THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON ...

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-2990 Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2014, pp. 32-50 Copyright© 2013, IJSSHR Publication homepages: http://ijsshrjournal.com/

THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY IN NONGOVERNEMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN YEMEN Murad Mohammed Al-Nashmi1*, Redhwan Ali Amer2 [1] University of Science and Technology, [email protected] [2] University of Science and Technology, [email protected] *Corresponding author‟s E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT The nongovernmental sector plays a vital role in supporting the economic development of a country. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of IT adoption on the employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. It focuses on the relative importance of information technology adoption factors grouped in the three variables of IT adoption and to ascertain the levels of employee productivity experienced among staff working in nongovernmental organizations in Sana'a, Yemen. For the purpose of this study convenience sampling design was used to assess employee productivity. The sample group (N =138) consisted of staff, managers and IT officers working in nongovernmental organizations. A questionnaire was designed to gather the data. Questionnaire data was collected from 4 nongovernmental organizations located in Hadda area in Sana‟a, Republic of Yemen. It measures employee productivity on three IT adoption factors, namely, IT infrastructure, IT innovation and IT knowledge management. Results indicate that staff in nongovernmental organizations showed high employee productivity through three variables: IT infrastructure, IT innovation and IT knowledge management related to IT adoption. Also results show that moderate positive employee productivity is achieved through other three variables of IT adoption: IT infrastructure, IT innovation and IT knowledge management. Finally, results show that the IT knowledge management is the variable which has the most impact on the employee productivity. Keywords: Employee productivity, IT adoption, IT infrastructure, IT innovation and IT knowledge management.

Al-Nashmi and Ali Amer. (2014). International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 32-50.

1. Introduction This paper reports on research that was conducted in the Republic of Yemen to examine the effect of the Information Technology adoption on the employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. Initial investigation reveals that the limited number of researches conducted in the field of employee productivity in developing countries including this study will contribute in enriching the knowledge and exchange experiences about employee productivity specially the effect of the Information technology adoption on the employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations sector in Yemen. The adoption of Information Technology is important to the successful operations of organizations. As we all know that the Information Technology now is one of the major factors which contribute to improve the employee productivity and the organizational performance at organizations level. As the improvement of the productivity is a major concern for organizations, the introduction of a new technology is used as a tool to achieve that purpose, which faces many challenges and obstacles, so is the case with IT adoption in non-governmental organizations. A number of factors contribute to facilitate the diffusion of IT, in both developing and developed countries and this is particularly true for nongovernmental organizations. 2. Literature Review Productivity in Yemen The annual average of Gross Domestic Product par employee in Yemen increased from 1.8% in 1995 up to 9.6 % in 2004 as published on the report of the Labor World Productivity (Maddison , 2003). Statistics published by the ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Yemen (Millennium Report, 2011) indicated that the indicators of workforce during the period from 2003 to 2005 stated that the workforce aged from 15 up to 64 years old is increasing from 9.2 to 9.8 million and the average of the annual growth of the population is about 3.3 percent and only 4.2 millions are really working while 5.6 millions are jobless. According to the report issued by the Yemeni Central Statistical Organization (1999), the work force of 3,100,000 which represent 58 percent are involved in agriculture, 10.9 percent are involved in trading and vehicle maintenance and 9.9 percent are the government sector social security, employees and army. The World Bank report of 2008 stated that Yemen has a workforce that can be well invested as human resource. The governmental expenses for education is about 5.8 percent of GDP during the period 1995-2003. Agriculture contributes 17 percent of GDP, and this proportion is declining. Livestock is estimated to contribute about 20 percent of agricultural GDP. Foreign exchange to pay for imports comes from oil revenue. However, since 1998 the government lifted subsidies on several food commodities including grain and flour, since then consumers pay the full cost of all food but in local currency. Overall food self-sufficiency is about 60 percent. The sector grew rapidly in the nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties, driven by investment, market expansion and promotional policies.


