Determinants of Rfid Adoption Intention in Hajj Organizations Essay Example

governments are tasked with managing the complex responsibilities of Hajj, which include handling lodging, servicing, and ensuring pilgrim safety. This task proves challenging due to the large number of pilgrims, limited geographical area, and limited time. Table 1 displays information on the rising number of pilgrims from both inside and outside Saudi Arabia.

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As a result of the increasing number of pilgrims, there has been a significant rise in job opportunities for governments and organizers involved in Hajj.

The main issue at hand is overcrowding, which gives rise to various problems. One of the issues caused by this overcrowding is long waiting lines for pilgrims at the main ports and difficulties in efficiently processing their immigration. This is a direct result of the high number of pilgrims present. In addition, it becomes increasingly challenging to identify, monitor, and track pilgrims in crowded areas, especially during natural disasters when casualties occur.

Furthermore, due to the large volume of pilgrims, there is a significant loss of elderly individuals who require additional search efforts and assistance from Hajj authorities. Moreover, there exists a substantial number of lost pilgrims who need guidance to their respective camps. On another aspect, healthcare authorities face obstacles in accessing medical records for patients with chronic illnesses. Communication also proves to be difficult given the diverse linguistic backgrounds of the pilgrims.

RFID technology can help solve some of the aforementioned problems in relation to pilgrims. A wristband RFID ticket can be given to all pilgrims, which they can wear at all times. This ticket should contain the essential information about the pilgrim. By presenting the ticket to an RFID reader, this information can be retrieved and shown on a handheld portable device. RFID applications can include expediting the process of pilgrim immigration at Saudi Ports, identifying pilgrims (both deceased and injured), monitoring and tracking pilgrims, directing lost pilgrims to their accommodations, and accessing patients' medical records.

In regards to RFID acceptance literature, previous studies have focused on the acceptance of RFID technology in the business sector, specifically in supply chain management (SCM) for tracking and monitoring products. However, there is a lack of studies examining the key factors influencing RFID acceptance in the context of tracking and monitoring people during Hajj. No study has addressed the issue of RFID technology acceptance in Hajj organizations. In order to analyze the adoption of innovation at the organizational level, the technology-organization-environment (TOE) model provides a moderately theoretical framework.

This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the acceptance of RFID technology in Hajj organizations using the TOE model. The next

section provides background information on RFID technology. Section III reviews the existing literature on the acceptance of RFID technology. Section IV introduces the research model and hypotheses. The research methodology is described in Section V. The conclusion is provided in the final section.

Radio frequency designation engineering

RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification ) is a developing technology that is used to identify, track, and follow objects, people, transactions, or events where a unique serial number (identity) and information about the object are transferred wirelessly using radio waves. All automatically collected data can then be sent directly to a computer system, reducing the need for human intervention and improving operational tasks and business intelligence analysis. The collected data is processed to be used by internal or external IT systems. The data is stored on an electronic device called a tag.

The ticket is connected to the object being tracked and the operations of supplying power to the ticket and exchanging information between the ticket and reader are performed without any physical contact with the reader devices.

Architecture Of RFID System


In the architecture of an RFID system, data is exchanged between different beds where system and application maps are arranged.

1. An RFID Ticket (Transponder): The RFID ticket consists of a small Si microchip with an antenna, memory, encapsulating material, and optionally a small processing unit. It is combined with an antenna in a compact inlay and attached to objects for tracking purposes. The ticket's antenna receives signals from an RFID reader or scanner and sends back unique serial numbers or other customized

information.

The nucleus portion of the reader is a microprocessor embedded on the electronic circuit, with various capabilities such as reading and writing data to tickets, operating on different frequencies, and performing anti-collision processing.

The middleware layer, which is required to identify the data transmitted by the antenna, consists of one or more specific functional layers in the IT system. This layer cleanses the data from any reading or multiple reading errors not already corrected by the readers, and stores it in a database. The data is then filtered according to the business process and transferred to the backend systems.

The backend systems form the highest layer in the RFID system architecture.

It involves IT systems from well-known software providers such as SAP, Oracle, Retek, and Microsoft or systems that have been custom-built. These systems utilize the data received earlier to support the organization's business processes.


