Environmental Scanning, Anticipatory Information and Associated Problems: Insight from Kuwait

This article investigates the strategic behaviors of Kuwaiti executives from 86 companies with regard to environmental scanning characteristics in the form of eight hypotheses. The main results show that Kuwaiti executives have trouble dealing with environmental scanning and weak signal suggested by Ansoff (1975). Results also suggest that executives must recognize the role of strategic information and begin actively to manage and plan its collection as a corporate resource. It is suggested that a computer-based system for environmental scanning would probably have to be primarily oriented for educating and training purposes

Does Mobile Payment Technology Mnet Attract Potential Consumers? The Case of Kuwait

Drawing on the technology acceptance model, gratification research and theory of reasoned action, this study examines the factors and barriers to the adoption of mobile payment – Mnet technology- through the moderation effect of gender and experience. Of the two research methods employed, the first is a quantitative field study of students. The instrument measures the impact of six variables (social norm, enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, trust and privacy) on the intention to use Mnet. Using regression analysis on a sample of 175 respondents, findings show that gender and experience are two important factors on Mnet acceptance. The study reveals that intention to use is perceived usefulness and enjoyment driven for experienced and inexperienced male users, while it is enjoyment driven for female users. Perceived trust affect intention to use Mnet, regardless of users\u27 experience, perceived trust affects intention to use Mnet only of female users, and social norm and privacy play the weakest effect on intention to use Mnet. The second method is a qualitative analysis of respondents\u27 free format comments. These findings reinforce the quantitative findings and highlight additional encouraging and discouraging factors to the Mnet acceptance that still need to be studied

Trust Factors Influencing Intention to Adopt Online Payment in Kuwait

While there is a large body of research that studied trust in e-commerce, this study investigates causes and consequences of customer trust in online payment system within an Arab culture. The paper develops a theoretical model that exhibits the impact of five exogenous variables namely (internet experience, personal innovativeness, familiarity, propensity to trust, and presence of third party seal) on intention to use online payment via the mediation of three endogenous variables (perceived enjoyment, perceived risk and perceived trust). Data was collected via on online questionnaire (150) and paper-based questionnaire (200), and the analysis provides validation of the proposed model. Findings shed light on the role of customer trust and perceived enjoyment to mediate the effect of external variables (personal innovativeness, familiarity, propensity to trust, and presence of third party seal). This could assist in enhancing online payment websites acceptance by potential consumers in Arab countries

A Modified Technology Acceptance Model for Camera Mobile Phone Adoption: Development and validation

This study develops an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess the user acceptance and voluntary usage of the camera mobile phone technology. While there has been considerable research on the extension of TAM (Venkatesh and Davis 2000; Yi et al. 2006), limitations include the omission of an important privacy-based construct in the context of mobile devices. To fill in this gap, this study introduces a model that describes Camera Mobile Phone (CMP) adoption in the Arab world. Data collected from 241 users in Kuwait were tested against the extended TAM. Results reveal perceived enjoyment is the most direct determinant of CMP usage, followed second by personal innovativeness and third by perceived usefulness. However, results show privacy exerts the weakest effect on CMP usage

RFID For Document Management: Assessment of Scenarios Implementation: An Arab case study

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are used in a variety of applications to uniquely identify physical objects. The operation of RFID systems often involves a situation in which numerous tags are present in the interrogation zone of a single reader at the same time. Although RFID is currently a hot topic, many organizations are slow in adopting RFID to conduct more effective and efficient business processes. This study presents an analysis toward understanding the evaluation of business value and introducing RFID at a public ministry in an Arab country. This study propose a framework based of three phases for the assessment of RFID technology, hoping that a better understanding of the business value of RFID will encourage more organizations to implement it

Perspective on Information Requirement Determination Practices in Kuwait: Familiarity, Usage and Perceived Value