IT infrastructure in Yemen: Information technology (IT) and the ability to effectively use it is a critical element in obtaining wealth, power and knowledge at the dawn of the 21st century. The Arabic world is considered as one of the least computerized and technologically underdeveloped regions in the world. This back lag makes it absolutely impossible for the Arab World to compete at an international level in manufacturing technology or providing high quality advanced services. There are many reasons for such technological backward ranging from the absence of a suitable infrastructure, to the lack of qualified persons in technology and the weak IT market. Yemen is not exception for this rule and the technological sector is suffering many obstacles in a Yemeni context. In Yemen, the infrastructure required to use computers is still weak. It has no reliable power supplies to begin with; electricity blackouts have become a routine in daily lives. The telecommunication infrastructure is also weak with most of the country having no phone lines to say the least. Most rural areas, accommodating 70% of the population, have virtually no network connectivity. This contributes to the large computer illiteracy and makes information technology inaccessible for a large part of the population. Also, in a fast-changing world, training is a necessity to keep up with the technology progress and the new developments in this area. The limited IT programs offered by Yemeni universities are very primitive and do not train good academicians and don't satisfy the market needs. Universities make no effort to recruit highly qualified instructors or researchers in computer science disciplines, and tend to link teaching computer courses on faculty members from other engineering departments. There are even students with IT bachelor degrees from Yemeni universities who get jobs as teachers in the faculties they graduated from. This poor IT training is reflected in the poor outcomes and greatly affects the transition of Yemen into a more computerized society. Another issue contributing to Yemen technological backwardness is the discouraging IT market. Most businessmen in Yemen are unaware of the importance of computerizing their systems and by how much their productivity could increase, and as a result they don‟t seem to be interested in IT products or services. As the lack of established technology providers, businesses that choose to computerize their systems will most likely search for foreigner provider. When we are not utilizing technology for an increased productivity, this affects the economy at large and responds very little for local IT demand. In a poor country like Yemen, it has to capitalize on every resource we have, and brainpower is one of its best treasures. This could only be achieved by providing a suitable infrastructure for information technology, establishing training centers and research facilities, and encouraging investment in the IT market (Al-Shara‟bi, 2007). TeleYemen is the exclusive provider of international telecommunications for Yemen—fixedline, telex, and Internet services—and is one of the mobile-phone operators. In 2003 the government-owned Public Telecommunications Corporation assumed full control of TeleYemen, and a year later it awarded a five-year management contract to France Telecom.


The cost of running a landline or owning a mobile telephone is out of reach for most of Yemen‟s poor population, resulting in very low telephone usage rates—3.9 fixed-line subscribers and 9.5 mobile subscribers per 100 persons in 2005. The U.S. government reported 968,400 landlines and 2 million mobile subscribers in Yemen in 2006. The technology used for domestic lines includes microwave radio relay, cable, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). In 2001 two private companies won 15-year licenses to provide mobile phone services. The growth of the companies‟ networks has resulted in coverage of about 60 percent of the population, but threats to internal security coupled with poor consumer payment history remain obstacles to future growth. In August 2005, the government awarded a contract to a joint venture between China Mobile and a group of Yemeni investors to take a 55 percent stake in Yemen‟s third mobile network; the government will retain a 25 percent share. In August 2006, the same conglomerate was awarded a contract for a fourth mobile network (USA Congress, 2008). According to Yemen Telecoms Market Overview and Statistics Report, Telecommunication density in Yemen is among the lowest in the Arab states, reflecting low economic development, with the provision of fixed-line services dominated by the incumbent operator. The national communications network is being modernized; an agreement with an international cable network has been concluded and broadband services have been launched. Until 2000 the incumbent also held a monopoly on the provision of mobile telephony and Internet services. There are now three competing mobile operators and mobile subscriber levels are growing rapidly, albeit from a very small base. A fourth operator is to commence services shortly as a tender for the country‟s third GSM license has been concluded. This report provides an overview on the development of Yemen‟s communications network, brief profiles of major operators as well as statistics to highlight the progress of the communications sector in Yemen. The Internet Usage Statistics published that the number of internet users in Yemen is about 3,691,000 Internet users as of June 30, 2012; which represents 14.9% of the population, according to Internet World State (Broadband, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to determine the reasons behind low employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations which is resulted by inefficient usage of IT. This study focuses on investigating and presenting findings on low employee productivity related to the adoption of technology in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen. For instance, in the organizations which are not using technology effectively, the employee productivity is not as it should be, hence affecting the organization‟s productivity in general. From the other side, some organizations are suffering a lot of expenses caused by inefficient usage of IT due to operational expenses, more employees, more overload work, and at the same time low level of employee productivity. It is also worth mentioning that employee productivity may be reinforced through IT adoption which helps in reducing expenses and saving time and money and would therefore lead to better outcomes and more productivity. The low level of employee productivity may be influenced by job dissatisfaction, job insecurity, and low job performance which all lead to low productivity of organization in general.


