Urban Management
sharifeh sargolzaei; mahmoud mohamdi; Reza Mokhtari. M.A.; Gholam Reza Shiran
Abstract
HighlightsThe paper considers organizational level and managers' viewpoint in investigating technology acceptance model.This paper proposed a citizen-based conceptual model on e-government acceptance for developing countries.The results of this research explore new constructs effecting decision about ...
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HighlightsThe paper considers organizational level and managers' viewpoint in investigating technology acceptance model.This paper proposed a citizen-based conceptual model on e-government acceptance for developing countries.The results of this research explore new constructs effecting decision about technology acceptance. Introduction Following the introduction of the concept of smart city, a wide range of organizations have sought to develop the application of new technologies in urban management and planning. Numerous research projects have been conducted to identify the aspects of acceptance and application of technology. However, very few have studied technology acceptance at an organizational level. Among the research projects focused on effective factors in technology acceptance at an organizational level, very few have been concerned with the effective aspects of technology acceptance in non-governmental organizations in developing countries. Therefore, such aspects have not been identified precisely for the municipality as a non-governmental organization in Iran. This can make it difficult to apply technology in the municipality or even cause such efforts to fail. Therefore, it seems necessary to conduct a comprehensive study in the area.Theoretical FrameworkThe review of the literature reveals that technology acceptance has been proposed in various fields such as many areas of human behavior. The most important theories in the area of technology acceptance include the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), with over 67300 citations, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (Venkatesh et al., 2003), with over 23870 citations, the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), with over 52450 citations, the diffusion of innovations theory (Rogers, 1983), with over 100700 citations, and the technology acceptance model (Davis, 1989), with over 43980 citations in Google Scholar. Each of these theories represents a number of constructs that are important in the measurement of user intention about technology acceptance.Two research categories are identified here: studies on technology acceptance at the micro level, such as those focused on private organizations, and studies on technology acceptance at the macro level, such as those concerning e-governments or public organizations. The latter group investigate citizens’ acceptance of e-governments regardless of the organizational level and managers’ viewpoints. Based on the above theories, this group of studies seek to specify e-government acceptance by modeling user behavior. This paper proposed a citizen-based conceptual model of e-government acceptance for developing countries, seeking to identify the effectiveness of constructs on technology acceptance in a public organization, namely Isfahan Municipality.MethodologyThe objective of this research was to identify the factors effective on technology acceptance in the Isfahan municipality as a non-governmental organization. Given the subject of the research and the population, the grounded theory was used, which is one of the most efficient choices in qualitative research. For this purpose, a semi-structured questionnaire was designed based on the review of the literature and used for interviewing managers and senior experts in the Isfahan municipality. The grounded theory was extracted directly from data collected systematically during the research process and analyzed. In this method, the collected and analyzed data and the final theory are closely interrelated. Moreover, the analysis involves a confrontation between the researcher’s mind and the data. The purpose of this analytical method is to organize the data in specific categories based on their characteristics and dimensions and then to describe each of the categories. The results of the interviews were recorded as textual data using the Atlas.ti software, and were analyzed using the method of finite element analysis. Coding methods were employed to identify the effective categories and dimensions and their interrelations. Results and DiscussionThe context in which a technology is to be used, including the social, cultural, and political characteristics of the society, has an important role in the extent to which the technology gains acceptance. Another effective factor is the cooperation and participation of organizations and their ways of thinking and performance in that regard. It should be noted that these dimensions have indirect as well as direct effects on decision-making for technology acceptance, applied through moderating constructs. The results of this study demonstrated that 23 categories were effective on technology acceptance in the Isfahan municipality, which could be classified further into eight major groups. These include the background, causative, technical, encouraging, deterrent, moderating, decision-making, and consequential categories.The findings also indicated that the constructs proposed in this research were significantly different from those introduced in previous research. This could be due to two fundamental differences between this study and previous ones. Firstly, the present research examined the constructs of technology acceptance at the level of the organization, which involved different dimensions from those concerning the acceptance of technology at an individual level. Secondly, there were fundamental differences between the areas in which the data were compiled in the sample tests. In other words, this research was conducted in the context of the technical, cultural, political, economic, and social infrastructures of developing countries, leading to different user attitudes and views from those concerning developed countries. ConclusionThis paper aimed to generate a conceptual model to increase urban service technology acceptance in organizations by modeling the constructs affecting managers and experts in the municipality. It clarified the relationships among these constructs. Identification of these constructs and their relationships can be useful in the attempts to correct the process of technology acceptance in organizations, especially public ones. The results of this study are particularly important to managers, urban planners, and researchers studying technology acceptance with a smart city approach. The findings can facilitate the process of developing smart cities with a focus on municipalities. Moreover, the constructs presented in this research can be tested using quantitative methods in future research projects.AcknowledgmentThis article was extracted from a PhD thesis on urban planning entitled A Novel Framework for Urban Service Technology Adoption According to the Smart City Approach: Case Study of the Urban Service Technology in the Isfahan Municipality, defended by the first author under supervision of the second and third authors in the Art University of Isfahan.
Urban Planning
sh s; Samad Ebrahimzadeh Sepasgozar
Volume 6, Issue 22 , May 2017, , Pages 27-42
Abstract
Understanding individual acceptance and technology application is one of the most mature streams of technology adoption research. There have been several theoretical models, primarily developed from theories in psychology and sociology, employed to explain technology acceptance and use. The advancement ...
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Understanding individual acceptance and technology application is one of the most mature streams of technology adoption research. There have been several theoretical models, primarily developed from theories in psychology and sociology, employed to explain technology acceptance and use. The advancement and availability of digital technologies may facilitate the implementation of smart cities and e-government systems. Many policy makers tend to enhance the smart city performance in their countries, while there is not deep understanding of key factors and barriers to adopting required technologies by users. Digital technologies such as laser sensors for collecting data from urban environments, web-based versions of Geographic Information Systems, positioning systems and smartphones may help to collect and process more accurate data. There is a considerable amount of studies focusing on the introduction and development of the above-mentioned technologies, but current literature does not provide a deep understanding of the technology adoption process in developing countries. Furthermore, the process of technology adoption has not been investigated in the field of urban planning and management. Current studies in e-government are not fully focused on the local city council e-services. The present study aims to develop the Urban Technology Adoption Model consisting of such key constructs as Low Quality Services, Cost Reduction, Energy Saving, and Time Saving. This paper intensively reviews the literature and identifies nine key constructs to use for modeling the adoption process. The constructs are identified from different domains such as technology acceptance in information systems, project management and sustainable technologies. However, the concept of technology acceptance is used in the smart city context. A survey-based method was used to test the proposed model using the Structural Equation Modeling method. The proposed model was first modified based on a sample of 110 participants in a selected major city (MC1). The modified model was validated based on the data collected from four more major cities (MC2 to MC5). The analysis shows that five constructs are critical for predicting the participants’ adoption behavior including Self-Efficacy, Operation, Work Facilitation, Relative Advantage and Compatibility. These factors were the top priorities of MCs’ users. Low priority factors as determined by the participants included such constructs as Low Quality of Services, Perceived Security and Energy Saving. This model is a valuable tool to predict the process of technology adoption at the level of local government in the field of urban e-services and management. The results of the present study are important in preventing any unsuccessful technology implementation at local level. The findings are also critical for urban planners and technology managers in developing countries since they are the main target of modern technologies. The presented model in this paper should be modified for different contexts as a future research agenda. In addition, a decision-making framework should be developed in the future based on an exploratory study recruiting participants from the management level.
