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Received 25 January 2008 Revised 31 March 2008, 6 January 2009 Accepted 17 February 2009

An analysis of the major issues for successful information technology transfer in Arab countries
Khalid Al-Mabrouk and Jeffrey Soar
School of Information Systems, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia
Abstract
Purpose In the history of technology transfer in Arab countries, it is probably true that there has been more failure and disappointment than satisfaction and success in achieving the expected results from the technology transfer agreements. Many complex issues are involved in the consideration of technology transfer in Arab countries. The purpose of this study is to identify, analyse and discuss the major issues for successful information technology (IT) transfer in Arab countries. Design/methodology/approach A three-round, non-anonymous, Delphi-type survey is designed and connected to understand and explicate major issues from the perceptions of stakeholder groups in Arab countries. Findings The coding approach and synthesis procedures result in a master set of ten major issues categories for successful IT transfer in Arab countries. Originality/value This paper serves to focus discussion and promote constructive interaction for the purpose of developing an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the nuances of IT transfer process in Arab countries. Keywords Communication technologies, Knowledge transfer, Delphi method, Arabian Peninsula Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction Information technology (IT) transfer has become increasingly important, since the successful execution of an IT transfer project can provide benets for all nations, especially developing countries. Developing countries, such as Arab countries, are at quite heterogeneous stages of industrial development and tend to differ according to their situations and the dynamics of their strategic pathways of development. Technology is important as it supports and sustains socio-economic growth, human needs and national development. IT transfer has long been identied as a key issue
The authors would like to thank Professor Abdullah Abonamah, Director of the Institute for Technological Innovation (ITI), Zayed University in United Arab Emirates for providing full support to this research project. Thanks are given to all the experts who participated in this study for being so cooperative. Thanks are also extended to Mrs May AlTaei and Mrs Chris OReilly for their valuable support and comments. This paper is based on the paper submitted by the authors for the European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems EMCIS 2008, 25-26 May, Al Bostan Rotana, Dubai (ISVN 978-1-902316-58-1). For more details about EMCIS, please visit www.emcis.org

Journal of Enterprise Information Management Vol. 22 No. 5, 2009 pp. 504-522 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1741-0398 DOI 10.1108/17410390910993518

within the development process and long-term growth. However, the history of technology transfer has not been one of unqualied success. Many failures have occurred for reasons that have not always been clear (Cohen, 2004). This is mostly due to the complexity, sophistication, and dynamism of the processes, the high requirement of nancial, human, physical, and technological resources, a lack of or low technology absorptive capacity in the recipients, as well as differences in culture and languages, business practices, rules and regulations, economic situations, competitors and technological infrastructure (Nahar, 2001). Many complex issues are involved in the consideration of IT transfer in Arab countries. Some of those issues are not completely dened and studied, or cannot be precisely measured. In general, there has been relatively limited research conducted on IT transfer in Arab countries (Abdul Ghani and Al-Sakran, 1988; Al-Gahtani, 2001; Atiyyah, 1989; Straub et al., 2001). Arab countries need to recognise the key issues in a successful IT transfer process. Some of these might be the same that which must be addressed by an organisation to succeed in achieving its goals and objectives (Deans et al., 1991). Additionally, issues that affect IT transfer critically impact on an organisations current operating activities and its future success. Consequently, this study seeks to ll the gap in the literature relating to successful IT transfer studies in Arab countries. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify, analyse, and discuss the issues for successful IT transfer that enhance and improve the IT transfer process in Arab countries by posing the following research question: what are the major issues for successful IT transfer in developing countries from stakeholder groups perceptions in Arab countries? Having gathered and synthesised ranking issues, we aim to compare responses across academics, IT practitioners, government ofcials, and technology suppliers engaged in technology transfer research. Therefore, further questions on the issues include: . What are the issues associated with the success of IT transfer faced by stakeholder groups in the Arab countries? . What is the relative importance of these issues according to stakeholders? This paper contributes to the area of IT transfer in three particular ways. First, it examines IT transfer process from the stakeholders point of view and highlights the importance of identifying those stakeholders who perceive the issues associated with IT transfer process in Arab countries. In contrast, past studies in IT transfer have not been very detailed in addressing to whom the issue is related. Second, the study applies a new methodological approach towards understanding the IT transfer process. The Delphi method has not been used in previous technology transfer studies; such a methodology, if applied appropriately, could allow upcoming researchers to uncover some of the embedded issues related to IT transfer from the perception of stakeholder groups. Third, the sources of evidence are collected from a three-round survey and literature. This paper consists of six major sections. After this rst introductory section, we provide details of a literature review in Section 2. Then, the research methodology applied in this study is described and justied in Section 3. The study ndings are presented in Section 4. The interpretation of study ndings is also presented in Section 5. Finally, the conclusion is outlined in Section 6.

