Predictors of Intention to Use a Sustainable Cloud-Based Quality Management System among Academics in Jordan

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The Authors need to improve the introduction as will as the literature review.

The research model needs more explanation.

The conclusion needs to be rewritten with more explanation about the results of the research model.

Author Response

Hanadi Sa’d

Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan

P.O.Box 130

11733 Amman-Jordan

 

Dear Editor in Chief,

 

We wish to submit an original research paper entitled "Predictors of Intention to Use Sustainable Cloud-based Quality Management System among Academicians in Jordan”.

We confirm that this research is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Based upon The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current research aims to answer the following question: What are the main factors that affect the use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in Jordanian universities.

 

We believe that our research is specific to the journal’s aims and scope and the findings presented in our research will appeal to the researchers who subscribe and/or read the Journal.

 Furthermore, an extensive review of business research indicates that there has not been any attempt to empirically provide a predictive model of essential factors influencing the behavior intention and use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in such a developing economy as Jordan.

 

 

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at:  h.saad@zuj.edu.jo.

 

 Thank you for consideration of this manuscript

 

Sincerely

 

Hanadi Sa’d.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Thank you for submitting your article “Behavioral Intention to use Sustainable Cloud-based Quality Management System in the Jordanian Universities” for review and consideration for publication in the Sustainability journal.

The present study identified factors influencing the intention to use cloud-based quality management systems in the Jordanian academic context. In a world where everything is going digital, technology acceptance analysis plays a vital role in understanding human-computer interaction. This topic is a significant subject area prompting researchers to continuously evaluate technologies. However, it is also the primary reason why the novelty of a technology acceptance paper is more difficult to establish.

For instance, there are already studies that evaluated factors affecting behavioral intention to use cloud computing in Jordanian universities (DOI: 10.3991/ijet.v15i16.14811) and hospitals (DOI: 10.4236/cn.2016.82010). Other cloud computing technologies were already assessed, such as cloud-based accounting information systems (DOI: 10.4192/1577-8517-v22_2) and mobile cloud computing (DOI: 10.34028/iajit/19/2/7) all in the Jordanian context. Unfortunately, none of these studies were referenced to identify a research gap thus making the contribution of the study unclear. The authors may attempt to justify that these prior works are not transferable to this specific cloud computing application.

In the title, the authors attached the word “sustainable” to “cloud-based quality management system”. Is there a particular set of characteristics unique to a “sustainable cloud-based quality management system”? Section 2.2 gives me the impression that a cloud-based quality management system holds the same meaning without the prepended word. The authors must clarify this issue because readers might think that they added this word since the journal title has a similar word (i.e., Sustainability).

In the introduction, the authors claimed that “the quality of education depends on the existence of advanced technologies in higher education institutions”. Since the paper is contextualized in a developing country where advanced technologies are not always available, this sentence may overemphasize the influence of technology. Moreover, this section emphasized that there is a research gap because “a large literature has been developed in the field of paper-based quality systems”. This information ignored the literature on cloud computing technologies, which points back to my previous feedback on novelty.

In the literature, the authors only discussed quality management systems (Section 2.1) and sustainable cloud-based quality management systems (Section 2.2). Aside from the existing literature on cloud computing technology acceptance both in Jordanian and international contexts, I recommend that the authors discuss the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). These are important concepts and core to the study yet they were not covered.

In the Research Model and Hypothesis, more discussions were allotted to TAM and UTAUT models unlike TPB and UTAUT2 models that were adapted in this study. It is also unclear why the authors selected the latter over the former. The UTAUT2 model has also other constructs (e.g., price value, hedonic motivation, etc.) that were disregarded. A discussion on this issue is warranted.

In the methods section, the authors were able to discuss the necessary elements and specific procedures that are integral to their research design. My only question is why professors were the chosen sample. If quality management systems are generally used for the “documentation of a business' processes, functions and policies necessary for the continuous improvement of quality”, would it be more appropriate if the sample was from the management level? Nevertheless, the authors may underscore educational processes involving teachers that are being impacted by the utilization of these technologies

In the Discussion and Implication, the authors contextualized their findings within previous research and theory. However, this section lacks efforts to delve into the importance, meaning, and relevance of the results. I recommend revisiting the significant constructs and discussing one by one what they mean and why they matter. Despite the word “implication” in the section title, no implications were offered that show what new insights they contribute to the body of knowledge and what consequences they have for theory or practice. The authors must convince the readers why they should care about the results of this study. They may also acknowledge the study’s limitations to demonstrate credibility.

In the Conclusion and Future Research section, the authors did a good job of summarizing their results. However, despite the words “Future Research” in the section title, no recommendations were offered.

Overall, while the paper is not without merit, I do not believe it should be published in its current form.

Author Response

Hanadi Sa’d

Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan

P.O.Box 130

11733 Amman-Jordan

 

Dear Editor in Chief,

 

We wish to submit an original research paper entitled "Predictors of Intention to Use Sustainable Cloud-based Quality Management System among Academicians in Jordan”.

We confirm that this research is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Based upon The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current research aims to answer the following question: What are the main factors that affect the use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in Jordanian universities.

 

We believe that our research is specific to the journal’s aims and scope and the findings presented in our research will appeal to the researchers who subscribe and/or read the Journal.

 Furthermore, an extensive review of business research indicates that there has not been any attempt to empirically provide a predictive model of essential factors influencing the behavior intention and use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in such a developing economy as Jordan.

