Identifying Barriers to the Adoption of e-government Services in Malaysia

PROSIDING PERKEM VI, JILID 1 (2011) 211 217 ISSN: 2231-962X Identifying Barriers to the Adoption of e-government Services in Malaysia Siti Hajar Mohd Idris (hajar@ukm.my) Hasmiah Kasimin Pusat Pengajian Ekonomi Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia Noraidah Sahari Fakulti Teknologi dan Sains Maklumat Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia ABSTRACT Studies have shown that low adoption rate among citizens has been hindering the progressiveness and the optimization of e Government services especially in developing countries. Hence, one of the challenges that has to be undertaken is to identify possible barriers in order to facilitate a higher rate of adoption. Six main constructs partially adapted from Gilbert & Balestrini (2004) were developed. These constructs were deduced from three main approaches namely diffusion of innovation, extension of existing theory to technology and the application of existing framework to technology. Data taken from 997 respondents residing in the state of Selangor are used to validate the constructs. A multiple regression was performed and the results shows that significant variables that act as barriers to adoption are easy to use, enjoyable, secure, reliable, cost and language constraint. Keywords: e-government, e-government Adoption, e-government Barrier INTRODUCTION The implementation of E-Government services in Malaysia was launched with the introduction of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996. It seeks to enhance the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions between government, citizens and businesses (Mohsin Ahmad, 2007). It has to some extend increase the efficiency of the government in providing better services to its citizens. Thus, the rational behind the implementation of the electronic services were well founded. Research in the area has highlighted various benefits to government providing their services online. E-government often promises the outcome of better government including improved quality of services, cost savings, wider political participation, and more effective policies and programs (Garson, 2004; Bourquard, 2003). It also added new concepts such as transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in the evaluation of government performance (Mohammad, 2009). It reduces red tapes and jurisdictional barriers to allow a more integrated and efficient services across the federal, state, and local government. A particular characteristic that makes it even more unique is that it allows citizens to seek public services at their own convenience and not just when the government office is open (West, 2004). Since E-Government makes it easier for citizens to participate in and contribute to governmental issues, citizens are increasingly expecting government units to perform like commercial entities (Reynolds and Regio, 2001). It represents a tremendous impetus to move forward in the 21st century with higher quality, cost effective government services and a better relationship between citizens and government (Fang, 2002). Nonetheless, some studies argue that e Government has yet to accomplish its expected outcome of a more effective and democratic public administration (Jaeger, 2005; Garson, 2004) as the failure rate of E-Government projects may be as high as 85 percent (Heeks, 2003). Therefore, despite large investment, debate continues concerning the vision of E-Government for administrative reform. Critiques have also argued that the uptake of e Government services among citizen has not reached the targeted critical mass figure. The optimization issue of the extensiveness of usage especially in the less developing countries has dampen the expected benefits that should have been reaped. Persidangan Kebangsaan Ekonomi Malaysia ke VI (PERKEM VI), Ekonomi Berpendapatan Tinggi: Transformasi ke Arah Peningkatan Inovasi, Produktiviti dan Kualiti Hidup, Melaka Bandaraya Bersejarah, 5 7 Jun 2011

