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MSc in CMT with software systems for e-business and WWW 2005/2006
By F. M. Al-Harby
The ways for undertaking business are quickly shifting. The Internet and
associated advances in Information Technology (IT) considerably affect countries in
general and customers and financial services in particular. The increasing value of E-
commerce represents a watershed event for the global markets. The principle of this
dissertation has been to produce a study to look at the barriers of E-commerce
implementation in Saudi Arabia.
In order to accomplish the point of this study, a vast literature review was
done, with a questionnaire which was used as the data collection tool. To achieve this,
a questionnaire from a middle class Saudi family, acting as a sample, has been carried
out. I have focused on the perception of E-commerce. This dissertation has been
organized into six chapters. An introduction to this study, problem statements and
research question were presented in chapter one. The second chapter was devoted to a
literature review. The research methodology was discussed in the third chapter. Data
presentation and analysis were done in chapter four and five, respectively, finally,
recommendations and conclusions in the last chapter.
With respect to the findings, I conclude that the Saudi citizens looked at E-
commerce positively. Their attitude and views toward E-commerce were positive so
that they found that E-commerce would be an opportunity rather than a challenge or
even a threat for Saudi society. They believed that E-commerce would affect their
society and, thus, their country should embrace E-commerce. Lack of national
telecommunications and Internet costs and lack of government legislation and
regulation were infrastructure requirements which they found that the Saudi society
required. They were well equipped with hardware and software but lagging in other
supportive sectors such as logistics. Traditional attitudes and views about the
companies and scarcity of skilled staff were cited as other major obstacles which
would hinder Saudi Arabia to embrace E-commerce.
The synthesis of these study findings can be extracted into recommendations. One is
that both investments in infrastructure and citizen knowledge are required if a government
desires to support the implementation of E-commerce, and improvement of standards,
policies, and enforcement mechanisms to assure the dependable operations of E-commerce.
By the grace and mercy of God, first, I would like to express my great appreciation to
my supervisors Dr. Rami Qahwaji and Mr. Mark Goodall. They have always been supportive
and kind to me. Their inspiration, understanding, tolerant advice and encouragement have
made my studying a great learning experience and they will never be forgotten.
Finally, I would like to thank all who have contributed to my graduate studies during
the last two years.
List of Acronyms
B2B Business-to-Business
B2C Business-to-Consumers
B2G Business-to-Government
BT British Telecom
C2B Consumer-to-Business
C2C Consumer-to-Consumers
HP Hewlett-Packard Company
IT Information Technology
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.1 Introduction
This first chapter is intended to give background information about the area of
research. First a brief background discussion regarding E-commerce and E-
government toward costumers and citizens, then an overview of the Internet in Saudi
Arabia. This is followed by a statement of the problem, leading to the research
objectives, research question, delimitations for this dissertation and finally, the
structure of the dissertation and the project management plan.
1.2 Background
some of which have bring new burdens to governments and financial institutions and.
Table 1.1 illustrates the enhance of Internet users in Saudi Arabia.
Survey Saudi Arabian growth in Internet users
Dabbagh 1999 (Pastore, 1999d) 112,500 Internet users were estimated in 1999
TELC2000 (TELC, 2000) 115,00 Internet users were estimated in 1999
2.2 million Internet users were predicted in
2004
Wmrc2001 (Dutta & Coury, 577,800 Internet users in 2001 (3% of the
2001) population)
Madar2002 (Madar Research, 1.6 million Internet users were estimated in
2002) 2002 (6.81% of the population)
4.48 million Internet users were predicted in
2005
Table 1.1: Growth of Internet Users in Saudi Arabia
(Almogbil, 2005;Madar Research, 2002; TELC, 2000; Dutta & Coury, 2001; Pastore, 1999d)
The laws relating to E-commerce and E-government in Saudi Arabia are all quite
new. Customer preferences, needs for protections, and user-friendliness are mostly
unknown. Government departments and companies that offer online services in Saudi
Arabia face cultural challenges. Infrastructure support for online services is also new
(Almogbil, 2005).
In Saudi Arabia, young people are exposed to modernity during media and
travelling overseas and have various identities across different occupational, regional,
national, tribal and geographic groups (Yamani, 2000). Hermida referenced a Harvard
Law School report in 2002, which stated there were more than 2,000 web sites
blocked by the Saudi government. The Saudi Arabian government control Internet
traffic by using a central proxy servers conducted by King Abdul-Aziz City for
Science and Technology (KACST). Most of these blocked web sites was sexually
explicit or had religious content, as the rest were about women, drugs, and Western
culture. In most countries the main Internet business happened via pornographic sites,
but these sites were forbidden in Saudi Arabia along with other web sites that have
sensitive political or religious views against the Saudi Arabian government or Islamic
law (Almogbil, 2005; LEE, 2001). However, it is unique for a country to block sites
in sequence to preserve Islamic principles and prevent people‟s beliefs from being
influenced (Hermida, 2000).
