Yousuf S. AlHinai

E-commerce practices in the Arabian Gulf GCC business culture: utilisation and outcomes patterns

With the growth of e-commerce related activities and practices in recent years, the role of culture in promoting such growth has been brought to question. Cultures that tend to foster e-commerce practices have been labelled as e-cultures. In contrast, cultures that hinder e-commerce growth have been labelled as traditional cultures. Most of our knowledge related to e-commerce applications and frameworks for implementation is based on studies from e-cultures. The study, at hand, examines e-commerce activities and practices in the traditional Arab culture. The results obtained from this study tended to be similar to the results obtained from the US e-culture. Thus, the growth of, or lack of, e-commerce may not be explained solely based on cultural factors. Perhaps, other factors such as informational infrastructure may be more relevant in explaining the acceptability and growth of e-commerce than the cultural context. Research examining the impact of these factors on e-commerce growth is needed towards establishing frameworks for the implementation of e-commerce and guidelines for managers in a global context.

Mobile-phone users’ attitudes towards’ mobile commerce & services in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Case study

As the number of mobile phone users is growing, purchasing products and services using mobile phones and other mobile devices are also increasing. The purpose of this study was to provide the status of mobile-commerce in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in term of consumerspsila attitudes towards mobile commerce and mobile services provided by mobile operators. Oman, one of the GCC countries is used as the case study. The theoretical background of the study was drawn from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study showed that there is a promising future for m-commerce in Oman as above 66 percents of respondents said that they are willing to buy products and services using their mobile phones. Security of mobile transactions and the cost of products and services are great concerns to the mobile phone users. This study provides a list of recommendations based on the result of the survey that would be of importance to the mobile industry stakeholders in Oman, GCC, and other countries with a similar economy, market and consumer characteristics. The outcome of the study would be of a particular interest to the private and public telecommunication organizations; especially those that intend to invest in m-commerce in the GCC area and other developing countries.

Citizens’ perceptions of government’s participatory use of social media

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the perceptions of Omani citizens toward the use of social media by the government for participatory and interactive relationships. More precisely, the descriptive nature of the study resides in its ability to explain how social media users regard the current status and levels of presence, transparency, engagement, responsiveness and trust about the current use of social media by the Omani Government. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was used to collect data. This was done via a self-administered questionnaire from a return sample of 1,769 citizens drawn from different places in Oman. These citizens were considered as well-informed and regular active users of social media. The reviewed literature provided a basis for the construct of the questionnaire. Findings The overall results indicated modest levels of agreement in all of the investigated factors. The neutral findings suggest that there is a level of uncertainty among the respondents regarding how the government is determining the potential of social media for participatory and interactive relationships. Findings in this study advocate the outcomes of the recent Arab Social Media Report, plus the few relevant studies included in the literature, which nearly stated that although there is a growing use of social media among citizens, governments are failing to take full advantage of social media. Governments are also failing to engage citizens to design and deliver more efficient and collaborative services, per this study’s findings. Practical/implications The findings call for the importance of strategically framing the use of participatory social media by the government. In a broader sense, the findings of this study are beneficial to all contexts that share similar political and socio-economic philosophy, especially the Arab states and most of the developing countries. The findings provide insights for governments in need of developing social media strategies to promote more collaborative and interactive governance. Originality/value The study aids in understanding the views of citizens who are the current major players in a highly technology-driven environment. This environment is found to be transforming the relationship between citizens and governments. The study adds knowledge to the currently scarce body of literature dealing with issues pertaining to citizen–government relationships in social media in the Arab states, and similar contexts in developing countries. Its findings may provide valuable insights for policy makers to leverage collaborative relationships between governments and citizens.

Rethinking IT-governance: analytical review of IT governance for social media based on the COBIT standard

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is considered to be one of the most critical innovations that enable governments to improve service delivery, encourage effective citizen participation, and achieve organisational goals. A type of ICT which is growing which governments have recently started to utilise is social media (SM). This technology brings many advantages for governments in the form of ease of reaching, communicating and interacting with citizens in a direct and timely manner. Yet, despite such advantages, many government agencies are challenged by how to govern this technology so as to ensure a solid alignment between actual use and organisational objectives. IT governance is an area of research which ensures that the utilisation of technology is in line with organisational goals, objectives and strategies. Most existing social media guidelines were created based on best practice rather than by using established IT governance standards. This research analyses and synthesises a handful of existing SM guidelines, cross-checking their similarities and differences and examining the extent to which they align with established principles of IT governance.

ASSESSING THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING IN EMERGING COUNTRIES

With globalization and the revolutions in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the world economy has undergone fundamental re‐structuring from an industrial economy to a one that is based on knowledge facilitated by innovative technologies. Given the capability of Information Technology to dramatically increase the amount and timeliness of information, the implication of ICT on emerging countries, as producers and users of ICT, became evident. In the education sector, the utilization of ICT in the sharing of knowledge has become an important strategic pillar for economic development in the 21st century. In this area, simulation role‐play games were developed as effective tools to enhance students’ learning process and are increasingly being used to replace traditional role‐play games. However, it is still unclear whether such imported ICT solutions can yield the same expected results in emerging countries. Based on an experimental design involving two groups of students playing the manual and computerized Beer Game, this study aims to examine how imported ICT‐based learning tools can enhance students’ learning compared to methods traditionally used in emerging countries. This study provides useful insights to both researchers and educators interested in understanding the opportunities and challenges in adopting ICT solutions to enhance education sectors in emerging countries.