212 Siti Hajar Mohd Idris, Hasmiah Kasimin, Noraidah Sahari Hence, the optimization issues has become an important focus of study by researches especially in the less developing countries. Major obstacles need to be identified so as to increase participation and adoption by ciitizens. Most studies have shown that a strategic way to increase participation is by placing the user needs at the center of the development of the electronic public services. However, before this strategy can be undertaken, the first important phase is to identify critical barriers to the adoption of E Government services by the Malaysian citizens. The low rate of adoption especially in developing countries like Malaysia will be costly especially when there is a perpetual need to cope with the rapid dynamics of technological changes. There is also a risk that the digital divide among citizens will deepen and further marginalized disadvantaged citizens. Based on these assertions, this paper attempts to identify these barriers in order to facilitate a higher rate of adoption in Malaysia. LITERATURE REVIEW Previous studies have shown that the fast pace development of e Government services is not in tandem with the rate of adoption by the masses. Acceptance and usage are still very limited in most countries. This in a way has a dampening effect to the progressiveness of the e Government implementation (Bertot and Jaeger (2008), Ebbers et al (2008)) which is seen to be one of the best alternative in improving government services (Jaeger (2003), Bekkers dan Homburg (2007)). The low rate of adoption will hinder the process of critical mass usage which consequently create optimization issues. Hence, expected benefits from this implementation will be reduced ( Norris dan Moon (2005)). Identifying barriers to e Government services has thus become an important issue that requires further understanding so as to facilitate and increase the adoption of this services. According to Gilbert and Balestrini (2004), most studies have adapted three main approaches in identifying these barriers namely diffusion of innovation (Rogers, 1995), extension of existing theory to technology eg technology acceptance model (Davis,1989) and the application of existing framework to technology which includes service quality (Dabholkar,1996). Technology acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most extensively used theories to predict Information Technology (IT) adoption and also to understand the individual behavior while using Information Systems. A number of modified TAM models were proposed which are applicable to contemporary technologies (Horton et al., 2001; Chau and Hu, 2001). The theory emphasizes that perceptions about usefulness and ease of use are the determinants that influence technology adoption. Attitudes dimensions shows that IT usage is driven by behavioral awareness of the existence of the services and attitude towards the usage is determined by awareness, ease of use and usefulness (Wixom& Todd, 2005). This attitude would further determined the intention to use the service. Research done in this area has provided evidence that usefulness is a strong determinant of user acceptance, adoption, and usage behaviour (Davis, 1989; Taylor and Todd, 1995). Perceived usefulness which is defined as the likelihood that the technology will benefit the user in the performance of some task is also considered an important construct in determining usage and adoption (Verdegem and Verleye, 2009). Attitude is an important construct of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and is determined by perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Intention to accept a new technology is an important indicator of the ultimate adoption decision and is expected to be determined by attitude towards adopting the technology. Deduced from these approaches and arguments, six factor barriers were identified which are confidentiality, easy to use, enjoyable, reliable, safe and visual appeal. In a developing country like Malaysia, studies have also shown that access to computers and internet services are also hindering the adoption of e Government services (Sharifah Mariam AlHabshi, 2008). The digital divide among citizen will also impede the benefits of e Government (Mohsin Ahmad, 2007). METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS Based on the previous discussion, perceived barriers are then segmented into two constructs. Secure, enjoyable, reliable, easy to use, visual appeal and infrastructure are grouped together as they relate to issues pertaining to connectivity. Non connectivity construct would include all the socio demographic variables. The research operationalisation is depicted in figure 1. Data was collected from both secondary and primary sources. Secondary data was collected to give a better understanding of the issue at hand and these were gathered from various state and district publications especially in Selangor. Questionnaires were used as an instrument to collect data from