E-commerce and the use of E-government in the Saudi government and industries
are in the very initial stages. The Internet usage is dramatically growing in the country
and many government departments and companies have an Internet presence on the
net. A few companies provide elementary Internet services.
For the traditional Saudi government and companies, the require to adapt to the
new E-commerce opportunities not only involves direct cost, in the form of extensive
investments in the new information technologies, but as well the indirect costs of
having to adjust their active business models. Saudi companies should to revamp their
business procedures, which direct several different internal conflicts. An internet
business threatens other traditional paths and so be likely to meet with strong battle
within the company. Many Saudi companies can avoid this problem immediately by
not passing on to the consumer during electronic distribution. Some companies may
pursue a dual strategy and attempt to make balance the traditional distribution
channels and online services (Porter, 2001).
1.6 Delimitations
Due to limitations in time as well as finances, it would be impossible to cover
all aspects of E-commerce and E-government. I will not cover the design and the
execution of E-commerce, nor will I put E-commerce applications to the test.
As can be seen in Figure 1.1 below, this dissertation consists of six chapters. By
now, the reader is already familiar with the content of chapter one which consisted of
an introduction and background discussion followed by the statement of the problem,
the research objectives with research question and their limitations. Chapter two will
consist of a literature review. Chapter three will illustrate how the research was
conducted and which methodological choices were made, in addition to motivations
for these choices. This is followed by chapter four where the collected empirical data
will be presented. This data is then compared with the concepts outlined through an
analysis in chapter five. In the final chapter the conclusions and recommendations
will be proposed as well as suggestions for further research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
DATA PRESENTATION
DATA ANALYSIS
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter 1: References
Aarabi N., Bromideh A., (2006). The impact of e-commerce on the Iranian insurance
companies. Master thesis. Lulea University of Technology.
Almogbil. A., (2005). Security. Perceptions and Practices: challenges facing adoption
of online banking in Saudi Arabia. Ph.D. Dissertation. The George Washington
University, May 2005.
Cabello D. B., Ravula U. K. (2006). Public E-services toward citizens. Master thesis.
Lulea University of Technology.
Dawes S.S., Bloniarz P.A., Kelly K.L., (1999). „Some Assembly Required: Building a
Digital Government for the 21st Century‟, Retrieved June 11, 2006 from:
http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/reports/some_assembly/some_assembly.pdf.
Deloitte Research, (2000). „At the Dawn of e-Government: The Citizen as Customer‟
from:http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/at_the_dawn_of_egovernment%28
1%291.pdf. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
Gisler M., Gunter M., Spahni D., (2001). „Minitrack E-government‟, Proc. of the 34th
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, IEEE Press.
Pastore, M. (I999d). Saudi Arabia Gets Wired. July 21, 1999. Retrieved June 20, 2006,
from http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=151061
Reuters. (2000). Saudi banks embark on Internet race. Arabia.com Dubai. August 23.
2000. Retrieved June 23. 2006 from
http://www.arabialink.com/Archive/GWDigests/GWD2000/GWD_2000_08_28.htm
Roth, A. (2001). Middle East Web Could Draw U.S. Bankers. Credit Collections
World-May 30, 2001. Retrieved June 21, 2006 from
http://www.creditcollectionsworld.com/news/053001_4.htm
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The literature review has been divided into ten sections starting with a brief
introduction. The second section focuses on Internet and E-commerce. The third
section focuses on the impact of globalization on E-commerce. The fourth section
deals with Socio-cultural changes as well as text and language. The fifth section
produces an overview of the history of Saudi Arabian Financial Systems, followed by
the sixth section which considers telecommunication access and connectivity. In the
seventh section I focus on the Education systems role as well as address the human
resources plans. Regulation and Deregulation and Logistics are in sequence in
sections eight and nine. Next, the successful E-commerce experiment in Saudi Arabia
which is provided by Saudi Aramco, Finally, experience of E-commerce and E-
government in the Middle East countries, using the example of the United Arab
Emirates.
The centre of attention in the early stages of the Internet was on selling goods
to customers (business-to-consumers or B2C). Now, the focus is changing toward
commercial clients (business-to-business or B2B). The B2B division is expected to be
the most significant focus of Internet sharing in the future (SwissRe, 2004). Internet
technologies have consequences not only for distribution, but for the control of a
company‟s whole business processes too. The more the production process relies on
the processing of information, the greater the potential for alteration. Thus, E-
commerce is currently understood to mean the utilizing of communication and
information technologies, and particularly the Internet, to incessantly enhance an
organization‟s business processes. It indicates the seamless application of
communication and information technology from its point of origin to its end point
beside the whole value chain of business processes conducted electronically and
designed to enable the achievement of a business objective. These processes possibly
will be partial or complete and may include B2B, in addition to B2C, C2B
transactions and even (consumer-to-consumer C2C) (Wigand, 1997).
