It is widely acknowledged that electronic commerce presents a significant opportunity for Small- Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to compete alongside larger enterprises. For SMEs in the developing world in particular, the opportunities afforded by electronic commerce for competing in a global marketplace, are also attractive. However, it has also been observed that electronic commerce poses a considerable challenge for SMEs, particularly with regard to the decisions that must be made about which of the available electronic commerce applications to adopt and to integrate into existing business operations. A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the adoption of electronic commerce by SMEs. These studies have tended to view electronic commerce adoption in terms of a dichotomous outcome: either e-commerce is adopted, or it is not. Such studies give little indication of the diffusion, or extent of usage, of individual e-commerce applications. The aim of this study was to address this gap in existing research by investigating both the level of adoption and extent of usage of e-commerce applications. In so doing, the study draws on research in the area of innovation diffusion theory. The focus of the study is on manufacturing SMES in Malaysia, and considers their use of B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce. The specific objectives of the study were to measure and characterise B2B e-commerce adoption and extent of usage among manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia; to identify factors associated with the adoption of B2B e-commerce in Malaysian SMEs; and to determine the impacts of that adoption. (Continues...)

Dado o uso crescente de tecnologias não autorizadas e não suportadas pelo departamento de TI nas organizações, chamadas de Shadow IT, o papel da TI e a forma tradicional de gerenciar tecnologia estão mudando dentro das organizações. Shadow IT refere-se ao uso de tecnologias utilizadas pelos funcionários sem a autorização ou o suporte formal da TI para realizar as tarefas de trabalho. Motivada por este contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo verificar os fatores antecedentes ao comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e a relação deste comportamento com o desempenho individual dos usuários de TI. Para alcançar tal objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey com 286 usuários de TI da área administrativa. Estes usuários são funcionários de três diferentes empresas: um órgão público, uma empresa de educação profissional e uma cooperativa de crédito, as quais compõe a amostra. Esta pesquisa obteve como resultados que os fatores Experiência do Usuário, Utilidade Percebida e Influência Social têm relação positiva significante com o uso da Shadow IT, bem como o uso da Shadow IT tem relação positiva significante com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI. Este trabalho traz implicações teóricas e práticas. Para a teoria, esta pesquisa ampliou o conhecimento sobre o uso da Shadow IT a nível individual. Ademais, um instrumento para medir o comportamento de uso da Shadow IT foi desenvolvido, o qual pode ser aplicado nas organizações para conhecer o comportamento do usuário de TI com relação ao uso destas tecnologias. A partir do conhecimento dos antecedentes do comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e qual é a sua relação com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI, os gestores podem elaborar políticas de gestão que reduzam os riscos associados a esse fenômeno, bem como potencializar os seus benefícios. / Given the increasing use of unauthorized technologies by employees in organizations, called Shadow IT, the traditional way to manage technology is changing. Shadow IT is the use of an unauthorized technology by employees, changing, thus, the role of IT is changing within organizations. Motivated by this context, this research aims to verify the antecedents factors behind Shadow IT usage behavior and the relationship of this behavior with the individual performance of IT users. To reach this goal, we performed a survey research with 286 IT users of from the administrative area. These users are employees of three different companies: a public agency, a professional education company and a financial cooperative. As results, we found that User Experience, Perceived Usefulness and Social Influence has positive relationship with Shadow IT usage, as well as the use of Shadow IT has a positive relationship with the individual performance of the IT user. This research has theoretical and practical implications. To the academia, this research has extended knowledge about Shadow IT usage at individual level. Furthermore, we also has developed an instrument to measure the Shadow IT usage behavior, which can be applied to the IT users of companies in order to know their Shadow IT usage behavior. To know the antecedents of Shadow IT usage and what is its relationship with individual performance of IT user is also important to companies. Managers must know what drives users to use Shadow IT, as well as what is the outcome of this use in terms of individual performance in order to develop policies and strategies that reduce the risks associated with this phenomenon and maximize its benefits.