RFID Potential Applications in Hajj


RFID has many potential uses during the Hajj season. In general, each pilgrim can be issued a wristband RFID ticket that they can wear at all times. The most crucial information about the pilgrim (e.g. name, reference, nationality, age, blood type, medical history, etc.

The information about pilgrims, such as their immigration processing and identification in case of accidents, can be stored in an RFID wristband ticket. This ticket is linked to a backend database and can be read by RFID readers installed at ports or gates. This allows for quick immigration

processing and the ability to track missing or injured pilgrims.

1. Monitoring and Tracking of Pilgrims: The management of crowds of pilgrims during various stages of Hajj is a major challenge. One specific issue is the overcrowding in certain locations, resulting in stampedes and the unfortunate deaths of numerous pilgrims. To prevent such incidents, a solution is to provide each pilgrim with an RFID wristband ticket. With this technology, the Hajj authorities and organizers can effectively monitor and track the movement of pilgrims, as well as keep count of the number of individuals in each section.

Actions such as halting or redirecting pilgrims through less crowded pathways can be a result of the bound capacity of the figure. Many lost pilgrims rely on service centers or police officers to find their camps, as they are unfamiliar with Mecca's places and routes, coming from various countries worldwide. Finding a native speaker of the lost pilgrim's language is not always easy. Police officers and officials can provide necessary assistance by scanning RFID wristband tickets containing residence information using fixed or mobile readers. Medical institutes face challenges when numerous pilgrims seek treatment at all hours. Healthcare staff struggle to examine and diagnose the health condition of pilgrims without medical records for them, and communication becomes difficult due to different languages spoken by pilgrims from various countries. Storing patients' medical records in wristband tickets using RFID technology has proven beneficial for medical authorities. The adoption of RFID technology gained traction in 2004 with support from major retail companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Albertson, along with government agencies like the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. This innovation enables

prompt and precise treatment, minimizing the chances of incorrect intervention and speeding up the primary trials process.

Several studies have examined the factors affecting the implementation of RFID Technology in various industries, including healthcare, retail, supply chain and logistics, manufacturing, automotive, and others. Lee developed a model to investigate why organizations in the healthcare industry adopt RFID and what drives their adoption. According to this model, the likelihood of RFID adoption is determined by technology push, need pull, and the presence of champions within organizations. Chen identified perceived usefulness and performance anticipation as influential factors for consistently using RFID in hospitals. Furthermore, Sun discovered that ethical/privacy factors are equally important as environmental, technological, and organizational factors when making decisions about adopting technology.

In the supply chain and logistics industry, the adoption of RFID is driven by three main factors: better inventory management, gaining a competitive advantage, and reducing costs. A study conducted on Chinese manufacturing companies found that the acceptance of RFID is influenced by factors related to the environment, organization, technology, and products. Specifically, factors such as clarity and accumulation of technology, organizational support, quality of human resources, and government support are important drivers for adopting RFID technology.

Similarly, in the logistics industry in Taiwan, the acceptance of RFID is influenced by factors such as competition pressure, relationships with trading partners, industry environment of suppliers, cost considerations, integration of supply chain strategy, complexity, and common standards. Yung-Hsiang identified key factors for the decision to adopt RFID as cost, globalization trend, technical interoperability, and the intention of collaboration with upstream and downstream industry partners.

RFID acceptance purpose is being significantly influenced in the retail and fabrication industries by advantage,

complexity, organizational preparedness, and supply chain integration. Additionally, compatibility, firm size, and competitive pressure are identified as key variables impacting RFID acceptance purpose. To examine RFID acceptance in the South African retail sector, an exploratory study was conducted. The authors' proposed TOE model includes technological factors (e.g. and their contents will be retained).

, perceived benefits), organisational factors (e.g. top direction consciousness and involvement), and external factors (e.g., the attempts of standards-making organic structures). All factors within these three contexts have been found positive drivers of RFID Adoption.

Technology-Organization-Environment Framework To analyze acceptance of general technological invention, Tornatzky and Fleischer proposed the technology-organization-environment (TOE) model. In this model, the writers argued that technological context, organisational context, and environmental context influence the procedure of technological inventions acceptance and execution by a house.