Putting all of the processes related with E-commerce together needs further
software and tools. For instance, software presenting interfaces among Web servers
and the company‟s databases and E-payment systems. E-payment systems use
technologies such as electronic funds transfer, credit cards and smart cards, also new
Internet-based payment systems to pay for services and goods electronically. It‟s
desirable to use software to monitor and track web site usage for marketing analysis
(Werner, 2003).
2.2.1.2 Imaging
In table 2.2 broad types of E-commerce are given, this is a general form of the
essential areas of E-commerce activity mentioned above.
Most Governments around the world, such as Saudi Arabia are starting to
reorganize the running of public procurement systems equivalent to 10 per cent of
their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through the net, opening the view of sizeable
business-to-government (B2G) transactions. The technology is also being utilized by
governments for the transmission or disturbed of information (G2B) (G2C) to lower
the cost of payment systems (C2G) and enhance convenience, and by businesses to
manage after sales service and to increase direct consumer marketing (OECD, 2000).
E-commerce has been built on the power of the private sector rather than on
government or institutional initiatives, and the E-commerce companies will continue
to drive the development. Nevertheless, there is considerable scope for collaboration
at all stages to eliminate barriers to the development of E-commerce. The limitations
of E-commerce are both technical and non-technical, as pointed out by Turban et al.
(2002) in table 2.4:
(3) You may as well locate an image on the site that states, “Click to Verify."
VeriSign is a leading provider of Internet trust services, and its insignia is
confirmation that your bank is certified as a secure domain. There are other trusted
services besides VeriSign, such as Thawte and GTE Cyber Trust.
Internet Penetration
Aug 2002 - End of 2005
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
World Average Middle East GCC
Aug-02 10% 2.54% 9.23%
End of 2005 15.70% 8% 19.76%
Figure 2.1 Internet Penetration: Middle East and GCC vs. World
A study presented by Alyabis (2000) discussed the use of the Internet and E-
commerce in Saudi Arabia. The participant results were as follows, in table 2.6.
According to the World Bank report (The World Bank, 2000), the Middle East
countries have to go ahead to be more integrated with the global economy. The
integration progress has fluctuated among these countries, in trade and international
finance and information technology
In fact, the financial and retail services industry has been controlled more or
less as a domestic industry with very little international focus. Barriers such as tax,
government regulation, and cultural issues have barred the expansion of E-commerce.
On the other hand, global cost efficiencies, driven by economies of scale and
comparative advantage, are driving globalization.
Ghashghai and Lewis (2002) have expected that the Internet can produce a lot
of modernization within developing countries, especially in the Middle East. It
could present "enhanced business opportunities including cross-border
opportunities; better information in crucial areas such as health, agriculture, and
commerce; improved education; and increased news and entertainment." They found
that it is simple to identify the Middle Eastern leaders and government's beliefs by
reading available literature; however it is hard to decide the beliefs the people have
internalized. On the other hand, the Internet can generate problems, such as
disbursing Western political ideas, distributing pornography, or making it easier for
dissident individuals and organizations to communicate within a region known for
its political unrest. In most conservative and Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia,
governments are aggressively using firewalls to potentially block the spread of
pornography and offensive content from being seen or downloaded by Internet users.
Capurro (2000) has illustrated some of the core ethical issues of the
information society in this century which combines the technical and socio-cultural
issues of the information society through using the categories of the observatory on the
information society as orientation:
Most Saudi business web sites use dual language Arabic and English. In my
view, the most remarkable feature of the Saudi web site text is its exclusivity.
Utilizing Arabic at the start makes contact with reader and directly sets it apart from
the vast majority of the non-Arabic audience: the signs and symbols are unfamiliar to
the point of being meaningless. Thus, it is also conceivable that not just the language,
but the alphabet and script, are also meaningless to most non-Arabic audiences. In
most Saudi web sites whether government or business, the English translation is
available which is competent and understandable: obviously, the purpose is to express
meanings which are „permissible‟ to the non-Arabic reader in a way which is
unambiguous and without any difficulty in understanding.
The extensive increase in the use of E-commerce applications has led software
companies to identify that an important part of their revenues are coming from non-
English countries. This detection, jointly with the saturation of the Western market,
triggered efforts to adapt the companies‟ products to the requirements of non-English
markets. Software localization techniques were built to adjust software written in one
language for members of one culture to another language and for members of another
culture (Keniston, 1999).
