Husnayati Hussin

IT alignment and firm performance in small manufacturing firms

The concept of IT alignment has been discussed in the literature, but almost always in the context of large firms. Similarly, attempts to measure alignment and relate it to performance have been made, but primarily based on work in larger firms. This study focused on measuring the alignment of business strategy and IT strategy (ITS) among small UK manufacturing firms and then investigated the link between alignment and performance. The method built on prior studies, developing approaches to alignment used with larger firms and integrating other concepts and measures from the small firm literature. Using a mail questionnaire, data from 250 firms was collected on nine strategy areas so that business and ITS responses could be compared. IT alignment was explored using both the matching and moderation approaches. The moderation approach appeared more effective in identifying IT alignment. The results indicated that a significant proportion of small firms had achieved high IT alignment. Furthermore, the group of small firms with high IT alignment had achieved better organisational performance than firms with low IT alignment. This is consistent with findings in large firms and opens up possibilities for further study of IT alignment in small firms.

IT alignment in small firms

This study focused on the alignment of business strategy and IT strategy among 256 small UK manufacturing firms. An instrument was developed and used to measure IT alignment in small firms. Evidence was gained of high IT alignment in some firms. The study also indicated that IT alignment was related to the firms level of IT maturity and the level of the CEOs software knowledge, but did not seem to be linked to the CEOs involvement or the firms sources of external IT expertise.

Information systems outsourcing: Motivations and the implementation strategy in a Malaysian bank

Purpose – This paper aims to aid in understanding the motivations for information system (IS) outsourcing decision and its initial implementation at one of the top commercial banks in Malaysia. The scope of the study includes the motivating factors, the implementation strategy and managing the change process.Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a case study approach where 40 interviews were conducted among the staff, covering the management as well as non‐management group.Findings – The findings of the study indicate that the motivating factors are the focus on core competencies, turning non‐profit activities into profit‐generating activities, and cost reduction. The implementation strategy involves the setting up of a two‐tier relationship between the bank and the service provider. The challenges involved in the transition phase include managing the partnership and handling the staff transition and morale.Research limitations/implications – To some extent, there may be some subjectivity involve...

Instructional Design and E-Learning: Examining Learners' Perspective in Malaysian Institutions of Higher Learning.

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the elements of effective instructional design in an e‐learning environment in selected Malaysian higher learning institutions. In addition, the study also seeks to investigate the e‐learning use behaviour among these e‐learners.Design/methodology/approach – The study used the interview method of data collection to examine the e‐learning systems used at the selected institutions and a questionnaire‐based survey to gather responses from students on their perception of the effectiveness of instructional design elements and their e‐learning use behaviour.Findings – Findings of the study indicate positive perceptions of e‐learning among students in the selected universities. Student involvement and course content are among the most satisfactory factors for instructional design principles as perceived by the students.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the study relate to the generalisability of the findings to other user groups. The findings of the study...

Medical tourism service quality: finally some empirical findings

The purpose of this paper is to examine service quality, perceived value, overall satisfaction and future intention among medical tourists who seek treatment in Malaysian private hospitals. Self-administered questionnaire was the main method of data collection. Respondents comprised foreign patients who seek medical treatment, and/or related medical services such as tests and medical check-ups. Expatriates and foreign nationals residing in Malaysia were excluded. Altogether 173 responses were received and analysed by SPSS 17. Three dimensions of medical tourism service quality were identified, namely, medical staff quality, supporting services quality and administrative services quality. Medical staff quality was found to predict all three variables of patient satisfaction, perceived value and future intention for treatment. Very limited empirical research has been carried out with actual data from patients due to difficulty in getting access to international patients, and patients’ reluctance to participate. This study is among the first few which examines medical tourism service quality with actual patient data. The research identifies important constituents of medical tourism which may assist policy-makers and hospital managers in better understanding the industry.

