Arab Cultural Dimensions Model For E-Government Services Adoption in Public Sector Organisations
Arab Cultural Dimensions Model For E-Government Services Adoption in Public Sector Organisations
Arab Cultural Dimensions Model For E-Government Services Adoption in Public Sector Organisations
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Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi
Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data,
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan,
City Campus, Pengkalan Chepa,16100 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]
Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of Arab cultural
dimensions on employees’ adoption of e-government services by adaptation of
the cultural dimensions concept as theorised by the Hofstede cultural model
and nepotism as well as face-to-face interactions as derived from literature
review. This study developed and examined a model that contributes to the
scholarly research on e-government and information systems. The study used a
survey that was administered to 137 Saudi administrative employees at hospital
King Fahad of the Al-Baha emirate region in the Saudi Arabia. The data was
analysed employing a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach through
partial least square (PLS) software. The results revealed that high power
distance, low uncertainty avoidance, high collectivism, high masculinity,
face-to-face interactions, and nepotism contributed positively to employees’
adoption of e-government services in public sector organisations. The study
also helps public sector organisations to understand the effect of the cultural
dimension on e-government adoption. Theoretical and practical implications
are discussed.
1 Introduction
Information and communication technology (ICT) serve several purposes ranging from
acting as a means of providing public services to imparting education (Garcia-Murillo
and Velez-Ospina, 2017). Along with being one of the main contributors in the
economies of developed markets, ICT also enables innovations (Amiri and Woodside,
2017). A latest survey conducted by United Nations E-government advocates that
everyone should be able to gain access to public services; no one should be left behind.
This way, developmental sustainability and resilience of societies can be ensured (United
Nations, 2018). Thus, several government bodies strongly support using the electronic
medium to deliver public facilities to their businesses and citizens, thus allowing them to
do most of their dealings with the government using electronic media. E-governments are
believed to bring forth great benefits like reduced expenditure, time-saving, better
convenience and greater transparency to citizens and governments (Guimaraes and
Madeira, 2018; Nguyen, 2016). Thus, over the past decade, e-governments are rapidly
developing across the globe, gaining momentum in most nations.
But, according to Zahid and Haji Din (2019) “e-government project do not always
provide all of the benefits as promised, and citizens hesitate to use online e-government
services”. Additionally, the acceptance level of e-government services greatly differs
across countries (Twizeyimana and Andersson, 2019; Ghareeb et al., 2019). Even among
the nations with similar telecommunications infrastructure and national income levels,
there is still a huge disparity in the levels of online services available (UNDESA, 2014).
Similarly, in spite of huge investments in resources, the acceptance rate of e-government
Arab cultural dimensions model for e-government services 11
across the globe is quite far from what was anticipated (Sawalha et al., 2019). Although
the e-governments are advancing technologically, there are several risks associated with
an increasingly digitised world such as increasing threats to economic prosperity and
social cohesion (United Nations, 2018). Based on these evidences, it can be said that
along with technical aspects, non-technical aspects too, like social factors and the
heterogenic factors like culture, ought to be considered at the time of implementing
e-government (Al-Sharafi, 2014).
According to the literature, culture plays a significant role in influencing consumer
behaviour and usage of technology (San Martín et al., 2011; Tifferet and Herstein, 2010;
Miranda et al., 2009; Dwyer et al., 2005). Despite this, it is surprising that fairly little
thought is given to the effect of culture while implementing ICT (Al-Lamki, 2018).
Likewise, the impact of cultural standards on the development of e-governments
development is often overlooked in the overall official global surveys and research
documents on e-government (Zhao, 2011). A recent United Nations e-government survey
2018 enlists digital technology as one of the main determining factors in a nation’s
developmental index and its ability to respond to shocks occurring due to neglected
cultural standards, natural or man-made disasters, and various other emergency
situations.
Remarkably, e-government initiative in developing nations frequently fails because
non-customised information technology (IT) packages are taken from developed nations
(Ali and Kabbi, 2018). These packages are not in line with the social norms, local culture,
and political situations of the developing nations (Dada, 2006). But, one notable aspect
that surfaced from the works on the cross-cultural effects of IT system adoption was the
variables connected with the individual citizens. Culture affects individuals who are part
of an organisation, and this in turn influences the selection of IT solutions in that
respective organisation or nation (Sehli et al., 2016). According to Uğur (2017) aspects
that emerge while figuring out factors that hinder IT adaptation are the ones related to the
culture of that particular place.
