The intention to use mobile digital library technology: A focus group study in the United Arab Emirates

IGI Global (“IGI”) granted Brunel University London the permission to archive this article in BURA (http://bura.brunel.ac.uk).This paper presents a qualitative study on student adoption of mobile library technology in a developing world context. The findings support the applicability of a number of existing constructs from the technology acceptance literature, such as perceived ease of use, social influence and trust. However, they also suggest the need to modify some adoption factors previously found in the literature to fit the specific context of mobile library adoption. Perceived value was found to be a more relevant overarching adoption factor than perceived usefulness for this context. Facilitating conditions were identified as important but these differed somewhat from those covered in earlier literature. The research also uncovered the importance of trialability for this type of application. The findings provide a basis for improving theory in the area of mobile library adoption and suggest a number of practical design recommendations to help designers of mobile library technology to create applications that meet user needs

Swift guanxi data analysis and its application to e-commerce retail strategies improvement

E-commerce has changed retail, offering an opportunity to sell products online. Before retailers can take advantage from e-commerce however, they need to understand the factors driving consumers' intentions to purchase online as well as the factors motivating product re-purchase. To date, a number of studies have been commissioned with an aim to support e-retailers in those efforts. These studies show the key role of trust in consumers' initial and continuous use of e-commerce sites. E-retailers however find online trust difficult to establish due to buyer-seller social and temporal separation online. Recent studies argue that this limitation of online channels can be overcome by computer-mediated communication technologies, which enable 'swift guanxi' that facilitates online trust. This study extends this stream of research by analyzing data generated through swift guanxi in order to help retailers establish online trust and improve their online strategies

M-learning in the middle east: The case of Bahrain

The introduction of e-learning in higher education has brought radical changes in the way undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are designed and delivered. University students now have access to their courses anytime, anywhere, which makes e-learning and m-learning popular and fashionable among university students globally. Nevertheless, instructors are now challenged, as they have to adopt new pedagogies in learning and teaching. This chapter explores the adoption of m-learning at universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as the relevant current developments and challenges related to the major stakeholders (educators and students) in higher education. It mainly investigates the educators' views and perceptions of m-learning, as well as its future potential in higher education. Most of the educators use m-learning tools to some limited extent, and there is still opportunity to reach full integration with curriculum and the blended learning approach. Further, it is proposed that professional development should be provided to instructors to enable them to use the available new technologies in an appropriate and effective way

Diffusion of personalized e-government services among Dutch municipalities: An empirical investigation and explanation

This article describes the trend of personalization in electronic service delivery, with a special focus on municipal electronic service delivery in the Netherlands. Personalization of electronic services refers to the one-to-one citizen orientation using authentication, profiling and customization techniques. The percentage of Dutch municipalities offering services through personalized electronic counters has increased from 14% (2006) to 28% (2009). Using binary logistic regression analyses of 2008 survey data, it is concluded that personalization is positively associated with size of municipalities but not with e-government and policy innovation statements, nor with explicit political responsibility with respect to e-government development. Based on these findings, alternative explanations for the adoption and diffusion of personalized e-government services are suggested. Copyrigh

A Cross-Cultural Study of Smartphone Adoption in Uzbekistan and South Korea

Smartphone technology has changed how mobile phones are perceived and used in daily life. In 2015, global smartphone sales reached 1.4 billion units, representing an increase of 14.4 percent from 2014. Despite this popularity, penetration rates vary significantly across countries, with a global median of 43%. The main purpose of this research is to examine smartphone adoption in Uzbekistan and South Korea based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and to categorize constructs according to the Kano model. The findings indicate significant differences between South Korea and Uzbekistan in terms of technology adoption as a whole and perception of UTAUT constructs.peerReviewe

Sales force technology for the hospitality industry

Advancements in Sales Force Automation (SFA) is rapidly changing the landscape in how meeting planners and hotel sales professionals do business with one another. This chapter highlights where those changes are occuring, why they are occuring, and what they mean to both buyers and sellers. The intent of this overview is to inform hotel owners and investors who are considering such an investment as to the benefits that can potentially be derived from SFA. Furthermore, our intent is to provide hospitality educators insights as to how SFA is changing the workplace of both meeting planners and hotel sales professionals so they can provide their students a realistic view of the software aids they may need to master to be successful in their careers