INTENTION TO USE MOBILE PC AMONG

MBA STUDENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TECHNOLOGY

INTEGRATION IN THE LEARNING CURRICULUM
T. Ramayah (Corresponding Author)
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
ramayah@usm.my, ramayah@gmail.com

Norazah Mohd Suki

Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia
norazah@kms.uniten.edu.my

ABSTRACT

As the mode of learning moves from the traditional face-to-face delivery to a more remote method
such as online learning, the need for students to embrace technology has become more evident
and pressing. The results of this study indicate that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease
of use (PEU) have positively influenced the learners attitude. Perceived usefulness is more
influential in predicting attitude which indicates the importance of utility of the technology in
ensuring acceptance. Attitude is also positively related to the intention to use. It is also further
proven that attitude has partially mediated the relationship between PEU, PU and intention which
leads to show the importance of attitude in technology adoption. Thus, it is important for the
academic institutions to indoctrinate the importance of using technology in the process of learning
and to incorporate the use of mobile PC in the classroom teaching as the advent of wireless
computing has actually eliminated many of the barriers to using technology in the classroom.

KEYWORDS: Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Attitude, Intention to
Use, MBA Students, Integrating Technology into Learning

INTRODUCTION

A recent International Data Corporation (2005) report stated that the Western European PC market
remained strong in the final quarter of 2004, providing the finishing touches to the healthy rebound
observed during the year. Even slightly outpacing the forecasts, PC sales recorded a 15.7%
growth in 4Q04 as compared to 4Q03 and led to a solid 17.1% growth for the year with over 40
million PCs shipped within the region. The market continued to benefit from a strong euro, portable
adoption, and commercial investment. Aggressive pricing also helped to fuel the growth. A 10.7%
year-on-year growth is forecasted for the region's PC market in 1Q05, leading to 9.5% for the full
year of 2005. The momentum in the demand of the notebook continued to be unabated in Europe
in 4Q04, with notebook shipments recording another solid quarter at 32.3% (Gibbs et. al, 2005).
Laptops and notebooks, being the main mobile computers, have become more and more attractive
and are often put into operations by several groups of users. It is estimated that if self-employed
people, part-timers and people who bring home work from the office are considered among the
users of mobile computers, there may be a record of over 32.7 million users of mobile computers
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(Wells, 1997). According to Link Resources, over 7.6 million people who telecommute three or
more days in a week are relying heavily on mobile computers (DeBare, 1997). The KPMG
Information Security Survey of 1998 indicated that mobile computing was considered second to ecommerce as the most important issue that was likely to have impact upon companies surveyed
(KPMG, 1998). As for Malaysia, National Information Technology Council (NITC) cited that there
are 8,692,100 Internet users, which represent 34.0% of total population of Malaysia as of
December 2003. (The Star, October 8,2004). This remarkable growth shows that mobile computer
is becoming increasingly popular on a global scale.
As the population becomes more educated, the need for postgraduate studies has also increased.
One of the most sought after qualifications is the Masters of Business Administration (MBA). The
offering of this particular degree has seen phenomenal growth with the advent of foreign
universities starting up twinning programs in Malaysia. From a firm's perspective, MBA graduates
maintain the greatest retention value as they are the primary source of highly ambitious knowledge
workers (Sandweiss & Lewin, 2001). The MBA program of study continues, to be the most popular
approach to management education (Yang & Lu, 2001).
There has been a shift from a traditional classroom face to face delivery to a combination mode of
delivery which further complements by a web-based support by many lecturers in the university.
(Ramayah, 2006b) As MBA students are mostly par timers and only attend classes at night, the
use of mobile PCs to access materials online has become increasingly popular amongst these
students in Universiti Sains Malaysia. The university has installed many wireless access points for
the convenience in accessing materials on the Internet. Some lecturers have even started to use
online materials in their classroom discussions. As part of the MBA course, students are required
to submit a research thesis. This requires a lot of literature review and one of the easiest ways of
accessing the materials is through the online library. Although students are given passwords to
access the library from outside USM, the access is very limited as the access to many of the
subscribed databases is not granted. (Ramayah, 2006a). If the students subscribe to the
databases and get a password, they will be able to access the full database from within the
campus wirelessly.
Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explain the intention to use mobile personal computer (PC)
during the pursuit of a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in a public university in
Malaysia. As the mode of learning moves from the traditional face-to-face delivery to a more
remote method of delivery such as online learning, the need for these students to embrace
technology becomes more evident and pressing. This study looks at the intention to use mobile PC
in pursuing the program using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which posits that the
intention to use a particular technology is a function of attitude towards the technology. The
attitude, in turn, is a function of 2 beliefs which are the Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) and the
Perceived Usefulness (PU). It has also been further posited that the attitude would mediate the
relationship between the beliefs and the intention to use.