Few studies have examined how Information Requirement Determination (IRD) is practiced in the Arab world. To lessen the gap, this empirical study reports on the perception of 19 IRD methods in Kuwait, an Arab country. Based on a sample of 87 software stakeholders, this study reports on the most known, widely used and highly valued IRD methods. Results show that Arab culture influences perception of IRD techniques in that: (i) the most used is the traditional technique (interview), followed by the formal analysis technique (DFD), and group elicitation technique (brainstorming); (ii) the most valued techniques from past projecst are external representation techniques (Decision trees), followed by unstructured elicitation techniques (goal oriented elicitation), and observation technique (prototyping); and (iii) the least known, used and valued techniques are UML, Ishikawa and cognitive technique (KJ- methods). In addition, the study reveals some additional factors that affect IRD practices such as the existence of a correlation between past IS project problems and the usage of three techniques (QFD, DFD and role playing), the existence of a correlation between two techniques (prototyping and decision trees) and the statement obtaining the right requirements is essential to successful system development . Other correlations were also found between some IRD techniques and specific used information system development methodologies. This paper discusses findings which are relevant to theory and practice

The Moderating Effects of Leader-Member Exchange for Technology Acceptance: An Empirical Study Within Organizations

Within the technology acceptance literature, the issue of top management support and commitment has been studied extensively; however, the issue of leadership per se has not been addressed directly. A missing piece of the leadership puzzle as it relates to technology acceptance is an exploration of how top management support gets translated in the organizational hierarchy. This study introduces leader-member exchange (LMX) to better understand this missing piece. Specifically, this research explores the role direct supervisors play in the acceptance process by end users based on the moderated model of LMX and supervisor influence. The empirical test results in the field setting show that LMX is a significant moderator for most of the technology acceptance variables within organizations. The study explores the role of the quality of the relationship between supervisors and employees as end users. It also highlights the role of LMX and supervisor influence as a conduit for the acceptance process among end users in the organization

Towards A Cross-Cultural Model Of Online Whistle-Blowing Systems Use

Whistle-blowing has long been an important organizational phenomenon that improves organizations in the long-run. Online whistle-blowing systems are becoming increasingly prevalent channels for reporting organizational abuses. Given that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and similar financial laws throughout the world require multi-national firms to establish whistle-blowing procedures and systems, whistle-blowing research is even more important (Ernst & Young 2009). Existing whistle-blowing theory does not explicitly predict risk, trust, cross-cultural considerations, nor use of anonymous, online whistle-blowing systems. Yet, all of these are key considering in the whistle-blowing act and whistle-blowing in general. Furthermore, unless these systems are further understood, they may not be used, or they may not be used properly. This is a particular problem for multi-national financial firms that increasingly need to comply with whistle-blowing regulations. This research-in-process paper details our plans to create and extend baseline whistle-blowing theory, by uniquely considering anonymity, risk, trust, and cross-cultural considerations in using whistle-blowing systems. The model will be rigorously testing using working professionals in the USA, Middle East, and China. We propose our design and measures for testing the model

A Preliminary Investigation of Quality Metrics and Performance for Selected Institutions Delivering Technology Mediated Higher Education

The 21st century has brought about significant change to both business organizations and educational institutions. One of the more important changes in delivering higher education is the development and growth of technology mediated higher education (online programs), delivered by both non-profit and for-profit college and university programs. These programs provide students with expanded opportunities to further their education and have enrolled hundreds of thousands of students in courses of study. This study assesses business school programs offering technology mediated higher education using five quality metrics: 1) external review and accreditation; 2) affordability; 3) admissions and graduation; 4) online students reviews and 5) selected online education quality issues for five technology mediated programs. The results show that among the five selected online programs, they all receive some type of accreditation, have low cost per credit and have a low or no admission standards. The areas that the students most likely discuss in the online reviews include professor, advisor, financial aid, job, and experience. A sentiment analysis of 3,596 student online reviews shows that more than half of the reviews are positive, and the average sentiment score is close to 1 (on a scale of -5 to +5

DESIGN AND VALIDATION OF AN INTERORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

This paper presents an interorganizational information system that aims to structure collaboration of engineering activities as well as data sharing across company borders. The paper also describes the approach underlying the system, validates it by designing a system prototype, and tests the system using questionnaire and in-depth interviews in order to further knowledge about the subject. The main results from the test show: collaboration engineering is potentially important for senior managers; end-users were specifically attracted more by the concept rather by its implementation; engineering change management is a complex process; and the support of strategic level is a critical success factor. In addition, the paper describes other factors that emerged during the ongoing project and inhibit success of the system