Factors Contribute To Slow Internet Adoption in Omani Private Sector Organizations

Khamis Al-Gharbi and Rafi Ashrafi

Department of Information Systems, College of Commerce & Economics, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Copyright © 2010 Khamis Al-Gharbi and Rafi Ashrafi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License unported 3.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that original work is properly cited

Abstract

The study explores the reasons for the slow adoption of Internet technologies in Omani private sector organizations. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 60 private Omani organizations. One of the main factors for not adopting internet technologies was that internet is not relevant to their business. An insufficient level of demand for purchasing through Internet, lack of availability of skilled employees and security concerns were cited as the main factors for not adopting Internet in Omani organizations. The study also reveals that negative attitudes of business decision makers about the use and benefits of internet maybe a major obstacle in adopting Internet in their businesses. Furthermore there is no correlation between the organization size and the adoption of the Internet. In addition to that, Omani businesses prefer face to face interaction with their customers.

Keywords: Internet, Adoption, Oman
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