LITERATURE REVIEW

TAM is an adaptation of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) which was developed by Fishbein
and Ajzen (1980). Comparatively, TRA is more generic, whereas TAM is more specific, whereby
TAM which was developed by Davis (1989), is used to study the behavioral intention to use
information technology. As shown in Figure 1, there are two independent variables in TAM;
Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEU). These two variables will influence
behavioral intention through attitude as the mediating variable. Davis et al. (1989) defined
perceived usefulness as the extent to which a person believes that using the system will enhance
his or her job performance, and perceived ease of use as the extent to which a person believes
that using the system will grant them the freedom of effort. Perceived ease of use is hypothesized
to be a predictor of perceived usefulness. Furthermore, both types of beliefs are influenced by
external variables. Several researchers have replicated Daviss (1989) original study to provide

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empirical evidence on the relationships that exist between the usefulness, the ease of use and the
system use (Adams, Nelson & Todd, 1992; Davis et al., 1989; Hendrickson, Massey & Cronan,
1993; Segars & Grover, 1993; Subramaniam, 1994; Szajna, 1994). In order to understand the
system usage behavior one key benefit of using TAM is that it provides a framework to investigate
the effects of external variables on the system usage. (Hong et al., 2001).

Figure 1
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis et al., 1989)

Perceived
Usefulness
External
Variables

Attitudes
Towards Use

Intention
To Use

Actual
Usage

Perceived
Ease of Use

There are several researches done in Malaysia relating to TAM. Jantan, Ramayah and Chin (2001)
used the refined TAM model to study the various factors influencing personal computer
acceptance in small and medium sized companies. TAM was replicated by Basyir (2000) to study
the various factors associated with acceptance of Internet shopping behavior. In order to study the
factors affecting perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and the use of Internet, Fok (2001)
used TAM, incorporated with self-efficacy and its determinants as the influencing factors. Wong
(2001) extended the refined TAM in order to examine the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic
motivational factors in influencing individuals acceptance of Internet job search. In order to identify
the receptiveness of E-banking by Malaysian consumers, Koay (2002) used TAM model. A study
done by Ndubisi, Jantan and Richardson (2001) on TAMs validity among Malaysian entrepreneurs
has found that among entrepreneurs IT usage is influenced directly by perceived usefulness and
indirectly (via usefulness) by perceived ease of use.
While there are some convergent results from the IT acceptance research, the effects of some
determinants remain debatable. While most researchers have found perceived usefulness to be a
key determinant in IT acceptance, there has been mixed results for the perceived ease of use
construct. This is particularly evident in the researches of Adams et al. (1992), Hu et al. (1999),
Igbaria et al. (1995) and Ndubisi et al. (2001).
Although the TAM literature reveals that certain inconsistencies exist, they are rarely dealt with
clearly (En Mao & Palvia, 2001). So this research delves into one of the many inconsistencies
which may be explored to enrich the literature of the TAM research. Therefore, this study aims to
explain the intention to use mobile personal computer (PC) during the pursuit of a Masters of
Business Administration (MBA) degree in a public university in Malaysia.

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METHODOLOGY

The population of this study consists of all MBA students enrolled at the School of Management,
Universiti Sains Malaysia. A structured questionnaire consisting five parts (demographic
characteristics, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude and intention to use a mobile
PC) was used to collect the data for this study using a convenience sampling. The instruments
used were adopted from Ramayah and Aafaqi (2005). A total of 124 responses were received from
a total of 200 questionnaires distributed, which gives a response rate of 62%. The high response
rate was due to the efforts of research assistants who adopted the drop-off and pick-up method
just before classes started.

