Sujeet Kumar Sharma

A multi-analytical approach to understand and predict the mobile commerce adoption

Purpose – The advent of mobile telephony devices with strong internet capabilities has laid the foundation for mobile commerce (m-commerce) services. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine predictors of m-commerce adoption using a modification of the widely used technology acceptance model and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from 213 respondents by means of an online survey. The data were analyzed through multi analytic approach by employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and neural network modeling. Findings – The SEM results showed that variety of services, social influence, perceived usefulness, cost and perceived trust have significant influence on consumer’s intention to adopt m-commerce. The only exception was perceived ease of use which observed statistically insignificant influence on adoption of m-commerce. Furthermore, the results obtained from SEM were employed as input to the neural network mod...

Development of quantitative model to investigate the strategic relationship between information quality and e-government benefits

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the relationship between improvements in information quality and the benefits and performance of e-government organizations. As information quality is multi-dimensional measure, it is very crucial to determine what aspects of it are critical to organizations to help them to devise effective information quality improvement strategies. These strategies are potentially capable of changing government organizational structures and business processes. It examines the nature, direction and strength of the connections between information quality and the success of e-government initiatives. A conceptual model by means of which organizations performance and information quality research can be viewed is proposed and validated in Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a quantitative methodology to investigate the causal paths. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 268 employees positioned in the Kuwait Government ministries. Each of the main effect hypotheses...

Internet banking adoption in India: Structural equation modeling approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors influencing adoption of internet banking in urban India. Design/methodology/approach – A model has been proposed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). The proposed model is referred to as extended TAM and is better suited to identify and quantify the important factors that influence adoption of internet banking technology in India. Primary data relating to the variables affecting technology adoption and demographic profile are collected using a questionnaire survey. Data were collected from 344 individuals who are either current/prospective internet banking users. Structural equation modeling was used to identify the important factors affecting internet banking technology adoption. Findings – The factors of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, awareness, quality of internet connection and computer self-efficacy are primary determinants of the attitude toward the use of internet banking in urban India. The ...

Adoption of e-government services: The role of service quality dimensions and demographic variables

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a research model for understanding the relationship between service quality dimensions and demographic variables, and the willingness to use e-government services in Oman. Understanding the key determinants of electronic government (e-government) services is an important issue for enhancing the degree of use of these services by users. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected using Google forms from 248 e-government service users. The hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the research model. Findings – The results showed that service quality dimensions, namely, reliability, security, efficiency and responsiveness, were the key determinants that influenced the willingness to use e-government services. In addition to service quality dimensions, two demographic variables, namely, age and education level of respondents, showed a statistically significant relationship with the willingness to use e-government services. Practical implicat...

Predicting determinants of Internet banking adoption: A two-staged regression-neural network approach

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to explore the main determinants of Internet banking users on the basis of literature of technology acceptance model (TAM). Understanding and predicting main determinants of Internet banking is an important issue for banking industry and users. Design/methodology/approach - – Service quality and trust were incorporated in the TAM together with demographic variables. The data were collected using Google Docs from 110 Omani Internet banking users. A two-staged regression-neural network model was applied to understand and predict Internet banking adoption. Findings - – The results obtained from multiple linear regression model were compared with the results from neural network model to predict Internet banking adoption and the performance of latter model was found to superior. The neural network model was able to capture relative importance of all independent variables, service quality, trust, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and demographic variables, whereas perceived ease of use and demographic variables were not significant predictors of Internet banking adoption as per the regression model. Practical implications - – This study provides useful insights with regard to development of Internet banking systems to banking professionals and information systems researchers in Oman and similar emerging economies. Originality/value - – This study is probably the first attempt to model Internet banking adoption in Gulf Cooperation Council using a predictive rather than explanatory focus. The majority of studies in Internet banking adoption in Oman and elsewhere usually utilize modeling methods suited for explanatory purposes.

Exploring quality of e-Government services in Oman

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the customer perception of service quality with respect to the e-Government services in Oman and conduct an investigation in order to determine the key factors that affect the quality of e-Government services in Oman. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data relating to the variables affecting quality of e-Government services and demographic profile data are collected using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was designed based on literature review and focus groups. Factor analysis method is employed to identify and rank the important factors affecting service quality. Findings – The study found that the four factors listed in the descending order of importance, reliability, responsiveness, efficiency, and security are primary determinants of the quality of e-Government services in Oman. Practical implications – This research enables government organizations to enhance their understanding of customer perception of e-Government services. The cust...

