With regards to perseverance and flexibility, both traits have no important impact on adoption. Clearly entrepreneurs perseverance and flexibility do not lead to enhanced technology adoption. High level of perseverance can lead to sticking to an older technology and reluctance to experiment with novel ones, while flexibility can lead to openness to new ideas but not necessarily its acceptance. These are logical reasons why perseverance and flexibility traits are not key computer technology adoption factors among women entrepreneurs in Malaysia.
STRENGTH, WEAKNESS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Some of the strengths of this research are highlighted. Firstly, the data are based on a poll of
entrepreneurs who are officially recognised as Malaysian entrepreneurs by their membership of
the national association of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia (NAWEM). Secondly, the model is
based on theory grounded on existing management information system studies - the TAM
model. Moreover, actual IT usage was used rather than usage intention (as a predictor of usage
behaviour), which has been questioned by some scholars.
This research focuses on women entrepreneurs only. To some, this may be considered a
limitation. However, this arguable limitation is defensible. This study deliberately studied only
women entrepreneurs because of the small amount of research in this sector compared to their
male counterparts. Secondly, as more and more women are setting up entrepreneurial ventures in
Malaysia in recent times, many of which are availing the benefits of computer technologies, it is
becoming increasingly vital to unveil the specific (women) entrepreneur factors of adoption
(rather than a pooled information about both sex) that will assist in designing strategies for
approaching this niche market.
Nevertheless, future research could be geared towards a
comparative study of male and female entrepreneurs in Malaysia to examine if there are any
differences in their technology adoption and adoption drivers. It is also necessary to examine the
moderation effects of gender in the relationship between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of
use, traits and computer technology adoption.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Theoretically, this work supports the theorization of the technology acceptance model that
perceived usefulness is directly related to technology adoption, and perceived ease of use is
indirectly (via perceived usefulness) associated with adoption. Further, contrary to the ease of
use-adoption relationship in the TAM model, there is no evidence among Malaysia women
entrepreneurs in this study.
The research findings also challenge current theory on the process
orientation of women with respect to technology adoption as well as the focus of women on the
methods used to accomplish a task as against the outcome of undertaking the task. Clearly, the
findings of this research show that for women entrepreneurs, perceived usefulness is much more
important than perceived ease of use. Thus, women entrepreneurs are outcome oriented (not
process oriented) and also focus on the result rather than the method used to accomplish a task.
The end is more important than the means. Entrepreneurial traits namely, innovativeness and
risk-taking propensity have shown strong evidence as important personality factors of computer
technology adoption by women entrepreneurs. This evidence adds value to the current
knowledge in this field.
Practical implications of the research are discussed next. First, with regards to the management
of technology in entrepreneurial ventures, (women) entrepreneurs should invest in useful
systems; such investments should not be hindered by slight system's complexity or difficulty.
There is evidence that such perceived difficulty usually fades away with time as users gain more
and more experience with the specific system. Further, as ease of use is not a key direct factor of
adoption women entrepreneurs should not place priority to ease of use in making technology
adoption decisions, instead, beneficial outcomes of such applications should be emphasized.