Basil Alzougool

Adoption of Electronic Commerce Technologies by SMEs in Malaysia

Electronic commerce (EC) offers many benefits to organizations of any size including small to medium- sized enterprises (SMEs). At this stage, there is still a need for a better understanding of the potential and relevance of EC in developing countries as well as the behaviour of SMEs towards EC adoption. Moreover, there is still a need for a holistic view of how various widely known factors at the organization, industry and national levels affect EC adoption. Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical model of EC technologies adoption by SMEs in developing countries by incorporating various readiness factors identified in the literature that may determine EC technologies adoption by SMEs in developing countries. It then explores the influence of these factors on the adoption of different EC technologies. The environmental pressure is also considered in this study. Through a survey of SMEs within the grocery industry in Malaysia as an example of a developing country, the study demonstrates how various readiness factors influence the adoption of various EC technologies differently. This study provides additional insights into EC adoption by SMEs in developing countries and has important implications for research and practice.

Search or explore: do you know what you're looking for?

This paper explores the distinctions between searching and exploring when looking for information. We propose that, while traditional search engines work well in supporting search behaviour, they are more limited in assisting those who are looking to explore new information, especially when the exploration task is ill-defined. We ran a pilot study using two systems: one based on a traditional database search engine, and the other -- a highly innovative, engaging and playful system called iFISH -- that we designed specifically to support exploration through the use of user preferences. We looked for evidence to support the concept that exploration requires a different kind of interaction. The initial results report a positive response to our exploration system and indicate the differences in preferences amongst users for systems that match their searching or exploring behaviours.

Internet Protocol Television for Personalized Home-Based Health Information: Design-Based Research on a Diabetes Education System

Background The use of Internet protocol television (IPTV) as a channel for consumer health information is a relatively under-explored area of medical Internet research. IPTV may afford new opportunities for health care service providers to provide health information and for consumers, patients, and caretakers to access health information. The technologies of Web 2.0 add a new and even less explored dimension to IPTV’s potential. Objective Our research explored an application of Web 2.0 integrated with IPTV for personalized home-based health information in diabetes education, particularly for people with diabetes who are not strong computer and Internet users, and thus may miss out on Web-based resources. We wanted to establish whether this system could enable diabetes educators to deliver personalized health information directly to people with diabetes in their homes; and whether this system could encourage people with diabetes who make little use of Web-based health information to build their health literacy via the interface of a home television screen and remote control. Methods This project was undertaken as design-based research in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a feasibility study into the technical work required to integrate an existing Web 2.0 platform with an existing IPTV system, populated with content and implemented for user trials in a laboratory setting. Stage 2 comprised an evaluation of the system by consumers and providers of diabetes information. Results The project succeeded in developing a Web 2.0 IPTV system for people with diabetes and low literacies and their diabetes educators. The performance of the system in the laboratory setting gave them the confidence to engage seriously in thinking about the actual and potential features and benefits of a more widely-implemented system. In their feedback they pointed out a range of critical usability and usefulness issues related to Web 2.0 affordances and learning fundamentals. They also described their experiences with the system in terms that bode well for its educational potential, and they suggested many constructive improvements to the system. Conclusions The integration of Web 2.0 and IPTV merits further technical development, business modeling, and health services and health outcomes research, as a solution to extend the reach and scale of home-based health care.

A New Scale to Measure the State of An Informal Carer’s Information Needs: Development and Validation

The aim of this article is to describe the development and initial validation of an instrument for comprehensively identifying the information needs state of individuals who performed the role of informal carers. This study used two phases: a qualitative phase for the generation and review of an item pool (data collected from nine informal carers) and a quantitative phase (data collected from 198 informal carers) for items reduction and evaluation through exploratory factor analysis, and assessed validity and reliability. The process revealed six measurement scales useful for operationalizing the information needs state of informal carers. A 23-item scale was derived consisting of recognition and nonrecognition of information needs and four states: recognized-demanded, recognized-undemanded, unrecognized-demanded, and unrecognized-undemanded information needs. The six constructs had satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of Cronbach’s alpha, which ranged from 0.60 to 0.775. This article provides evidence to support the convergent and discriminant validity of the information needs state scale. It enables researchers to comprehensively identify the information needs state of informal carers and potentially other groups.

The impact of motives for Facebook use on Facebook addiction among ordinary users in Jordan

Background: Facebook has become the most popular social networking site with more than 2.07 billion monthly active users. However, this popularity has its pains too reflected by some addictive behavior among its users. Although researchers have recently started to examine the factors that influence Facebook addiction, little research examined the links between motives for Facebook use and Facebook addiction. These studies mainly concentrate on students too. Also, little research has explored this issue among general public in general and among people in Jordan in particular. Aims: This study therefore examined the impact of motives for Facebook use on Facebook addiction among ordinary users in Jordan. Method: A sample of 397 ordinary users is employed to achieve the study objective. Results: Results showed that 38.5% of the participants were addicted to Facebook. Facebook addiction was significantly associated with six motives, namely exhibitionism and companionship, entertainment, escapism and passing time, social curiosity, relationships formation and relationships maintenance. Conclusion: Among these six motives, escapism and passing time, exhibitionism and companionship, and relationships maintenance were the strong predictors of Facebook addiction.

The effects of informal carers’ characteristics on their information needs: The information needs state approach

ABSTRACT Background: There has been little research that provides a comprehensive account of the nature and aspects of information needs of informal carers. The authors have previously developed and validated a framework that accounts for major underlying states of information need. This paper aims to apply this framework to explore whether there are common demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that affect the information needs states of carers. A questionnaire about the information needs states was completed by 198 carers above 18 years old. We use statistical methods to look for similarities and differences in respondents’ information needs states, in terms of the demographic and socioeconomic variables. At least one information needs state varies among carers, in terms of seven demographic and socioeconomic variables: the age of the patient(s) that they are caring for; the condition(s) of the patient(s) that they are caring for; the number of patients that they are caring for; their length of time as a carer; their gender; the country that they live in; and the population of the area that they live in. The findings demonstrate the utility of the information needs state framework. We outline some practical implications of the framework.

Tailoring patient information to encourage patient engagement

This paper proposes a new method for tailoring health information based on an individuals dominant attitudes and information processing style which can be digitally operationalised and delivered direct to the patient. This individualised approach is based on principles previously used as the basis for mass-marketing campaigns, including smoking and other public health issues - but not previously used for structuring treatment recommendations in individual patient consultations. In previous work we have shown that patient understanding of their medical condition is influenced by whether a medical report is expressed in their preferred information processing style or expresses their dominant motivational attitude. In this work we build on these findings to examine the connection between a patients perceived understanding of the content of a medical report and their willingness to actively engage with their doctor. Because engagement has been linked to patient compliance, this has important implications for patient adherence to treatment.