Information systems are designed to support human and organizational purposes. To achieve their ends, information systems must be used. Although this may seem to be self-evident, there are many aspects of systems usage that are not so, and yet, in spite of this, there has been little intense conceptual scrutiny of this construct in past research. The objective of this thesis, therefore, is to develop new in-depth perspectives for studying system usage. Drawing on critical realist assumptions and studies of research diversity, I explain how epistemological factors enable while ontological factors constrain the diversity of meanings of system usage, and I build on this reasoning to advance a systematic approach for conceptualizing and measuring system usage in an appropriate way for a given research context. To demonstrate the approach and judge its usefulness, I carry out three empirical studies to test whether measures of system usage that are selected according to the proposed approach provide more explanatory power and lead to more coherent results in specific research contexts than other measures of system usage. Exploring the relationship between system usage and user task performance among 804 users of spreadsheet software, the experiments reveal support for the usefulness of the approach and demonstrate how it can enable researchers to conceptualize and measure system usage in an appropriate manner for a given research context. Together, the conceptual approach and empirical studies contribute by: (1) providing a systematic way to conceptualize and measure system usage for a given study context, (2) revealing rich new directions for research on the nature of system usage, its antecedents, and its consequences, and (3) suggesting a new approach for construct development and investigation in IS research.

Dado o uso crescente de tecnologias não autorizadas e não suportadas pelo departamento de TI nas organizações, chamadas de Shadow IT, o papel da TI e a forma tradicional de gerenciar tecnologia estão mudando dentro das organizações. Shadow IT refere-se ao uso de tecnologias utilizadas pelos funcionários sem a autorização ou o suporte formal da TI para realizar as tarefas de trabalho. Motivada por este contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo verificar os fatores antecedentes ao comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e a relação deste comportamento com o desempenho individual dos usuários de TI. Para alcançar tal objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey com 286 usuários de TI da área administrativa. Estes usuários são funcionários de três diferentes empresas: um órgão público, uma empresa de educação profissional e uma cooperativa de crédito, as quais compõe a amostra. Esta pesquisa obteve como resultados que os fatores Experiência do Usuário, Utilidade Percebida e Influência Social têm relação positiva significante com o uso da Shadow IT, bem como o uso da Shadow IT tem relação positiva significante com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI. Este trabalho traz implicações teóricas e práticas. Para a teoria, esta pesquisa ampliou o conhecimento sobre o uso da Shadow IT a nível individual. Ademais, um instrumento para medir o comportamento de uso da Shadow IT foi desenvolvido, o qual pode ser aplicado nas organizações para conhecer o comportamento do usuário de TI com relação ao uso destas tecnologias. A partir do conhecimento dos antecedentes do comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e qual é a sua relação com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI, os gestores podem elaborar políticas de gestão que reduzam os riscos associados a esse fenômeno, bem como potencializar os seus benefícios. / Given the increasing use of unauthorized technologies by employees in organizations, called Shadow IT, the traditional way to manage technology is changing. Shadow IT is the use of an unauthorized technology by employees, changing, thus, the role of IT is changing within organizations. Motivated by this context, this research aims to verify the antecedents factors behind Shadow IT usage behavior and the relationship of this behavior with the individual performance of IT users. To reach this goal, we performed a survey research with 286 IT users of from the administrative area. These users are employees of three different companies: a public agency, a professional education company and a financial cooperative. As results, we found that User Experience, Perceived Usefulness and Social Influence has positive relationship with Shadow IT usage, as well as the use of Shadow IT has a positive relationship with the individual performance of the IT user. This research has theoretical and practical implications. To the academia, this research has extended knowledge about Shadow IT usage at individual level. Furthermore, we also has developed an instrument to measure the Shadow IT usage behavior, which can be applied to the IT users of companies in order to know their Shadow IT usage behavior. To know the antecedents of Shadow IT usage and what is its relationship with individual performance of IT user is also important to companies. Managers must know what drives users to use Shadow IT, as well as what is the outcome of this use in terms of individual performance in order to develop policies and strategies that reduce the risks associated with this phenomenon and maximize its benefits.