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2. Literature review 2.1 Technology Technology is widely accepted as necessary for improving development programs to achieve higher living standards, especially in developing countries where industrial growth plays a very signicant role. The word technology originates from the Greek words techne and logos, techne meaning the skill of hand or technique, and logos meaning a knowledge or science (Willoughby, 1990). From these two words, technology may be dened as the knowledge or science of skill or technique. Technology, from a very broad perspective, is dened as the capability of human society to transform natural resources into useful products for human consumption (Storper and Walker, 1989). Based on the views held by previous authors of technology, this study conceptualises technology as the application of scientic knowledge and skills systematically applied to setting up, operating, improving and expanding practical purposes in a specic area. In summary, technology inuences the social and economic structures in society. It can also indicate the state or process of development of a society. A particular denition of technology considers that it is intangible (knowledge and skills) and tangible (products) and, as such, helps human beings to make their life better, which can encompass good, bad and neutral characteristics. 2.2 The concept of technology transfer The term technology transfer involves two complex concepts: (1) technology; and (2) transfer. In consequence, it is useful to examine existing denitions and concepts currently found in the literature on technology transfer. The concept of technology refers here to comprising knowledge, skills, methods and procedures associated with the production of socially useful goods and services from products of the natural environment. On the other hand, the concept of transfer in this context includes an array of activities that have particular reference to developing countries. However, the concept of transfer has subsequently been linked with the systematically organised exchange of information between two enterprises generally located in different countries (Cohen, 2004). For the purpose of this study, the concept of transfer is identied as the dynamic interchange, application and utilisation of technology from one geographical location to another. In consequence, it is useful to examine existing denitions and concepts to be found in the literature on technology transfer. Brooks (1966) provided the rst denition of technology transfer as a process by which science and technology are diffused through human activity. This denition explains technology transfer as any activity by which systematic, rational knowledge developed by one group or institution is embodied as a way of doing things by other institutions or groups. According to Autio and Laamanen (1995), technology transfer is intentional, goal oriented interaction and an active process between two or more social entities. More recently, Cohen (2004) identies technology transfer as a dynamic process, where there is a technological movement from one physical or geographical location to another through acquisition, adaptation, utilisation and development of technical and technological knowledge in a country other than that in which this knowledge has originated.

2.3 IT transfer The IT revolution has impacted, directly or indirectly, on almost all aspects of our life. It is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing technologies in the world. IT is fundamentally changing how nations develop, trade, compete, educate their populations, interact with other nations, and organise knowledge (Kahen, 1996). Indeed, it provides the means by which countries progress and succeed in international economic, political, social, cultural and educational levels. Smith and Campbell (1981) dene information technology as scientic, technological and engineering disciplines and management techniques used in information handling and processing; their applications; computers and their interaction with men and machines; and associated social, economic and cultural matters. Transfer of IT has, inevitably, been a new technological challenge for techno-economic development in developing countries. Little effort has been made to understand, conceptualise, and formulate IT transfer and its different impacts. In view of this, Odedra (1990) denes IT transfer as being a problem of transfer of knowledge (or know-how) about a number of aspects. These include knowledge on how a particular system works, how to operate the system and develop its applications, how to maintain it and, if the need arises, how to produce the different components of a system and assemble them. 2.4 Issues affecting IT transfer in developing countries The approach of IT transfer is affected by issues which play crucial roles in its dynamic process (Kahen, 1996). A number of researchers such as Kahen (1996) and Odedra (1991) have identied that there are different interrelated conditions and issues that directly inuence or have an effect on the IT transfer process to developing countries. Consequently, this research attempts to explore these issues from the literature and examine more closely their importance in inuencing successful IT transfer process in developing countries. Kahen (1996) pointed out some negative aspects in the IT process to developing countries, including the lack of an information infrastructure, communication mechanisms and trained personnel. Problems related to the physical environment, systems maintenance and user resistance were cited as the most important issues affecting the IT transfer. Samli (1985) pinpoints the geographical, economical, cultural and technical issues of technology transfer, whereas Wie (2005) addresses the issues of IT transfer in the statement why the technology should be transferred to developing countries. Regarding this point, he suggests that the role of technology transfer should be to close the gap between developed and developing countries. He also points out that the success of the transfer depends on issues such as intellectual knowledge, skills, training facilities and the supporting infrastructure. Kirlidog (1997) indicates that industrialisation through IT is one of the most important aspects, after economic objectives, in developing countries. This author also mentions economic, manpower, physio-ecological, cultural, demographic, and social, political and existing information infrastructure as those issues that are involved in and associated with problems in the IT process to developing countries. Odedra (1991) presents factors that are directly or indirectly dependent upon the economic and political conditions in the country that is, the training and education facilities, the national development priorities and plans, including government policies and other

