Research has shown that women exhibit more "feminine" traits (e.g. tenderness) (Bem, 1981). The meta-analysis of Taylor and Hall (1982) suggested that these feminine traits correlate with "expressive" behaviors. Some past studies claimed that perceived usefulness is more important to male users of technology, while perceived ease of use is more salient for female users, which suggests an outcome orientation of male and process orientation of female users of computer technologies.
There is substantial evidence in organizational behavior and management
information systems research (e.g. Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989; Mathieson, 1991; Taylor &
Todd, 1995) suggesting that the key underlying cognition determining an individual’s attitude
toward the behavior of adopting and using a new technology in the workplace is her/his
perceptions about the usefulness of the technology. Specifically, the link between usefulness
perceptions and attitude toward using a new technology has been shown to have path coefficients
ranging from .50 (Davis et al., 1989) to .79 (Taylor & Todd, 1995). Given these strong results, it
could be concluded that an individual’s attitude toward using a technology in the workplace
reflects instrumentality and intrinsic motivation to use technology.
Venkatesh et al., (2000) reported higher instrumentality (i.e. outcome) for men and higher
process orientation (ease of use/difficulty) for women as determinants of technology adoption.
Their finding supports the notion of earlier research (such as Hennig & Jardim, 1977; Rotter &
Portugal, 1969) that women tend to focus on the methods used to accomplish a task - suggesting
a greater process orientation. Given the process-orientation of women and the lower levels of
control (see Mirowsky & Ross, 1990) generally perceived by women in the work environment,
the perceived ease of use or difficulty of using technology is expected to have an important
influence over their decisions to adopt or reject a new technology (Venkatesh et al., 2000).
Further, there is evidence to suggest that women display somewhat higher levels of computer
anxiety (Bozionelos, 1996; Morrow, et al., 1986) and lower computer aptitude (Felter, 1985)
compared to men (Chen, 1985). Both computer anxiety and computer aptitude have been related
to perceptions of effort, thus suggesting that constraints to technology use (perceived difficulty)
will be more salient to women. It is implicit therefore, that ease of use is more important than
usefulness to women in technology adoption if women are more interested in process than
outcome. However, a body of research has shown that entrepreneurs possess unique personal
traits. These traits could play important roles in the perception and adoption of computer
technology adoption by women entrepreneurs in Malaysia.
Entrepreneurial Traits
The traits suggested by previous empirical research which describe entrepreneurs are:
(1) high need for achievement (Decarlo & Lyons, 1979; Hornaday & Aboud, 1971; among many others);
(2) internal locus of control (Hornaday & Aboud, 1971; Miller, 1983);
(3) high need for independence and effective leadership (DeCarlo & Lyons, 1979; Hornaday & Aboud, 1971);
(4) high need for autonomy (DeCarlo & Lyons, 1979; Sexton & Bowman, 1983, 1984);
(5) information processing capability (McGaffey & Christy, 1975);
(6) preference for moderate level of risks (McBer & Co., 1986);
(7) low conformity (DeCarlo & Lyons, 1979; Sexton & Bowman,
1983, 1984);
(8) aggression, support, and benevolence (DeCarlo & Lyons, 1979);
(9) energy level, risk-taking, and change (Sexton & Bowman, 1983, 1984);
(10) dominance, endurance, innovation, self-esteem, low anxiety level, and cognitive structure (Sexton & Bowman 1983);
and
(11) low interpersonal effect, social adroitness, low harm avoidance, and low succorance
(Sexton and Bowman, 1984).