Research Model and Hypotheses

Based on the TAM (Davis et al., 1989), the following research model was derived. (see figure 2)

Figure 2
Research Model

Perceived
Usefulness
Attitude
Towards Use

Intention
To Use

Perceived
Ease of Use

The research hypotheses formulated for this research are as follows:

H1:
H2:
H3:
H4:
H5:
H6:

Perceived usefulness will positively influence the attitude towards the use of
mobile PC
Perceived usefulness will positively influence the intention to use mobile PC
Perceived ease of use will positively influence the attitude towards the use of
mobile PC
Perceived ease of use will positively influence the perceived usefulness of mobile
PC
Attitude will positively relate to the intention to use mobile PC
Attitude will mediate the relationship of PEU, PU and the intention to use mobile
PC

FINDINGS

Table 1 presents the profile of the respondents. The profile of the respondents is representative of
the population of all students enrolled in the study.

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Table 1
Profile of respondents
Variable
Age
30 years and less
31 to 35 years
36 to 40 years
Above 40 years
Gender
Male
Female
Race
Malay
Chinese
Indian
Others
Status
Full time
Part time
Annual Income
Student
Less than RM24,000
RM24,00 RM36,000
RM36,001 RM48,000
More than RM48,000
Mobile PC Ownership
Yes
No

Frequency

Percentage

20
56
28
20

16.13
45.16
22.58
16.13

67
57

45.97
54.03

65
40
15
4

52.42
32.26
12.10
3.22

6
118

4.84
95.16

6
50
28
22
18

4.84
40.32
22.58
17.74
14.52

72
52

58.06
41.94

Goodness of measure
A factor analysis with varimax rotation was done to validate whether the respondents perceived the
two constructs (PU and PEU) to be distinct. The results showed a two factor solution with the
eigenvalues greater than 1.0 and the total variance explained was 73.872% of the total variance.
KMO measure of sampling adequacy was 0.826 which indicates sufficient intercorrelations, while
2
the Bartletts Test of Sphericity was significant ( = 475.218, p< 0.01). The criteria used by Igbaria
et al. (1995) to identify and interpret factors was used. Each item should load 0.50 or greater on
one factor and 0.35 or lower on the other factor. Table 1 illustrates and confirms that each of these
constructs is unidimensional and factorially distinct and that all items used to measure a particular
construct are loaded on a single factor indicating high discriminant validity.

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Table 2
Factor analysis results for independent variables
Component

Items
1

Using mobile PC will enhance effectiveness in my study

0.204

0.829

Using mobile PC in my study will enhance my productivity

0.261

0.840

Using mobile PC will improve performance in my study

0.104

0.868

I would find mobile PC useful in my study

0.188

0.758

Learning to use mobile PC would be easy for me

0.810

0.173

I would find it easy to get mobile PC to do what I want it to do

0.828

0.187

My interaction with mobile PC will be clear and understandable

0.888

0.185

I would find mobile PC easy to use

0.870

0.218

Eigenvalue
Percentage variance (73.872%)
Cronbach alpha

3.043
38.041
0.865

2.866
35.831
0.892

A second factor analysis was run for the attitude construct. The factor analysis yielded a one factor
solution suggesting unidimensionality. The KMO was 0.567, whereas the Bartletts test for
sphericity was significant (2 =56.747, p<0.01) with a total variance explained of 59.66%. A
Cronbach alpha of 0.854 suggested sufficient reliability. The third factor analysis for intention to
use also yielded a one factor solution with KMO (0.714) whereas the Bartletts test for sphericity
was significant (2 = 163.323, p<0.01) with a total variance explained of 80.284%. A Cronbach
alpha of 0.875 suggested high reliability.
Table 3 presents the descriptive statistics for the major variables. It can be seen that all 4
constructs show high means which indicate a positive inclination towards all the constructs.