The implication of this paper will be critical in helping senior staff in nongovernmental organizations to assess and identify methods of improving the efficiency of IT in nongovernmental organizations. Thus, for the IT such as technology-tool, the high level of productivity is an essential determinant of technological success within nongovernmental organizations. The superior expectations of information technology investments have not always been met. This has prompted a lot of research on the effect of information technology on productivity (Brynjolfsson & Brown, 2005 et al,). In an InfoWorld article, more than half of senior information technology managers polled said they have an adequate budget to get the job done, but an increasing number of managers felt that top executives do not understand the value of information technology (Fox, 2006). Nongovernment organizations not dealing with IT are going to suffer from wasting time instead of enjoying facilities offered by IT. Nongovernmental organizations are also losing a lot of money as their staff is not efficiently using IT which reduces expenses and improves effectiveness of work leading to better performance and outcomes. Unless the problem of low productivity related to inefficient usage of IT is solved; • Growth in nongovernmental organizations will not be achievable as it should be and that will also negatively affect the economic growth in general as many countries all over the world depend basically on nongovernmental organizations to enhance their economic growth. • If the staffs‟ expectations are not fully met, the performance will be less than what is expected, which will lead to less outcomes or returns generated by nongovernmental organizations and thus decline of growth in nongovernmental organizations sector. • Abandon of IT leads nongovernmental organizations to waste a lot of expenses in terms of financial and human resources instead of investing this money on improving services and infrastructures. • Attractiveness of nongovernmental organizations sector will reduce by not responding to staffs‟ expectations, which will decrease the outcomes. The purpose of this paper therefore is to investigate the relationship between these variables (i.e. IT adoption, IT infrastructure, IT knowledge management, and IT innovation) and employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen. 3. Methodology The objective of the research is to improve employee productivity through IT adoption by finding the reasons behind low employee productivity as influenced by IT adoption in terms of IT infrastructure, IT innovation and IT knowledge management in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen. The sub-objectives of this study are to determine; i. The relationship between IT adoption and employee productivity; ii. The relationship between IT innovation and employee productivity; iii. The relationship between IT knowledge management and employee productivity;


iv. The relationship between IT infrastructure and employee productivity. Research questions: There are few studies on the relationship between employee productivity and IT adoption, yet various researches have yielded different outcomes. The purposes of this research have been addressed by answering the following questions:Research Question 1 Does IT influence employee productivity? Research Question 2 Does IT innovation influence employee productivity? Research Questions 3 Does IT knowledge management influence employee productivity? Research Questions 4 Does IT infrastructure influence employee productivity? 4. Finding Results of this research can be used by students and researchers to develop a plan and integrate a perception about employee productivity to solve problems. It may lead to understand the reasons behind low productivity clearly. This study can contribute to the body of knowledge on IT adoption and employee productivity. It is very important to research the relationship between IT adoption and employee productivity as organizations work very hard to improve employee productivity. The outcomes of this research will be very useful for organizations to evaluate various aspects of employee productivity and factors related to the adoption of IT. They can help in determining the strengths and weaknesses of nongovernmental organizations as they address employee productivity in relation to IT adoption. From a practical perspective, this study will identify some reasons behind employee low productivity, which organizations can work on to increase employee productivity, hence improve their job performance and lead to generating more benefits for profit organizations and more outcomes for non-profit organizations. So, this research will improve organization competitiveness advantage by improving employee productivity through enhancing job performance, job satisfaction, loyalty, job security, commitment and other factors related to employee productivity. When employee productivity is high, organization productivity is high as well, which leads to more income and profit and positively affects employee income and enhances job satisfaction. From a theoretical perspective, few researches focused on the impact of information technology on productivity, such as Sobhani, (2008), who used Cobb-Douglas Model to examine the impact of Information Technology investment on productivity at Telecommunication Company of Tehran. Financial and economic data were collected since 1997 up to 2007 for driving the corresponding model. The results have indicated that IT investment not only makes positive contribution to the output of Telecommunication Company of Tehran but it has also been observed that this contribution is positive after deductions for depreciation and labor expenses


have been made. Further productivity analysis exposed the positive correlations between IT, Total Factor Productivity and Labor Productivity Sobhani, (2008). The sample of the Telecommunication Company of Tehran is limited to public sector and the study is intended to fill the gap between public sector and other nongovernmental organization sector by focusing on many organizations so as to give an idea on the diversity of the impact of IT on productivity. Another research (Guenter, 2010) sheds light on the impact of information technology on productivity in developing countries. This study focuses on the digital gap in developing countries. It tests whether higher IT adoption results in higher total factor productivity (TFP) growth in developing countries or not, by conducting a panel data regression for 33 developing countries over the period 2002-2006. This study concludes that IT adoption and higher educational attainment tend to relatively be the most significant factors influencing TFP growth in developing countries. It seems that the sampling of this research is too wide to make the study applicable to most countries. 5. Scope of the research and its limitations This study focuses on customers and staff who deal with IT in the Republic of Yemen. The sample has been selected from employees in nongovernmental organizations sector, specially those located in Sana‟a Governorate. Regarding the limitations of this study, it has been conducted only in local nongovernmental organizations in private sector in Yemen. The survey conducted by the researcher focuses on IT as a technological tool in these nongovernmental organizations. This study employed a questionnaire and interviews as data-gathering instruments. The results of this study depend highly on the answers of the respondents. The study fills a gap in that there is currently no significant research addressing IT in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen which can be used by nongovernmental organizations in this country except for scanty attention paid to find the reasons behind the low productivity of nongovernmental organizations stemming from the inefficient use of IT. Very few studies and researchers examined the adoption of IT and its effects on productivity; however, a limited number of studies examined the effect of the adoption of IT on the productivity in emerging market context. This study is meant to provide guidance to staff and executives working in nongovernmental organizations sector who wish to improve the productivity of their organizations. The nongovernmental organizations can also benefit from the outcomes of this study. The researcher will use this study as a reference and starting point to understand the factors related to productivity when dealing with IT. The findings of this study should thus be of interest to senior and junior staff of nongovernmental organizations as well as researchers. Finally, this study has been carried out on nongovernmental organizations operating in Sana‟a Governorate during the year 2012. Theoretical framework The research model adopted in this study describes what should be the shape of the adoption of Information Technology. Thus, the model indicates the nature of relationship between the productivity of nongovernmental organizations and the adoption of IT. Dependent variable (problem); low productivity of nongovernmental organizations, which is a major problem arising from inefficient use of IT.


