The growing interest in Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques and recognition of their importance in IS research suggests the need to compare and contrast different types of SEM techniques so that research designs can be appropriately selected. After assessing the extent to which these techniques are currently being used in IS research, the article presents a running example which analyzes the same dataset via three very different statistical techniques. It then compares two classes of SEM: covariance-based SEM and partial-least-squares-based SEM. Finally, the article discusses linear regression models and offers guidelines as to when SEM techniques and when regression techniques should be used. The article concludes with heuristics and rule of thumb thresholds to guide practice, and a discussion of the extent to which practice is in accord with these guidelines.

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to predict consumer acceptance of e-commerce by proposing a set of key drivers for engaging consumers in on-line transactions. The primary constructs for capturing consumer acceptance of e-commerce are intention to transact and on-line transaction behavior. Following the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as applied to a technology-driven environment, technology acceptance model (TAM) variables (perceived usefulness and ease of use) are posited as key drivers of e-commerce acceptance. The practical utility of TAM stems from the fact that e-commerce is technology-driven. The proposed model integrates trust and perceived risk, which are incorporated given the implicit uncertainty of the e-commerce environment. The proposed integration of the hypothesized independent variables is justified by placing all the variables under the nomological TRA structure and proposing their interrelationships. The resulting research model is tested using data from two empirical studies. The first, exploratory study comprises three experiential scenarios with 103 students. The second, confirmatory study uses a sample of 155 on-line consumers. Both studies strongly support the e-commerce acceptance model by validating the proposed hypotheses. The paper discusses the implications for e-commerce theory, research, and practice, and makes several suggestions for future research.

Anomadic information environment is a heterogeneous assemblage of interconnected technological, and social, and organizational elements that enable the physical and social mobility of computing and communication services between organizational actors both within and across organizational borders. We analyze such environments based on their prevalent features of mobility, digital convergence, and mass scale, along with their mutual interdependencies. By using a framework that organizes research topics in nomadic information environments at the individual, team, organizational, and interorganizational levels and is comprised of both service and infrastructure development, we assess the opportunities and challenges for IS research. These deal with the design, use, adoption, and impacts of nomadic information environments. We conclude by discussing research challenges posed by nomadic information environments for information systems research skills and methods. These deal with the need to invent novel research methods and shift our research focus, the necessity to question the divide between the technical and the social, and the need to better integrate developmental and behavioral (empirical) research modes.

The turn of the century has seen a rapidly graying population concurrently with increasingly ubiquitous IT. The elderly population being less familiar with IT implies that issues pertaining to their acceptance of information systems (IS) deserve special attention. However, the IS and gerontology literatures seldom explore IS acceptance among the aged. Attempting to address this gap, a research model is developed by integrating relevant antecedents from previous literature and empirically tested in the context of an e-Government service tailored for senior citizens. Our findings reveal that consistent with previous technology acceptance studies, senior citizens ’ use intention is driven by their perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the service. Additionally, their Internet safety perception impacts the acceptance of this online financial service. Furthermore, resource savings and self-actualization determine senior citizens ’ usefulness perception, whereas computer anxiety and computing support are antecedents of perceived ease of use. Of these antecedents, self actualization and computer anxiety appear particularly relevant for the elderly as compared to younger working professionals in most previous literature for whom these antecedents have not been important. The study contributes by providing an integrative model of IS acceptance among the aged, which may facilitate theory development and practice. Keywords: E-Government, information systems acceptance, senior citizens, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use 1 1.

By combining two independent research streams, we examine the strategic value and adoption of electronic commerce (e-commerce) as perceived by top managers in small and medium sized enterprises (SME). We propose a research model that posits three factors that have been found to be influential in previous research in the perception of strategic value of other information technologies. Inspired by the technology acceptance model of Davis [14] and other relevant research in the area, we also identify four factors that we believe will influence e-commerce adoption. We hypothesize a causal link between the perceived strategic value of e-commerce and e-commerce adoption. To validate the research model, we collected data from top managers/owners of SME via an Internet survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factors utilized in this study while canonical correlation analysis was employed to validate the causal link between the two main constructs of this study.