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social and organisational factors. This author classies these factors in three comprehensive and separate groups of issues: (1) national (economic situation, political situation, government plans, education and training facilities and IT policies); (2) technological (the suppliers and telecommunications infrastructure); and (3) organisational (social issues). These groups of issues were used to assess the success of IT transfer to three African countries: (1) Kenya; (2) Zambia; and (3) Zimbabwe. 2.5 IT transfer in Arab countries The literature points out some issues such as culture affecting IT transfer and adoption in Arab countries (Straub et al., 2001). Transferring IT in a different cultural context will occasionally work in opposition to the countrys and individual organisations needs. In the Arab countries, the characteristics, environment, government, and lifestyles are different, and the culture is different from other cultures. This may not help the transfer of IT in Arab countries. While the literature and information about IT transfer in Arab countries is scarce, the available literature indicates, in general, that there is limited IT transfer in Arab countries. Although a limited number of IS software systems has been transferred and implemented in some organisations in Arab countries since the middle of the 1990s, many organisations have not yet transferred and implemented IT, even though nancially they are in a position to do so. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and some of the other Gulf countries are among the fastest growing transferrers and adopters and among the largest users of IT in Arab countries. Jordan and Egypt are also embracing IT transfer and adoption. Other countries in the Middle East and North Africa have just recognised the value and importance of IT transfer and implementation to improve their socio-economic growth and development, such as Libya which put $US13.4 billion, representing 60 percent of the total annual budget, as technological development in this country (PROJEX Libya, 2007). Most Arab countries have need for and are eager to transfer and adopt new technologies in order to benet from the great advantages offered by each of these technologies. The process of transfer and adoption, however, is still slow in Arab countries (Straub et al., 2001). The present pace of transfer and use of IT is far behind that found in many other developing countries that are in same stage of development, like Asian and Latin American countries. In general, policy makers in Arab countries require current information and ideas to improve and formulate policies to promote successful technology transfer. 3. Methodology Due to the limited practitioner and academic literature that exists in the area of identifying key issues for a successful technology transfer process, the research method conducted in this study can be described as exploratory and descriptive.

Exploratory research aims to explore a new topic or issue in order to learn about it. It also tends to be more open to using a range of evidence and discovering new issues (Neuman, 2003). The study applied the Delphi approach due to the fact that it is believed to be a stronger methodology for a rigorous enquiry of experts and stakeholders. The Delphi technique is a method of structuring group communication in a series of rounds, in order to obtain a consensus of group opinion (Linstone and Turoff, 1975). The next section presents an overview of the Delphi method, the reasons for selecting this method, the procedure for selecting experts, and the data collection procedures. 3.1 Overview of the Delphi method The Delphi method was originally developed during the 1950s by workers at the RAND Corporation while involved in a US defence industry sponsored project. The objective of this rst study was to develop a technique to obtain the most reliable consensus about the opinions of various groups of experts by a series of intensive questionnaires interspersed with controlled opinion feedback (Dalkey and Helmer, 1963). The method was given its name in reference to the Oracle of Delphi, from Greek mythology, who was reputed to have the power to predict the future infallibly. The Delphi method is dened as a technique for the systematic solicitation and collation of judgments on a particular topic through a set of carefully designed intensive questionnaires interspersed with summarised information and the feedback of opinions derived from experts (Delbecq et al., 1986). This method uses a panel of experts who have experience and/or knowledge of the subject being studied. In general, the following steps summarise the applications of the Delphi method in the research process. The steps are: (1) identication of the research topic and the problem; (2) determination of the experience required for substantial involvement in the investigation area; (3) selection of the experts in the particular area; (4) preparation and development of the Delphi survey instruments; (5) contacting the selected experts through survey instruments or other appropriate media to reach opinions or specic issues of interest; (6) computing and coding the answers of the respondents; (7) contacting the selected experts again to provide the consensus, additional information and feedback in the second Delphi survey instruments; and (8) analysing the data of the respondents revised answers and comments. Steps 7 and 8 are repeated as long as desired or necessary to achieve stability in the results. 3.2 Selection of the Delphi method The study applied the Delphi approach because it is stronger as a methodology for a rigorous enquiry of experts and stakeholders (Chang, 2006; Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004). This study has selected the Delphi method for the following reasons. First, it provides a more updated exchange of scientic or technical information than a

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literature search by drawing upon the current knowledge of experts. Second, it is exible in its design, and compliant to developing interviews (this aspect will allow collection of the required data which, in turn, will lead to a deeper understanding of the basic research questions). Third, it is desirable in that it does not require the experts to meet physically, which could be impractical for international experts. Fourth, although there may be a relatively limited number of experts with knowledge and experience about the research project, the Delphi panel size requirements are modest, and it would be practical to solicit up to four panels or groups from 10-18 members in size (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004). The fth reason is that an open-ended survey would allow respondents to fully express and delineate their answers. Sixth, a three-round survey instrument would enable information feedback, verication and acquisition of additional information, thereby stimulating reection, movement toward a certain level of consensus and differences, and the emergence of a greater depth of insight. The seventh reason is that the Delphi ndings would allow statistical summarisation and comparison to demonstrate group consensus and differentiation. Finally, it serves the purpose of asking for opinions from experts and their perceptions about technology transfer issues. 3.3 Participants The study used four stakeholder groups of qualied experts, namely: (1) academics; (2) IT practitioners; (3) government ofcials; and (4) technology suppliers. There are two main reasons for identifying them as key stakeholders in the IT transfer success. The rst is their knowledge, experience and level of expertise in IT transfer. Second, each of these stakeholder groups can evaluate the IT transfer success from different perspectives, using different criteria. There were 18 experts in each panel or group following the recommendations from Delphi literature (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004). 3.4 Delphi study administration process The Delphi methodology involves soliciting the opinions of experts over a series of rounds. Following Delphi studies outlined by Okoli and Pawlowski (2004) and Chang (2006), this research adopted a three-round, non-anonymous Delphi-type: (1) initial collection of issues (identication); (2) conrmation and narrowing down the issues (conrmation); and (3) ranking the list of important issues (ranking). Figure 1 depicts the study design, with spheres representing main phases of activity and rectangles representing key input and outputs. 3.4.1 Round one: identication. This round was intended to be the basis for determining the preliminary set of issues regarding successful IT transfer in Arab countries recognised by the selected experts. The respondents insights would be vital

