Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

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Decision Analytics Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dajour

To adopt or not to adopt? The determinants of cloud computing adoption in

information technology sector
Arooj Hassan a , Sabeen Hussain Bhatti b , Sobia Shujaat c , Yujong Hwang d,e ,∗
a Management Studies Department, Bahria University Islamabad, Shangrilla Rd, E 8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan
b
Management Studies Department, Bahria Business School, Bahria University Islamabad, Shangrilla Rd, E 8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan
c
Business Studies Department, Bahria Business School, Bahria University Islamabad, Shangrilla Rd, E 8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan
d
School of Accountancy & MIS, Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University, USA
e
College of International Studies, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: This research is mainly focused on the adoption of cloud computing in the information technology (IT) industry
Cloud computing of a developing country, Pakistan by using the theoretical lens of technology acceptance model (TAM) and
Adoption decision analysis Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). Cloud computing, being one of the latest technologies in the field of IT,
Perceived security
has been recently adopted by organizations around the globe, although developing nations have recently started
Argument advantage
using this technology in their supply chain processes. This study involved the employees of IT industry working
Source credibility
in the capital city of Pakistan, i.e. Islamabad. Sample respondents consisted of 213 employees of the IT based
organization. Data was collected online by employing structured questionnaires based on past literature. The
results revealed that there exists a positive and significant relationship between perceived security, argument
advantage, source credibility and perceived usefulness. Additionally, the outcome of the study supported the
significant relationships between perceived usefulness and attitude towards adoption of cloud computing,
perceived usefulness and intention to adopt cloud computing, and attitude towards cloud computing and
intention to adopt cloud computing. The research study has managerial and practical implications. It is one of
first of its kind that explores some of the factors leading to adoption of cloud computing in of IT companies
in Pakistan.

1. Introduction Although, it has been in use by most of the Western countries, the
adoption of cloud computing is still in its infancy stage particularly in
Cloud or distributive computing is becoming one of the most famous developing countries [6].
and promising technologies providing combined services of software Cloud computing can offer an array of benefits for the organizations
and hardware leading to increased use of cloud all over the world across to enhance their businesses and use technology efficiently. It helps to
industries. Cloud is virtualized database which contains an integrated reduce the costs of the organizations such as the upfront cost of com-
pool of data hosted by the server. The enormity of data offered through puting and installation of many cutting-edge information technology
cloud makes it appealing for a variety of departments, sectors and
services. However, despite many benefits of cloud computing, many
industries to fetch useful information at anytime from anywhere via
organizations are gradually discovering that their investments in the
web. Like other sectors, cloud computing has become a significant trend
development of information technology are being under-utilized [7]
in Information Technology (IT) industry (Vasiljeva et al., 2017). Cloud
and the adoption of this technology is slow in most of the countries
or distributive computing is also referred as locating the computing
resources through the internet as it helps to make it dynamic as well [8]. One of the reasons of this slow adoption of cloud computing may
as flexible. be that there are some challenges also associated with adoption of such
Cloud computing has been termed as a significant transformation in technologies [9–11] thus making it essential to examine various factors
computing in the recent decades [1]. A successful cloud infrastructure that lead to better adoption of cloud computing especially for small
delivers the best quality of service to its users [2]. There are number and medium sized organizations. Thus we aim to answer the research
of factors that can influence the adoption of cloud computing includ- question: What are the factors that lead to adoption of cloud computing
ing performance, trust, security, cost, and energy consumption [3–5]. the supply chain processes of IT industry in Pakistan?

