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Internet Commerce Adoption in the GCC Countries

Internet Commerce Adoption in the GCC Countries
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Author(s): Zeinab Karake Shalhoub (American University of Sharjah (AUS), UAE)
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 4
Source title: Managing Worldwide Operations and Communications with Information Technology
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-929-8.ch416
ISBN13: 9781599049298
EISBN13: 9781466665378

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the status of Internet and e-commerce adoption by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The research is designed to help local governments and the corporate sector formulate more effective strategies and make efficient resource allocation decisions. Surveying 189 companies’ Web sites, the study uses the three-level model of Internet commerce adoption (MICA) to assess Internet adoption rates for firms in the various industries and shows variability in adoption rates among the different industries in the region. Many industries are lagging with the adoption of the Internet indicating a need for education and training. According to Burgess, Cooper and Alcock (2001), the central tenet of the MICA model is that in developing commercial web sites, organizations start with the establishment of a simple presence on the web and these sites get more functionally complex as the expertise of these organizations in the use of Internet technology increases and they incorporate more modules to these sites.

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