Much research on the political, economic, and technological aspects that effect
technology transfer has been done (e.g., Lee and Porumbescu, 2019; Ingrams and
Schachter, 2019; Schedler et al., 2017; Kassen, 2017; Al-Sharafi et al., 2017; Savoldelli
et al., 2014; Ramli, 2012; Mutula and Mostert, 2010; Straub et al., 2001; Nkwe, 2012;
Mundy and Musa, 2010; Ahn and Bretschneider, 2011; Capgemini, 2010; Fountain and
Osorio-Urzua, 2001; Scholl, 2005; Gil-García and Pardo, 2005; Fernandez and Rainey,
2006). Furthermore, current research on e-government in the Arab countries is focused on
technology aspects (e.g., Abdelkader, 2015; Al-Naimat et al., 2013; Fatile, 2012; Al-
Khouri, 2012; Al-Wazir and Zheng, 2012; Hamner and Al-Qahtani, 2009; Al-Shehry et
al., 2009; Alhussain and Drew, 2010; Al‐Gahtani et al., 2007; Al-Somali et al., 2009;
Bawazir, 2006; Bakry, 2004; Al-Khaldi and Wallace, 1999; Bjerke and Al-Meer, 1993).
However, most of the previous studies do not take into account the cultural dimensions of
e-government adoption.
Several researchers have noted that technology spreads across cultures as per a very
culture specific mode (Al‐Gahtani et al., 2007; Erumban and De Jong, 2006; Hill et al.,
1994; Karahanna et al., 1999; Straub et al., 2003). Straub et al. (2003) argue that these
hindrances in adaptation of technology are mainly because technology adoption and
culture are strongly interrelated. Another study, very much in line with the cultural
aspect, conducted a technology adaptation model (TAM) test on five Arab countries
(UAE, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan) and examined how transfer of
12 M.M. Ayyash et al.
technology works (Rose and Straub, 1998). The findings reiterated the strong influence of
cultural factors on the success ratio of IT usage.
Therefore, one of the aims of this research is to propose a model that studies the Arab
cultural aspects influencing an e-government conducive environment that works for a
developing nation. This study investigated the works related to cultural aspects and
e-government in an Arab context specifically in Saudi Arabia and attempted to
comprehend how these two interact. One more aim of this work is to examine this model
empirically and combine the findings of other researchers in order to define this
environment and enhance our comprehension of this particular domain. Thus, the primary
research question can be worded as follows: Does a relationship exist between
e-government services adoption and cultural aspects of the Arab region?
The remainder of the paper is organised as follows: Section 2 presents the study
literature review that revealed cultural dimensions and e-government adoption in Arab
countries, Section 3 reviews a theoretical foundation of the study, Section 4 presents
research model and hypotheses development, Section 5 presents methodology of the
study that describes the instrument development and the data collection processes and
reports on the empirical results, Section 6 and Section 7 discusses data analysis and
findings. Finally, we conclude in Section 8.
2 Literature review
There are several hindrances faced while adopting e-government. These vary from legal,
technical, to behavioural type. This limits its adoption, thus making the e-government
undertaking a partial or absolute failure (Abu-Shanab and Shahbat, 2018). Thus,
governing bodies are required to cover all hindrances faced by e-government project and
especially the human adoption aspect. The subsequent notes will throw some light on IT
adoption and cultural aspects, as well as the e-government acceptance in Arab countries
and cultural aspects.
it plays a key role in the adoption of new systems. Both IT as well as individuals are
involved in the adaption process. Consequently, the social features and behaviour of
individuals have a great impact on the success ratio of the integration process.
