The design and procedures of the preliminary (Quantitative study)

This research was carried out in two stages. The first stage used survey questionnaire to explore the current status of e-Umrah acceptance and adoption of electronic services among Umrah companies. Built on the findings of the preliminary study, the second stage considered to be the primary study used interviews to investigate Umrah companies and examined relevant documentation to understand e-Umrah system infrastructure and the influence of infrastructure on the e-Umrah system and the delivered services.

- Purpose of the preliminary study

The purpose of the preliminary (quantitative) study was to investigate the level of adoption of electronic services among Umrah companies in Saudi Arabia and to study the ways in which e-government services improves and enhances transactions between the government and private sectors. In addition, the improvements in their relationship with the government through the electronic services were also examined. The outcome of the preliminary study research was one of the causes which helped identify the current gaps in the government’s electronic services to the private sectors.

- The design of the Survey

In order to understand the level of adoption and satisfaction of these Umrah companies with the e-government services, the survey was designed according to Kumar et al.’s (2007) framework. (Figure 4.1) The framework consists of five factors (1) User Characteristics, (2) Website Design, (3) Service Quality, (4) Satisfaction, and (5) e-government Adoption.

1) The User Characteristics factor investigated the level of risk, control, internet experience and IT knowledge, and businesses adoption and satisfaction toward electronic services. It also included the level of electronic or online service delivery, internet usage, online engagement, technological level, employees’ skills, etc. This factor at the end gave an overview of how dedicated the companies are to the online/electronic services.

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2) Web Design investigated the design of the service provider’s website.

The author had adopted two constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to investigate service providers’ websites which are: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. These two constructs were selected because of the association between the web design and e-government adoption factors. The more the web design is useful and easy to use, the more the e-government adoption will take place among businesses.

3) The service quality factor was part of the framework because it investigated the tangibility and reliability of electronic services provided by the government. The study had adopted this factor to investigate the quality of services provided by the government to businesses.

4) Satisfaction was an important factor because it determined how satisfied the businesses are with the service providers. It was, in a way, a measure of their level of performance because it follows that if the businesses are satisfied then the service providers have done a good job.

5) The e-government adoption factor was used in this study to determine the intention and dedication of the businesses to the e-government. As such, the factor was hoped to determine what was currently being done by the service providers and also by the businesses in relation to e-government services.

Moreover, this factor was considered a key factor to identify the potentials of Umrah companies in supporting e-government movement and also to assess the level of adoption among companies toward e-government adoption in Saudi Arabia. Finally, the e-government adoption factor was found to be essential and helped identify the future challenges and intentions of Umrah companies toward the implementation of e-government services in Saudi Arabia.

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Figure 4.1: e-Government conceptual framework (Source: Kumar et al (2007:68))

The survey generally included direct response type questions where the respondents indicated some information related to their company and employees. It also consisted of a combination of both multiple choices and yes/no questions to determine the issues related to e-government services. The likert scale type of questions was also added to identify the level of agreement or disagreement to particular statements. It also ranked the level of satisfaction on a particular item to determine how satisfied the businesses are with e-government services. At the end of the survey, two open ended questions were added to determine the intention and dedication of businesses to e-government adoption. As such, the questionnaire has determined what is currently being done by the government and service providers and also by the businesses in relation to e-government services.

The reason for choosing this conceptual framework was because it had a diversity of factors which rooted from other models such as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), ServQual Model, in addition to other factors proposed by the author due to their importance in the field of e-government.

One more reason was because this framework was dedicated to investigate government to business. This is because the framework combined technological and business perspectives which were believed to serve the

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investigation of this research to understand the level of adoption and satisfaction with e-government services provided to business sector.

- Research setting and sample size

The research setting targeted the western region of Saudi Arabia specifically in three major cities: Jeddah, Makkah, and Madinah. This is because the western region is the targeted location for Umrah activities, therefore all Umrah companies and service providers’ headquarters offices which link these Umrah companies with electronic services are found there. The list of the Umrah companies operating in the region was published by the Ministry of Hajj. The list contains 45 companies and their details such as companies authorisations’

numbers, addresses, and all their contact numbers. Out of these 45 companies 27 operate in Jeddah, 13 operate in Mecca, and 5 operate in Madinah. The researcher obtained this data after visiting the Ministry of Hajj and gained the approval from the deputy Minister for Umrah sector to conduct this research study in the Umrah field. All 45 companies were contacted and invited to participate in this study. 43 out of 45 companies were willing to take part in the study and the survey was subsequently sent to them; while 2 companies did not wish to participate.

All Umrah companies’ owners/managers were invited to take part in this research project. The researcher then visited the Umrah companies’

owners/managers to introduce himself and provide a brief introduction about the research including its purpose, aims, objectives and expected outcomes. The reason for selecting owners and managers is because they are the decision makers and responsible in approving this research to be carried out in their companies by either accepting or declining to participate. After the research was briefly explained, an information sheet was given to them and they were encouraged to take time to read the information sheet carefully. They were also advised to contact the researcher if there should be any enquiries or clarifications needed. Following that, they were given the choice of either participating or not participating in the study.

118 - Research distribution

The 43 companies which agreed to participate in the project were informed about the duration of the data collection for the preliminary study of this research project which was during the month of June, 2010 and lasts for four weeks. They were also notified that the questionnaire will be distributed to them in their companies (one questionnaire per company) and will be collected either on the same day or the day after. It was explained to all participants that they should take their time to answer all questions clearly and accurately. The participants were ensured that no expected risks and disadvantages would be involved by taking part in filling the questionnaire.

Consequentially, the chosen conceptual framework helped in organising the data collection and analysis of this research and the analysis of the questionnaire focused on using descriptive statistics such as frequencies. The findings of the preliminary study was important since it revealed that the private sector is fully satisfied in dealing with government electronically therefore the preliminary study informed the main case study (primary/qualitative study) to focus more not on the electronic services delivered by the government but the base of the e-Umrah system which is through investigating deeply the e-Umrah system’s infrastructure.