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Figure 1. Study design

in highlighting the key issues involved in the IT transfer success. The rst questionnaire was sent to all experts who agreed to serve on a Delphi panel using the experts preference of e-mail, fax, or web. The initial questionnaire for this Delphi study was simple, since it consisted of open-ended questions concerning both the respondents ethnographic data and the investigative question. The question posed in the rst questionnaire was: What do you consider have been the issues for successful IT transfer in Arab countries? Thus, to address this question at this stage, the questionnaire in this rst round asked experts to list as many issues as possible (at least ten relevant issues), according to their knowledge and experiences. The questionnaire also asked experts to offer a brief explanation (in two or three sentences for each issue) of the relative importance of each issue. These explanations provided a dual purpose: (1) offering a qualitative empirical basis for answering the study questions; and (2) allowing the researchers to understand and recognise the different experts issues. Moreover, the explanations helped the researchers to classify the issues into categories and provide clarication for the second round, which will rename and consolidate the issues. 3.4.2 Round two: conrmation. The goals of the second round were: . to list a preliminary set of the major issues for successful IT transfer in Arab countries; . to provide a good structure of these issues indicating the initial responses; . to obtain feedback, comments and conrmation in the preliminary set of the major issues; and . to nalise a master set of key issues that would be specic enough to be meaningful and relevant to the experts. According to the Delphi literature the benets of the second round survey are identifying areas of agreement and disagreement when a Delphi method is conducted.

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In this round the experts received the second questionnaire, which was a list of all the consolidated issues obtained from the rst round, grouped into categories. Through this questionnaire: . The experts were asked to check, verify, and provide additional issues. This process consolidated the feedback requirement that must be considered into the Delphi method (Linstone and Turoff, 1975). . Experts were able to provide and propose additional issues that they might not have considered initially. The process of checking, verication and presentation of additional issues by the experts fulls the content validity test of the survey instrument. The validity is inuenced by the number of experts, their expertise and the inter-correlation of their judgements. 3.4.3 Round three: ranking. During the previous Delphi rounds (i.e. rounds one and two), the data analysis method was developed and further feedback from the respondents was also obtained. A master set of the major issues for successful IT transfer in Arab countries and its networked structure might now be evolved for further ranking. After dening the meaningful relevant set of the major issues, the researcher followed-up with the nal-round questionnaire of this research. Through this questionnaire participants were asked to rank all their selected issues on a seven-point scale, ranging from not at all important to extremely important. A seven-point scale was chosen in order that a neutral choice was available, and to provide sufcient variability in the data (Deans et al., 1991). Respondents were also asked to submit comments explaining or justifying their rankings. A review of the literature had not identied such an explanation of rankings in any Delphi study. This study has considered the experts explanation as one option to obtain a better understanding of the respondents replies, and to support the analysis of their answers, which will help in achieving the nal study outcomes. The questionnaire for the third round was distributed to the participants via e-mail or fax. The round-three outcomes were expected to yield a detailed set of data for statistical analysis. 4. Study ndings The objective of this section is to report on the analysis of the data and ndings from the study survey of key issues for successful IT transfer process, from the perception of stakeholder groups in Arab countries. The study ndings conrm the importance of this selection of the data, and distinctions identied reect the understanding and improving of the nuances of IT transfer process in the Arab countries among the stakeholder groups. During the period of May 2006 and July 2007, three Delphi survey rounds and a domain experts workshop were conducted. This section presents the study ndings across all the Delphi survey rounds and the domain experts workshop. Table I shows the overall mean scores and rankings of the ten major issue categories from the ranking round survey. The rank score has a potential range of 1 to 10 to indicate which issues are considered most important by all stakeholder groups. Rank, mean, and standard deviation ratings are presented for a variety of demographic categories. Of the three highest ranking issues categories overall, it is noteworthy that the issue Formulate exible government policies, with assistance from private and public corporations, for the selection and introduction of technology was ranked 1st as the most important