The obligation that software be required to fit the cultural context of the user
has been generally accepted. Nevertheless, this context has been defined solely in
terms of the requirements concerning the user interface. Taylor (1992) answered the
question "What then needs to be encapsulated in this concept of cultural context?” by
listing the following locales, i.e., the collections of all the conventions that
characterize a particular culture or user community: transliteration, hyphenation,
spelling, collation, national conventions (numbers, currency, time and date), and
colour (op. cit.). Hall adds such elements as messages, terminology, and positioning
of windows, tables and graphs (Hall, 1999).
even the fit to a particular culture, the interface is an aspect that is clearly important
but possibly not the most significant. So, there is more to culture than language just as
there is more to software than interface.
Before 1952, Saudi Arabia had no official monetary system; the people used
silver coins or foreign currencies as an exchange medium of circulation for their
trades. In fact, there was a big resistance from religious people against the
establishment of a banking system for the reason that banking interest is against
Islamic laws (the Shari'ah). On the other hand, while the need for a banking system
became obvious when pilgrims visiting holy places in Saudi Arabia needed to
exchange money, the first foreign bank was started in 1927. The 1950's brought an
increased need to form foreign and domestic banks, particularly with the revolution of
the oil industry which continued to develop considerably on an annual basis
(Almogbil, 2005; Money and Banking, 1992).
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was established in 1952, it was
intended to serve as a regulatory agency and act as the government's bank. In the
1960's, SAMA produced banking regulations to advance increase the banking
industry. Riyal, the Saudi currency, was initially dispersed in 1972. SAMA and
commercial banks play important parts in upgrading and developing the Saudi's
banking technology such as ATMs, stock trading, and electronic clearing (Money and
Banking, 1992).
The National Centre for Digital Certification presents an integrated method for
running the public key infrastructure (PKI). It is a protection integrated system for
controlling the security keys used for attaining information privacy, verification of
users' identities, certifying data reliability against tampering and alteration, and using
digital signatures. Leading these functions rest electronic services such as E-
government and E-commerce. By this security structure all sorts of web users would
be able to execute electronic transactions in full protection, reliability and
creditability.
(1) Drawing up rules for using technology in the electronic transactions and
signatures to reinforce confidence in these transactions and signatures and to
facilitate their use in both the public and private sector, by reliable electronic
records.
(2) Confirmation of electronic transaction usage on both local and international levels
to be utilized in all fields such as trade, medicine, education, E-government, E-
payment and other applications.
(3) Elimination of any obstacles facing the electronic transactions and signatures.
(4) Curtailing cases of misuse and fraudulent opportunities, such as forgery of
electronic transactions and signatures.
Source: The National Centre for Digital Certification (2005)
2.6.1 Connectivity
The communication infrastructure in Saudi Arabia is controlled and operated
by the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) that is based on four main networks (Alfuraih,
2002):
students are required to attend computer training class, and there is a national exam
that includes a computer literacy component. Furthermore, all college students are
required to learn at least one computer language, JAVA is one of most popular
computer languages in Saudi Arabia. In addition, The Ministry of Labour has also
embarked on its plan to create a new information technology job and to qualify a
thousand employees.
The literacy rate in Saudi Arabia is about 79%, and is considered too high in
comparison to neighbouring countries. Furthermore, about 22% of employees in
Saudi Arabia have higher education certificates and about 19 thousand are holders of
post-graduate degrees. The well-educated and trained employees gave Saudi Arabia
an advantage of being ready to establish an E-commerce environment.
enforcement, ubiquitous cryptography, and contractual issues are all unsettled in the
growing E-commerce industry." These involve governments regulating E-commerce.
There are three issues which ought to be considered from a legal point of view: data
protection, computer crime, and copyright protection (Caelli, Longley, & Shain, 1989).
Data protection deals with an organization's legal responsibilities regarding the
storing and processing of personal data. Computer crime concentrates on illegal
computer use, implying the direct participation of computers in a crime. Copyright
protection focuses on ownership of intellectual assets, payment for use, and restricting
copying these materials (Caelli, Longley, & Shain, 1989).
2.9 Logistics
Saudi Post, UPS, Aramex, and DHL are the four authorised important logistics
in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Post handles and delivers goods and letters to any point in the
World. Recently, they established a new service with a new management to provide a
good service. UPS is a provider of express package delivery, freight forwarding,
Although Saudi Arabia is a big country and covering a large area of the
Arabian Peninsula, I believe that E-commerce will be helpful to decentralization and
removing any geographical distances between companies and their consumers.
Beside the successful online services which most Saudi Banks offer for their
clients, many large and leading Saudi companies in the oil, petroleum gas, and
Online
services
link
are thus issued within 24 hours. This service is presently used worldwide.