Prosiding Persidangan Kebangsaan Ekonomi Malaysia Ke VI 2011 213 1000 respondents. The survey was designed to inquire about user experiences with the e Government websites based on constructs as depicted in figure 1. Important socio demographic characteristics were also collected from users utilizing these websites. Due to time and budget constraints, area of study was thus confined to the state of Selangor. Multistage stratified sampling technique was done to identify 1000 potential respondents from the nine districts in this state which are Sabak Bernam, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor, Gombak, Petaling, Klang, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang. These nine districts were further stratified into three strata which are developed, developing and less developed districts. The last stratification is done based on rural and urban areas. Table 1 summarizes the demographic profile of the surveyed respondents. From the total 1000 questionaires that were distributed, 7 questionaires were deemed spoilt due to too many non response items. Almost all of the respondents (97.2 percent) from the remaining 993 samples are internet users. The gender distribution is 49.1 percent males and 50.9 percent females. Majority of the respondents are Malays (80.6 percent) and 47.2 percent holds at least a Bachelor degree. Three major identified mode of communication with the government are via the internet, telephone and counter services. Table 2 contains the means and reliability analysis for each barrier construct. The construct with the largest means (7= Strongly agree to 1= Strongly disagree ) is suggestive of the respondents opinion on the importance of that particular construct. All except the construct for infrastructure has a mean ranging from 4.5 to 5.0. It can be concluded that respondents placed these four construct at the same level of importance. A reliability analysis was conducted on items of each the construct to test the accuracy of the measuring instruments. The reliability for the measures ranges between 0.749 to 0.825. A Cronbach Alpha score above 0.7 is considered to be reliable (Kline,1999). Exploratory factor analysis was further used to identify the number of key factors that can explain the variance within the data as in Table 3. The Kaiser Meyer Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.911 above the recommended value of 0.6 and Bartletts test of sphericity was significant (X 2 (406)=14080.836, p=.000) From Table 3, seven factors were identified based on the factor analysis. All six of the original contruct remains and one factor is a combination of items in two construct. This result seems to be in an agreement with previous studies that have identified these very factors especially models such as TAM where easy to use factor is identified as one major barrier to adoption. Table 4 shows the relationship between demographic vectors ( nominal values ) which are race, marital status, gender, residential location and willingness to use E Government among the respondents. However none of the vectors are statistically significant (p>0.05). Correlation on vectors which are of scale values are presented in table 5. These items includes number of family members in the household, age, number of children, educational level, income, computer literacy, internet experience, understanding of language used in E Government websites. Only two results were statistically significant which indicates there is a relationship between language constraints, educational level and willingness to use. A multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate further the relationship between willingness to use e Government ( which was calculated from the mean of 2 items) and the seven factors identified in the factor analysis. Significant sociodemographic vectors are also included. Thus factors that are able to predict and have the greatest impact on willingness to use can be identified. The results obtained are shown in table 5 and 6. The linear combination of factors was significantly related to the willingness to use the e Government services accounting for approximately 73 percent of the variance (F(11,928)=225.304,p<0.05). The strongest predictors at the 95 percent confidence level are easy to use, enjoyable, secure, reliable, cost and language constraint. CONCLUSION Critiques have argued that e Government services implemented so far has been too supply side driven. The services given were too technology focus, relying heavily on the most advanced technology that can be adapted. As a consequence, citizen actual needs were overlooked. A paradigm shift in perspective was needed to remedy the situation of low uptake among citizens. Government should provide services in ways that is acceptable from the citizen s point of view. A citizen - centric government makes the citizen the center of all its activity especially in decision making process involving citizen needs and demands. Hence, overcoming the obstacles that could act as a barrier to the adoption of e Government services should be one of the most important agenda.

214 Siti Hajar Mohd Idris, Hasmiah Kasimin, Noraidah Sahari REFERENCES Bekkers, V., & Homburg, V. 2007. The myths of E-Government: Looking beyond the assumptions of a new and better government. The Information Society, 23(5), 373 382. Bertot, J. C., McClure, C. R., & Jaeger, P. T. 2008. The impacts of free public Internet access on public library patrons and communities. Library Quarterly, 78, 285-301. Bertot, J. C., & Jaeger, P. T. 2008. The e-government paradox: Better customer service doesn t necessarily cost less. Government Information Quarterly, 25, 149-154. Bertot, J. C., & Jaeger, P. T. 2006. User-centered e-government: Challenges and benefits for government websites. Government Information Quarterly, 23(2), 163-168. Bicking, M., Janssen, M., & Wimmer, M. 2006. Scenarios for governments in 2020 : Towards a roadmap for future E-Government research in Europe. In P. Cunningham & M. Cunningham (Eds.), Exploiting the knowledge economy: Issues, applications and case studies (pp. 407 415). Amsterdam: IOS Press. Ebbers, W. E., Pieterson, W. J., & Noordman, H. N. 2008. Electronic government : Rethinking channel management strategies. Government Information Quarterly, 25(2), 181 201. Fang, Z. (2002) E-Government in Digital Era: Concept, Practice and Development, International Journal of the Computer, 10, 2, 1-22. Heeks, R., & Bailur, S. (2007). Analyzing E-Government research : Perspectives, philosophies, theories, methods, and practice. Government Information Quarterly, 24(2), 243 265. Jaeger, P. T. 2003. The endless wire: E-Government as global phenomenon. Government Information Quarterly, 20(4), 323 331. Muylle, S., Moenaert, R., & Despontin, M. 2004. The conceptualization and empirical validation of web site user satisfaction. Information and Management, 41(5), 543 560. Norris, D. F., & Moon, M. J. 2005. Advancing E-Government at the grassroots: Tortoise of hare? Public Administration Review, 65(1), 64 75. Pieterson, W., & Ebbers, W. 2008. The use of service channels by citizens in the Netherlands : Implications for multi-channel management. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(1), 95 110. Schedler, K., & Summermatter, L. 2007. Customer orientation in electronic government: Motives and effects. Government Information Quarterly, 24(2), 291 311. Titah, R., & Barki, H. 2006. E-Government adoption and acceptance : A literature review. International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 2(3), 23 57. Connectivity Non Connectivity Secure Easy To Use Enjoyable Willingness to use Demographic Reliable Visual Appeal Infrastructure FIGURE 1: Summary of Research Operationalisation of Perceived Barriers