Several works on IT adoption and acceptance conclude that culture plays a major role
in the acceptance of IT (Leidner and Kayworth, 2006; Herzallah et al., 2018). Ahmad
et al. (2018) also supported the premise promoted by the TAM. Hofstede’s cultural
dimensions concept also demonstrates people’s intentions regarding using Arabic
e-commerce websites. Veiga et al. (2001) devised a direct influence model of the four
cultural aspects, which as suggested by Hofstede can affect technology adoption while
implementing IS. These aspects are defined as culturally created beliefs and are counted
as external variables which affect usefulness and user-friendliness of a system. Elbeltagi
et al. (2005) consider cultural features as external variables (a total measure of the initial
four cultural aspects as defined by Hofstede) that directly affect the usefulness and
user-friendliness in a decision support system (DSS) context. Lee et al. (2007) examined
how direct effects comprising avoidance, uncertainty, context, individualism, and time
perception influence behavioural traits and usage of mobile internet.
McCoy et al. (2005) examined the moderating influence of cultural standards on the
correlations between determining factors of intention (perceived ease of use, perceived
usefulness, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norm) and intention in relation
to the usage of e-mail. Likewise, Dinev et al. (2009) and Pavlou and Chai (2002)
examined the moderating influences of culture on the correlations between determinants
(perceived behavioural control, subjective norm and attitude) and intention in relation to
the usage of protective IT. Erumban and de Jong (2006) established that there is a close
correlation between a nation’s culture and the rate at which IT adoption occurs. They
accepted that the cultural aspects as defined by Hofstede play a major role in influencing
IT acceptance. Particularly, a nation’s cultural aspects such as the uncertainty avoidance
dimensions and the power distance are the most significant decision-makers of a
self-selected web retailer.
3 Theoretical foundation
There are just four cultural aspect indexes that are offered for the Arab culture:
uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede et al., 1991; Kabasakal and Dastmalchian, 2001;
Hofstede, 1984); power distance (Hofstede et al., 1991; Kabasakal and Dastmalchian,
2001), collectivism versus individualism (Hofstede et al., 1991; Feghali, 1997; Kabasakal
and Dastmalchian, 2001; Hofstede, 1984), and femininity versus masculinity (Hofstede,
2001a; Hofstede et al., 2010). Erumban and de Jong (2006) discovered a significant
association between cultural aspects and decision-making for adopting an innovative
technology across nations. The outcomes of this review suggested that the aspects
uncertainty avoidance and power distance are the most important cultural aspects using
which certain differences in the adoption rates of ICT among nations could be described.
Thus, this research adapted Hofstede’s above-mentioned cultural aspects that can be used
for the Arab culture and are relevant to the research context. The following portion
represents a thorough examination of these cultural aspects.
1 Power distance: It is the degree to which the less dominant members of institutions
and organisations accept and suppose that the power is dispersed unequally
[Hofstede, (2013), p.61]. Nations with high power distance have staff members who
are too fearful of disagreeing with the management decisions. Such countries include
the nations of the Arab region which had score of 80 out of 104; these were placed
the 7th among the 50 nations included in the research. On the contrary, nations with
a lower PD are likely to have less variation in social status and salary. Diversity and
equality are more recognised in such nations and societies. Moreover, nations with
high PD, like the Arab nations, have a lower ICT adoption rate than nations with low
PD scores (Erumban and de Jong, 2006; Al-Hujran et al., 2011). Therefore, it is
hypothesised that:
H1 High power distance affects employee’s adoption of e-government services in
the Saudi Arabia public sector organisations.
2 Uncertainty avoidance: It is the extent to which the residents of a society feel
intimidated by uncertain or unknown circumstances. In a culture where there is high
uncertainty evasion, situations that are uncommon and strange are considered as a
menace and danger to the community and people of such a culture avoid taking any
risks. They refuse to accept the changes and are anxious regarding the future. In
cultures where there is low uncertainty evasion, the people do not express themselves
liberally and are less nervous and anxious. People are likely to be more easy-going
and relaxed and take time to engage in recreational activities. It can be observed that
Arab nations in Hofstede’s model had a low score in the aspect of uncertainty
avoidance in comparison to other nations like Greece. This was identified by Parnell
and Hatem (1999) who highlighted the effect of religious beliefs on this aspect and
regarded it as a significant aspect which influenced Hofstede’s results. Nevertheless,
Leidner and Kayworth (2006) mentioned that the uncertainty avoidance aspect plays
an important role in predicting how groups will possibly adopt and spread ICT.