2.11 Experience of E-commerce and E-government in the Middle
East countries: the example of the United Arab Emirates
2.11.1 Background
Nevertheless, sales and incomes are exempt from any type of taxation.
Companies can also get land on rent of up to fifty years and build their own offices.
Sun Microsystems supplied the server platforms, cabling, and other related active
components. Furthermore, Siemens was the project integrator. Dubai Internet City is
the biggest information building in the Middle East region, and has the largest
generation Internet protocol telephony system in the world. Oracle, Microsoft and HP
have already identified their long-term objectives.
2.11.2 Infrastructure
2.11.2.1 Telecommunications Access
access which is mainly managed by the Dubai government. This company is capable
of building an E-commerce environment. However, telephone services are high
quality and are accessible by realistic cost. It offers data services such as Electronic
Mail Network, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN); and the Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), as well as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
Etisalat is the only Internet service provider (ISP) which provides a number of
services such as leased lines and web hosting services (E-govUAE 2006).
Most UAE banks provide E-banking services for their clients. The Emirates
Bank International (EBI), which is 80% government owned, is the first bank in UAE
that provides full E-banking services and provides a payment gateway. However,
most banks still don‟t offer an Internet payment gateway.
2.11.2.4 Logistics
of E-commerce delivery of goods and services. On the other hand, the Department of
Post and Customs in Dubai has moved from a paper-based institution to computer
based. “E-Mirsal” is a web-based application that has been introduced at the
Department of Post and Customs. “E-Mirsal” contacts with the Department of Post
and Customs by air, sea and land cargo agents.
The government of Dubai has launched Internet University that offers courses
in E-commerce and some other related courses in order to build up good skills in the
computer world. This will make IT qualified people available at any level.
Furthermore, some colleges and vocational schools offer E-commerce courses in their
programme of study. Nevertheless, the IT technicians in UAE are mostly from India.
Chapter 2: References
Aarabi N., Bromideh A., (2006). The impact of e-commerce on the Iranian insurance
companies. Master thesis. Lulea University of Technology.
Adam. N. R., Dogramaci, O., Gangopdhyay, A., & Yesha, Y. (1999). Electronic
Commerce, Technical, Business, and Legal Issues. New Jersey: Prentice Hall PTR.
Cabello D. B., Ravula U. K. (2006). Public E-services toward citizens. Master thesis.
Caelli, W., Longley, D., & Shain, M. (1989). Information Security for Managers. New
York: Macmillan.
Capurro, R. (2000). Ethical challenges of the information society in the 21st century.
International Information and Library Review. Retrieved July 10, 2006, from
http://www.capurro.de/EEI21.htm
Cornall, Monica J; Jolif, Nicolas; Anirnashahun. Ade H; Athwal, Gurpreet S., (2000).
“E-Actuaries,” Presented To the Staple Inn Actuarial Society. Retrieved from
http://www.sias.org.uk/papers/e-actuaries.pdf
Ghashghai, E. & Lewis R. (2002). Issues Affecting Internet Use in Afghanistan and
Developing Countries in the Middle East. RAND. Retrieved July 11, 2006, from
http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP231/
Jordan Times. (2001). Arab banks facing the challenge of online banking. 10 June.
Retrieved July 14, 2006, from http://www.jordanembassyus.org/06112001003.htm
Keniston, K. (1999). "Language, Power, and Software." MIT Program in Science,
Technology, and Society, Retrieved July 12, 2006, from
http://stuff.mit.edu/people/kken/papers1/Language%20Power%20Software.htm.
Money and Banking. (1992). Country Study & Country Guide for Saudi Arabia.
(December).
The World Bank. (2000). Poverty in Age of Globalization. Retrieved July 16, 2006,
from
http://www1.worldbank.org/econmipolicy/globalization/docuuments/povertyglobaliza
tion.pdf
Tokuro. Matsuo, (2003). ''A Study on Electronic Commerce Support Systems Based
On Users' Preferences", Msc. Dissertation, the Japan Advanced Institute Of Science
and Technology
U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council. (2002). the Saudi Arabian Economy. Retrieved
July 8, 2006, from http://www.us-saudi-business.org/015-052_Chapter%202.pdf
Yang, Z. (2001). Measuring e-service quality and its linkage to customer loyalty.
Ph.D. Dissertation. New Mexico State University, December 2001.
Yusuf, S. (2001). Globalization and the Challenge for Developing Countries, World
Bank, DECRG, June 2001. Retrieved July 7, 2006, from
http://econ.worldbank.org/files/221/0_wps2618.pdf.
RESEARCH METHODOLGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter deals with the methodology planned for the existing study. Through this
chapter, I summarize the methodology to be used in this research and the hypothetical
basis behind the approaches and their definitions for the understanding of the readers.