Prosiding Persidangan Kebangsaan Ekonomi Malaysia Ke VI 2011 215 TABLE 1 : Demographic Characteristic of Sample Frequency Percent Gender Male 487 49.0 Female 505 50.9 Location Rural 373 37.6 Urban 620 62.4 Race Malay 800 80.6 Chinese 102 10.3 Indian 67 6.7 Others 24 2.4 Marriage Status Single 549 55.3 Married 417 42.0 Divorced 8.8 Widowed 11 1.1 Educational level PhD 7.7 Masters 84 8.5 Bachelor Degree 377 38.0 Diploma/Sijil/STPM 243 24.5 SPM/SPMV 226 22.8 Less than PMR 56 5.6 TABLE 2: Means and Reliability Analysis Construct Mean Reliability Analysis No of Item Cronbach s Alpha Secure 4.578 6 0.778 Visual Appeal 4.948 3 0.825 Easy To Use 4.776 8 0.803 Enjoyable 4.500 5 0.793 Reliable 4.546 4 0.823 Infrastructure 3.566 3 0.749 TABLE 4 : Relationship between demographic vectors and Willingness to use E Government Vektor Chi Square df p value Value Race 50.465 36 0.055 Marital Status 31.362 36 0.689 Gender 10.823 12 0.544 Rural Urban 13.682 12 0.322 TABLE 5 : Correlation between Sociodemographic Vectors and Willingness To Use E Government Y Pearson Correlation Sig. (2- tailed) Y X 11 X 12 X 13 X 14 X 15 X 16 X 17 X 18 1.016 -.028 -.001.068 *.001.011.007.276 **.625.381.970.031.973.720.833.000 N 990 929 986 984 990 821 990 990 985 *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

216 Siti Hajar Mohd Idris, Hasmiah Kasimin, Noraidah Sahari **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). X 11 Number of family members in the household X 12 - Age X 13 - Number of children X 14 - Educational level X 15 - Income X 16 -Computer literacy X 17 -Internet experience X 18 -Understanding of Language Used TABLE 6 : Results of Multiple Regression Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 882.101 11 80.191 225.304.000 a Residual 331.009 930.356 Total 1213.110 941 R=0.853, R 2 = 0.727 TABLE 6 : Results of Multiple Regression Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients B Std. Error Beta t Sig. (Constant) -3.398.200-17.002.000 Easy to Use.181.027.173 6.783.000 Secure.066.023.070 2.886.004 Reliable 1.978.049 2.266 40.086.000 Format.003.017.004.189.850 Enjoyable.191.019.219 9.817.000 Visual Appearance -.023.019 -.027-1.214.225 Infrastructure -.001.013 -.002 -.112.911 Cost -.970.035-1.387-27.670.000 Language.490.019.790 26.063.000 Umur.003.002.029 1.647.100 Awareness -.050.029 -.048-1.742.082 Dependent Variable: EGOVUSE TABLE 3: Factor Analysis For Seven Extracted Factors. Component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 EASY TO USE.778 EASY TO USE.773 EASY TO USE.703 EASY TO USE.692 EASY TO USE.645 EASY TO USE.575 EASY TO USE.568 EASY TO USE.539 EASY TO USE.525 EASY TO USE.406 SECURE.791 SECURE.785

Prosiding Persidangan Kebangsaan Ekonomi Malaysia Ke VI 2011 217 SECURE.731 SECURE.700 SECURE.522 ENJOYABLE.797 ENJOYABLE.752 ENJOYABLE.678 RELIABLE.832 RELIABLE.762 RELIABLE.620 VISUAL APPEARANCE.814 VISUAL APPEARANCE.798 VISUAL APPEARANCE.608 INFRASTRUCTURE.869 INFRASTRUCTURE.839 INFRASTRUCTURE.685 EASY TO USE.840 INFRASTRUCTURE.821 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations.