Yes / Earlier literature illustrates that the selection of the appropriate theoretical model has always prescribed as a crucial task for the research community in the information systems (IS) field. According to the authors' knowledge, there are few articles aims to review IT acceptance theories and models at the individuals' level. Thus, this paper aims to bridge this gap by presenting a critical review of ten of the most influential models/theories that have been employed in predicting and explaining the human acceptance behavior of different technologies at the individuals' level. This paper also provides a summary of their evolution, pointed out the main constructs, strengths, related fields, and criticisms based on a selected published literature appeared in IS research. This review offers a holistic view for future scholars to select appropriate constructs/models owing to their strengths and criticisms as well explanatory or predictive power. This paper concluded that the well-established and comprehensive theoretical model should consider the parsimony in the term of simplifying the model with the least constructs and the highest predictive power, also the ability to integrate the relevant context's factors (e.g., UTAUT2).

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om faktorn pris påverkar konsumenter vid användning av bankens digitala tjänster. Metod: Vår studie är baserad på en kvantitativ forskningsmetod, som genomfördes medwebbaserade enkäter. Av de 164 påbörjade enkäterna, fick vi ut 162 representativa svar.Av insamlad empirisk data gjorde vi sedan en korrelationsanalys med hjälp avprogrammet SPSS. Analys: Studien visar att variabeln pris har en påverkan på kunder i valet av att användabankernas digitala tjänster. Pris tenderar att bli mindre framträdande då kunden uppleverett högt PU (upplevd användbarhet) eller PEOU (upplevd användarvänlighet). Förslag på vidare forskning: En replikation av denna studie hade varit intressant att semed ett annat urval. Vid genomförandet av denna studie har vi använt oss av ettbekvämlighetsurval, där större delen av respondenterna haft tidigare erfarenhet avinternetbanken. Teoretiskt och Praktiskt bidrag: Studien tydliggör att priset har en betydelse föracceptansen av ny teknologi, i detta fall internetbanken. Prisets betydelse är större hosde respondenter som inte tidigare haft någon erfarenhet av teknologin. Nyckelord: Internetbank, Technology acceptance model, TAM, Pris, Icke-monetärakostnader

Problematiska delen som organisationer har är att veta hur man på bästa sätt ska implementera nya teknologier. Teknologiacceptans blev en känd term av den mest applicerade teoretiska modellen inom informationssystem Technology acceptance model – TAM. Teknologiacceptans innebär det positiva beslutet att använda sig av en teknologi och inom denna studie kommer fokus ligga på socialt inflytande inom teknologiacceptans. Socialt inflytande innebär mellanmänsklig övervägande faktor vid beslut, vilket tar hänsyn till att beslutet att acceptera ny teknologi görs oftast tillsammans i grupp eller hur individens beslut gör så att de passar in i gruppen eller hur beslutet påverkar andra personer. En undersökning gjordes för att undersöka följande frågeställning: Hur påverkar socialt inflytande teknologiacceptansen för obligatoriska system? Frågan har undersökt genom en enkät som användes för att få en överblick i problemområdet vilket sedan blev grunden för intervjufrågorna. Totalt deltog 12 stycken personer inom enkäten och 4 stycken inom intervjun. Sammanfattningen av resultatet bildades rekommendationer som organisationer kan tänka på innan de påbörjar införandet av ny teknologi inom organisationen.

Det huvudsakliga målet med redovisning har alltid varit detsamma, att skapa och förse information till interna och externa beslutsfattare. Redovisningsyrket har förändrats i och med digitaliserings intåg. För en redovisningsekonom är det därför av hög relevans att följa med i de tekniska hjälpmedlens utveckling. Studier har visat att denmest efterfrågade kunskapen enredovisningsekonom kan besitta efter erfarenhet är Excel. Tidigare forskning har belyst att nyexaminerades Excelkunskaper inte motsvarar arbetsgivarnas krav. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att kartlägga vadsvenska lärosäten gör för att tillgodose arbetsgivarnas krav gällande digitalisering i allmänhet och Excel i synnerhet. För att syftet skulle uppnås undersöktes kursplaner för 72 redovisningskurser på 22 lärosäten. Sedan intervjuades 10 kursansvariga på 10 olika lärosäten med hjälp av intervjufrågor som var utformade via Technology Acceptance Model 2. I denna uppsats valdes kvalitativ metod med kvantitativt inslag. Resultatet visade att Excel nämns i 1 av 72 kursplaner men användes på 6 av 10 intervjuade lärosäten i utbildningen. Vidare visade resultatet att arbetsmarknadens krav, arbetsrelavans och utmatningskvalitet var de huvudsakliga variblerna till att lärosätena inkluderar Excel i utbildningen. Uppsatsen bidrar med kunskap om vad som kan vara avgörande för om lärosäten väljer att införa ett tekniskt hjälpmedel eller inte. / The primary goal of accounting havealways been the same, to create and provide information to internal and external decision makers. The accounting profession have undergone change due to digitalization. Therefore it is of utmost importance to follow thedevelopmentof technological tools.Studies have shown that the most demanded qualities in an employee is Excel knowledge after experience. Previous studies have shown that newly graduated students donot meet the employers demand. The purpose of this study is to map what swedish universities do to cater for the Swedish labour market regarding digitalization in general and Excel specifically. In order to achieve the purpose 72 syllabuses in accounting courses were examined at 22 different universities. This was followed by interviews with 10 course coordinators at 10 different universities with questions formulated from Technology Acceptance Model 2. This essay had a qualitative approach in general with quantitative elements. Results show that Excel was mentioned in 1 of the 72 syllabuses examined but used in 6 of the 10 interviewed universities. Further resultspointed that labour markets demands, job relevance and output quality werethe main variables affecting Excel involvement at target universities. This essay contributes with knowledgeon what is decisive for universities when it comes to adopting technological tools or not.