Table 3
Descriptive for major variables of the study
Variable

Mean

Standard Deviation

Perceived ease of use

Perceived usefulness
Attitude
Intention to use

5.42
5.60
5.66
5.61

0.906
0.815
0.812
0.851

Note: The scale used was 1= strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree

A t-test was done to determine whether ownership had any impact on the constructs being tested.
The results show that owners have higher perception about ease of use and usefulness and also a
more positive attitude towards mobile PC use, whereas for the intention to use there is no
significant differences which suggest that all respondents have high intention to use mobile PC in
their study.

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Table 4
T-test comparison between owners and non-owners of Mobile PC

Variable
Perceived ease of use
Perceived usefulness
Attitude
Intention to use

Owners
Mean

Non Owners
Mean

t value

5.62
5.81
5.77
5.79

5.32
5.40
5.53
5.54

2.265*
3.354**
2.304*
1.794

** p< 0.01, * p< 0.05

Table 5 presents the intercorrelations between the major variables in the study. All the constructs
were positively correlated but there was no cause for alarm as all the correlations were between
low to moderate, indicating zero problem of multicollinearity.

Table 5
Intercorrelation matrix
1

1. Perceived Usefulness

1.000

2. Perceived Ease of Use

0.428

**

1.000

**

0.399

**

0.407

3. Attitude

0.413

4. Intention to use

0.619

**

1.000

**

**

0.551

1.000

** p<0.01

To test the hypotheses generated, several regression analyses were done. Figure 3 summarizes
the results of all the regression analyses conducted.

Figure 3
Regression results

Perceived
Usefulness

= 0.430**

Perceived
Ease of Use

= 0.612**
= 0.550**
Attitude
towards Use

= 0.521**
Intention
to Use

= 0.309**

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PU was positively related to attitude ( = 0.550, p< 0.01) and it was also positively related to
intention to use ( = 0.612, p< 0.01). Thus, supporting H1 and H2 of the study. Perceived ease of
use was also positively related to attitude ( = 0.309, p< 0.01) and to the perceived usefulness ( =
0.430, p< 0.01). Thus, supporting H3 and H4 of the study. PU and PEU together explained 56.5%
of variation in attitude. Perceived usefulness exerted a higher influence on attitude, confirming
many other previous studies which found that utility of a technology drives attitude and intention to
use the particular technology (Ndubisi et al., 2001, Ramayah et al., 2003a, 2003b). H5 was also
supported as there was a positive relationship between attitude and intention to use ( = 0.521, p<
0.01).
To verify H6, the procedure suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986) in testing the mediating effect
was used.

Table 6
Regression result for mediation test

Independent variable
Perceived usefulness
Perceived ease of use

Dependent variable = Intention to use

Without Attitude
With attitude
0.550**
0.309**

Attitude
R2
Adjusted R2
F value

0.491**
0.238**
0.205**

0.535
0.529
91.895**

0.565
0.556
68.745**

** p< 0.01, * p< 0.05

As illustrated in Table 6, when PU and PEU are regressed against intention both are significant at
the 0.01 level. When attitude is added to the regression, the beta values for PU and PEU are still
significant, but the values have been reduced by the inclusion of attitude. This is consistent with
the partial mediation effect as suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986). Full mediation is present
when the beta values of PU and PEU becomes insignificant with the inclusion of the mediator
variable. Thus, H6 is also supported.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The results indicate that PU and PEU positively influence the attitude. Perceived usefulness is
more influential in predicting attitude which indicates the importance of utility of the technology in
ensuring acceptance. Attitude is also positively related to the intention to use. It is also further
shown that attitude partially mediates the relationship between PEU, PU and intention which goes
to show the importance of attitude in technology adoption. Thus, it is vital for the academic
institutions to indoctrinate the importance of using technology in the process of learning and to
integrate the use of mobile PC into the classroom teaching. The advent of wireless computing has
proven to be able to eliminate many barriers faced in using technology in the classroom. One way
is to develop course websites where all materials such as notes, assignment guides, exam
questions and others are stored. (Ramayah, 2006b) The lecturers can also use online cases in the
classroom discussions as such students will be encouraged to use more of the mobile PC.
Lecturers can also ask students to access the online databases during lecture for the purpose of
discussion as part of the learning process, especially in courses like research methods (Ramayah,
2006a).

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