Nations with high uncertainty avoidance are unlikely to adopt the frame relay
technology. As ICT is essentially risky, those who are not too comfortable with
uncertainty are less likely to embrace new technologies. Therefore, it is hypothesised
that: Therefore, it is hypothesised that:
H2 Low uncertainty avoidance affects employee’s adoption of e-government
services in the Saudi Arabia public sector organisations.
16 M.M. Ayyash et al.
3 Individualism vs. collectivism: This aspect is the degree to which individuals are
expected to take care of themselves or remain collected in groups (Hofstede, 2001a).
In Hofstede’s categorisation, Arab nations scored 38 out of 100. They were regarded
as a more collective culture than an individualistic one. In such nations, people rely
more on groups and power figures rather than on individuals (Hofstede, 1994). The
residents of this collectivist culture are not much sensitive to diversity, and it can
have a harmful effect on the knowledge sharing and communication in a workplace,
where there is a blending of different cultures (Abdraehim et al., 2012). As regards
the culture of Arab nations, Saudi Arabia can be called a collectivist society, having
scored 20 for this aspect (Gillespie and Hennessey, 2010), in comparison to 91 of
United State and 90 of Australia (Hofstede et al., 2010). Saudi Arabia is a nation
with a collective dominating society that gives more importance to groups and
family culture (Abdraehim et al., 2012). Therefore, it is hypothesised that:
H3 High collectivism affects employee’s adoption of e-government services in the
Saudi Arabia public sector organisations.
4 Masculinity versus femininity: This aspect is related to men whose dominance,
strength, toughness and competitive nature had dominated the culture in a traditional
way whereas femininity is related to women who give more importance to
relationships, housekeeping, caring for the family, nurturing, concern for life, being
social, soft nature and tenderness. Hofstede highlights the conventional aspects of
femininity and masculinity. In a masculine society, strong conventional gender
differences are preserved which cannot be discarded by the advanced and modern
technological era. Masculine societies tend to be ruthless and struggle for excellence.
The objectives of the masculine cultures are sovereignty, wealth accumulation and
material benefits like bonuses and promotions. According to Hofstede (1980), the
Arab countries were classified as having high masculine culture. Therefore, it is
hypothesised that:
H4 High masculinity affects employee’s adoption of e-government services in the
Saudi Arabia public sector organisations.
indicate that nepotism is a concern in both the developed and the developing nations.
Managers under study “are likely to be disappointed, discouraged and traumatised to the
extent that they might resign as soon as they get other jobs”. Moreover, strong-minded
managers will stay away from joining these organisations in the future [Abdalla et al.,
(1998), p.568].
Besides that, Straub et al. (2001) built a cultural impact model and pointed out that
Arab cultural views were a strong determinant of resistance to transfer IT [Straub et al.,
(2001), p.8]. Moreover, the Arab researchers have not written much about other
conventional aspects of Arab cultural values that affect the e-government adoption. The
initial literature review indicated a necessity to explore Arab cultural views that affect the
adoption of e-government by employees. Thus, based on the review of the literature, this
study concentrated on nepotism and personal interactions as the most important aspects
of Arab culture that influence the adoption of e-government.
1 Nepotism: Nepotism has ancient roots and is not a recent phenomenon [Ford and
McLaughlin, (1986), p.78; White, (2000), p.109]. Nepotism’s history is discussed in
various disciplines like evolutionary biology, religion, anthropology, psychology,
sociology, political science, law, economics, and history [Ciulla, (2005), p.154;
Laker and Williams, (2003), p.192]. People have diverse national, linguistic, racial,
religious, and tribal backgrounds, from which the customs of nepotism are derived
[Vanhanen, (1999), p.55]. Nepotism is found around the globe, although it is more
prevalent and significant in the developing nations [Abdalla et al., (1998), p.554;
Arasli and Tumer, (2008), p.1239]. Nepotism is described as the employment of
family members [Ford and McLaughlin, 1986; Arasli and Tumer, (2008), p.1238]
either in the same firm [Ford and McLaughlin, 1986; Hayajenh et al., (1994), p.53],
or even being supervised or working by their relations in the same department
[Abdalla et al., (1998), p.557].
A research conducted by Abdraehim et al. (2012) emphasised the cultural influence
of the use of e-services in Saudi Arabia. The research centred on nepotism because it
has a significant effect on Saudi workplace culture. The authors described nepotism
as “the employing relatives, either in the same firm or even being supervised or
working by their family members in the same section”. The authors mentioned
several reasons for nepotism, which include economic, sociocultural, political and
educational structures. The outcome of the research suggested that nepotism
negatively affects the intention of using e-government. There is a feeble negative
relationship between intention to use and nepotism. Deploying e-services would
cause a fading of nepotism practices as business decisions would be made only by
the system and no one else Abdraehim et al. (2012). Thus, those who are either in
favour of nepotism or take advantage of it will not adopt or even attempt to adopt
e-services so as to specify indirectly that the implementers of the new system will
fail and subsequently drop the idea of adopting the innovative technology. Therefore,
it is hypothesised that:
H5 Nepotism affects employee’s adoption of e-government services in the Saudi
Arabia public sector organisations.
Arab cultural dimensions model for e-government services 19
4 Research model
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Nepotism
Face-to-face Interactions
5 Methodology
The main aim of this research is to examine the effect of Arab culture dimensions on
employee’s adoption of e-government services by adaptation of the cultural dimensions.
For this purpose, investigating the factors that have impact Arab cultural aspects on
employee’s adoption of e-government services have been done to increase the body of
information and add empirical research that can introduce an actual image of cultural
aspects and their impact on the adoption of e-government with respect to the Arab
nations. Citizens and firms are the customers of an e-government initiative; thus, they
might be examined with a different tool (Abu-Shanab and Shehabat, 2018). This research
sample involves the employee’s perspective functioning in a hospital named King Fahad
of the Al-Baha emirate region in Saudi Arabia. The process of sampling will target
administrative employees functioning in this hospital. Figure 2 represents the research
procedures that are employed to address the expected research issue. The process of
research was developed in four stages; as shown in Figure 2. The objectives of each
phase are outlined.
The six aspects included in this study model are supposed to reflect the impact of the
cultural aspects on the employee’s e-government services adoption. This research will
focus on the impact of cultural aspects on employee’s e-government services adoption.
To verify this model, an empirical research is used by taking a survey to examine public
employees’ views regarding this research context. Further details about the instrument
employed and the process of sampling is given in the following portions.
Arab cultural dimensions model for e-government services 21
Sections Subjects
A Demographic profile of respondents
B Power distance (PD)
C Uncertainty avoidance (UA)
D Individualism versus collectivism (IC)
E Masculinity versus femininity (MF)
F Nepotism (NEPO)
G Face-to-face interactions (FFI)
H E-government adoption (EGA)
22 M.M. Ayyash et al.
The questionnaire for the survey contained close-ended questions giving a standardised
reference structure for the participants’ responses. The questionnaire is structured by
applying a 5-point Likert scale to gather data about the research parameters with the scale
varying from 1 – strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree with 3 as the neutral which is the
middle scale. For the content validity of the scales, the items chosen under each
parameter should represent the concepts that are generalised (Ayyash et al., 2012). In this
research, the parameters are primarily selected from earlier studies for content validity
though they were adjusted for the purpose of this study.
The aspects of uncertainty avoidance, power distance, collectivism versus
individualism, and femininity versus masculinity were adapted from past studies carried
out by Tolba (2003) and Yoon (2009). As per the research carried out by Aldraehim
et al. (2013) in Saudi Arabia there are two primary causes of nepotism: region and tribe.
Thus, 8 items for determining the nepotism were adopted from his research, as this is
very appropriate for the study context. In addition, there are five other items adapted from
Aldraehim et al. (2013) and Blenke (2013) to gauge the face-to-face communication
construct. Finally, there are four other items adapted from Bhattacherjee (2001), Teo
et al. (2003) and Venkatesh et al. (2003) to gauge the e-government adoption construct.
The statistics were rechecked for legitimacy and reliability via an analysis of the
faculty members, a procedure that would help the researching in establishing the
weaknesses and strength of the survey questionnaire with respect to questions, order and
wording. After the review, the scholar located the issues and adjusted the measurement
wordings and obtained final clear, easy to respond, thorough, and professional
questionnaire for survey. This questionnaire was then converted into Arabic, the local
language of the Saudi Arabia. The process of translation was reassessed to ensure
equivalent terms in English and Arabic.
