Thesis (M. Com.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015 / The South African petroleum industry is well-known to be a significant contributor to the country’s GDP. The industry is also known to employ close to 60000 employees in South Africa making it one of the most essential industries that is helping to uplift the country’s economy. However, like most industries in the country, the petroleum industry is not immune to strikes and go-slows which have increasingly become more pronounced over the years. This situation has consequently caused a number of problems for service stations as most service stations do not have complete control of the environment that they operate in, making it difficult for these fuel service stations to meet set targets and be able to ensure that greater profit margins are realised over time. This research sought to determine motorists’ perspectives on the adoption of self-service fuel stations in Johannesburg. The research focused on the adoption of these self-service fuel stations by assessing the general attitudes and perceptions of motorists on the innovation and findings have revealed that motorists generally accept the adoption of such an innovation provided that they understand and benefit from the functionality of adopting such innovations should they be introduced. The research was primarily a quantitative study and a five point likert scale questionnaire was distributed to potential respondents who were Johannesburg motorists above the age of 18 based on the motor-vehicle type they used. Results from the study revealed that motorists are more likely to consider adoption of Self-Service Fuel Stations provided they perceive such facilities to be useful and enhance their service experience at service-stations. Another interesting finding was that security and safety were a concern for most motorists who felt the variable will go a long way in influencing their decisions and attitude to consider adopting these facilities should they be introduced within the South African market. Marketers should therefore ensure that they consider the functionality and potential benefits that Self-Service Fuel Stations may have to Johannesburg motorists as this may go a long way in ensuring their wide adoption within the city should they be introduced.

The ever-evolving information technology gives users more opportunities, but also put higher demands on them. The digital agenda of the state and society clarifies the objectives and effects academic libraries’ development. E-books influence the development of organizational, economic, legal and political perspectives.   At the University Library in Gävle work is ongoing. The process is controlled by the acquisition policy which makes it clear that e-books should be purchased if possible. By offering e-books including textbooks it expands the availability for student demands. It is one of University Libraries fundamental tasks.   The curiosity about how this work is received by students is the purpose of this thesis and addresses the questions concerning what affects students' acceptance, perception, attitude and usage of e-books in studies at the University of Gävle?   Through an online questionnaire based on a theoretical foundation developed to be used in tests of new information technology, Technology Acceptance Model, students' perceptions of e-books is mapped. Important variables are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use which influence the attitude, the intention to use and actual use.   The thesis concluded that students accept e-books as a supplement to printed books. The factor students’ value as most important is availability and that it is easy to find. The main goal of students' reading is to gain access to required literature of the course and perceived usefulness of e-books is primarily to its being available which affects studying and learning.

<p> </p><p>This study firstly examines the current literature concerning the electronic banking problems during implementation of electronic problems in Pakistan and causes that hinders this process. To investigate in the real-time scenario we have taken the case study of Muslim Commercial Bank Limited in Pakistan in order to understand “why” and “how” the electronic banking could not be implemented successfully.</p><p>The data was collected via interviews, surveys and bank website. Both qualitative and quantitative research approach has been used to investigate and have proper understanding of current e-banking issues. We have sent questionnaire to bank employees and interviews were conducted by the bank mangers. The response of interviews and surveys shows that there are certain issues that hinder the use of e-banking in Pakistan. In-spite of the fact that internet banking has been started in Pakistan, people are still using the old manual system to do the banking transaction, popularity of cash system, waiting in long queues for hours and lacking of proper computer education and trust etc are the major problems that are hurdles in electronic banking. On the other side there are a lot of reasons that the banks did not concentrate on internet banking and cash flow is still popular in banks and internet banking was used by the banks for the limited services.</p><p>Last years a lot of changes has been done and a greater understanding have been developed and now banks are offering various online banking services but banks are facing the problem of customer awareness regarding security and privacy of using Internet banking services as still customers are reluctant to use the online banking services so they prefer to come to banks and deposit the money by hand. So we have investigated these hindrance in our research and also we put some light on what are the advantages in using electronic banking and the how the customers are getting benefit by using e-banking in Pakistan.</p><p>We have developed our own model based upon the prior research. The results were presented in detail based upon the interview and questionnaire and later on we have given recommendations so that e-banking concept can be implemented in Pakistan and suggestions which can be very helpful for the future research</p>