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Hassan), [email protected] (S.H. Bhatti), [email protected] (S. Shujaat),
[email protected] (Y. Hwang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2022.100138
Received 7 June 2022; Received in revised form 28 September 2022; Accepted 16 October 2022
Available online 21 October 2022
2772-6622/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
A. Hassan, S.H. Bhatti, S. Shujaat et al. Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

In order to answer our research question, we draw on the theories 2.2. Perceived security
of Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Technology Acceptance
Model (TAM). This paper puts forward a theoretical framework us- Perceived security is the degree of safety that can be provided to
ing perceived security, argument advantage and source credibility to the users against any theft or criminal behavior [22]. It protects the
explore the relationships among perceived usefulness, attitude, and application and makes the users free from worry and anxiety of being
intention to use cloud computing in supply chain processes in organiza- robbed of personal or official data. Cloud computing has raised numer-
tions. By doing so, we add following two contributions to the existing ous security challenges. On one hand, distributed computing has been
body of knowledge. First, we combine ELM and TAM to study the termed as the cutting edge design of IT enterprises [23,24] but, on the
factors that contribute towards adoption of cloud computing in the other hand, it brings application programming and databases together
supply chain processes of IT firms in a developing country, Pakistan. on massive server networks, where the regulation of the data may
Secondly, we explore the effect of perceived security as an antecedent not be completely dependable [25,26]. Subsequently a considerable
to perceived usefulness and attitude and intention to adopt could number of firms are still not inclined towards adopting it. One of the
computing in the supply chain processes of these firms. factors for such an attitude is the lack of trust due to absence of physical
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. In the proceeding presence. However, researchers have argued that in order to cater to the
section, we provide the underlying theory used in our model. We problem of trust, service quality can play a significant role [27,28].
further define and explain the constructs of the model and propose Realization of security difficulties is necessary that could prompt
hypotheses in light of the existing literature in the domain. In the third breach of data or loss of information; since security is one of the
section, we provide the methods and measures used in the paper. Next, biggest determinants of adoption of any new technology [29]. Basically
we discuss the results of the statistical tests performed followed by the adoption of every new Information System (IS) includes unique
discussion and implications of these results. Finally, in the last section, challenges which should be carefully and tactfully handled by applying
we conclude our research along with the implications to provide future suitable counter measures [30,31]. Security provisions and selected
avenues of research. security controls are generally an integral part of the standard frame-
works alongside other relevant framework prerequisites [32]. But yet,
the cloud framework proposes one of a kind security challenge and it
2. Theoretical background and research framework is critical for the firms that adopt it to assess it in detail [25,33].
Data protection is considered to be an important factor to ensure
The underlying theories employed for this study include Technology integrity of an organization and its operations [34]. The breach of
Acceptance Model (TAM) and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). useful information is the vine for all the hackers and is a most prof-
Both of these theories complement Rogers theory of diffusion of inno- itable business in the dark world, so taking measures in stopping such
vation theory [12] and explain the adoption of information systems and practices would support in flourishing the cloud and will attract more