The analysis of the data in this study was done using SPSS version 22 and Smart PLS
version 3. The SPSS was used to obtain the descriptive statistics of the sample while the
investigation of the latent variable within the causal structure was done by employing
partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using the SmartPLS as
recommended by Hair et al. (2016). According to Hair et al. (2016), PLS-SEM is the best
choice to validate the research model for the evaluation of the measurement and
structural models, which undoubtedly can lead to more precise results. The results of the
statistical analysis are presented in the following subsections.
Factor Convergent
Construct Items CR AVE
loading validity
Power distance (PD) PD1 0.796 0.831 0.560 Yes
PD2 0.800
PD3 0.841
PD4 Deleted
PD5 Deleted
PD6 0.508
Uncertainty avoidance (UA) UA1 0.757 0.921 0.701 Yes
UA2 0.836
UA3 0.869
UA4 0.871
UA5 0.848
Individualism vs. IC1 0.770 0.879 0.593 Yes
collectivism (IC) IC2 0.859
IC3 0.807
IC4 0.740
IC5 0.661
Arab cultural dimensions model for e-government services 27
Factor Convergent
Construct Items CR AVE
loading validity
Masculinity vs. femininity MF1 0.887 0.919 0.696 Yes
(MF) MF2 0.785
MF3 0.816
MF4 0.792
MF5 0.886
Nepotism (NEPO) NEPO1 0.774 0.914 0.571 Yes
NEPO2 0.731
NEPO3 0.759
NEPO4 0.725
NEPO5 0.746
NEPO6 0.786
NEPO7 0.778
NEPO8 0.743
Face-to-face interactions FFI1 Deleted 0.917 0.734 Yes
(FFI) FFI2 0.837
FFI3 0.866
FFI4 0.859
FFI5 0.866
E-government adoption EGA1 0.871 0.897 0.693 Yes
(EGA) EGA2 0.945
EGA3 0.919
EGA4 0.526
discriminant since their squared correlation is less than the AVE. Furthermore, an
estimate of the inter-constructs correlation which parallels the dis-attenuated construct
score creation is the Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) and its threshold value is 0.9.
From Table 6, all the constructs evidently met the recommended thresholds; hence, there
is no evidence of a lack of discriminant validity.
Table 6 Assessment of discriminant validity (HTMT)
Standard
Original Sample T statistics
# Hypothesis deviation P values Supported
sample (O) mean (M) (|O/STDEV|)
(STDEV)
1 PD -> EGA 0.166 0.163 0.062 2.667 0.008 Yes
2 UA -> EGA 0.182 0.181 0.065 2.794 0.005 Yes
3 IC -> EGA 0.261 0.262 0.056 4.633 0.000 yes
4 MF -> EGA 0.231 0.233 0.048 4.828 0.000 Yes
5 NEPO -> EGA 0.204 0.206 0.040 5.161 0.000 Yes
6 FFI -> EGA 0.178 0.173 0.040 4.487 0.000 Yes
The assessment of the structural model was illustrated in Table 8 where the variance
inflated factor (VIF), the coefficient of determination (R squared), the predictive
relevance (Q square), and the effect size (f2) were presented. The low VIF value (less
than the 3.3 threshold value) indicated the absence of collinearity issues between the
constructs (Diamantopoulos and Siguaw, 2006). This indicated that the constructs were
distinctively different from one and another. In a similar vein, EGA had a path coefficient
(R2) value of 0.816 which implied the explanation of about 81.6% of the variances in
30 M.M. Ayyash et al.
EGA by FFI, UA, IC, MF, NEPO, and PD. In addition to that, IC was found to have a
large effect size on EGA (f2 = 0.202) whereas PD had the lowest effect on EGA
(f2 = 0.090). The predictive relevance of the exogenous variables on the endogenous
variables was also done using blindfolding, and from the results, the exogenous variables
had predictive relevance over the endogenous variables as evidenced by the Q2 values of
> 0 for all the predictors F. (Hair et al., 2014; Stone, 1974).
Table 8 Assessment of structural model
7 Discussion
Thus, high collectivism culture tends to be higher rate in term of e-government services
adoption. A result consistent with prior findings of Khalil (2011) who found that
collectivism is a key determinant of E-government readiness.