Independent variables (cause); inefficient use of IT directly causes low employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. This independent variable has many dimensions and this study will only focus on the IT innovation, IT knowledge management and IT infrastructure. 7. Hypotheses Table 1: Based on the research model, the following hypotheses have been formulated as in

Hypothesis 1: Hypothesis 2: Hypothesis 3: Hypothesis 4:

There is a significant effect of IT knowledge management on employee productivity. There is a significant effect of IT infrastructure on employee productivity. There is a significant effect of the IT innovation on employee productivity. There is a significant effect of IT adoption on employee productivity.

Description of the Research Design The research is cross-sectional in nature whereby the purpose is to describe the level of employee‟s productivity due to the information technology adoption, i.e. through information technology innovation, information technology infrastructure and information technology knowledge management. Hypothesis testing is conducted to determine the relationship between employee productivity and information technology adoption. Information has been obtained through quantitative survey research. The aim has been to answer the research questions stated earlier in the research (Chapter I). Data were also gathered from a report on the use of information technology in Yemen (USA Congress, 2008). The instrument used is a survey inspired from other surveys designed by researches on close topics, namely productivity surveys. It consists of 40 close-ended questions. Questions in Section A pertaining to information technology adoption are inspired from “Information Technology‟s Influence on Productivity” by Jason Smith, (2008). Regarding questions in Section B regarding information technology infrastructure are from “A Modular Systems Perspective of IT Infrastructure Design and Productivity” by Pratim Datta, (2003). Questions in Section C related to information technology innovation are inspired from “Information Technology Innovation Adoption” by Byron Kurt Wallace (2012). Questions in Section D regarding IT knowledge management are inspired from “Knowledge Management and Employee Productivity” )) by Christina Michelle Gomez, (2007) as well as from “A Modular Systems Perspective of IT Infrastructure Design and Productivity” by Pratim Datta, (2003). Finally, questions in Section E related to employee productivity are inspired from “Information Technology‟s Influence on Productivity by Jason Smith (2008). 9. Components and details of the instrument: The questionnaire consists of 2 parts. Part 1 consists of questions meant to gather information about the profile of the respondent. Part 2 seeks to measure items that are related to independent variable (IT adoption) with its dimensions as exhibited in Table (1) as follows: Table 2: Layout of the Questionnaire

Section 1 2 3 4 5 6

Variables Respondent‟s profile IT adoption IT infrastructure IT innovation IT knowledge management Employee productivity

No. of items 6 8 8 8 8 8


All items have been evaluated on a 5-Point Likert. The scale below is an example that shows the measurement used in the designated instrument using a score from 1 to 5 (Sekaran, 2003). Every score shown as follows: 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree 10. Target Population The terms „population‟ and „sample‟ can have different meanings depending upon how they are used, especially when conducting scientific research. In order to provide a meaningful explanation of a population versus a sample, Aczel and Sound erpandian (2002) state the difference as follows: The population consists of a set of all measurements in which the investigator is interested. The population is also called the universe. A sample is a subset of measurements selected from the population. It is worthy to mention that sampling from the population is often done randomly, such that every possible sample of n elements will have an equal chance of being selected. A sample selected in this way is called a simple random sample, or just a random sample. A random sample allows chance to determine its elements. The target population for this study includes various types of respondents, eg. of male and female employees, and consists of employees and managers and information technology officers. This target population was selected based on availability to the researcher. 11. Sample The sample has been drawn from a population of nearly 800 employees from four organizations. According to Aczel and Sounderpandian (2002), “In general, a sample of 30 or more elements is considered large enough”. The goal was to have a response from at least 30 individuals from each of the four groups selected (male and female employees, managers and information technology officers) until a total of 120 individuals, with like numbers of males and females, was reached. Due to the time and cost considerations while conducting the field study on the entire population of employees from different types of organizations, it was deemed necessary to select a sample that would allow the researcher to make inferences to the larger population. This sample was selected because of the ready access to the information necessary to conduct the study, and maintain support, interest in the results, and an active request for information regarding the impact of information technology adoption on employee productivity from employees to managers at organizations. The selected samples has been as follows: Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World, a regional organization which includes 40 employees located in Hadda area; ICRC, an international organization which includes 150 employees located in Algeria Street; Community & Livelihood Program, an international organization which includes 120 employees located in Hadda area; Pathfinder, an international organization which includes 60 employee; and Relief International, which is an international organization, with 90 employees. Some other local non-governmental organizations also helped in filling out the questionnaire, such as All Girls Organization, Economic and Media Studies Center,


