WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics


Print ISSN: 1109-9526
E-ISSN: 2224-2899

Volume 14, 2017

Notice: As of 2014 and for the forthcoming years, the publication frequency/periodicity of WSEAS Journals is adapted to the 'continuously updated' model. What this means is that instead of being separated into issues, new papers will be added on a continuous basis, allowing a more regular flow and shorter publication times. The papers will appear in reverse order, therefore the most recent one will be on top.

Volume 14, 2017


ICT Developments and Utilization in the Omani Banking Sector

AUTHORS: Tareq Alhousary, Jason Underwood, Dimitrios Xanthidis

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ABSTRACT: While adopting information and communication technologies (ICT) has become inevitable, the next-level challenge to organizations is how well they are utilizing this technology asset. Almost two decades earlier, which is not a noticeable span of time of the human history, the research focus was on how beneficial adopting technology by organizations was. Nowadays, the focus of the research is shifted primarily to how well the technology should be managed and tuned to achieve the business strategic goals and attain its competitive advantage or secure survival at minimum. This study takes the commercial banking sector in Oman as a sample of a highly ICT-infused sector in the service industry. Its aims to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of managing the information systems run by a sector closely linked to its performance. The performance is the determinant of the competitiveness/surviving level of any organization; banks are no exception. The research methodology comprises of a self-administered questionnaire and an interview. The study was conducted over 6 months. The exploratory nature of this research and the relevant type of data collected (categorical and ordinal) has led to use the descriptive statistics including central-tendency measures. The interviews have triangulated and confirmed the quantitative data collected. The study finds that the selected sector has adopted latest ICT infrastructure in conducting both back-office and front-office business which are adopted by common competitors worldwide. However, the study finds that while the IT infrastructure follows the latest technologies in the field, there is still room to optimize the utilization of this infrastructure by improving its administrative as well as technical management of it.

KEYWORDS: ICT infrastructure, ICT management, banking sector, management IS

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WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1109-9526 / 2224-2899, Volume 14, 2017, Art. #42, pp. 409-416


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