The bureaucratic decision making quality and the use of new technology in Saudi Arabia

This dissertation is an effort to empirically examine the perceived changes in the accessibility and quality of information that decision-makers in Saudi Arabian public bureaucracy receive and the quality of decisions that they make as a result of using the new technology. More specifically the study assesses the status of IT use in these organizations, investigates the perceptions and effect of IT training, attitudes toward IT, and task characteristics on the utilization and attitudes toward this technology, and explores patterns of association between these variables.;An extensive literature review and survey questionnaire were used to secure the necessary information for investigating the objectives of this study. Six hundred survey questionnaires were distributed to 40 public organizations in Riyadh and Jeddah. Only 368 of the returned questionnaires were useable, which makes the response rate 61.3%. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and regression analysis.;The analysis of the collected data revealed that the majority of supervisors, managers, and senior managers in Saudi Arabian public organizations are using modern and advanced IT equipment, applying it in basic as well as in more sophisticated areas of organizational management, using three or more kinds of software, and accessing different types of needed information through the use of the technology, The majority of the participants have frequently used IT, have relatively high IT training, perform mostly routine tasks, have a favorable attitude toward IT, and perceive improvement in the accessibility and the quality of information and decision making. The participants' favorable attitudes toward IT, high IT training, and routine tasks were found to have a positive impact on the extent of IT use. The frequency of IT use has played an important role in improving the accessibility and the quality of information and the decision making. Overall the experience of Saudi Arabian public organizations with IT appears to be successful and effective. However, to sustain, and improve the use and application areas of IT in these organizations, they must carefully evaluate and adopt the recommendations presented in this study.