The technological context encompasses the internal and external engineerings that are relevant to the house, including both existing and emerging technologies. The organisational context pertains to the house's features and resources such as human resources, size, managerial structure, level of formalisation, level of centralisation, amount of slack resources, and employee linkages. The environmental context refers to the house's industry and its interactions with trading partners, competitors, and government entities. The TOE model has been empirically supported and found practical in understanding the acceptance process of technological innovations in various Information Systems (IS) domains such as EDI, open systems, material demand planning, electronic business, e-commerce, internet, and digital transformation.

The TOE model is also in line with Rogers' innovation diffusion theory, which identifies five technological features (comparative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability) as ancestors to any adoption decision and emphasizes both internal and external organizational factors as

drivers for technology diffusion. The TOE model can be used to analyze various types of innovations, including specific IT inventions like RFID. Therefore, it is more suitable for this study and provides a solid foundation for investigating and analyzing the factors influencing RFID adoption intentions by Hajj organizations, as it has strong empirical support. Technological factors have often been examined across the three contexts in the literature. In this context, compatibility and complexity are identified as the two most important factors, followed by comparative advantage, cost, performance, and so on. In the organizational context, top management support is the most frequently mentioned factor, followed by technological readiness, organization size, enterprise integration, and others. The environmental context includes competitive pressure, external support, governmental policy, information visibility, and more.

RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESIS



Research Models


A theoretical account for RFID acceptance within Hajj governments and organisers context is developed, based on the technology-organization-environment model shown in Fig. 2, which involves the three contexts. The technology context includes three features of RFID engineering: comparative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. The organization context also includes three features of the organization: top management support, organization size, and organization preparedness.

Finally, the environment context includes two factors: local authorities support and willingness. In addition to these variables in the three contexts, this study adds another factor as a moderator variable, which is Saudi Government Support. The survey will determine the impact of this variable on the relationship between the variables within engineering, organization, and environment, and the dependent variable, which is the purpose to adopt RFID.

Hypotheses



Technological Context:

As mentioned above, the technological context

typically describes IT innovation features that influence organizational acceptance of the IT innovation. These features include comparative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. However, prior research has suggested that among these five innovation features, factors such as compatibility, complexity, and comparative advantages are consistently important in the decision-making process for acceptance.

Therefore, this paper examines the following three factors in the context of RFID acceptance: comparative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. The hypotheses regarding technological context are as follows:

• H1.A Relative advantage will have a positive impact on Hajj organizations' intention to adopt RFID technology.
• H2. Compatibility will have a positive impact on Hajj organizations' intention to adopt RFID technology.
• H3. Complexity will have a negative impact on Hajj organizations' intention to adopt RFID technology.

Organizational Context: The organizational context of an organization typically describes the characteristics that influence the acceptance of technological innovation within the organization. Based on a review of literature on organizational RFID acceptance, this study focuses on three organizational features that are most commonly found to influence the acceptance of RFID technology.

These organisational features are: top direction support, organisation size and organisation preparedness. Hypothesis about organisational context include:

• H4. Top direction support will hold a positive consequence on Hajj organisations purpose to follow RFID engineering.
• H5. Organization size will hold a positive consequence on Hajj organisations purpose to follow RFID engineering.
• H6. Organization preparedness will hold a positive consequence on Hajj organisations purpose to follow RFID engineering.

Environmental Context: Harmonizing to the TOE model, factors related to environmental context influence organisational acceptance of IT inventions. On the footing of reappraisal of environmental RFID acceptance literature, this survey considers merely two environmental factors that are more likely to impact RFID acceptance purpose in Hajj organisations which are local authorities support and willingness to join forces.