Mean 6.65 6.60 6.54 6.53 6.51 6.47 6.47

SD 0.479 0.494 0.555 0.530 0.531 0.556 0.604

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Issues Formulate exible government policies, with assistance from private and public corporations, for the selection and introduction of technology Identify and utilise competitive and high quality suppliers Formulate and develop a strategic plan that focuses on the actual IT transfer process and its implementation Develop open and effective relationships for information sharing between suppliers and acquirers of technology Measure attitudes towards R&D learning and commercialisation capabilities Establish research and development centres to evaluate, promote and encourage technological growth and development in Arab countries Make use of the consultation services concerning IT transfer and receive support for the quick and efcient realisation of practical applications for best results Embrace information technology transfer to improve social lifestyles, without compromising local values, attitudes, beliefs and traditions Formally evaluate suppliers performance against organisational requirements Evaluate effectiveness and quality of candidate technology transfer

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6.44 6.43 6.40

0.625 0.668 0.725

8 9 10

Table I. Overall ranking of the related major issues

issue, with a mean of 6.65. A similar analysis was performed on the issue category Identify and utilize competitive and high quality suppliers, which ranked 2nd overall with a mean of 6.60, recognising this issue as the second most important issue. The other overall ratings and rankings of the ten component issues are presented in Table I. The detailed ratings and ranking across the stakeholder groups are also illustrated in Table II and discussed more fully in the next section. 5. Interpretation of study ndings This section presents the interpretations of the top ten major issues for successful IT transfer in the Arab countries. The issues are detailed below. 5.1 Formulate exible policies, with assistance from private and public corporations, for the selection and introduction of technology There was a very high consensus among all stakeholder groups that this issue is considered important. The highest rank for this issue was given by academics, followed by government ofcials, with scores of 1 and 2, respectively. There was strong consensus across respondents from IT practitioners and technology suppliers, who ranked this issue number 6. However, it may be interpreted that all stakeholder groups believed formulating exible policies with assistance from private and public sectors would make a big contribution to the Arab countries technological

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Government Technology Academics IT practitioners ofcials suppliers Overall ranking Mean SD Rank Mean SD Rank Mean SD Rank Mean SD Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.78 6.67 6.72 6.33 4.83 6.50 6.56 6.11 * 6.72 6.44 0.428 0.485 0.461 0.840 0.985 0.514 0.616 0.676 0.461 0.705 1 5 2 8 10 4 3 7 6 9 6.50 6.50 6.33 6.39 6.56 6.50 6.28 6.22 * 6.56 6.44 0.514 0.514 0.686 0.502 0.511 0.514 0.752 0.647 0.511 0.616 6 8 7 4 5 2 3 9 1 10 6.67 6.61 6.61 6.33 6.56 6.28 6.50 6.06 * 6.39 6.39 0.485 0.502 0.502 0.767 0.511 0.669 0.514 0.639 0.608 0.608 2 5 3 10 4 6 1 9 7 8 6.67 6.61 6.50 6.67 6.67 6.61 6.56 6.78 * 6.44 6.33 0.485 0.502 0.514 0.485 0.485 0.502 0.511 0.428 0.511 0.970 6 9 10 3 2 8 7 1 5 4

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Table II. Ranking of the issues by stakeholder groups

Note: *Signicantly different at the 5 per cent level of signicance in ANOVA; n 72

development and also bolster the fast integration of IT in Arab countries development objectives at various levels, as well as close collaboration between universities and industry. Survey participants stated many reasons why formulating exible policies with assistance from private and public organisations would be very benecial to Arab countries when transferring IT: . formulating exible policies would provide guidelines to promote appropriate strategic planning, adoption, development of effective IT resources and IT, and assist users in the coordination and identication of key application areas; . such policies would improve information management, access, retrieval and fast communication delivery of information to policy makers, technology suppliers, governmental agencies, as well as scholars and researchers; . it would be provide the basis for developing the required IT infrastructure, education and training, and investment in human resources, as well as identication of recruitment needs; . formulating exible policies would become the basis for promoting technical standards and support in order to encourage the sharing of IT knowledge, IT resources and scarce expertise between institutions and universities; . such policies would also provide a legal framework for governments for securing and mobilising the required internal and external funding for supporting a successful transfer; and . formulating exible policies would become the basis for addressing an extensive variety of concerns, including other critical factors such as economic and political factors. The participants pointed out that if government policies are not exible enough it may inict heavy obligations on technology suppliers, which may nally result in unsuccessful transfers. The results of this study are in line with a study by Cohen (2004), who stated that the national policies of developing countries must be