It begins with the intention of applying research methodology in this study, followed
by the associated methods and techniques used for the gathering data. The
methodology chapter includes discussion research design and approach, research
strategy, research design, and finally reliability and validity.
of this research was to gather the answers from small sample of middle class family in
Saudi Arabia, I have essentially chosen questioner as a research strategy.
In general, there are two types of data used in researches. At first, primary data
which is known as data that is collected for a particular study, mainly in response to
an exacting problem, for the first time. While secondary data is the data that already
exists, like literature review, which has been earlier assembled for some studies
(Aarabi N., Bromideh A., 2006). In my point of view, the most common method of
collecting primary data is during both methods surveys and literature review.
However, this research used both methods to gather primary data.
3.5 Reliability
Reliability means whether the research tools which are the questionnaire are
unbiased in their outcome, and be able to evaluate the similar result when used on the
occasions and applied on the similar issue of object. Moreover, a good quality level of
reliability means that the research tools present the same data time after time on each
occasion that it is used. As we know, this dissertation started with an extensive
literature review. The literature review came across several relevant articles was from
several authors doing a research in E-commerce issues, which meant that I covered
the area of E-commerce surroundings. This would recommend that bias, by looking
only one writer and reading only about one subject, be held at a minimum level.
4.6 Validity
The validity feature revolves around how good the questionnaire is capable to
calculate what it is intended to calculate. It is significant that the validity is good
quality, because if the study does not measure what it is supposed to measure, the
results are useless. Focusing on the content of the questions was done to improve the
validity. Each question and its relevant items were subject to examination in sequence
to observe if it was necessary to ask it. As the length of the questioner was important,
I had to prioritize the questions. In sequence to present the respondent with an easy
start, I put questions of general nature at first. These questions explain the
respondents' position, such as background information, which they simply could
answer. Following to this beginning I asked about their views about E-commerce
implementation in their country.
Chapter 3: References
rd
Yin, Robert, K., (2003). “Case Study Research: Design and Methods,” 3 edition,
Thousands Oaks California: Sage Publications.
DATA PRESENTATION
4.1 Introduction
The main spotlight of this chapter is on data presentation, data analysis and results of
the questionnaire about the major obstacles of adoption of E-commerce in Saudi
Arabia. The structure of the current chapter will be based on the sequential order of
the questionnaire in order to present the data at hand and provide the results of the
questionnaire. This chapter includes the answers to all questions cited in the
questionnaire. I will follow the structure of the questionnaire and I will present each
part separately in different sections. Tables and figures will be used to make data
easy to understand and better to compare.
30%
25% Under 18
18-25
20%
26-35
15% 36-50
10% Over 50
5%
0%
Postgraduate
17% Pre secondary Pre secondary
25% Secondary
University
University Secondary
8% Postgraduate
50%
Very Much
Much
So-so
Low
Very Low
Very Much
Much
So-so
Low
Very Low
According to Table 4.1, the respondents' are generally well equipped with
hardware and software. Internet access seems to be a threat for 42 % of respondents to
be equipped for E-commerce. Respondents are remarkably well equipped with
information technology skills.
On the other hand, by answering questions seven and eight, about 52% of
participates believe that Western vendors such as Tesco, Pc-World and Amazon are
more trustworthy, while 30% have no special preference for any particular vendors.
Just 25% preferred using an English language web site.
Service availability twenty fours hours a day / seven days a week and
promotion enhancement with lower costs are the most important benefits from E-
commerce implementation in Saudi Arabia from the respondents' point of view.
Nevertheless, all of the respondents' answers for the benefits of E-commerce
implementation in Saudi Arabia are given in Table 4.3, which makes the comparison
of attitudes toward these benefits between the questionnaire respondents' easier.
Perceived Benefits Very much Much So-so Low Very low
Promotion enhancement with 25% 67% 8% 0% 0%
lower cost
Increase of sales volume 8% 50% 42% 0% 0%
More transparency and speed of 17% 42% 33% 8% 0%
claims management
Service available 24 hours a day / 58% 42% 0% 0% 0%
7 days a week
Job enhancement and high 17% 42% 42% 0% 0%
efficiency
Table 4.3: perceived benefits of E-commerce implementation in Saudi Arabia
At the end of this questionnaire, the last question was intended to summarize
the respondents‟ overall attitudes toward the implementation of E-commerce in their
society. In other words, with respect to all questions cited in this questionnaire, to
what degree their society is ready to implement E-commerce. The question was stated
as: overall, to what extent is your society ready to embrace E-commerce? The
respondent‟s responses to this question are shown in Figure 4.7.
Very Much
Much
So-so
Low
Very Low
The graph shows that about 59% of the respondents believed that their society
is “very much” and “much” ready to embrace E-commerce with no participant‟s
feeling that their society is not ready to embrace E-commerce.