technologies. Many researchers have previously used these theories in enterprises [35]. There should be logical and physical integrity of the
explaining how technological innovations are adopted in a variety of data processes, for instance, particular hardware or software can be
industries [13]. ELM precisely consists of two types of processes. The utilized in order to ensure the security of data [36]. Besides, various
first process consists of the central route of the merits of the arguments measures can be used in order to protect the data and increase its
of a message while the peripheral route involves cognitive resource security. IT systems can be protected through various measures in order
and associations based on peripheral cues (Lin and Lin, 2018). ELM to ensure that data cannot be modified by unauthorized people [37].
proposes that the peripheral variables influence the personal beliefs like Input controls can also be used to trace who accessed data at what time
usefulness and attitude that explains the technology acceptance behav- along with the purpose of the access. Development of log file keeps a
ior. The theory of ELM has been used in previous studies to examine record of log in and log out of the system [38].
how information technology is adopted in domains like social psychol- Disclosure is also an important element for the protection of per-
ogy, marketing, IT and e-commerce [14,15]. Bhattacherjee and Sanford sonal data sets. It preserves the right to use, control and secure the
[14] explored the impact of argument quality and source credibility on data, and protects the confidentiality of data [39]. Cloud computing
perceived usefulness and technology acceptance in IT. Similarly, Suss- aims to protect the data and guarantee its confidentiality. In order to
man and Siegal [16] investigated the impact of argument quality and keep data secure, access of the data is kept in control depending upon
source quality on perceived usefulness in computer-supported channels. the role and job of the employee [40]. The encryption techniques and
the secure channel transfer of data help in the securing the purpose
and has been very successful in providing its customers with better and
2.1. Cloud computing secure systems.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines 2.3. Argument advantage
cloud or distributive computing as ‘‘a pay-per-use model to enable avail-
ability of e data throughout the organization, to make it convenient for Two of the important components of the ELM theory are argument
the employees to access data anytime from anywhere on demand access advantage and source credibility. Argument value has an effect on the
of the network to a shared pool of resources of the configurable computing apparent convenience of the cloud or distributed computing [41]. It can
which can be networks, storage, services, applications and servers etc. of the furnish prompt access to equipment assets with no huge upfront cost
organization. It can instantly provisioned and release with minimal efforts for clients. The cloud builds up a versatile framework which could be
by the company management or the interaction of the service provider for shared by various end clients, although they may utilize it in altogether
the organization’’ (Mell and Grance, 2011). Distributed computing is the different ways individually [42]. But the best thing is that they do not
phenomenon that has changed the way people use networking through need to keep a backup of equipment, utilities, or require a huge server
the ease of use of PC frameworks on the web [17]. It is an innovation to run the data processes for their businesses [31].
which offers comfort to the clients with the assistance of system, servers Moving to the cloud wipes out costly programming arrangement
and applications [18]. Distributed computing allows cost reduction and and the progressing cost of running and keeping up of huge sets of
builds the ability for economies of scale (Yoo, 2011). Because of its servers. It helps reduce the expenses related to overseeing and keeping
wide range of advantages and business solutions, cloud computing is up IT frameworks, since, instead of obtaining costly frameworks and
becoming popular across industries [19–21]. gear, it lower costs by utilizing specialist organization’s assets by paying