exible enough in their application in order to provide and promote supportive technology law and to prevent legal obstacles from arising in the course of transfer. 5.2 Identify and utilise competitive and high-quality suppliers This is the second top-10 issue identied by stakeholder groups for successful IT transfer in Arab countries. There was strong consensus among respondents that this was an important issue in terms of mean scores and ranks, whereas academics and government ofcials rank this issue category 5th, and IT practitioners and technology suppliers 8th and 9th, respectively. However, it was recognised that this issue was a relevant matter to all four stakeholder groups. The results of the study reveal that respondents believe it is important to identify and utilise high-quality suppliers to provide access to innovation, technical skills, qualied experts when needed, long-term relationships, cooperation, feedback, trust, cost reduction, improved performance, and access to emerging market sourcing thereby leading to favourably business practices and technological growth. This perception was partially adopted by IT practitioners and government ofcials in this order. These ndings showed that the high quality of suppliers was not only based on the equipment that they provide, but also on the training, maintenance of equipment, IT skills and experience that they can offer to the acquirers. These ndings are related to those of Nahar (2001), who indicates experience, size, resources, IT skills, and IT infrastructure as the main characteristics of a supplier in an IT transfer process. In addition, participants in this study stated that potential technology receivers in Arab countries should identify good suppliers as those who investigate the characteristics of the potential technology receiver and consider their objectives, resources, experience and line of business in order to achieve and an effective IT transfer. 5.3 Formulate and develop a strategic plan that focuses on the actual IT transfer process and its implementation This was the number 3 issue according to overall respondents (mean 6.54). There was a broad consensus among academics and government ofcials regarding the need for formulating and developing a strategic plan for the IT transfer process and its implementation. Both groups acknowledge the importance of this issue and ranked it as one of the most important issue for successful IT transfer in Arab countries. Although technology suppliers ranked this issue category 10th and relatively lower than other stakeholder groups, there are relatively small standard deviations in their mean scores. IT practitioners ranked this issue category 8 (mean 6.33). Participants indicated that formulating strategic technological planning is a vital component in the successful achievement of technological goals at national and organisational levels. That is, it enables the successful implementation of IT transfer and prepares the organisation for the technological change. In addition, the respondents expressed the view that when people in the organisation recognise an organisational strategic plan, it helps them to understand the goals that the organisation has to achieve, and their purpose in the organisation. They pointed out that strategic planning is the process of determining the policies and strategies that have to be implemented to acquire, use and successfully manage the resources to achieve the organisational objectives, i.e. the IT transfer process objectives in this study. Consequently, they said that technological planning depends directly on the

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strategic management actions in an organisation, which are determined by the type of industry or sector of the organisation. As indicated above, strategy was another important issue ranked by the respondents of the study. They mentioned that it is crucial to formulate and develop a strategic plan that focuses on the IT transfer process and its implementation. Respondents, similar to the ndings of Kahen (1996), consider that the strategic issues enable organisations to create and provide new technologies. 5.4 Develop open and effective relationships for information sharing between suppliers and acquirers of technology Survey respondents considered the importance of open and effective relationships between suppliers and acquirers of technology in terms of sharing information. In general, this issue had an overall ranking of 4 and a mean of 6.53, which shows relative consensus regarding the importance of this issue across the four stakeholder groups. The highest rank for this issue was given by technology suppliers, followed by IT practitioners whose scores were 3 and 4, respectively. Both of these stakeholder groups expressed the view that sharing knowledge and information between themselves enhances successful IT transfer. For them, a mutual communication can facilitate negotiations and empower the IT transfer process. There was a high consensus among respondents from government ofcials and academics, who indicated that the technology recipient should maintain a long-term relationship with the technology supplier in order to increase the relative advantage during the IT transfer process. These ndings are totally supported by the research ndings of Anderson and Narus (1990) that in order to transfer technology and technical support the recipients should maintain a long-term relationship with the technological suppliers during the transfer process. These authors consider that each party attempts to inuence the nature of the relationship in order to increase and improve their relative advantage during the transfer process. 5.5 Measure attitudes towards research and development (R&D) learning and commercialisation capabilities The survey respondents from Arab countries broadly agreed that this is an important matter; three groups ranked it within the top 10 (IT practitioners 5th, Government ofcials 4th, technology suppliers 2nd) and felt strongly about this issue, with the exception of academics (who ranked it 10th). Although there is a signicant difference in the mean score of academics compared with others on this category, it may be interpreted that the academics group believes that to measure attitudes towards R&D learning is a very difcult task. This issue category was particularly relevant to technology suppliers, being their primary issue of concern, because technology suppliers are also a R&D provider and have many responsibilities for providing knowledge and skills towards R&D learning. Survey participants stated that the IT transfer process in an organisation involves the design of measurement instruments to identify the ability that people in the organisation have to value, assimilate and apply knowledge from outside the organisation. The measurement instruments should include items to explore individuals perception in front of the acquisition of new technologies in the organisation, as well as their attitude in front of new knowledge. Participants also indicated that socio-cultural aspects (norms, values, and needs) might have on impact

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on individuals attitudes regarding their learning and commercialisation capabilities. Findings showed that attitude toward R&D learning might be associated with employees functional background. In line with these results, Cohen and Levinthal (1990) argue that to enhance resource acquisition, the organisation has to engage in building capabilities. That is, the organisation has to develop R&D resources such as human and nancial resources, prior transferring experiences, the brilliance, ambition and experience of R&D staff, networks and learning capabilities to be able to absorb resources from the external environment (Lin et al., 2004). Furthermore, workshop participants indicted that when organisations enjoy well-equipped R&D resources in a particular eld, they will have a higher absorptive capacity and be ready to evaluate and act on any newly-developed information or ideas in the IT eld. In practice, organisations cannot successfully technology transfer without greater absorptive capacity.