Even though the development of business intelligence is moving forward rapidly, a substantial number of organizations are yet to implement business intelligence. Therefore, this thesis aims at investigating what internal organizational obstacles that could be hindering the implementation of business intelligence and how these obstacles could be overcome. In order to answer this, the Technological Acceptance Model combined with the notion IT identity, is used as the theoretical framework. This thesis is of an interpretivist nature and data was collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six experts within the field of business intelligence, consisting of consultants and business intelligence managers. The identified obstacles could be connected to employees’ perceived usefulness being too low in relation to the perceived non-pecuniary cost. The proposed solutions aims at raising the perceived usefulness and lower the non-pecuniary cost through different methods presented in this thesis.

Social software technology has gained considerable popularity over the last decade and has had a great impact on hundreds of millions of people across the globe. Businesses have also expressed their interest in leveraging its use in business contexts. As a result, software vendors and business consumers have invested billions of dollars to use social software to improve business and employee productivity. The purpose of this study was to provide insights to business leaders and decision makers as they shaped their enterprise social software (ESS) delivery plans. A vast body of information exists on the benefits of ESS and its technical implementation, but little empirical research is available on employees' perceptions of ESS expectancy factors (i.e. usefulness and ease of use). This study focused on IT managers' perceptions of ESS expectancy factors to understand their behavioral intent to adopt ESS technology. Additional research was performed to uncover relationships and differences between IT Managers' adoption intentions and employee age, gender, and generational groups. Survey results were analyzed using a correlation research design and demonstrated significant relationships were found between IT managers' expectancy factors and their behavioral intent to adopt ESS technology. Differences were also demonstrated between IT managers' age, gender, and generational cohort groups. The results of this research should help business leaders gain insights into technology adoption factors among IT managers. Lastly, the practical applicability and opportunities for future research are discussed.

Abstract Background: Around 45% of Swedish consumers canceled their online purchase in 2018, due to too high delivery fees and issues concerning payments. This research is focusing on e-payments by utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model 3 and its determinants perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and how they contribute to the e-payment method decision. Additionally, the relevance of online trust and online security are examined in relation to purchasing cancellations due to trust and security issues in e-payment methods.   Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to understand how Swedish millennial consumers’ perceptions of online security and online trust of e-payment methods effect on online purchasing cancellation. Furthermore, this paper examines how perceptions of usefulness and ease of use contribute as determinants in choosing between e-payment methods according to Swedish millennial consumers.   Method: The research is carried out in a qualitative manner by conducting a series of semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Fifteen Swedish millennials contributed to the empirical study. The gathered primary data is analyzed and then presented in chapter 4 and connected to the existing literature in chapter 5.   Conclusion: For the Swedish millennials, both online trust and online security are perceived as important determinants when evaluating whether or not the e-payment method could be used. When choosing between different e-payment methods, perceived ease of use seemed to be more important. Additionally, the decisions are made based on which e-payment method is secure, trustworthy, and easy to use. The presence of those determinants also increases perceived usefulness. When making purchases online domestically it appears that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness weight heavier. While trust and security are given more importance if the purchase is made from a foreign website.

Organizations invest sizable amounts of financial and human capital toward developing and implementing innovative technology solutions that will help them achieve organizational objectives. Professionals are now able to use online social networking technology to maintain and grow their network of business contacts virtually, resulting in increased efficiency and the ability to foster relationships with colleagues who otherwise would not be accessible. Organizations can use the benefits of online social networking to their strategic advantage if they understand the nature of the technology and how it is used. The Technology Acceptance Model is often used to explain the acceptance of new technology at work, and can predict which workers are likely to adopt a newly-implemented technology as it was intended to be used. It is not clear, however, if the model can predict the acceptance of social networking technology, and it does not account for experience the user might have had with similar systems. Five hundred students completed a questionnaire about their prior usage of online social networking systems as well as an assessment of their perceptions of the technology in terms of ease of use and usefulness, and the social forces influencing usage decisions. Findings suggest the Technology Acceptance Model is a reasonable model of the acceptance of online social networking systems, but the subjective norm component was not predictive of acceptance.