Public E-procurement: A Research Synthesis

In recent years, the number of publications dedicated to public e-procurement system, which is an application within the e-government, has been increasing. As public e-procurement systems cover and affect not only the issues of information systems, but also the concern of administration, economics, and social domain, they capture the interests of numerous studies to pursue a wide range of objectives. We therefore decided to survey the public e-procurement studies by using literature reviews and classification of articles from 1998 to 2008 with the main aim to investigate how the research has been developed during this period. Based on the articles, we classify the research into theories used, methodologies applied, and streams and scopes. From the findings, we offer suggestions on improving research in this field.

A conceptual model of information technology innovation implementation effectiveness in higher education

Research on innovation in organizations has mainly focused on adoption phase as compared to implementation phase of innovation. Implementation is the critical gateway between the decision to adopt an innovation and the routine use of the innovation. In the case of IT innovation, while the development of IT innovation is relatively controllable, the actual implementation of IT is far more difficult to control as it involves complex interactions between people, technology and environment. Often times there is resistance in using the new technology and in many circumstances, the organization has to face IT implementation failure. In the context of higher education, there has been major transformation occurring in the formal education sector partly due to the development of IT innovation, as well as the form of networking, knowledge sharing and interactive learning that IT facilitate. Nevertheless, many universities are facing a lot of challenges in implementing IT innovation successfully. Although there have been some researches on the implementation of innovations in general, very few studies explored IT innovation implementation in the context of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for evaluating IT innovation implementation in higher educational institutions (HEIs), particularly in the developing countries. The proposed model was derived from the general innovation models, but was adapted to suit the HEIs context.

Investigating government-to-business system success: a conceptual framework

Driven by lack of empirical research findings in evaluating the actual values of government-to-business (G2B) application, this research is undertaken to comprehensively investigate the system success measured as benefits and effective usage, and its determinants. A research framework is proposed to gauge the values at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, and to examine the success determinants via the perspectives of individual, organizational, technological, environmental and dynamic capability. The consequences of the usage on the benefits, as well as the relationships between the determinants and the usage warrant more exploration. A better understanding of the success realization will not only reduce the e-government research gap, but will definitely assist the federal government in evaluating the G2B system effectiveness. In addition, evidences of the critical aspects of the determinants will enable public organizations as system owners to react accordingly to any information system usage and sustainability in the future.

A success model for the malaysian government e-procurement system: The buyer perspective

In Malaysia, there has been a tremendous effort in implementing e-government as a national agenda with the aims to increase public transparency, improve the sector efficiency and effectiveness and reduce public expenditure through lower operational costs. One of the e-government applications is the ePerolehan, a government-to-business (G2B) system that enables online public procurement coordination and transaction between government and businesses. However, there has been a lack of empirical research findings in evaluating the success and actual value of the system, and understanding the usage factors among government users. Hence, this research was undertaken to investigate the level of ePerolehan system success and the factors that contribute to this success, as perceived by the government users. The structural equation modeling results suggest the use of the Malaysian public e-procurement system has significant and positive influence to success, measured as transparency, service performance, efficiency and information quality The results also indicated that the main significant success factors of the ePerolehan system are found to be system compatibility, user attitude, organizational learning, mimetic pressure and supplier expectation. The findings provide several important implications not only for the government-to-business discipline, but also for e-government research and practice.

ICT implementation barriers and organizational issues in Islamic-based Higher Education Institution: The case of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta

Nowadays, most Higher Education Institutions (HEI) rely on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for all aspects of their activities such as administration, teaching, learning and research services. Even though the adoption of ICT in higher education has been extensive since mid 1990s, it has failed to produce the radical changes in learning and teaching. While many studies have been conducted on ICT usage in higher education especially in the developed countries, similar studies in the context of Islamic-based higher education institution (IHEI) are scarce. IHEI are unique institutions because its mission and vision are based on Islamic teachings and values. While it is well recognized that ICT implementation is a complex process, planning its use in the context of IHEI posed a greater challenge due to the cultural factor and the negative attitude towards the technology. This paper presents the analysis of ICT implementation barriers and organizational issues at UIN Jakarta, as a case study of an Islamic-based higher education institution in Indonesia. The findings revealed that the barriers include aspects related to organizational constraints, technological constraints, IT management problems, individual and cultural factors. While most factors are common, the aspect of organizational culture factor that relates to its being a religious institution is unique to this HEI.