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A. Hassan, S.H. Bhatti, S. Shujaat et al. Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

a membership charge [43]. Hence, the requirement for a huge IT groups 2.6. Attitude and intention to use cloud computing
to deal with the cloud server farm activities is not required [44].
Additionally, cloud computing helps to save the costs associated Rajaraman [59] mentioned in their research that cloud computing
with the purchasing, implementation, replacement and management is here to stay and is considered as the greatest advancement of the
of hardware and software. It also helps to make the accessibility easy decade in processing. Cloud computing has also shown mediating role
because remotely anyone can have access to the data at any time. There to enhance organization’s competitive advantage [60]. Even so, the
is always automation in the maintenance and upgrades which also plays debate whether to adopt clouds is still a question mark for many compa-
its role in the low cost as there is no requirement to spent finances for nies in the developing. However, it is evident that the firms which took
this purpose [45]. the bold decision of adopting cloud computing have been successful to
decrease their cost in dramatic ways. Yet, this transformation is not
2.4. Source credibility simple and requires a whole new setup and resources across the supply
chains [61] and thus it is imperative to study the attitude and intention
The implementation of the latest algorithm for information security to use this technology.
and the big data innovations help the user to access quickly with The organizations are enjoying many benefits due to cloud comput-
no real threat in between making it faster and reliable for human ing and their attitude has changed towards the new system because of
resources all around the globe [46]. Enterprises are widely accepting the maintenance free environment [30]. Other reasons include security
the cloud or distributive computing in the industries due to the sharing protocols and data encryption, resulting in users’ confidence that the
of the information, its movability and interoperability between private information is secure [24,62]. Studies reflect that the adoption of cloud
and public clouds [47]. The management of the records and the back computing by the users is also strongly dependent on their attitude
tracking becomes easier as the data is placed at one place which allows [3,63,64].
anyone at any part of the world to access it [48]. The availability of
data in case of damage also increases its usefulness since fast recovery 2.7. Hypothesis development
can be done and the danger of loss is eliminated to its maximum
[49,50]. Adoption of cloud computing in any firm’s supply chain influences
the decision makers to think about the associated risks [65,66]. Per-
2.5. Perceived usefulness ceived security acts as a threatening barrier for adoption of cloud
computing. Perceived security is considered as one of the prime factors
Perceived usefulness is one of the key variables which originated that affect adoption of cloud computing [47,67]. With respect to cloud
from the TAM theory of innovation and which encompasses the ease computing, perceived security refers to data protection, disaster man-
of use and usefulness of new technology [51,52]. Cloud computing is
agement and business survival [68]. Leakage or theft of data, privacy
more convenient for the industry and provides many latest services.
of organization, and access and identity management are some of the
It is perceived by many that cloud computing immensely lowers the
security threats that are considered key barriers in adoption of cloud
cost and free the organization from various expenses. Moreover, it
computing [69,70]. This is further reinforced by Jede and Teuteberg
reduces the hassles of purchasing, installation and maintenance of
[71] that perceived security can have positive effects on cloud comput-
many of the software applications required by the organizations. Cloud
ing usefulness. So, if high security is promised by the cloud computing
computing is also competent enough to reduce the carbon footprint
service provider to its supply chain partners, perceived usefulness of
as it is environment friendly and have very little negative impacts on
cloud computing can be improved [72]. Hence it is hypothesized that:
the environment due to its usability. Cloud or distributive comput-
ing is more appropriate, environment friendly and appealing to the
H1. Perceived security has a positive effect on users’ perceived useful-
originations in a variety of industries [53]. According to Almaiah and
ness of cloud computing.
Al-Khasawneh [54] perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are
considered as most significant factors affecting adoption of new tech- Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) suggests vigilant, methodical
nologies such as cloud computing. Cloud computing plays a vital role elaboration of the main and peripheral parts of the arguments and
in the revolution of industry through innovation of the technologies reinforces Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that external factors
and changes in the structure which lead to the enhancement of the may influence the adoption of IT technology (Lin and Lin, 2018). One
economic activities. Cloud computing helps provide an opportunity to major benefit of cloud computing is the instant sharing of information
overcome the barriers of communication in organization, knowledge across organization in different geographical areas [73]. Additionally,
sharing and infrastructure of communication technology. It also helps with adoption of cloud computing, the cost of sharing information also
to empower the customers by improving the performance, functionality reduces. It enables efficient and effective business practices in orga-
and tracking of data. Finally, it helps to make the processes more nizations to optimize supply chain activities and makes the business
efficient, transparent and reliable [55]. practices more flexible as per requirement of the customers resulting
Cloud helps the companies to manage large volume of data by in higher market share [50,74]. Cloud computing also aids to scale up
just one click and it also improves accessibility factor in the industry. the services in lesser time thus increasing the productivity of the work
Cloud computing is one way to enable total data management of and business [75]. All such advantages effect perceived usefulness of
the organizations. Some companies use shared computing services to cloud computing. Hence, in light of the above arguments and using the
lower their computing cost and to keep the data saved at server [56]. theory of ELM, the following hypothesis is proposed:
Additionally, having shared cloud services helps the organization to
achieve environmental benefits; as it require fewer servers to build and H2. Argument advantage has a positive effect on users’ perceived
run the systems. Cloud computing helps to mainstream the business usefulness of cloud SCM.
activities and reduce the time to sell the product by enhancing customer
loyalty and tailors customer communications. Cloud computing also In addition to argument advantage, source credibility has also been
helps in the management of organization’s past records more efficiently linked by past researchers for factors leading to the adoption of IT
and in the entire transformation of the direction of the business from technology (Lin and Lin, 2018; [50]). For the users, it is critical to
traditional to digital, making it forward thinking, making more respon- consider source of information as they consider efficacy of the infor-
sive and robust [57,58]. Due to all of these positive qualities cloud mation based on source credibility [76]. Persuasive, commercial, and
computing is perceived as a useful technology by its users around the helpful information from suppliers and other experts is used to assess
globe. the usefulness of cloud computing [41]. ELM also suggests that source

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A. Hassan, S.H. Bhatti, S. Shujaat et al. Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

Fig. 1. Research framework.

credibility has positive impact on the usefulness of the cloud in supply was collected by the distribution of questionnaires via email to test the
chain management (Lin and Lin, 2018). Thus the next hypothesis is model. The respondents were asked to fill the questionnaires in their
presented as: routine work environment and they willingly took part in the survey.
This method ensured less interference from the researcher and mini-
H3. Source credibility has a positive effect on potential users’ perceived mized the likelihood of any possible biasness while gathering the data.
usefulness of cloud SCM. This technique also helped the respondents to fill the questionnaires
Based on Technology Acceptance Model proposed by Davis [51], at their own comfort and allowed them to take their time to respond
perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness act as antecedents of according to their opinion and experience. The data was cross sectional
user attitude that effects the adoption and use of a given technology. in nature as the data was gathered at one point of time.
TAM also maintains that perceived usefulness has a direct and signif- The population of this study comprised of IT companies operating in
icant impact on the actual intention to use a particular technology. Islamabad and Rawalpindi cities of Pakistan and the data was gathered
Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have proved to be in the year 2019. The questionnaires were sent to the firms’ supply
integral components of TAM. These factors show positive effect towards chain-related employees. An adequate sample size was required to get
attitude and adoption of technology across industries [8]. TAM has the desired level of the precision and confidence essential to meet the
also proved to be effective in examining adoption of cloud computing objectives of the research study. Sample size was based on the criteria
(Dawson, 2015; Asadi et al., 2017). This study examines the adoption of suggested by Sekaran and Bougie [77] whereby sample size that is
cloud computing technology in supply chains of different organizations. greater than 30 and less than 500 is considered appropriate for such
Like other technologies, cloud computing has wider and deeper impact a study. Due to the lack of a consolidated database of the IT companies
on organizational performance as well [71]. Based on the positive in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, a convenience sampling approach was
outcomes, users form favorable perception for a given technology. End employed by the researchers. This technique has been practiced by the
user’s outlook towards the adoption of the cloud computing relies on previous researchers as well (see e.g. [78–80]; Sivakumar et al., 2020).
the capacity of the system to address the issues of clients in the inven- Around 300 employees were approached for data collection. 213 valid
tory network [3]. Based on the above discussion, following hypotheses responses were received to run the tests and conduct analysis resulting
are suggested:
in a response rate of 71%. The demographics information collected
from the respondents comprised of gender, work experience in the
H4. Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on attitude towards cloud
supply chain department, education, and job title. For the purpose of
SCM usage.
getting responses, a seven-points Likert scale was employed to measure
the response of each respondent with 7 as strongly agree and 1 as
H5. Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on cloud SCM usage
strongly disagree.
intention.

H6. Attitude has a positive effect on cloud SCM usage intention. 3.1. Research instrument
Based on the arguments and proposed hypotheses, the research
framework of this study is shown in Fig. 1. The proposed framework is A questionnaire was designed by the researchers consisting of items
based on ELM and TAM theories. As per the previous literature by Lin based on the previous literature on the cloud computing. Perceived
and Lin (2018), we also argue that TAM alone does not account for all usefulness measure comprised of 04 items and was adopted from
the factors that may lead towards the attitude and intention of technol- Venkatesh and Davis [81]. 04 items to measure argument advantage
ogy adoption. Therefore, following previous literature we propose that and source credibility were adopted from Lin and Lin [41] whereas
perceived security, argument advantage and source credibility all leads attitude was measured using 03 items and intention through 04 items
towards higher perceived usefulness of cloud computing technology adopted from Bhattacherjee and Sanford [14]. Construct of the per-
and this will lead towards better attitude and intention to adopt it, as ceived security was taken from the study of Changchit and Chuchuen
shown in the figure below. [82] comprising of 04 items. The details of the items used in the study
are given in Annexure.
3. Research methodology

Quantitative study best assists the accurate implementation of the Demographics

design of the study and ensures the measures of the reliability and Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents of the
validity. Primary data for the cloud computing adoption in the IT sector survey.