Adverse drug events, resulting in preventable patient harm or death, are of great concern. To keep patients safe, hospitals have implemented barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology for RNs who have accepted this technology with varying levels of satisfaction. When nurses are dissatisfied with a BCMA system, they may find alternative methods to complete their work. Framed by the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), this analytic, cross-sectional study aimed to understand the relationship between BCMA satisfaction and workarounds, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of a BCMA system by 80 hospital-based RNs in northeastern US. Data were collected using the Workaround Usage and Satisfaction with Barcoding Instrument for Nurses (WUSBIN), which was adapted from Hurley's (2006) Medication Administration System-Nurses Assessment of Satisfaction Scale (MAS-NAS) Halbesleben and Rathert's (2010) Workaround Assessment. Results suggested that RNs who were more satisfied with the BCMA system were less likely to use workarounds than nurses who were less satisfied (r2(78)= -.681, p &lt; .05). Significant relationships were noted among BCMA Satisfaction and PEOU (r2(78) = -.725, p &lt; .05), Workaround Usage and PEOU (r2(78) =.943, p &lt; .05) and Workaround Usage and PU (r2(78)=.501, p &lt; .05). RNs perceived the BCMA system to be easy to use (PEOU), but not very useful (PU). BCMA Satisfaction was significantly related to the use of six workarounds, while Workaround Usage was significantly related to five. Significant relationships were also noted among both BCMA Satisfaction (r2(78) = -.393, p &lt; .01), and Workaround Usage (r2(78) = .423, p &lt; .01) with the total number of workarounds used. Significant relationships were found among demographic variables, BCMA Satisfaction, and Workaround Usage. Since admitting to the use of workarounds may be a sensitive matter for RNs, measuring BCMA satisfaction may help understand the state of patient safety related to medication administration. Based on high satisfaction scores and low workaround usage, a profile may be developed to identify nurse champions to improve quality of care. Further research is indicated to fully understand these possibilities. / School of Nursing / Nursing / PhD / Dissertation

This study firstly examines the current literature concerning the electronic banking problems during implementation of electronic problems in Pakistan and causes that hinders this process. To investigate in the real-time scenario we have taken the case study of Muslim Commercial Bank Limited in Pakistan in order to understand “why” and “how” the electronic banking could not be implemented successfully. The data was collected via interviews, surveys and bank website. Both qualitative and quantitative research approach has been used to investigate and have proper understanding of current e-banking issues. We have sent questionnaire to bank employees and interviews were conducted by the bank mangers. The response of interviews and surveys shows that there are certain issues that hinder the use of e-banking in Pakistan. In-spite of the fact that internet banking has been started in Pakistan, people are still using the old manual system to do the banking transaction, popularity of cash system, waiting in long queues for hours and lacking of proper computer education and trust etc are the major problems that are hurdles in electronic banking. On the other side there are a lot of reasons that the banks did not concentrate on internet banking and cash flow is still popular in banks and internet banking was used by the banks for the limited services. Last years a lot of changes has been done and a greater understanding have been developed and now banks are offering various online banking services but banks are facing the problem of customer awareness regarding security and privacy of using Internet banking services as still customers are reluctant to use the online banking services so they prefer to come to banks and deposit the money by hand. So we have investigated these hindrance in our research and also we put some light on what are the advantages in using electronic banking and the how the customers are getting benefit by using e-banking in Pakistan. We have developed our own model based upon the prior research. The results were presented in detail based upon the interview and questionnaire and later on we have given recommendations so that e-banking concept can be implemented in Pakistan and suggestions which can be very helpful for the future research

Business Intelligence (BI) has become an essential part of the modern enterprise, and what used to be thought of as a luxury is now a matter of survival. Recent economic developments have forced companies to rethink their IT investment strategy. BI investments are now targeting the majority of people in the organisation instead of a select few. Thus, it is important to understand why users of a BI system choose to accept and use the system. Previous research has established the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as one of the most powerful and parsimonious models explaining user acceptance and usage behaviour of information technologies. This quantitative study replicates the original TAM study with the purpose to increase the understanding of BI usage, and investigates the behaviour of the users of the BI system QlikView in the case company GE Healthcare. The results showed a lower explanatory power for the model when compared to previous research. This indicates that how useful a user perceives a BI system to be does not affect the amount of usage to the same extent as predicted by TAM. Possible causes for this are discussed, with an emphasis on the influence of what tasks a user is confronted with and the measurement of system use.