Theoretical and empirical research on technology acceptance, while acknowledging the importance of individual beliefs about the compatibility of a technology, has produced equivocal results. This study focuses on further theoretical and empirical development of this important belief in technology acceptance. Specifically, unlike prior research which has examined only one aspect of compatibility, we provide a more comprehensive conceptual definition that views compatibility as a multi-dimensional construct. Based on the conceptual definition of compatibility, we develop operational measures of the multiple dimensions of compatibility. The model is tested using the World Wide Web (WWW) as the target innovation. Scale validation indicates that the operational measures of compatibility developed in this study have acceptable psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis supports the multi-dimensional structure of this construct. We then assess the nomological validity of this construct by situating it within the Technology Acceptance Model. In contrast to prior research which has regarded beliefs of compatibility as an independent antecedent of attitude, we posit causal linkages among the three beliefs of compatibility, usefulness, and ease of use. Results largely support the theorized relationships. 1 ON THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF COMPATIBILITY

Recently, researchers in IS have begun to rely on the theories of innovation diffusion to study implementation problems. A major focus of these studies has been how potential users ’ perceptions of the information technology (IT) innovation influence its adoption. User acceptance of IT has been a primary focus in the MIS implementation research for the past decade. Why do users accept or reject information systems? How user acceptance is affected by system characteristics, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude toward acceptance behavior? The present research addresses these questions. The technology acceptance model (TAM) is used as a base model to produce a causal model resembling a network of relationships among the study’s constructs. A field study of 324 users regarding an end-user system was conducted to validate measures used to operationalize model variables and to test the hypothesized network of relationships. Partial Least Squares (PLS) is a second-generation multivariate analysis technique was used to estimate the parameters of the proposed causal model. The study findings indicate that system features variable has the largest influence on IT acceptance, followed by perceived usefulness. Both constructs have significant direct effects on IT acceptance but also exhibit their indirect effects through perceptions and/or attitude towards acceptance. Ease of use and attitude towards acceptance were found to have an equivalent influence on IT acceptance. Suggestions for future research and implications of findings are discussed.

Banks and financial institutions in Hong Kong are increasingly finding themselves facing rapid increases in turbulence and complexity, leading to greater uncertainty and increased competition. Customers are also becoming more demanding. Apart from the traditional type of banking services, customers today require more personalized products and services, and access to such services at any time, and at any place. Although there is no panacea for banks to stay competitive, Internet Banking is one of the advanced information technologies they can employ to achieve a high level of customer services. Internet Banking is an emerging technology that permits conduct of banking transactions through the Internet. From the banks ’ point of view, it requires the lowest transaction cost among various channels, just one percent of branch-based banking. It also can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of corporate business processes through elimination of paper work. One of the many benefits of Internet Banking is that customers can use bank services 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.

The question concerning the circumstances under which it is advantageous for a company to outsource certain information systems functions has been a controversial issue for the last decade. While opponents emphasize the risks of outsourcing based on the loss of strategic potentials and increased transaction costs, proponents emphasize the strategic benefits of outsourcing and high potentials of cost-savings. This paper brings together both views by examining the conditions under which both the strategic potentials as well as savings in production and transaction costs of developing and maintaining software applications can better be achieved in-house as opposed to by an external vendor. We develop a theoretical framework from three complementary theories and test it empirically based on a mail survey of 139 German companies. The results show that insourcing is more cost efficient and advantageous in creating strategic benefit through IS if the provision of application services requires a high amount of firm specific human assets. These relationships, however, are partially moderated by differences in the trustworthiness and intrinsic motivation of internal versus external IS professionals. Moreover, capital shares with an external vendor can lower the risk of high transaction costs as well the risk of loosing the strategic opportunities of an IS.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-6474.htm A model for resource allocation using operational knowledge assets