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5.6 Establish R&D centres to evaluate, promote and encourage technological growth and development in Arab countries Survey respondents considered the importance of establishing research and development centres to promote and encourage technological development and innovation. In general, this issue had an overall ranking of 6 and a mean score of 6.47, which shows strong consensus among stakeholder groups that this issue was an important issue. The highest rank for this issue was given by IT practitioners (2nd), followed by academics and government ofcials, whose scores were 4th and 6th, respectively. Technology suppliers ranked this issue category eleventh and relatively lower than other stakeholder groups. Participants indicated that Arab governments should establish R&D centres and consider them part of the national infrastructure, in the same category as energy, transportation and communications. These countries should start to work towards creating R&D centres and networked research facilities that are accessed in a managed way and to address technological needs and technological development. Establishing R&D centres will encourage public and private sectors to undertake research contracts and provide technical training, carry out long-term research projects for the state, and provide incubation facilities to help entrepreneurs establish high-tech enterprises. Workshop participants further pointed out that there are a number of possible roles that R&D centres can play to alleviate problems associated with IT transfer by a sector or by a rm. Involving R&D centres in the IT transfer process can increase the effectiveness of the process. Yet, a number of issues, such as economic, political, cultural, technological, environmental, organisational, and inter-organisational issues, act as barriers to the involvement. Having formal procedures to include R&D in the IT transfer process has an impact on all stages of the process. R&Ds involvement seems more inuenced by the ownership of appropriate capabilities of the country. In line with these results, Bharadwaj et al. (2005) stated that involving R&D centres in external technology acquisition and adaptation of product and process technologies to make them suitable under local conditions can increase the effectiveness of the technology transfer process.

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5.7 Make use of the consultation services concerning IT transfer and receive support for the quick and efcient realisation of practical applications for best results Survey respondents considered the high importance of consultation services and skill transfer from contractors/consultants to permanent staff was a prime objective of IT transfer projects. The ability to share knowledge between the consultants and IT transfer project team members is found to be signicant in successful IT transfer in Arab countries. In general, this issue had an overall ranking of seventh with a mean score of 6.47, which shows broad consensus among the stakeholder groups that this is an important matter. Although technology suppliers rank this issue seventh and relatively lower than the other stakeholder groups, the technology suppliers mean score of 6.56 for this category is still above the mid scale-point mean score of 5.54. This result suggests that the issue is relatively important across all stakeholder groups. The study results revealed that making use of consultation services in IT transfer might lead the organisation to a successful IT transfer process. The survey participants pointed out this as an important issue and identied it as crucial in order to succeed in the IT transfer process. They said that though managerial policies in the organisation give credit to the valuable experience, knowledge and insights of its own staff, to ask for external consultants might optimise the realisation of business and managerial plans in the organisation. The results indicate that four stakeholder groups recognised consultation as some sort of management tool, which is useful in order to develop strategies and to achieve the organisational objectives in an IT transfer and implementation process. Furthermore, organisations in Arab countries should use consultants as an implementation partner to help during the transfer and implementation process. It is important that knowledge is transferred from the consultant to the employees whose tasks will require long-term interaction with, and application of, the system that has been transferred. This issue was highly ranked by the four stakeholder groups, who identied the value of the consultants as facilitators of IT change and a managerial strategy to assist the organisation with the implementation process. These results are reected in the literature when it is stated that consultation is a crucial management tool because it assists the organisation in analysing, prioritising and generating the best options for success, discussing and disseminating knowledge between organisations to promote strategic decisions and to implement strategic change (Johnson et al., 2005). 5.8 Embrace information technology transfer to improve social lifestyles, without compromising local beliefs, norms, and values This issue is clearly of greater concern to the technology suppliers (1st) than other stakeholder groups. The issue also shows strong consensus regarding its importance among academics and IT practitioners, who ranked this issue 7th and 9th, respectively, while government ofcials ranked this issue relatively low (9th). However, it may be interpreted that the values, norms, and beliefs of government ofcials do not support and encourage organisations in Arab countries to transfer and implement IT. The results also suggests that government ofcials (mean 6:06) had a signicantly different view on the issue from technology suppliers (mean 6:78). This could be due to the technology suppliers group believing culture to be a nimportant, complex, national task, which has implications for successful IT transfer across cultural boundaries.

