Expert systems adoption. An analytical study of managerial issues and concerns

The experience of introducing expert systems technology into six automotive component manufacturing organizations in the mid-western United States is described. The domain of expert system application as well as the procedural and organizational hurdles that were encountered are also documented. An overview of relevant literature shows the shortage of studies of this kind. A synthesis is provided of the study observations and implications for better management of expert systems adoption in manufacturing.     

Information privacy concerns,antecedents and privacy measure use in social networking sites: Evidence from Malaysia

The research aims at gaining insights into information privacy concerns, its antecedents and privacy measure use in social networking sites. The Social Cognitive, Protection Motivation theories and gender factor were used as a basis to develop and confirm a research model. Using a cross-sectional survey design and cluster sampling technique, four-hundred thirteen questionnaires were distributed to undergraduates at a public Malaysian university; three-hundred forty were included in analyses. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling technique. Results suggest that in order of importance only perceived severity, self-efficacy, perceived vulnerability, and gender are antecedents of information privacy concerns with social networking sites; response efficacy and rewards were not significant antecedents contrary to many past findings in the literature that used Social Cognitive and Protection Motivation Theory as a theoretical basis. Information privacy concerns explain privacy measure use in social networking sites. The implications of these results and study limitations are discussed.     

The effects of general privacy concerns and transactional privacy concerns on Facebook apps usage

This study elucidates the role of control in the context of information privacy to develop a better understanding of the interactions between general privacy concerns and transactional privacy concerns. We posit that general privacy concerns moderate the effects of information collection and profile control on transactional privacy concerns, which in turn, influence willingness to delegate profile to Facebook apps. We test the research model in the context of Facebook apps installation. Results support our propositions. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for service providers and users are discussed.     

The economic impact of product line adoption and evolution

An organization faces many challenging decisions when transitioning to product line development: What is the best way to adopt a product line approach? How can we avoid disrupting regular product development? Once adopted, how should we evolve the product line? The article discusses how to optimize a product line's economic benefits by considering the adoption context and using product line scoping techniques.     

The adoption and design methodologies of component-based enterprise systems

One of the major investments of information technologies in large companies in the past decade has been the enterprise system. Although the enterprise system has the advantages of managing and integrating almost all of the business processes in the whole company, there have been strong criticisms that the enterprise system often imposes its own logic or business process on a company and lacks flexibility and adaptability in today's dynamic business environment. The goal of this paper is to outline a new approach in enterprise system development. We analyse the factors that affect the adoption of enterprise systems. Market and business changes, and advances in information technologies call for a more flexible, open, and scalable enterprise architecture. We describe the process that Dell Computer Corporation took in adopting its component-based enterprise system architecture. The Dell example has demonstrated the importance of fit between business information systems and fundamental organizational dimensions of the company including strategy, business environment, and organizational structure. We also discuss the design methodologies for component-based enterprise system design. We take a coordination perspective, both at the software level and the organizational level, in addressing the design methodologies for component-based enterprise system development.     

The role of perceived resources in online learning adoption

This study examines perceptions of adequate resources that can facilitate or inhibit students’ adoption of an online learning system, through an extension of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to include the perspectives of intra- and extra-organizational resources. The novel contribution of this study is the inclusion of internal and external-organizational factors in the aspect of perceived resources. The results of the study confirm the original TAM findings that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are positively associated with behavioral intention. In addition, the results also partially support that perceived resources have impacts on online learning adoption: Perceived ease of use, internal computing support, internal computing training, and external computing support have positive effects on perceived usefulness. Furthermore, internal computing support, internal computing training, external computing support, external computing training, and external equipment accessibility have positive effects on perceived ease of use. Recommendations for promoting adoption of the online learning system are subsequently discussed, along with suggestions for improving overall system design.     

Wearable technologies: The role of usefulness and visibility in smartwatch adoption

Although still in the early stages of diffusion, smartwatches represent the most popular type of wearable devices. Yet, little is known about why some people are more likely to adopt smartwatches than others. To deepen the understanding of underlying factors prompting adoption behavior, the authors develop a theoretical model grounded in technology acceptance and social psychology literatures. Empirical results reveal perceived usefulness and visibility as important factors that drive adoption intention, suggesting that smartwatches represent a type of ‘fashnology’ (i.e., fashion and technology). The magnitude of these antecedents is influenced by an individual's perception of viewing smartwatches as a technology and/or as a fashion accessory. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Trust and risk in e-government adoption

Citizen confidence in government and technology is imperative to the wide-spread adoption of e-government. This study analyzes the impact of trust and risk perceptions on one’s willingness to use e-government services. We propose a model of e-government trust composed of disposition to trust, trust of the Internet (TOI), trust of the government (TOG) and perceived risk. Results from a citizen survey indicate that disposition to trust positively affects TOI and TOG, which in turn affect intentions to use an e-government service. TOG also affects negatively perceived risk, which affects use intentions as well. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