Dado o uso crescente de tecnologias não autorizadas e não suportadas pelo departamento de TI nas organizações, chamadas de Shadow IT, o papel da TI e a forma tradicional de gerenciar tecnologia estão mudando dentro das organizações. Shadow IT refere-se ao uso de tecnologias utilizadas pelos funcionários sem a autorização ou o suporte formal da TI para realizar as tarefas de trabalho. Motivada por este contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo verificar os fatores antecedentes ao comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e a relação deste comportamento com o desempenho individual dos usuários de TI. Para alcançar tal objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey com 286 usuários de TI da área administrativa. Estes usuários são funcionários de três diferentes empresas: um órgão público, uma empresa de educação profissional e uma cooperativa de crédito, as quais compõe a amostra. Esta pesquisa obteve como resultados que os fatores Experiência do Usuário, Utilidade Percebida e Influência Social têm relação positiva significante com o uso da Shadow IT, bem como o uso da Shadow IT tem relação positiva significante com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI. Este trabalho traz implicações teóricas e práticas. Para a teoria, esta pesquisa ampliou o conhecimento sobre o uso da Shadow IT a nível individual. Ademais, um instrumento para medir o comportamento de uso da Shadow IT foi desenvolvido, o qual pode ser aplicado nas organizações para conhecer o comportamento do usuário de TI com relação ao uso destas tecnologias. A partir do conhecimento dos antecedentes do comportamento de uso da Shadow IT e qual é a sua relação com o desempenho individual do usuário de TI, os gestores podem elaborar políticas de gestão que reduzam os riscos associados a esse fenômeno, bem como potencializar os seus benefícios. / Given the increasing use of unauthorized technologies by employees in organizations, called Shadow IT, the traditional way to manage technology is changing. Shadow IT is the use of an unauthorized technology by employees, changing, thus, the role of IT is changing within organizations. Motivated by this context, this research aims to verify the antecedents factors behind Shadow IT usage behavior and the relationship of this behavior with the individual performance of IT users. To reach this goal, we performed a survey research with 286 IT users of from the administrative area. These users are employees of three different companies: a public agency, a professional education company and a financial cooperative. As results, we found that User Experience, Perceived Usefulness and Social Influence has positive relationship with Shadow IT usage, as well as the use of Shadow IT has a positive relationship with the individual performance of the IT user. This research has theoretical and practical implications. To the academia, this research has extended knowledge about Shadow IT usage at individual level. Furthermore, we also has developed an instrument to measure the Shadow IT usage behavior, which can be applied to the IT users of companies in order to know their Shadow IT usage behavior. To know the antecedents of Shadow IT usage and what is its relationship with individual performance of IT user is also important to companies. Managers must know what drives users to use Shadow IT, as well as what is the outcome of this use in terms of individual performance in order to develop policies and strategies that reduce the risks associated with this phenomenon and maximize its benefits.

Devido a insatisfação dos usuários com os sistemas de informação (SI) disponíveis nas organizações e a necessidade de melhorar o desempenho individual na execução das tarefas, muitos grupos de trabalho implementam, de forma autônoma, recursos de tecnologia e sistemas não disponíveis pelo departamento de TI. Assim, a satisfação e o comportamento produtivo no trabalho podem ser explicados pela teoria das características do trabalho proposta por Hackman e Oldham, que podem atuar como variável preditora do uso de soluções e tecnologias alternativas. Motivada por esse contexto, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar como as características do trabalho estão relacionadas com o comportamento workaround e com uso da shadow IT, avaliando o impacto no desempenho individual. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi alcançado ao longo da execução de 3 artigos. O artigo 1 apresenta uma revisão de literatura sobre os fatores: características do trabalho, comportamento workaround, uso da shadow IT e desempenho individual, sendo comprovado teoricamente a relação entre as temáticas, dando origem ao desenvolvimento do modelo teórico testado no artigo 2. No artigo 2 foi realizada a aplicação de um survey com 369 usuários de TI que possibilitou a realização de testes estatísticos para assegurar a validade e confiabilidade do modelo de pesquisa proposto no artigo 1, além do teste das 5 hipóteses propostas neste estudo. Neste artigo pode-se concluir que as características do trabalho possuem uma relação positiva com o comportamento workaround e com o uso da shadow IT. Com relação ao impacto no desempenho individual, os achados desta pesquisa demonstram que tanto o comportamento workaround quanto o uso da shadow IT possuem uma relação positiva com o desempenho individual. Ademais, confirma-se a relação entre o comportamento workaround e o uso da shadow IT que são conceitos semelhantes, mas que possuem importantes diferenças. Dentre as sugestões de pesquisa, recomenda-se o estudo do comportamento workaround com o compartilhamento do conhecimento, pois o uso de soluções alternativas proporciona uma comunicação mais rápida e dinâmica, impulsionando a colaboração entre colegas de trabalho, parceiros externos e cliente. Por fim, no artigo 3 buscou-se verificar o papel mediador do comportamento workaround e do uso da shadow IT na relação entre as características do trabalho e o desempenho individual. O principal resultado deste artigo evidencia que o efeito direto entre as características do trabalho e o desempenho não foi suportado, o que confirma a mediação total, já que o efeito indireto foi maior do que o efeito direto que não apresentou significância. Assim, o efeito das características do trabalho no desempenho individual é melhor explicado pela variável comportamento workaround e pelo uso da shadow IT. Como a análise e moderação e a mediação são conceitos similares pois descrevem uma situação em que o relacionamento de 2 construtos depende de uma terceira variável em que as diferenças estão na fundamentação teórica e na interpretação dos resultados, sugere-se um estudo comparativo que demonstre como os construtos deste modelo se comportam através da análise de moderação. / Users' dissatisfaction with the information systems (IS) available in organizations and the need to improve individual performance in the execution of tasks, many workgroups autonomously implement technology resources and systems not available to the IT department. Thus, satisfaction and productive behavior at work can be explained by the theory of the job characteristics proposed by Hackman and Oldham, which can act as a predictor of the use of alternative solutions and technologies. Motivated by this context, this research aims to analyze how the job characteristics are related to the workaround behavior and using shadow IT, evaluating the impact on individual performance. The objective of this research was achieved during the execution of 3 articles. Article 1 presents a review of the literature on the factors: job characteristics, workaround behavior, use of shadow IT and individual performance, theoretically proving the relationship between the themes, giving rise to the development of the theoretical model tested in article 2. In the article 2 a survey was carried out with 369 IT users that allowed the performance of statistical tests to ensure the validity and reliability of the research model proposed in article 1, in addition to the test of the 5 hypotheses proposed in this study. In this paper it can be concluded that the job characteristics have a positive relationship with the workaround behavior and the use of shadow IT. Regarding the impact on individual performance, the findings of this research demonstrate that both the workaround behavior and the use of shadow IT have a positive relationship with individual performance. In addition, the relationship between the workaround behavior and the use of shadow IT is confirmed, which are similar concepts, but which have important differences. Among research suggestions, it is recommended to study workaround behavior with knowledge sharing, as the use of alternative solutions provides faster and more dynamic communication, boosting collaboration among colleagues, external partners and the client. Finally, article 3 sought to verify the mediating role of the workaround behavior and the use of shadow IT in the relation between the job characteristics and the individual performance. The main result of this article shows that the direct effect between the job characteristics and the performance was not supported, which confirms the total mediation, since the indirect effect was greater than the direct effect that did not present significance. Thus, the effect of job characteristics on individual performance is best explained by the variable workaround behavior and by the use of shadow IT. Since analysis and moderation and mediation are similar concepts because they describe a situation in which the relationship of 2 constructs depends on a third variable in which the differences are in the theoretical basis and in the interpretation of the results, a comparative study is suggested that demonstrates how the constructs of this model behave through moderation analysis.