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Table 1 Table 3
Demographic profile of respondents. AVE and CR.
Gender of the respondents AVE and CR analysis
Frequency Percent Variable No. of items CR AVE
Female 15 7.04 Perceived security 4 0.892 0.675
Male 198 92.96 Argument advantage 4 0.882 0.653
Source credibility 3 0.876 0.703
Work experience of respondents
Perceived usefulness 4 0.918 0.736
Frequency Percent Attitude 3 0.888 0.727
I year 29 13.61 Intention 4 0.939 0.793
3 year 52 24.41
5 year 58 27.23
10 year 42 19.71 Table 4
Others 32 15.02 Factor loadings.
CFA analysis
Education of respondents
Variable Item Factor loadings
Frequency Percent
Perceived security
Undergraduate 44 20.66
Graduate 0 0 PS1 0.802
Masters 163 76.53 PS2 0.873
PHD/Post Doctorate 6 2.82 PS3 0.792
PS4 0.818
Job title of respondents
Argument advantage
Frequency Percent
AA1 0.801
Production 12 5.63
AA2 0.813
Sales 15 7.02
AA3 0.834
Administration 28 13.14
AA4 0.783
Purchasers 30 14.08
Others 128 60.09 Source credibility
SC1 0.841
SC2 0.858
Table 2
SC3 0.815
Reliability analysis.
Perceived usefulness
Reliability analysis
PU1 0.859
Variable No. of items Cronbach’s alpha
PU2 0.869
Perceived security 4 0.840 PU3 0.818
Argument advantage 4 0.823 PU4 0.884
Source credibility 3 0.788
Attitude
Perceived usefulness 4 0.880
Attitude 3 0.812 A1 0.899
Intention 4 0.913 A2 0.865
A3 0.790
Intention
I1 0.910
4. Data analysis and results
I2 0.919
I3 0.858
I4 0.872
According to the Hair et al. [83], Cronbach alpha is used to assess
the reliability of the data. The values of Cronbach alpha between 0.60
Table 5
and 0.70 in exploratory research are considered satisfactory while in Correlation analysis.
more advanced stages the values between 0.70 to 0.90 are considered Correlation analysis
good. Whereas the values below 0.60 indicate the lack of reliability. AA A I PS PU SC
Results of the reliability analysis in Table 2 indicate that the values Argument advantage 0.808
for all the variables for Cronbach alpha are > 0.7 reflecting inter item Attitude 0.465 0.853
consistency of all variables. Intention 0.571 0.676 0.890
Perceived security 0. 530 0.471 0.510 0.822
Values of the AVE greater than 0.7 is considered as good and the Perceived usefulness 0.627 0.621 0.693 0.519 0.858
level of 0.5 is considered as acceptable [84]. Composite reliability is Source credibility 0.601 0.423 0.499 0.553 0.591 0.838
a less biased estimate of the reliability of the data as compared to the AA = Argument Advantage, A = Attitude, I = Intention, PS = Perceived Security, PU
Cronbach alpha, the accepted value of the CR is 0.7 and above. As seen = Perceived Usefulness, and SC = Source Credibility. Square root of average variance
extracted (AVE) is shown on the diagonal of the matrix.
from Table 3, the values of CR for all variables are greater than 0.7
hence ensuring internal consistency and reliability. The AVE values of
the variables perceived security and argument advantage are greater
4.1. Hypothesis testing
than 0.65 which are considered as acceptable whereas the values of the
AVE of the variables source credibility, perceived usefulness, attitude
To examine the hypotheses, multiple regression analysis was per-
and intension are greater than the 0.7 hence ensuring the validity of
formed using SPSS and the complete model was run in SmartPLS.
research instrument.
Results are displayed in Table 6. In the first three hypotheses, perceived
As shown in Table 4, the results indicate that all items loaded well usefulness was tested with perceived security, argument advantage and
i.e. greater than 0.50 or greater on their intended construct (Fornell source credibility. All three relationships proposed in the hypothesized
and Larker, 1981). The results of the statistical test of the correlation model were positive and significant and hence accepted. Hypothesis 1
are presented in Table 5. proposed impact of perceived security on perceived usefulness (F =

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A. Hassan, S.H. Bhatti, S. Shujaat et al. Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

Fig. 2. Model testing.