The effects of reading and writing habits on blog adoption

Blogs are one of the most widely used Internet applications; however, there is a lack of attention paid to understanding blog adoption with respect to individual reading/writing habits. This paper, therefore, investigates how individual reading and writing habits contribute to blog adoption. A survey was conducted in order to understand the relationship between an individual's reading and writing habits, in terms of reading/writing attitude and reading/writing behavioural patterns, and the adoption of blogs. A total of 210 blog users participated in the study. Hypotheses were tested and data were analysed using multiple regression analysis and logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that reading and writing habits are a significant predictor of blog adoption. Furthermore, based on Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, this study also investigated whether people's habitual characteristics (i.e. heavy and light) have some sort of relationship with the stage of blog adoption (i.e. earlier and later). A subsequent analysis showed that people with a heavier reading habit group tended to adopt at an earlier stage, while this consequence was absent in those with heavier writing habits groups.     

The relationship between information and communication technologies adoption and management

This paper examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption on management praxis. The study, building on the theoretical framework developed by Scott Morton and his colleagues, attempts to identify the dynamic relationships between ICT adoption and management efforts towards modernization and reorganization. Using data from leading Greek firms, we report evidence as to how changes in strategy, organizational structure, management systems, and human skills link with the current and prospective level of use of various types of advanced ICT. Findings generally appear to suggest that Greek firms are in a process of recognizing the potential of ICT to enable and support changes that are necessary for successfully competing in a hyper-competitive environment. In particular, ICT adoption is shown to affect strategy by supporting long-term strategic objectives and the quest for profitability. Indirectly, it also links to strategic planning systems. ICT is found to be related to an internal environment characterized by open organization and flexibility. Finally, the results show that the sample firms recognize the need for multi-skilled personnel to exploit the advantages stemming from ICT adoption.     

Home Ownership and Pensions in East Asia: The Case of Malaysia

In the East Asian welfare model the income needs of older people are typically met by a combination of family support, pension systems and home ownership. Insofar as the latter two elements are concerned, and in comparison with the typical western country, pension systems are generally less well developed with more restricted social protection elements while home ownership rates are higher; indeed the trade-off, identified in western countries, between public pension provision and private home ownership is here even more extreme. The paper begins with a brief outline of the general features of the East Asian welfare model, emphasising some of the key distinctions from western models. The main part of the paper focuses on a case study of Malaysia. It firstly investigates the development of the pension and home ownership systems, the former based on private, mandatory savings through the Employees Provident Fund which has been progressively amended to enable ever large parts of each member??s fund to be diverted into pre-retirement payment for home ownership. Secondly, the paper investigates the extent to which the system has resulted in gains and losses for households seeking both to meet their housing requirements and enhance their post-retirement standard of living.     

The relationship between information technology acceptance and organizational agility in Malaysia

We examined the influence of information technology (IT) acceptance on organizational agility. The study was based on a well-established theoretical model, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We attempted to identify the relationships between IT acceptance and organizational agility in order to see how the acceptance of technology contributes to a firm's ability to be an agile competitor. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to analyze the data. Results from a survey involving 329 managers and executives in manufacturing firms in Malaysia showed that actual system or technology usage had the strongest direct effect on organizational agility. Meanwhile, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of IT influenced organizational agility indirectly through actual systems or technology use and attitudes towards using the technology. The results have several implications for IS management.     

The adoption of eCommerce communications and applications technologies in small businesses in New Zealand

This research investigates the impact of 10 factors, extended from the technological innovation literature, on the adoption of different eCommerce communications and applications technologies (EC) in small businesses (SMEs) in New Zealand (NZ). The research results showed that the CEO’s innovativeness was the only determinant of external-email adoption. CEO’s involvement was found to be the only determinant of Intranet adoption. Relative advantage and competition were found to influence Extranet/VPN adoption significantly and positively. However, support from technology vendors appeared to violate its hypothesised effect on Extranet/VPN adoption. Regression analysis found that pressure from suppliers was the only determinant of Internet-EDI adoption. The adoption of Web sites was influenced by the information intensity of products and the CEO’s innovativeness. The significant factors suggested the uniqueness of the adoption phenomenon in SMEs in NZ. However, the factors that appeared to be significant and the ones that appeared to be insignificant factors and the implications arising from these factors led to a conclusion which suggested the weakness of the EC adoption phenomenon in SMEs in NZ. The research discusses theoretical implications emerging from the research factors and portrays a path for future research.     