Undoubtedly, there are many factors influencing IT-usage at work; some of them are psychological. The thesis provides new knowledge about the connections between three phenomena: IT-usage, self-efficacy and creativity among Swedish news journalists. The dissertation also contributes new knowledge about the mechanisms of self-efficacy in IT-related work. The first objective was to explore psychological factors’ influence on how, when and why IT is used at work. In particular, the investigation aimed to study the role of self-efficacy in IT-usage. The second objective was to examine the relationship between IT-usage and creativity. Of specific interest was whether journalists perceive IT-technologies as a support or an obstacle. The empirical findings of four studies show a complex picture. Variation in IT-usage and communication at work is explained by factors as attitudes, experience of IT-usage, interest in traditional journalistic work, and IT-specific self-efficacy. Furthermore, the results reveal that both generalized work self-efficacy and IT-usage at work are related to perceived creativity among news journalists. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2004

The rapid advancement and penetration of information technology (IT), amid continued questions over its benefits, has resulted in research efforts to understand the extent to which IT resources contribute to organisational performance. There is little question that the presence of IT contributes to organisational performance. Our understanding of how and where IT contributes to value in organisations, however, is limited. Current IT business value research advances the notion that firm’s IT-related capabilities ability to leverage their IT resources explains the IT-related performance differences across firms. Understanding the nature of the IT-related capabilities, and their relationship with IT resources can provide a better understanding of how organisations can make better use of their IT resources. IT resources are dynamic and change at a rapid pace. Current IT business value research suggests the firm’s IT-related capabilities at a point in time can source value from the IT resources. However, firms IT-related capabilities must demonstrate parallel dynamics to maximise their influence on their IT resources. In this dynamic resource relationship environment, firm’s ability to sustain a level of influence on their IT resources will determine the extent of IT resources’ value-creating ability. Using the resource-based view of the firm that suggest an organisation is a bundle of resources, and using a complementary theoretical lens, this study introduces a higher-level resource, co-created by combining two or more complementary resources. This higher-level resource is capable of contributing to business value on its own, and importantly, can help organisations sustain their existing IT-related capabilities. The sustainable IT-related capabilities will have a better influence on the IT resources and will source better IT-related business value. This higher-level resource can also help with the timing of IT investments, and can provide an environment where a firm’s technical IT skills can better integrate the IT resources into the business processes. On measurement of organisational performance, this study suggests that a unique combination of organisational resources creates an efficient and effective internal environment that then becomes a powerful tool to enhance the key external process of customer service. Such enhancements in process-level efficiency and effectiveness will carry forward to be recognised in overall firm-level performance. This study develops and tests a model that assesses the association between the two generic IT resources (IT investment and technical IT skills), three IT-related capabilities (top management commitment, shared organisational knowledge, and flexible IT infrastructure), and internal process-level performance. It also assesses whether the IT-Usage Platform, a higher-level co-created resource, on its own associates with, and enhances the generic IT resources’ and IT-related capabilities’ association with internal process-level performance. The study also proposes that improvement in internal process-level performance will be positively associated with external process-level performance of customer service. Firms that improve their internal and external process performance should also improve their firm-level performance. The results, as hypothesised, failed to reject the non-association between the generic IT resources and the internal process-level performance. The study, as predicted, found a positive association between the three IT-related capabilities, IT-Usage Platform, and the internal process-level performance. The IT-Usage Platform indeed enhances the association between the IT-related capabilities and internal process-level performance. The results also suggest that the association between the technical IT skills and internal process-level performance improves in the presence of the IT-Usage Platform. Firms’ improved internal process-level performance also relates to improvement in external process-level performance. Improvement in the internal-external process performance also contributes to performance at the firm level. For research, this study demonstrates that the complementarity and the resource-based view theories allow inclusion of a greater variety of resources in a bundle of capable resources that could be a source of IT-related business value. The complementary theoretical lens also enables one to consider firms’ higher-level resources, co-created from complementary resources. The result is a robust model with the flexibility to consider other forms of resource interactions that sustain firms existing IT-related capabilities. The model also enables comparison of IT and other organisational resources on a level-platform and allows for a deeper understanding of how organisations can better leverage their IT resources. The study also presents the internal-external coordination path of IT-related value creation. For decision makers this study reinforces the importance of the concept of a coordinated IT-related change to secure value from their IT investments. It also presents decision makers with a visual IT business value path from internal process benefits to external process benefits, and finally to firm-level benefits. This study suggests all organisational resources, through various combinations, could be a source of IT-related business value. Future research can consider resources that are at the boundary of capable/non-capable resources to evaluate whether firms various resource arrangements can make these resources more valuable in sourcing IT-related business value. This research also provides strong theoretical arguments to consider other higher-level factors that may have the potential to sustain firms existing IT-related capabilities.