The study results revealed that values, attitudes, and beliefs exhibit a signicant positive direct relationship associated with IT transfer in Arab countries. Furthermore, the education level and technical backgrounds of the people involved are university-level or above, impacting negatively on their perceptions of power distance, and positively on transfer of IT in Arab countries. The workshop participants pointed out that it is now the twenty-rst century and things have changed, including technology: the attitudes, values, and beliefs of people in Arab countries can be expected to have changed dramatically, especially with the introduction of the internet, technological development, economic growth, and globalisation. These results are totally supported by Cohen (2004) when he states that people in developing countries are, however, usually persistent in respect of their core values, where core beliefs consist of the strongest values held by people and are passed on from generation to generation (such as nationalism, certain ideological orientations, and religion). This is why technological change and new technology normally only affect changes in secondary values (such as health care and safety, formalities, and marriage age). Even in the long term, the transferred technology has very little opportunity to change core values. 5.9 Formally evaluate suppliers performance against organisational requirements This is the second issue related to technology suppliers and refers to the formal evaluation of the technology suppliers performance against organisation requirements. This study found that the highest score for this issue was given by IT practitioners and technology suppliers (1st and 5th respectively). The results indicated that there was high consensus among academics and government ofcials, who ranked this issue 6th and 7th, respectively. IT practitioners and technology suppliers indicated the importance of a formal evaluation of the suppliers performance. For them, the evaluation helps the company and its suppliers to understand the effectiveness of the suppliers service levels with organisational practice. Thus, the obtained results after the evaluation can help to formulate strategic plans and make decisions on the basis of a good business relationship. In general, participants said that though the evaluation could be a frightening task, its results could ensure or provide cost effective benets not only for the business of the company, but also for the suppliers that have been evaluated. These results of the study are in line with those conclusions obtained by Teng and Jaramillo (2005). These authors stated that companies need to develop an effective process not only for the selection but also for the evaluation of suppliers as part of their supply chain management. In their research they developed a supplier evaluation model in order to analyse the simplicity, exibility and effectiveness in the decision-making process regarding supplier performance (delivery, exibility, cost, quality and reliability). Workshop participants further suggested that the evaluation of suppliers should be a permanent aspect within the company as part of normal managerial activities of the organisation. 5.10 Evaluate effectiveness and quality of candidate technology transfer This issue was ranked number ten overall and IT practitioners ranked it relatively lower than others. Technology suppliers appeared more supportive of this issue than others. This issue is viewed as a concern across four stakeholder groups in that means for all

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groups were 6.3 or greater. Survey respondents stated that evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of candidate technology for transfer involves continuous monitoring and evaluating the project in relation to local needs, interests and conditions, barriers (such as economic, social, cultural, and political), benets, cost, time, and performance needs in order to yield the highest benets. Project management software and communications systems make evaluation of IT transfer projects efcient. Workshop participants believe that, while the process of evaluation of candidate technology for transfer is not simply a matter of choice of tools for technological development in the narrow sense, evaluation of candidate technology for transfer from the organisations viewpoint is also more than just arriving at a method for using or producing something in conformity with expected costs, benets and engineering norms. The evaluation acquires capabilities such as experience, skills and technological knowledge. This capability may enable an organisation or country to move on new technological activities and developments. In this regard, Cohen (2004) developed a conceptual model for the systemic process of evaluating candidate technology for transfer. It consists of input (data insights assumptions) and output (strategic technology index), and the evaluation process should be supported by a valid subjective evaluation methodology. This process requires information concerning the sectors or countrys needs, based on the objectives outline by the national plan for techno-economic and socio-cultural development, or plan for specic technological change. 6. Conclusion The purpose of this study was to identify, analyse, and interpret the major issues for successful IT transfer in Arab countries and examine the relative importance of these issues as they affect various stakeholder groups. Accordingly, a three-round Delphi study was conducted, yielding ten major issue categories for successful IT transfer in Arab countries. A number of control measures were used to avoid signicant limitations: . the literature reviewed and background information, by necessity, came from a diversity of sources (technology, technology transfer, IT transfer, IT transfer in Arab countries); . groups of qualied experts were carefully selected; . the nal set of major issues was conrmed and ranked by the respondents; . the data collected were grouped into different stakeholder groups to measure the points of consensus and differences of the issues; and . the interpretation of the study ndings were discussed. This study provides useful insights and several contributions to the eld of IT transfer. First, the ndings can benet academics and researchers involved in the eld by providing a broader view and a better understanding of what the major issues are in dealing with successful IT transfer in Arab countries. Second, the ndings offer IT practitioners guidelines to ensure that important and urgent issues are taken into consideration in the early stages of the IT transfer process. Third, policy makers and government ofcials in Arab countries require current information on these issues and key concerns to improve and formulate forecasting and policies to promote successful IT transfer. Fourth, the list of key issues identied by domain experts can help technology suppliers who seek to better understand the major issues surrounding IT

transfer success in Arab countries. Consequently, this study focuses on an area of interest that has not been explored extensively in the technology transfer eld in Arab countries. There are many pieces to the puzzle regarding how IT transfer issues are measured and the validity of instruments used that need to be addressed through future research to expand the knowledge in those countries seeking to transfer new technology in general, and IT in particular.
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