The results also indicated that the research hypothesis show that Hofstede’s high
masculinity (H4) supported the significant and positive effect on employee’s adoption of
e-government services (ß = 0.231, t = 4.828, p < 0.05). This can be interpreted as,
organisation desire to IT implementations are logically motivated by interests in being
efficient and competitive, so masculine societies may adopt ITs more quickly than
feminine societies. A result consistent with prior findings of Aida and Majdi (2014)
found that high masculinity in Tunisia confirms a positive attitude towards e-government
project and (Abdulrab, 2011; Thowfeek and Jaafar, 2010) also found masculinity is
significantly associated with IT adoption. In another study, masculinity was found as
significant moderator of the direct relationship between trust and intention to use online
shopping websites in Jordan (Ahmad et al., 2018).
Moreover, the research hypothesis (H5) was supported the result since nepotism was
found to have a significant impact on the intention to use e-government services
(ß = 0.204, t = 5.161, p <0.05). This can be interpreted as: the continuous developments
in the field of e-government have encouraged the governments around the world to take
advantages of these developments by established an online presence. Governments hope
to increase the efficiency and organisational performance. In doing so, e-government
helps to rise transparency, increase accomplishment of transactions, allow pursuing of
procedures, allows operations and procedures to be confidentiality executed, allows easy
spreading and collection of information from the users, decreases direct communication
among government employees and the users, and confines the employee’s authority.
Undoubtedly, all the above advantages of e-government lead to decrease nepotism
culture, as an electronic system such as e-government allow the tracking of operations
and the detection of employees who makes a fraud or nepotism in public sector
organisations. Consequently, the government should motivate their organisations to the
rabid transform to deliver their services through e-government.
The last culture dimension was face-to-face-interactions (H6). The results
demonstrate that face-to-face-interactions was significantly and positively for employee’s
adoption of e-government services, this hypothesis was supported (ß = 0.178, t = 4.487,
p < 0.05). A result consistent with prior finding of Baym, principal researcher at
Microsoft research believes that more you communicate with people using devices, the
more likely you are to communicate with those people face to face (Adler, 2013).
Besides, more than 62% of individuals in Elon’s campus remain to use mobile devices in
the existence of others (Drago, 2015). However, the nature of Arab prefers face-to-face
interactions, this will encourage employees to adopt of e-government services. This can
be clarified as, in high collectivist culture like Arab countries, employees were highly
influenced by the opinion of their group members when they establishing their intentions
toward technology acceptance. Therefore, face-to-face-interactions play an important role
in e-government services adoption.
8 Conclusions
The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating and understanding the
impact of the factors that have impact Arab cultural aspects on employee’s adoption of
32 M.M. Ayyash et al.
e-government services have been done to increase the body of information and add
empirical research that can introduce an actual image of cultural aspects and their impact
on the adoption of e-government with respect to the Arab nations. Several models have
been developed to evaluate cultural differences and the most extensively used model is
Hofstede’s model. However, most of the previous studies do not take into account the
context of Arab culture. Therefore, the results of this research describe for the first time
the Hofstede’s model from the employee’s perspective working in Saudi Arabia health
sector. In the context of Arab culture, there are only four Hofstede’s dimensions suitable
to Arab culture; these dimensions include power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
individualism vs. collectivism, and masculinity vs. femininity. Consequently, this
research adopted the above-mentioned Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in addition to
nepotism as well as face-to-face interactions as derived from literature review to study
employee’s adoption of e-government services in developing countries, and more
specifically in Saudi Arabia.
The major contribution of the current research is the development of the Arab culture
dimensions model for studying the research objective. This model is a coherent model
that can be used in future empirical studies in the same field; the model can also be
extended in different directions. The model developed in this research can guide further
studies on employee’s adoption of e-government in developing countries. The findings
revealed a positive and significant relationship among high power distance, collectivism,
low uncertainty avoidance, high masculinity, nepotism, face-to-face interaction, and
e-government adoption. Based on these findings, the influence of these dimensions
should be considered by researchers and policymakers when trying to improve on the
current low-level of e-government services adoption in the Arab world, including
Saudi Arabia.
Lastly, the dimensions of the model developed in this study can be added to the existing
e-government literature.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie for
providing the financial support for the publication of this research.
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