Health Management Information System (HMIS) in developing countries lags seriously behind as compared to the developed countries; and the existing HMIS in many countries is insufficient to support health management functions. The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) pharmacy management information system in public health facilities. Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted at 38 public health facilities. The participants of the study were Pharmacists and Druggists those are working at ART Pharmacy. Data collection was done by using structure questionnaire. 76 respondents were recruited to participate in the study. The participants ages ranged from 26-50 years and all had more than 2 years’ work experience. The study indicated that even if there is a system at most health facilities their utilization of information technology (IT) for pharmacy practice were not appreciated. The findings indicated that the need for creating awareness among professionals in giving more skill oriented and also a formal in-service information technology related trainings for the professionals. To achieve better utilization of information technology at health care delivery system particularly pharmacy practice, government and stakeholder should consider capacity building activities through proper training and it should also viewed as a long term socio-cultural and technical development process. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health with specialization in Medical Informatics)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:53:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LucianoPM.pdf: 1273528 bytes, checksum: fb81897ece1cd5534030dc1e61fef08f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-03 / The Information Technology (IT) is increasing his applicability to business, both private and public companies. It is necessary the adequate use of the new technologies and get cooperation and technology acceptance of the system. People tend to resist to the changes, contributing so that the technology is rejected or even it is not recognized as promoting of the changes. This study is relevant and aim to evaluate the impacts of new technologies, considering their users as fundamental factors in the change process. The survey analyzed the advantages and the barriers of the system use in three federal special judicial of Rio Grande do Norte, with data collected in May of 2007, through the application of questionnaires to thirty eight users of the virtual system CRETA. The users' perception was evaluated, under the optics of five variables: efficiency, image, agility, ease of use and quality. Starting from the obtained results, it was evidenced that the implementation of the system felt accordingly the expected and it reached the objectives intended that were: the velocity and efficiency in the path of the lawsuits, larger productivity, resulting in a better quality of the final work introduced to the citizen and proportionate an improvement in the organizational image of the judiciary power / A Tecnologia da Informa??o (TI), frente aos constantes avan?os tecnol?gicos e sua aplicabilidade ?s t?cnicas de gest?o, se apresenta como uma grande aliada na busca pelo sucesso organizacional, tanto no ?mbito das empresas privadas quanto p?blicas. Uma das estrat?gias diferenciadoras utilizadas pelas organiza??es prov?m de usos inovadores de tecnologias, com ?nfase em TI. No entanto, ? necess?rio avaliar a percep??o dos usu?rios quanto aos impactos do uso das novas tecnologias. Por mais avan?ada que seja a tecnologia implantada, poder? haver resist?ncia das pessoas ?s mudan?as, contribuindo para que a tecnologia n?o seja plenamente aceita ou mesmo n?o seja reconhecida como fomentadora de mudan?as. Justifica-se, assim, a relev?ncia de estudos que busquem avaliar os impactos de novas tecnologias, considerando os seus usu?rios como fatores fundamentais no processo de mudan?a. Partindo desse princ?pio, esse estudo analisou os impactos, as vantagens e as limita??es da implanta??o de um sistema virtual de controle processual, denominado CRETA, no Juizado Especial Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Por meio da aplica??o de question?rios a 38 usu?rios, foi avaliada a percep??o dos impactos do uso do CRETA sob a ?tica de cinco vari?veis: efici?ncia/produtividade, imagem, agilidade, facilidade e qualidade. A partir dos resultados obtidos, foi evidenciado que a implementa??o do sistema se deu conforme o esperado e atingiu os objetivos pretendidos, tais como celeridade e efici?ncia no tr?mite dos processos judiciais, maior produtividade, resultando numa melhor qualidade do trabalho final apresentado ao cidad?o e proporcionado uma melhora na imagem organizacional do poder judici?rio. No entanto, alguns impactos negativos foram destacados, principalmente ligados aos fatores humanos