 

 

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at:  h.saad@zuj.edu.jo.

 

 Thank you for consideration of this manuscript

 

Sincerely

 

Hanadi Sa’d.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

This is an interesting study. however, I would suggest the authors to expand their literature review. 

Also the Discussion needs further expansion. The authors should discuss why their work is significant. What is the next research step?

Author Response

Hanadi Sa’d

Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan

P.O.Box 130

11733 Amman-Jordan

 

Dear Editor in Chief,

 

We wish to submit an original research paper entitled "Predictors of Intention to Use Sustainable Cloud-based Quality Management System among Academicians in Jordan”.

We confirm that this research is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Based upon The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current research aims to answer the following question: What are the main factors that affect the use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in Jordanian universities.

 

We believe that our research is specific to the journal’s aims and scope and the findings presented in our research will appeal to the researchers who subscribe and/or read the Journal.

 Furthermore, an extensive review of business research indicates that there has not been any attempt to empirically provide a predictive model of essential factors influencing the behavior intention and use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in such a developing economy as Jordan.

 

 

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at:  h.saad@zuj.edu.jo.

 

 Thank you for consideration of this manuscript

 

Sincerely

 

Hanadi Sa’d.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors,

Many thanks for your interest in publishing with Sustainability journal. Your manuscript focuses on an important topic. The manuscript requires a major revision before it can be accepted for publication at Sustainability. Kindly refer the attached file for the details of the comments and suggestions on your manuscript.

Thank you and best wishes!

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Hanadi Sa’d

Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan

P.O.Box 130

11733 Amman-Jordan

 

Dear Editor in Chief,

 

We wish to submit an original research paper entitled "Predictors of Intention to Use Sustainable Cloud-based Quality Management System among Academicians in Jordan”.

We confirm that this research is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Based upon The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current research aims to answer the following question: What are the main factors that affect the use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in Jordanian universities.

 

We believe that our research is specific to the journal’s aims and scope and the findings presented in our research will appeal to the researchers who subscribe and/or read the Journal.

 Furthermore, an extensive review of business research indicates that there has not been any attempt to empirically provide a predictive model of essential factors influencing the behavior intention and use of sustainable cloud-based quality management systems among academicians in such a developing economy as Jordan.

 

 

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at:  h.saad@zuj.edu.jo.

 

 Thank you for consideration of this manuscript

 

Sincerely

 

Hanadi Sa’d.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors made thoroughly changes. I am pleased with this version.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

 

Thank you for your previous valuable comments and time for reading the manuscript.

 

Best,

Authors

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors,

Thank you for the revised manuscript. The manuscript requires further editing as suggested below:

1. Keywords - ideally 5 keywords.

2. Research objectives need to be stated in the introduction section.

3.  Contributions of the study to theory and practice need to be further improved. Revisit.

Thank you and good luck!

 

Author Response

Answers for Reviewer 4

1. Keywords: Keywords were reduced to five.  We omitted structural equation modeling
2. Objectives are stated in the introduction section after your suggestion and highlighted in yellow.

 

 Thus, this research aims to provide a model incorporating essential factors influencing the behavioral intention to use sustainable cloud-based quality management systems in Jordanian universities based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology ( UTAUT2) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

3. Contribution to theory and practice is added in the implication section now and highlighted in yellow.

The research contributes to the literature because it has a different contextual setting in comparison with the traditional technology acceptance models which are predominantly Western in origin, it incorporates different constructs that are vital to explain Jordanian and developing economy issues and it illustrates a different methodology for operationalization of the constructs and testing of the hypotheses.  Therefore, the study contributes to the literature concerning technology acceptance and use in developing countries and the higher education sector.

On the theoretical side, the current research contributes to the critical review of literature on the reliability and validity of the well-known model UTAUT2 and its ability to predict behavioral intention to adopt and use a specific digital system in a developing country context.   The research model incorporates constructs from various technology models to explain the behavior intention to use the system. Thus, the authors argue that incorporating predictors from other IT adoption models is essential to enhance our understanding of cutting-edge technology and human behavior. Finally, the investigated technology, namely the sustainable cloud-based quality management system among academics has not been investigated in Jordanian universities.  Therefore, this study adds value to the literature in developing countries and more specifically in the educational sector.

The present research sheds light on the essential role of perceived behavior control, performance expectancy, and facilitating conditions in predicting intention to adopt and use SCQMS.  The study indicates that the technology characteristics, such as performance expectancy and compatibility can increase the acceptance and use of SCQMS.  Therefore, programmers and designers of the SCMS should pay attention to the usefulness, ease of use, and compatibility of the system.  It is recommended to create systems that are easy to use, useful, interactive and compatible with the needs of the academicians to help them understand and allocate what they are searching for.  Furthermore, the language and the instruction of the system should be easy to understand.  Software programmers should develop software that has a bi-lingual interface (Arabic and English) to be used and understood by all of the employees in Arab organizations. 

 

Finally, decision-makers and IT specialists at universities should provide relevant and sufficient training for all the academicians to increase their familiarity with the system and consequently their productivity.  IT specialists should be always available to help academicians in solving any issues related to the use of the system.  Finally, responsible parties at universities should allow access for all the employees to use the system after excessive training to facilitate knowledge sharing among all employees. 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx