Management Information Systems Adoption: The Case of Mobile Commerce in Saudi Organisations

Abstract

The penetration rates for mobile phone subscriptions in many countries in recent years show that there are significant opportunities to invest in and introduce mobile commerce (mCommerce) services in many of these markets. mCommerce provides innovative services to mobile workers and mobile consumers as it allows them to perform transactions anytime from anywhere. Such services may also contribute to improve the performance of the organisations. However, mCommerce services have not been widely adopted by organisations, especially in many developing countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The aim of this research is to explore and identify the various factors that influence the intention to adopt mCommerce in Saudi banks and telecoms. At the beginning of the study, factors that may affect the adoption of new technologies in organisations were adopted from the literature. A number of these factors were included in this research as they are chosen from well-known theories such as Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Technology Acceptance Model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Theory of Reasoned Action, and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. These factors were investigated in the current study within the mCommerce context using the sequential exploratory mixed methods design. This exploratory research was conducted through two sequential stages. The first stage of the research follows a generic qualitative approach and the second stage follows a quantitative approach. The results of the two sequential studies have successfully provided adequate answers to the research questions at hand. Additionally, based on the findings of the research, the mCommerce organisational adoption model is proposed to support Saudi organisations in order to launch mCommerce services into the Saudi market.