The hypothesis regarding the environmental context suggests that both local authorities' support and willingness to collaborate will have a positive impact on Hajj organizations' decision to adopt RFID technology. Additionally, the moderator variable is the Saudi Arabian government, as it holds the responsibility to organize and manage Hajj affairs. As the Hajj is performed in Saudi Arabia, any other organization wishing to adopt or participate in RFID technology acceptance must obtain support from the Saudi government. The Saudi government plays a crucial role in the success or failure of adopting this technology, as they initially approve its implementation, provide legal and financial support to relevant authorities, encourage Hajj organizations to use this technology, and raise awareness among pilgrims about its benefits. Thus, it is expected that Saudi government support will moderate the relationships between core concepts and the purpose of RFID acceptance.As a result, the following hypothesis was suggested:

• H9: Saudi authorities' support will lead to the coordination between technological, organizational, and environmental concepts and the purpose of adopting RFID by Hajj organizations.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Questionnaire Design

A self-administered questionnaire was created for the purpose of collecting information.

The survey questionnaire comprises of a range of items that were sourced from existing Bing tables, previous relevant studies,

and literature. Additionally, new items were developed to align with the proposed hypotheses outlined above. In total, there are 50 items that cover various aspects such as technological, organisational, and environmental contexts, along with basic respondent and organizational information. A 5-point Likert scale was used for each item, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.


Selection of Participants for the Study


Since the target population for this study includes all Hajj organizations worldwide, it was impractical to include every single organization. Therefore, the researcher opted to select a representative sample from the population.

This sample includes the organizations related to the Hajj in the countries of South-east Asia, along with the Hajj service providers in Saudi Arabia who are represented by the National Tawafa Establishment for South-East Asian Pilgrims. This establishment acts as a representative for the Saudi Arabia government and is responsible for regulating the affairs of pilgrims from South East Asia. There are several reasons for selecting this sample. Firstly, the writer, as a researcher, is well connected to the Islamic countries in South-East Asia as he currently resides in Malaysia. Secondly, these Islamic countries in South-East Asia constitute a significant percentage of the total number of Muslims worldwide. Thirdly, the South-East Asian countries are more technologically advanced, especially in the field of information technology, compared to other Islamic countries. This enables the researcher to conduct the study with an expectation of receiving a higher response rate compared to other Islamic countries that are less developed in terms of information technology.

Therefore, we believe that selecting the sample from Hajj organizations in South-East Asia and the National

Tawafa Establishment for South-East Asian Pilgrims is suitable for the current research. The survey's sampling frame includes the names, references, and contact information of 184 organizations. The researcher will contact these organizations to identify all individuals participating in the survey study. This survey specifically aims to target senior and mid-level directors who have direct responsibility for determining RFID acceptance in their organization. As a result, it is expected that the sampling frame will exceed this number significantly.

The random sampling technique will be used to pull samples from the sampling frame.


Data Collection Method: Questionnaire Study


To prove the research theoretical model, information will be collected using the questionnaire study method. Faculty members who are experts in the country where the survey is conducted will review the questionnaire before it is sent out. Their review will ensure that the survey's points are complete, efficient, relevant, and that they investigate the structure, sequence, diction, and overall appearance and arrangement of the points in the questionnaire. Once reviewed, a web version of the questionnaire will be created. To ensure proper interpretation of the points and proper format of the survey, a small sample will be randomly drawn from the sampling frame to pre-test the online questionnaire. This pre-test will also ensure that the questionnaire accurately captures the desired phenomena. If necessary, modifications will be made to the questionnaire based on the results of the pre-test.

Then, an email containing the link to the online questionnaire will be sent to all participants. This email will also provide a brief explanation of the purpose of the survey and discuss RFID engineering. All responses to the questionnaires will be received electronically from respondents

who complete them online.

Decision

This paper examines the factors that impact RFID acceptance in Hajj organizations using the technology-organization-environment model. The research model considers factors within the context of technology, organization, and environment. Additionally, the importance of cooperation among organizers is added to the model as a new variable, which is significant in the environmental context but has been overlooked in existing literature on information systems. Furthermore, the model includes Saudi government support as a moderator variable.

We expect that our understanding and use of RFID acceptance and adoption will improve as a result of this survey. In terms of accepting RFID technology, the proposed model will clarify the purpose and spread of RFID technology in the context of Hajj organizations. From a practical perspective, using the main findings, the survey will provide important insights to help managers in Hajj organizations make strategic decisions regarding RFID acceptance and implementation.