Abstract:
The objective of this study is to examine the effects of Information Technology Infrastructure Flexibility (ITIF) and Information Technology Capabilities (ITC) on the performance of banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study also examines the mediation effect of Intellectual Capital (IC) on the relationship between ITIF, ITC and performance. ITIF constructs are Information Technology (IT) connectivity, IT compatibility and IT modularity, and ITC constructs are IT for human resources, IT for market information and IT for marketing communications. Based on literature review, a conceptual framework based on ITIF and ITC constructs was developed. Data was collected by sending survey questionnaires to all banks branch managers. Purposive sampling was used for sample selection. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) algorithm and bootstrap techniques were used to test the study’s hypotheses. The results provide support for most of the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, ITIF and IC are significant and positively affect performance, while ITC did not affect performance. On the other hand, ITC is significantly related to IC although ITIF is not. The results of mediation indicate that one hypothesis is significant and another is not, that is the significant positive effect of ITC suggests that the variable is important in relation to performance. The outcome of this study provides a significant contribution to senior managers, researchers, and UAE government for further understanding the effect of IT especially ITC and IC on performance. As such, banks should be encouraged to consider these IT indicators for better performance, which in turn will advance their IT practices. Contributions, limitations, implementations, and recommendations for future research are discussed in this study.
HAMAD SALMEN SAEED BANALZWAA
UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA – 2017