DATA ANALYSIS
5.1 Introduction
In the previous chapter, the data collected in this research was presented. Thus, in
order to complete the data analysis, this chapter is devoted to analysis and
interpretation of the quantitative data collected by the questioner in this study. In
order to solve the research problem and answer the research question, in this chapter
analyses are structured on the basis of the research question that guide us to explain
the study problem. Therefore, I have structured this chapter in six sections. This
chapter begins with a review of the research question and research problem. The
second section is devoted to the analysis of the second questionnaire part labelled
"attitudes and views to E-commerce in general”. The analysis and answers to the
third questioner question about infrastructure requirements will be presented in the
third section. Major obstacles and barriers ahead in implementation of E-commerce
in Saudi Arabia, which is the fourth part, will be additionally analyzed in the fourth
section. Finally, the last section concerns the analysis of the fifth part concerned with
the supposed benefits required from implementation of E-commerce in Saudi Arabia.
With respect to the intention of this research and the research question, in the
following sections I aim to analyze and interpret the data presented in chapter four to
answer the research question. Analysing and interpreting the data and discussing the
literature review enable me to draw conclusions.
At the end of this part is the role of E-commerce in general. In reality, what
they believe regarding the position of E-commerce in the respondents' point of view.
Is it an opportunity, a challenge, a threat or are respondents ambiguous? Figure 4.5 in
chapter 4 affords the summing up of the participants‟ views. About 33 percent of the
participants think that E-commerce is an opportunity for their society, 25 percent of
them look at E-commerce as a threat for their society, and 17 percent find it a
Therefore, analyzing the related data for the second part, I can conclude that
Saudi society have optimistic attitudes and views towards the concept of E-commerce.
Moreover, they are well up to date and acquainted with E-commerce. Beside that,
they find that E-commerce will affect their society. While over one-third believed it is
an opportunity for their society if they embrace E-commerce implementation.
To attain the purpose of this part, I have tried to illuminate the items cited
above from the respondents' opinion and what they accurately think about them. By
looking at the information which was provided in section 4.4 in chapter 4, it indicates
that the participants are well equipped with hardware and software. Overall, just about
8 percent of the respondents feel that they are low and very low in hardware and
software infrastructures.
percent of the respondents show that they are well skilled in information technology,
in general. Almost 33 percent of the respondents are concerned about the lack of
information technology skills.
The fourth part in this study looks at the major obstacles and barriers which
may delay the Saudi society in embracing E-commerce. In particular to answer this
question: to what degree will each item delay deployment of E-commerce in your
society? I needed to recognize the barriers and so, requested the respondents to decide
to what degree these barriers will delay deployment of E-commerce in their society?
Based on the literature review and introductory study to investigate a full list of
possible obstacles and barriers to E-commerce implementation, a list of twelve major
obstacles were decided:
Lagging of telecommunications technology
Lack of appropriate legislation and regulation
Security and privacy reservations
Internet access cost
Logistics
Low intention to buy online and inflexible resistance to change
Non-conformity of current products and services to online offers
Traditional attitudes and views about the companies and the movement
of Globalization
Scarcity of IT staff
English Language problems
Lack of IT skills
Too complicated to evaluate products and services online
A review of the information provided in part 4.5 in chapter four indicates that
lagging of telecommunications technology to facilitate E-commerce is the most
important issue which will delay Saudi society to embrace E-commerce. Nearly all of
the respondents believe that lagging of telecommunications technology is hindering
E-commerce deployment in Saudi Arabia. The second highest mean value is "lack of
Almost all of the respondents are concerned about security and privacy
reservations. In addition, over three-quarters of respondents are suffering from
problems with logistics services and thus, this is the fourth major obstacle in the
respondents' opinion. Non-conformity of current products and services to online
offers are the next major obstacles which are highly expressed by about 66 percent of
the respondents. In contrast, about half of the respondents have found that low
intention to buy online and inflexible resistance to change and adapt with the culture
needed for E-commerce implementation are other major impediments which can
disadvantage E-commerce deployment.
Even though most of the new generation in Saudi Arabia know the English
language they still prefer Arabic web sites. Almost two-thirds of the respondents
chose an Arabic web site interface and about 8 percent of the respondents do not have
any problem using dual language web sites. Western vendors such as Tesco, Wall
Mart, PC-World and Amazon are becoming more trusted than Arabic vendors by 58
percent of the respondents.
To sum up, the majority of the respondents consider that these twelve major
barriers will delay E-commerce implementation. They have the same opinion on most
of them although the intensity of agreement is somewhat different.
The fifth part of this research concerns perceived benefits wanted from
implementation of E-commerce. This question was asked: in the case of
implementation of E-commerce, how many benefits will you and your society obtain?
To obtain an answer to this question, I have selected the top five benefits of E-
commerce. These are listed below:
Promotion enhancement with lower costs
Increase in sale volume
More transparency and speed of claims management
Service available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week
Job enhancement and higher efficiency
Overall, almost all respondents think that in the case of E-commerce use, they
will enjoy the availability of services 24 hours a day / seven days a week. Thus it is
regarded as the most significant benefit sought from E-commerce, and is among the
top benefits. The next most significant benefit according to the respondents‟ point of
view is promotion enhancement with lower costs. Almost 92 percent of the
respondents state that it is a very essential benefit for them in the case of E-commerce
implementation. Conversely, as few as 8 percent of the respondents believe it is less
important to them and should be considered as the second most important benefit.
Almost 59 percent of the respondents declare that job enhancement and high
efficiency would be another benefit for their society if they embrace E-commerce by
choosing “very much” and “much”. On the other hand, just 42 percent of the
respondents are in doubt that E-commerce would cause optimistic results for job
In brief, the majority of respondents have the same strong opinion on these
five top benefits. Indeed, in the case E-commerce implementation, Saudi society will
acquire the advantage of all the benefits. As a result, these five top benefits can be
sorted below according to the respondents' highest agreement from the highest
perceived benefits to the lowest benefits:
Service available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week
Promotion enhancement with lower costs
Job enhancement and higher efficiency
More transparency and speed of claims management
Increase in sale volume
In the previous chapter I analyzed the data collected by questionnaire in this study. In
this chapter, I will present the conclusions drawn from the analysis achieved in this
research. Findings will initially be presented in a general discussion, dealing with the
areas of the most barriers to implement E-commerce. However, in this final chapter,
general conclusions will be drawn. Finally, at the end of this chapter I will also give
some further recommendations for future research.
innovative player and the most important driving force towards building E-commerce.
Overall, the modalities of technical application to business activities are more
powerfully determined by the market than by government. Nevertheless, an E-
commerce strategy that combines public intervention with private sector enterprise in
a commonly encouraging way is the simple practical one. The following
recommendations should cover the most important factors of E-commerce
implementation:
1. Government regulation
Regulation should intend to present legal security and technological and
commercial neutrality in addition to removing obstacles to using E-commerce and E-
government services. Some regulations which must be valid include:
Certifying that online transactions are legally valid.
Performing legislation to make sure that electronic signatures can be used with
legal effect.
Enacting legislation relating to computer crime.
For high-quality preparation of E-commerce, making guidelines and codes of
conduct is very important.
Making compulsory, intellectual property rights, copyright policy and patented
ideas.
Enacting regulations in the field of information protection and privacy.
A high priority for Saudi Arabia is to ensure that their citizens have access to
the Internet at a reasonable cost. That means that the Saudi Government, in
collaboration with other stakeholders must:
The limitation of this research and its findings should be noted with a view to
extending the present study. This section includes some recommendations for
prospect study related to research method and hypothesis in addition to empirical
concerns. I hope that these suggestions will persuade others to carry out researches in
order to precede knowledge of the barriers facing E-commerce implementation in
Saudi Arabia. As well as probably confirm, improve the dispute made in this study.
As stated in the pervious chapters, a few of the Saudi companies have actually
implemented E-commerce, thus far. Some companies have been established semi-
online by offering their consumer to fill in their information and even order their
services and products and then they have to pay to their bank account or possibly they
will pay in cash when they obtain the offers. Nevertheless, most of the Saudi‟ banks
are preparation to start their E-business which means that they might be facilitate
other sectors in money payment and transactions. Hence, it is strongly suggested to do
research in the case of online banking, to evaluate this forthcoming study with a real
one following E-commerce implementation.
The next suggestion is to extend of this dissertation. In this study I have focus
on E-commerce in general and I did not consider in particular issues such as B2B and
B2C and the challenges facing them, as well as their impact in Saudi culture and
market. Prospect studies could make several extensions of the existing study and also
study the roles and effects of E-commerce in Saudi Arabia. It is highly recommended
to conduct another study with qualitatively research rather than focusing on a
quantitative research to investigate extremely on each item mentioned in this study,
and explore the unknown sides of this research.
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Appendix A
Dear Sir/Madam
I would very much appreciate if you could help me by completing this short
questionnaire. Please note that this research is purely for academic purposes. Your
responses are also confidential as no information that identifies you is asked in this
questionnaire.
Kind Regards!
A) Gender
Male Female
B) Age
Under 18, 18 to 25, 26 to 35 36 to 50, Over 50
C) Education Level
Pre secondary Secondary University Postgraduate
Others, please specify it ………………………..
Yes Sometimes No
If No go to question 2,
In average, how many hours you spend on the Internet every week?
No special preference
8) Depending on the language used, what are the most preferred web sites?