Development and Economic Center, all of which had a total number of staff of about 340 individuals. Accordingly, the total number of targeted respondents is about 800 persons. According to Krejcie & Morgan (1970), a sample of 260 can be representative for 800 persons. According to an official report published by the Ministry of the Social Affairs (2012), the number of nongovernmental organizations registered in Yemen is about 5000 organizations involved in promoting human rights, democracy, development, etc. By contrast, the official record of Ministry of Interior of Yemen for international non-governmental organizations is about 48 organizations. 12. Sampling Procedure For the purposes of this study, one sampling procedure has been used. The design of the survey was inspired by recognized surveys related to the impact of IT adoption on employee productivity in order to randomly identify sample respondents. The data have been collected by the researcher and statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This procedure was appropriate for this study as a survey needed to be drawn randomly in order to allow for generalization to the larger targeted population of employees within nongovernmental organizations. The sampling frame has been obtained by the researcher from the organization under investigation. The survey included a question that was intended to collect information regarding the tenure of the employee or manager in their respective organizations. 13. Data-Collection Procedures The data have been collected using a new survey inspired by other models and was designed by the researcher. Then, it was distributed to the groups: managers, office workers, and information technology officers. Church and Waclawski (1998) have proposed using no more than 150 questions in the total survey instrument; they also stipulate for understanding by the respondent population. The researcher, therefore, determined that there was a need to restrict the number of questions in the survey as much as possible due to the number of organizations surveyed and the time limitation on the part of the respondents. The first step in the survey process was the selection of the participants. From the target population a simple random selection process was implemented using a survey tool inspired from other researches and designed by the researcher. The survey was administered by the researcher by hand or via e-mail to selected participants who were instructed to respond to the survey within a 3-day time period. A reminder notice was sent after 1 day to encourage participants to fill out the survey. The participants were informed that the survey would take no more than 10 minutes to complete. A confidentiality statement was provided in the cover letter along with Walden‟s International Review Board (IRB) Informed Consent Form. In order to ensure complete anonymity: names of participants were withheld during analysis. 3.6.1 Table 3: Distribution of Questionnaires to Respondents at Nongovernmental organizations

Distributed 200 100%

Questionnaires Returned Analyzed 150 138 69 % of distributed 75% 92% of returned


The questionnaires were distributed to nongovernmental organizations. A total of 150 questionnaires (75%) were returned. A total of 138 questionnaires (92% of the returned or 69% of the distributed) were analyzed. A total of 12 questionnaires (8% from the returned) were excluded and disqualified for various reasons. Thus, 138 questionnaires were available for analysis. Quantitative data from the returned questionnaires were coded, entered and analyzed into the Statistical Software SPSS version 13.0. Data were also summarized using graphic presentations for interpreting of findings. Statistics were based on percentages and frequencies. Association between socio-demographic characteristics and IT adoption, as well as comparison of the level of employee productivity between staff of nongovernmental organizations, was assessed for statistical significance. The relationship between dimensions of IT adoption was measured using Pearson Correlations. 14. Instrumentation and Data Analysis The name of the instrument was the Employee Productivity Survey. This survey was developed by the researcher and consisted of 46 closed-ended questions using Likert-type scales (strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree). The questions were coded with four variables: IT Adoption, IT Infrastructure, IT Innovation, IT Knowledge Management, and Employee Productivity. A research model grid was developed to provide information about the survey questions and their relationship to the research questions and corresponding variables. Summary of the Findings This study measured the impact of IT adoption on employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen. The research instrument, namely, the questionnaire, was distributed among nearly 200 staff working in nongovernmental organization as the targeted respondents. This questionnaire was designed for the purpose of collecting the necessary information, as follows:  Demographic variables including age, gender, years of service, years of service as IT officer, and educational level.  Items related to employee productivity as the dependent variable.  Items related to the independent variable which is IT adoption and its dimensions, including IT infrastructure, IT innovation, and IT knowledge management. Using the software SPSS Version 13.0, the data have been fully analyzed to respond to the question that this study rises. This question is: “Does IT adoption with its dimensions have a relationship with employee productivity of staff working in nongovernmental organizations? Five hypotheses have been composed to find answers for the two main research questions. The hypotheses state that: “There is relationship between employee productivity and IT adoption, IT infrastructure, IT innovation, and IT knowledge management”. The three dimensions of IT adoption have significant relationship with employee productivity of staff working in nongovernmental organizations. All dimensions of IT adoption have been compared between each other to determine the most influential dimension on employee productivity. The findings showed that IT knowledge management is the most dominant and


influential dimension on employee productivity. Table 5 illustrates the most essential findings concerning the five above-mentioned hypotheses of this study. Table 4: Results of Testing the Research‟s Hypotheses

