Barriers and motivations affecting information systems usage by Hajj-Umrah religious tourism operators in Saudi Arabia

Hajj & Umrah religious tourism accounts for seven million visitors each year in Saudi Arabia. The government has recently taken initiatives to promote the use of Information Systems (IS) in the religious tourism industry, encouraging firms to adopt IS innovations like e-commerce and enforcing the use of the Makha'a information system in Umrah for external pilgrims and the Yosr information system in Hajj for internal pilgrims. This study outlines the motivations and challenges that affect the utilisation of various IS services in the Saudi religious tourism industry through a qualitative analysis of the views and perceptions of senior executives and owners of travel firms. The findings suggest that while government initiatives and industry competitiveness were two positive factors promoting IS use, there are some major barriers preventing private firms from fully utilising the advantages of information systems. These include external factors such as lack of support from the IT industry and access to IT resources as well as internal factors within an organisation such as lack of commitment or the need for professional IT expertise. The study finds that relative advantage is a critical contributor to IS utilisation which depends on information systems characteristic

E-readiness to G-readiness: developing a green information technology readiness framework

Businesses are under increasing pressure from competitors, regulators and community groups to implement sustainable business practices. Balancing economic and environmental performance to be green and competitive is therefore a key strategic issue. The increased discussion on green information technology (IT) has sparked the interest of this research. Green IT is poised to influence not only technology but also competitive strategy and even the legality of some business strategic options. Understanding and leveraging Green IT is therefore critical for businesses¿ continued progress. Nevertheless, the principles, practices and value of Green IT is yet to be researched. This paper introduces the concept of Green IT and describes the main pillars of a g-readiness framework to help organisations evaluate their readiness for adopting Green IT. It argues that just as e-readiness has been, and continues to be, a critical quality in the digital economy, g-readiness is an equally critical quality in the low carbon digital economy. Without a clear understanding of g-readiness, organisations would approach Green IT initiatives on an ad hoc and somewhat reactive basis which is undesirable

Lazada's last mile: Where no e-commerce company in Vietnam had gone before

Aim/Purpose: This case study examines the last-mile logistics model as implemented by Lazada Vietnam, as well as the logistics challenges in the local business environment that led the e-commerce company to dually employ the inventory/retail model and the marketplace model for delivering orders to online customers in Vietnam in search of the way to perfect their last-mile logistics. Background: For electronic commerce companies aiming to be successful in customer service, what academics and practitioners refer to as 'last-mile logistics' is the one moment of truth, when deliveries have to be planned tactically and exactly, so that orders are delivered to customers at the right time, right place, right quantity, right quality, and ultimately at the right cost. When deciphering this type of supply chain, i.e., one that is e-commerce- driven, last-mile logistics is the one segment of the product flow that directly interacts with the ultimate customer, but many times is the one segment that is the most problematic and less efficient to implement well. Lazada Group, a German e-commerce company, discovered the serious complications of 'last-mile logistics' when they first entered Vietnam in 2013

COLECCIÓN LUIS SUÁREZ GALVÁN [Material gráfico]

FORMA PARTE DEL ÁLBUM DEL TOUR NORTEAMERICANO REALIZADO POR LUIS SUÁREZ GALVÁN Y SU FAMILIACopia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 201

Trust models in e-commerce

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Technology for business: Supporting industries as a main driving force for e-commerce adoption in Saudi Arabia

Using a qualitative approach, this study examines e-Commerce adoption in the Saudi tourism industry. The research concerns factors that impact of tourism firms moving their sales online. The study's findings suggest a relationship between the competency of Saudi's ICT supporting industry, and the level of e-Commerce integration in the tourism industry. Further, assumptions of global e-Commerce regarding the acceptance of universal payment systems and the intention of firms in pursuing a strategy of e-Commerce may not be valid for some developing countries. The conclusion from this study is that assumptions underpinning global e-Commerce are based on the practices of developed economies and are not yet sufficiently flexible to accommodate elements of difference, as described by this Saudi study

Trust models in the e-commerce environment

This paper analyses several security systems and aggregates their characteristics supporting trust. These characteristics are then matched with e-business models to try and identify the most suitable security system for each model. This is preliminary work undertaken to establish appropriate trust models in the e-commerce environment. The models discussed in this paper are hypothetical

Lessons to be learnt: Cultural means impeding e-commerce adoption in a Saudi industry

Saudi Arabia is gifted with Hajj & Umrah religious tourism that accounts for 7 million visitors each year and constitutes a highly profitable business which could be further enhanced with e-commerce integration. However, despite the availability of technological and financial resources, e-commerce has not been adopted to its full capacity in the Saudi tourism market. This study conducted a qualitative survey among decision makers in the Saudi tourism industry and found that cultural aspects are a significant reason behind the limited adoption of e-commerce. There is a pervasive trust issue with online business with fears about privacy and security compounded by a low level of awareness of ecommerce services as such. It also found that Saudis overall have not developed a comfort level with the procedures involved in online transactions. Also, most Saudi travel agencies are family businesses which in most cases have a riskaverse leadership that likes to stick to the status. The rich and nuanced explanation of these cultural factors in this paper explains how e-commerce usage in Saudi Arabia is lagging behind despite the availability of technological and financial capabilit

Towards a complete understanding of information security misbehaviours: a proposal for future research with social network approach

Insider's intentional misbehaviours without the malicious intent to harm and security workarounds are emerging issues in information security behavioural field. To mitigate these insider's threats, prior research has been confirming many contributing factors of misbehaviours by focusing much on the cognition of employees as individual beings. Consequently, these studies' practical values are inevitably limited by the assumptions of their focus on individuals, which overlook the dynamic exchanges between organisational entities and collectives. From reviewing prior information security behavioural research and detecting their limitations, this paper introduces and proposes social network research as a new approach that would complement to the current body of knowledge. As a result, we discuss the potential directions of social network research and provide some potential research ideas that could be investigated using social network analysis techniques