adoption for the economy and companies are faster design and delivery of new products, direct access to new markets, increased productivity, and hence a contribution to economic growth (Poon, 1993). Small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are often seen as the backbone of economies in developing and developed countries (Manochehri, Al-Esmail, & Ashrafi, 2012). TAs, being a substantial part of the SME service sector, are seen as playing an important role in this context (Andreau et al., 2010). This research note investigates Internet adoption in TAs across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE isa particular case; however, given its relatively fast growing economy, political stability, and on average affluent population, the study could provide revealing insights which might be transferred to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

Holistic factors that impact the under-representation of women in ICT : a systematic literature review

An under-representation of women in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry exits. Current research tends to focus on either social aspects (social construction) or physical aspects as cause for this phenomenon. Consequently, there is a lack of a holistic perspective of factors that causes the under-representation of women in ICT. This research provides a holistic perspective of factors that causes the under-representation of women in the ICT industry. This research was performed by conducting a systematic literature review that considered 89 articles to identify factors that cause the under-representation of women in ICT. The identified factors were classified as: organizational, economical and socio-psychobiological. The under-representation of women in ICT can now be better addressed by holistically considering this classification of factors to increase female participation in ICT.http://www.springer.comseries/111562021-10-22hj2021Informatic