Hypothesis H1: IT adoption is significantly related to employee productivity H2: IT infrastructure is significantly related to employee productivity H3: IT innovation is significantly related to employee productivity H4: IT knowledge management is significantly related to employee productivity

Outcome Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted

5. Discussion & Conclusion This study has two research questions. The first research question inquires about whether there is a relationship between the dimensions of IT adoption in nongovernmental organizations and employee productivity. The second research question inquires about the dimension of IT adoption which has the greatest influence on employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. The findings of the data analyses—which are related to the hypotheses and research questions—are summarized in the subsequent sections. Smith (2008) has surveyed the perceptions of information technology managers. The study concludes that the influence of information technology on productivity is crystallized in increasing the effect of decentralized decision making and improved business processes. 17. IT Adoption There is a significant relationship between IT adoption and employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations (Refer to Table 4.9). The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is 0.502 (p-value ≤ 0.01) which renders the relationship to be a positive moderate correlation. This explains that if IT adoption in nongovernmental organizations is high, employee productivity in these organizations will be positively improved, which will lead to improve the organization‟s productivity. The remarkable fact that management everywhere should know is that the efficient and effective adoption of Information technology can improve employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. The results show that IT adoption positively improves employee productivity through the efficient usage of human and financial resources in the organization as a whole, reducing expenses, better time spending, information sharing, better communicating among the staff and between the staff and their supervisors, hence lead to improving employee productivity and, in turn, enhance the organization‟s productivity in general. This issue reinforces employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations by adopting information technology through effective usage of available resources in these organizations. Based on the results that the respondents revealed through their responses, the majority of respondents agree that their organizations are quick adopters of new information technology and look for new ways to use information technology. The respondents affirmed that they benefited from IT by helping them do their tasks better. They also confirmed that their management could benefit from management software to improve their performance and to reduce expenses. Some respondents affirmed that their organizations train their staff to efficiently use information technology. The majority of respondents confirmed that they were provided by information


technology to perform their tasks better and the information technology department‟s strategy aligns with the organization‟s strategy. These findings are in parallel with the research conducted by (Kamil 2001; as cited by Sobhani 2008), who states that efficient usage of IT in companies increases productivity through increasing the capital, while investing in IT, improving the growth of Total Factor Productivity in industries producing information technologies, and speeding up the growth of TFP in industries using information technologies. Smith (2008) has studied the managers‟ perceptions of information technology. He concluded that information technology‟s influence on productivity by increasing the effect of decentralized decision making and improved business processes. 18. IT Infrastructure The results of this section indicate that there is a significant relationship between IT infrastructure and employee productivity in non-governmental organizations (Refer to Table 4.9). The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is 0.526, (p-value ≤ 0.01) which renders the relationship to be a positive moderate correlation. This explains that if IT Infrastructure in a nongovernmental organization is high, employee productivity will be positively enhanced and improved. It is remarkable to say that the correlation coefficient value for IT infrastructure as an IT adoption dimension was the highest value among other values. This explains that the results gathered from analyzing the responses of respondents for this section support the fact that IT infrastructure plays a vital role in enhancing employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations. The results show that majority of the respondents agree that their organizations spend enough budget on purchasing information technology hardware and software, which means that they care of obtaining suitable IT infrastructure. In order to ensure efficient usage of IT, most of respondents think that their organizations train them in information technology and provide them with the latest internet applications to enable them keep pace with the latest development in information technology. Majority of the respondent justify the investment of their organizations in information technology by reducing expenses and improving productivity. Most respondents think that the contribution of information technology is manifested in the ease of information flow and quick decision making. Some respondents think that organizations are investing in information technology for the purpose of saving time and money. This conclusion is similar to the findings of the research conducted by Jenkins (2006) when he concludes that success comes when employees are empowered to improve their workflow and customer interaction with better IT infrastructure tools inspired from the strength of the impact of the social change. The social change that was introduced by the new IT infrastructure has a dual effect of greater efficiency and cost reductions. Based on a sample of over 1,000 companies, the effects of early adoption of IT technologies on cost reducing which could lead to a significant reduction in the company‟s mortality (Sinha & Noble, 2009; Vermeulen, 2009). American and European companies which use technology advantages, internet protocol protection, and regulatory compliance diversified their operations to leverage lower cost production (Chang & Powell, 1998; Smith, Chen, & Sourav, 2003; Thayer, 2008).