The aim of this study is to identify teachers’ professional opinion of SchoolSoft, a learning platform that is used in all public schools on Gotland, Sweden. Qualitative group interviews with a total of twelve teachers, together with the results of a questionnaire that the participating teachers filled in provided the data for this study. The participating teachers all worked in Swedish grundskolan(compulsory primary- and lower secondary school). The teachers’ opinions of Schoolsoft were identified by subjecting the data to a content analysis.    The results of this study show that the teachers who participated in the study used only a handful of the many available functions of SchoolSoft. They explained that whilst there are some useful functions of the software there exist a plethora of issues, primarily pertaining to its lacking ease of use. Using the Technology Acceptance model, the relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness can explain the teachers’ overwhelmingly negative opinion of SchoolSoft. Furthermore, it became apparent that only one of the twelve teachers had received any formal training in the usage of SchoolSoft, despite the fact that all teachers on Gotland are required to use it. This fact is likely associated with the teachers critique of the software’s ease of use. An analysis of the teachers’ usage of SchoolSoft through the Innovation-Decision Model shows that the teachers who participated in this study, being long term users of the learning platform and therefore having already progressed through the preceding stages of the model, were all in the conformation phase. The majority of whom indicating that they would neither like to increase their usage of SchoolSoft or continue using it to the same degree.    When questioned if the compulsory usage SchoolSoft affects their freedom to structure their teaching in the way they see fit (Swedish: friutrymme) the teachers responded that it does not. They plan their lessons however they want regardless. They did however indicate that as a result their transparency towards their students’ parents is limited because the teachers are not always able to publish their lesson plans on the learning platform.

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

Background: To ensure a sustainable future in the maritime industry; new measures of employee well-being are needed. Digital health solutions have proven to possess great potential to ensure employee well-being regardless of location, with opportunities for a proactive instead of a reactive approach where health and safety issues can be avoided.  Research Problem: Despite the potential benefits of using digital health solutions, the acceptance and impact of such solutions remain unexplored in the maritime industry, which is essential for achieving improvements.   Purpose: This study aims to explore what influences the acceptance of digital health solutions for improving seafarer well-being to understand how the maritime industry accepts digital health solutions and, more importantly, the potential impact this acceptance has on seafarer well-being. Research Question: How does the acceptance of digital health solutions in the maritime industry impact the employee well-being of seafarers?  Methodology and Method: This is a qualitative and inductive study, with a relativist view of reality and a social constructionist view of knowledge, that aims to build new theories through semi-structured interviews and Gioia’s analysis method.  Conclusion: Our findings focus on what influences the acceptance of digital health solutions and how these solutions impact employee well-being. With the aid of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we find that there are levels of acceptance dependent on the nature of different influential factors. Furthermore, we discover that digital health solutions can influence physical, mental, and social well-being. From this, we develop a framework explaining the impact acceptance has on employee well-being. As a result, we illustrate that acceptance is a crucial aspect of improving employee well-being with digital health solutions.

No / Prior work on the technology acceptance model (TAM) is mainly devoted to the influence of TAM’s core motivational factors and their impact on behavioral intent toward IS acceptance. Relatively little research has focused on what specific system design characteristics motivate individuals toward IS acceptance. This article identified specific systems design factors and examined their impact on TAM’s motivational factors through the TAM. The findings will help designers to design and implement better user-accepted systems.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Technology Degree in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014. / This study aimed to explore user factors that may influence attitude and behaviour where technology acceptance is concerned. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Framework was used as a tool to map this degree of acceptance in relation to the design of the current Encyclopaedia of South African Arts, Culture and Heritage (ESAACH). ESAACH is an encyclopaedia intended to address the dearth of reference material in South African arts, culture and heritage studies (ESAACH.org.za). The encyclopaedia is divided into broader areas of research such as: verbal arts, performing arts, visual arts, and heritage. It was originally established as a tool to provide support for education in arts, culture and heritage. There has been an increase in interest in the ESAACH online resource platform. This has resulted in the need to capture user perceptions and attitudes on the site in order to provide guidelines on the improvement of the site and to make usage of the encyclopaedia easier and less frustrating. The researcher investigates English Language Proficiency, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness and Computer Self-Efficacy as factors that influence an online user’s attitude towards intention to use and acceptance of an online encyclopaedia. There have been concerns expressed by website designers that because users may not be fully acquainted or familiar with using the Internet in general when accessing information, they anticipate some resistance or reluctance to make full use of available online content. The study included the administration of an online survey to a sample of 149 students from the Arts and Design and Library Information Studies departments whereby their demographics, antecedents and precedent constructs of the TAM were tested for co-relationships of user’s intention regarding usage and acceptance of the website. The TAM model was used as a tool to determine: whether a positive confidence in the students’ English language proficiency would affect intention to use the encyclopaedia and to predict whether positive Computer Self-Efficacy is an indicator for a positive effect regarding Ease of Use and/or Perceived Usefulness. Results confirmed that users perceived Computer Self-Efficacy as a positive contributor to the usefulness of the ESAACH online encyclopaedia. Although no significant relationship between English Language Proficiency and Perceived Ease of Use was demonstrated, the need for a design which caters for sensitivity to the language of users was identified.