Students’ acceptance and satisfaction of learning through course websites

Purpose – This paper aims to understand the interrelationships between the various factors that affect the use of course Web sites by university students in a developing country. The factors considered for the purpose of studying these interrelationships include perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived Web site credibility and Web site learning acceptance and satisfaction. Furthermore, a comparative study of the potential differences in perceptions between Indian and Omani students with respect to the aforementioned factors is also presented. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was used to collect data from students. Based on an extensive literature review, this paper uses empirical research to analyze student satisfaction in relation to learning through course Websites. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, structural equation modeling and a t-test. Findings – Under the newly proposed construct, Web site credibility was found to be an important predictor of Web site learni...

Structural equation model (SEM)-neural network (NN) model for predicting quality determinants of e-learning management systems

ABSTRACT The success of e-learning management systems (e-LMSs) such as MOODLE depends on the usage of students as well as instructor acceptance in a virtual learning environment. E-Learning enables instructors to access educational resources to support traditional classroom teaching. This paper attempts to develop a model to understand and predict the effect of individual characteristics (technology experience [TE] and personal innovativeness [PI]) and e-LMS quality determinants (system quality [SYS-Q], information quality, and service quality) on the continuous use of e-LMS by instructors, which is critical to its success. A total of 219 instructors using MOODLE responded to the survey. The structural equation model (SEM) was employed to test the proposed research model. The SEM results showed that SYS-Q, PI, service quality, and TE have a statistically significant influence on continuous usage of e-LMS by instructors. Furthermore, all determinants of the research model were given as input to an NN model to overcome the simplistic nature of the SEM model. The NN model results showed that service quality is the most important predictor of e-learning acceptance followed by SYS-Q, PI, information quality, and TE. This paper attempts to develop a causal and predictive statistical model for predicting instructor e-LMS acceptance.

Cricket team selection using data envelopment analysis

Abstract This paper suggests a new method for cricket team selection using data envelopment analysis (DEA). We propose a DEA formulation for evaluation of cricket players in different capabilities using multiple outputs. This evaluation determines efficient and inefficient cricket players and ranks them on the basis of DEA scores. The ranking can be used to choose the required number of players for a cricket team in each cricketing capability. A real dataset, Indian Premier League 4 (IPL 2011), cricket players having various capabilities is used to choose the best cricket team. The proposed method has the advantage of considering multiple factors related to the performance of players in multiple capabilities collected from IPL 4 and aggregates their scores using a linear programming DEA model. This DEA Aggregation gives the scores of players objectively instead of using subjective computations. The proposed DEA method can be used to form a national cricket team from several clubs or a team of top cricketers.

A multi-analytical model for mobile banking adoption: a developing country perspective

Purpose Mobile banking (Mbanking) is one of the most widely used mobile technology applications in recent times. This research aims to develop and test a research model by integrating social influence, trust and compatibility along with demographic variables into the original technology acceptance model (TAM) for Mbanking adoption which can be useful for understanding individual behaviours from an international business perspective. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a structured survey from 208 Omani Mbanking users and analysed using a two-staged regression and neural network (NN) model. Findings The results showed that perceived ease of use and demographic variables were not statistically significant in the multiple linear regression model, whereas the importance of the aforementioned variables was relatively high in the results obtained from the NN model. Furthermore, other predictors, namely, trust, perceived usefulness, compatibility and social influence included in the proposed research model that were established as significant by the regression model were assigned high relative importance by the NN model as well. Practical implications The study reflects the customer’s opinion from a developing country perspective. In addition, the research makes a significant theoretical contribution by using predictive modelling instead of causal or explanatory modelling for the development of a new and extended TAM model. The findings can be gainfully used by international business to understand Omani customer- and design-appropriate strategies for market penetration. Originality/value This study offers deeper understanding about Mbanking adoption from a developing country perspective and identifies and integrates important variables that influence the adoption in the aforementioned context.