19. IT Innovation There is a significant relationship between informational transparency and the leaders‟ behaviors in the Ministry of Finance, Yemen (Refer to Table 4.7). The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is 0.485 (p-value ≤ 0.01) which renders the relationship to be a positive moderate correlation. This explains that if the level of information technology innovation in nongovernmental organizations is high, employee productivity in these organizations will be positively enhanced and improved. Management knows that the core of IT adoption is information technology innovation, which leads to improving employee productivity. The results show that the majority of organizations managements positively support information technology innovation, which helps in offering new practices in internal administration and operations. The majority of respondents confirmed that during the last few years, their organization used information technology to improve staff performance. Most respondents affirmed that organizations have the ability to continuously innovate and enhance IT applications, which can have an impact on employee productivity. A good portion of respondents mentioned that their organizations were driven by IT innovations: this means that the management approve of innovation to motivate new ideas and creativity. According to most of respondents, information technology provides innovative ways among functional areas in their organizations. The majority of respondents confirmed that information technology improves innovation among different units of the organization. Some respondents affirmed that their organizations had increased their management‟s span of control through innovative information technology. Most respondents mentioned that employees at their organizations are empowered by the use of innovative information technology. These findings are in parallel with the research conducted by Oslo Manual (2005), who defines innovation to be an activity that produces new or notably improved goods (products or services), processes, marketing methods or business organization. In this framework, according to Frascati Manual (OECD, 2001), technological innovations comprise new or significantly modified technological products and processes, where technological novelty emerges, unlike improvements, from their performance characteristics. Dibrell, et al. (2008) argue that concepts of IT innovation correspond within the present business environment. Information technology concepts should be associated with innovation so that investments in innovation activities can be optimized. Camison-Zomoza, Lapiedra-Alcami, & Boronat-Navarro, (2004; as cited by Dibrell et al., 2008) state that product innovation reflects change in the product or service offered by the organization, whereas process IT innovation represents changes in the way organizations manufacture their products or services. Information technology has been regarded as a sophisticated and competitive tool for gaining a competitive advantage within the present business environment. 20. IT knowledge management: There is a significant relationship between accountability transparency and the leaders‟ behaviors in the Ministry of Finance (Refer to Table 4.9). The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient


(r) is 0.543 (p-value ≤ 0.01) which renders the relationship to be a positive moderate correlation. This explains that if the level of IT knowledge management applied in nongovernmental organizations is high, employee productivity in these organizations will be positively enhanced and improved. It is known that IT knowledge management is related to both strategies and practices used in an organization to identify and enable adoption of IT The results show that the majority of respondents think that IT knowledge management is used in many organizations for saving time, which means that it may reduce cost and improve productivity. Some respondents indicated that IT knowledge management is used in their organizations for sharing information more effectively, which is one of the main purposes of the usage of information technology. A good portion of respondents affirmed that IT knowledge management is used in their organizations for providing access to information more efficiently, which helps in the processes of decision making and operation. The majority of respondents said that IT knowledge management is used in their organizations for avoiding the repetition of mistakes and errors and is, thus, necessary to save time and money while implementing plans and strategies. In general, all respondents think that IT knowledge sharing is valued in their organization culture, which is part of succession planning. Few respondents noted that there are tangible results targeted by the IT KM in their workplace. In most of organization where study was conducted the IT KM was initiated by senior level general management which reflects the monopoly of IT KM by management in these organizations. The majority of respondents think that the development of IT KM in their organizations is not good enough as the staff are not part of IT knowledge management. These conclusions are in parallel with the research conducted by Chang (2012), who has examined the impact of IT outsourcing on the productivity of firms that choose this mode of services delivery, focusing on the role of IT-related knowledge. He demonstrates that IT outsourcing does lead to productivity gains for firms that select this mode of service delivery. In the same context, (Susana Pérez López (2009) provides a better understanding of IT knowledge management through an empirical study of 162 Spanish firms. The work has found that IT competency has a direct effect on the processes of knowledge management: knowledge generation, knowledge transfer, and knowledge codification and storage. 21. Implications of the Study The findings of this research are relevant to the fields of public administration, management, leadership, and information technology. Understanding the relationship between IT adoption and employee productivity can help organizations and institutions make better management and leadership decisions when dealing with technology. Several findings in the research have implications for IT managers, leaders, organization‟s use of technology, and research. For managers, this study has implied that having a good management involved in the IT function may enhance the employee‟s productivity, leading to enhancement of the organization‟s productivity. Additionally, the study has presented some evidence that a close look at IT technologies should be taken by management. Managers may also look at this research as a growing body of evidence that there is a real need to pay more attention to IT adoption as a