The adoption and diffusion of e-commerce in developing countries: The case of an NGO in Jordan

The case study in this research involves a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Jordan in the Middle East, which attempted to utilize electronic commerce (EC) to streamline its business processes and information flow to businesses in Jordan and to other international businesses interested in the Jordanian market. The NGO managed to achieve these tasks expeditiously, and its EC initiative assisted in adding an effective digital parallel to existing systems and processes in this NGO. The NGO is directly involved in the e-government initiative empowered by H.M. King Abdullah II. At this end, with this royal support, the NGO successfully adopted EC. During the adoption and implementation process, the organization encountered numerous difficulties, as detailed in this research. However, the full success of EC was hampered by other factors. Initially, other governmental entities related indirectly to this NGO were not EC-ready. Second, although Web site utilization was growing in this NGO, most member merchants were reluctant to switch to the online arena and to abandon traditional practices in obtaining information and resources from this NGO. However, the NGO is aware of these concerns and envisages resolving such hurdles in its medium- to long-term projections. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The adoption of eCommerce communications and applications technologies in small businesses in New Zealand

This research investigates the impact of 10 factors, extended from the technological innovation literature, on the adoption of different eCommerce communications and applications technologies (EC) in small businesses (SMEs) in New Zealand (NZ). The research results showed that the CEO’s innovativeness was the only determinant of external-email adoption. CEO’s involvement was found to be the only determinant of Intranet adoption. Relative advantage and competition were found to influence Extranet/VPN adoption significantly and positively. However, support from technology vendors appeared to violate its hypothesised effect on Extranet/VPN adoption. Regression analysis found that pressure from suppliers was the only determinant of Internet-EDI adoption. The adoption of Web sites was influenced by the information intensity of products and the CEO’s innovativeness. The significant factors suggested the uniqueness of the adoption phenomenon in SMEs in NZ. However, the factors that appeared to be significant and the ones that appeared to be insignificant factors and the implications arising from these factors led to a conclusion which suggested the weakness of the EC adoption phenomenon in SMEs in NZ. The research discusses theoretical implications emerging from the research factors and portrays a path for future research.     

The Impact of Experience and Perception on the Efficiency of E-procurement in Malaysia

The technology of E-procurement becomes more popular in many developed countries due to its accuracy in decision making for big projects that enhance the public bidding process for development projects in any country. The experience of employees who operate the system of E-procurement and the perception of users who bid for projects are essential to ensure the efticiency of procurement and the whole bidding process for public projects. This paper examined the impact of employee＇s experience on the efficiency of E-procurement systems in public agencies. In addition, we attempt to examine the perception factor of using E-procurement systems with regard to users in the seller side. A survey was conducted to identify the impact of experience and perception on the efficiency towards adoption and use of E-procurement system among users who working in firms participated in online bidding for public agencies projects, and employees who are working in E-procurement department in government administrations Malaysian government. A total of 80 questionnaires were collected and the data were analyzed to look at the level of the impact of experience and perception in E-procurement users. The general findings indicate a positive attitude experience and perception among the users in using the E-procurement.     

The adoption of hyped technologies: a qualitative study

The introduction of new consumer technology is often greeted with declarations that the way people conduct their lives will be changed instantly. In some cases, this might create hype surrounding a specific technology. This article investigates the adoption of hyped technology, a special case that is absent in the adoption literature. The study employs a consumer research perspective, specifically the theory of consumption values (TCV), to understand the underlying motives for adopting the technology. In its original form, TCV entails five values that influence consumer behavior: functional, social, epistemic, emotional and conditional. The values catch the intrinsic and extrinsic motives influencing behavior. Using a qualitative approach that includes three focus groups and 60 one-on-one interviews, the results of the study show that emotional, epistemic and social values influence the adoption of hyped technologies. Contrary to expectations, functional value, which is similar to the widely used information system constructs of perceived usefulness and relative advantage, has little impact on the adoption of technologies that are surrounded with significant hype. Using the findings of the study, this article proposes a model for investigating and understanding the adoption of hyped technologies. This article contributes to the literature by (1) focusing on the phenomenon of hyped technology, (2) introducing TCV, a consumer research-based theoretical framework, to enhance the understanding of technology adoption, and (3) proposing a parsimonious model explaining the adoption of hyped technology.     

Human-centred by design? The adoption of CAD in the UK

The appropriate forms of organisational arrangements to accompany the introduction of integrative technologies such as CAD and their implications for operator skills and work organisation have been hotly debated. For some, CAD represents yet another example of a technology being used to deskill a previously higly skilled occupational group, whilst for others it is a technology which allows a break with the deskilling trend, raising the possibility of much human-centred forms of work organisation. This paper examines the introduction of CAD in six UK organisations and highlights the need for strategic, but at the same time more skill-based, approaches. The prospects for the development of such an approach in the UK are briefly evaluated.