strategic tool to efficiently use the resources that strengthen growth by stimulating employee productivity. For researchers, this study provides some empirical evidence explaining the expectations of the usage of information technology in nongovernmental organizations. Researchers can build on the inquiries made within this study to further examine issues that concern technology in the nongovernmental sector. 22. Implications for social change There are a number of implications for social change. At first, the simple fact that this research has been successfully completed adds an empirical nongovernmental sector study for future researchers to consider. Before this study was conducted there were few studies of this kind. The outcomes of the study have shown marked benefits in IT governance, budget, and adoption/utilization within the nongovernmental organizations. For this reason, this study has added new outcomes and academic insights that point to the significance of technology adoption and implementation in the nongovernmental sector. Irrespective of organization‟s type, be it local, regional, national, or global, technology may be able to bring tremendous contribution to organizational efficiency by improving employee productivity. Finally, there seems to be a great hesitancy to reveal issues in nongovernmental sector organizations, especially as it relates to failures in technology adoption. Using research such as this can help in the efficiency of IT usage in organizations in order to efficiently use available resources. Nongovernmental sector organizations have much to gain from revealing these issues and using IT as an opportunity for growth and improvement. 23. Recommendations The results of this paper support the view that the low level of information technology adoption in nongovernment entities, organizations, and societies are strongly related to the low level of employee productivity in these government entities. A major recommendation is directed to those leaders who hold leading positions, administer, and lead many subordinates. Those leaders should consider the results of this study when deciding the level of IT adoption that they should adopt in their Non-governmental entities. They should think positively of enhancing employee productivity in their organizations by supporting the different dimensions of information technology adoption (i.e., IT infrastructure, IT innovation, and IT knowledge management). The organizations‟ leaders should enhance IT adoption by taking the necessary measures that stimulate employee productivity. This can be done by requesting periodic feedback from their subordinates regarding IT adoption, training them to use it efficiently, involving them more in IT knowledge management, and providing them with more information technology hardware and software as needed. Leaders also should effectively use information technology in a way that can improve employee productivity, introducing and adopting adequate information technology applications and systems within the nongovernmental organizations, evaluating the outcomes of the IT adopted, and giving priority to improvement of employee productivity. Another recommendation can be addressed to organization‟s leaders. They should understand what their expectations of IT equipment and applications are. They should learn to permanently evaluate employee productivity. According to Gilchrist et al. (2001), most companies tend to


invest in IT for increasing the share of capital investment. It is important to understand how these investments generate more revenues, and this can happen by stimulating employee productivity. A quantitative research method is used in this study to evaluate the possible relationships between IT adoption with its different dimensions and employee productivity in nongovernmental organizations in Yemen. One hundred thirty eight staff, IT officers, and sectional heads were surveyed to prove the research hypotheses and research questions. The outcomes of the analysis of the data collected through the 46-question questionnaire supported all the hypotheses contained in this study, that is IT adoption dimensions (i.e., IT infrastructure, IT innovation, and IT knowledge management) have a significant relationship with employee productivity for staff working in nongovernmental organizations. Employee productivity of some of the staff surveyed was high whereas for some others it was low depending on several factors that are subjectively or objectively related to employee, such as motivation, work environment, involvement in decisions making, and other managerial, personal, and administrative factors. This study‟s limitations consist of the small population which included the staff working in certain nongovernmental organizations located in a specific area, i.e. Sana‟a. Another limitation was the lack of female leaders working in nongovernmental organizations, which could affect the responses and impressions of the respondents in this research regarding IT adoption and its different dimensions. Beside the current quantitative method used in this study, for future research the researcher proposes to adopt a qualitative method which may bring about new outcomes. Extending the study‟s population in order to embrace more entities either in government or private sector, future studies can also include profit and non-profit organizations. The reason behind this extension is to improve the significance of the research‟s conclusions and to compare the impact IT adoption could contribute on the employee productivity in different sectors. This research recommends that management in nongovernmental organizations should have more knowledge of IT adoption, its vital dimensions, its valuable benefits and constructive implications, and its direct impact on employee productivity as this can lead certainly to improving organization‟s productivity. The study also recommends that decision-makers in nongovernmental organizations should know more about IT adoption with its important dimensions and ensure an efficient use of IT for the purpose of improving employee productivity and, consequently, enhance the outcomes of the organization. Table 1: Bivariate Correlation Test for Dependent and Independent Variables

Description of Variables Dependent variable: Employee Productivity (EP) Independent variable 1: IT Adoption ( ITA) Independent variable 2: IT Infrastructure (ITI) Independent variable 3: IT Innovation (ITN) Independent variable 4: IT Knowledge management (ITK) **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

EP -

ITA .502**

ITI .526**

ITN .485**

ITK .543**

-

.867**

.805**

.737**

-

.826**

.814**

-

.784** -


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