Table 6 identify and adopt measures that will help them to fully utilize the
Hypothesis testing.
benefits of cloud computing.
Direct hypotheses testing Drawing on the theories of elaboration likelihood model (ELM)
HYP IV DV R Square F Beta (𝛽) T Sign and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this paper puts forward a
H1 PS PU 0.259 73.685 0.509 8.584 0.000 theoretical framework using perceived security, argument advantage
H2 AA PU 0.386 132.86 0.622 11.527 0.000 and source credibility to explore the relationships among perceived
H3 SC PU 0.345 111.312 0.588 10.550 0.000
usefulness, attitude, and intention to use cloud computing in supply
H4 PU A 0.375 126.536 0.612 11.249 0.000
H5 PU I 0.473 189.233 0.688 13.756 0.000 chain practices in organizations. The study showed the significance
H6 A I 0.44 165.477 0.663 12.864 0.000 of these variables for the adoption of cloud computing services for
the supply chain management in the IT industry of Pakistan. The re-
sults endorsed that perceived security, argument advantage and source
credibility are strong predictors of perceived usefulness w.r.t cloud
73.685, 𝛽 = 0.509, t = 8.584 > 1.96). Hypothesis 2 proposed impact of
computing in the IT industry. These results are in line with the existing
argument advantage on perceived usefulness, (F = 132.86, 𝛽 = 0.622,
literature on cloud computing [24,25,30,47]. Jede and Teuteberg [85]
t = 11.527 > 1.96); whereas Hypothesis 3 proposed impact of source
confirmed the association between perceived security and perceived
credibility on perceived usefulness, (F = 111.312, 𝛽 = 0.588, t = 10.550
usefulness of cloud computing. Lin and Lin [41] also confirmed the
> 1.96).
positive association of argument advantage and source credibility with
Hypothesis 4 proposed impact of perceived usefulness on attitude,
perceived usefulness. All three predictors showed positive significant
and the results supported the original hypothesis (F = 126.536, 𝛽 =
relationship with perceived usefulness however, argument advantage
0.612, t = 11.249 > 1.96). Hypothesis 5 proposed impact of perceived
usefulness on intention, (F = 189.233, 𝛽 = 0.688, t = 13.756 > showed strongest effect on perceived usefulness, which is also in line
1.96); and Hypothesis 6 proposed impact of attitude on intention (F with the result of Lin and Lin [41].
= 165.477, 𝛽 = 0.663, t = 12.864 > 1.962) and the results supported The study also showed positive association between perceived use-
these hypotheses. Hence, all these three hypotheses were accepted. The fulness and attitude and then attitude and intention. These results are
whole model was also tested in Smart PLS and is illustrated in Fig. 2. also endorsed by Idhalama and Fidelis [64] and Zaman and Khurshid
(2020) stating that perceived usefulness is positively associated to
5. Discussion and implications attitude which has a strong influence on adoption of new technology.

The main objective of the study was to investigate the effects of 6. Conclusion, limitations and future work
the source credibility, argument advantage and perceived security on
the perceived usefulness of the adoption of the cloud computing. It Adoption of cloud computing in the supply chain management can
will help the organizations to move towards the adoption of the cloud enhance the productivity and effectiveness of the organization by many
computing especially in a resource constrained developing country folds. This study provides an understanding to the strategic importance
context. In this way, IT firms belonging to a developing country can of moving towards the adoption of cloud computing services for the

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A. Hassan, S.H. Bhatti, S. Shujaat et al. Decision Analytics Journal 5 (2022) 100138

supply chain management. Further this study also explores as to how I find cloud SCM services to be useful in my job
perceived security, argument advantage and source credibility affect
the perceived usefulness of the adoption of the cloud computing. This Attitude
study will help the organizations to understand the underlying concepts
of adoption of cloud computing proving to be beneficial for them in the Using cloud SCM services in my job is a (bad . . . good) idea
future. Using cloud SCM services in my job will be (unpleasant . . . pleasant)
Despite its novelty and usefulness for IT sector in a developing Overall, I (dislike . . . like) the idea of using cloud SCM service in my
country, this study also has its limitations. As the population sample job
of the study was only from Pakistan and limited to the twin cities
Islamabad and Rawalpindi, so future studies can be conducted in Intention
different cultures and contexts. Similarly, the results of the study cannot
be generalized for all the sectors as the study was only focused on the I intend to use cloud SCM services in my job more often in the near
IT sector of the country. Future researcher can consider other predictor future
variables like perceived privacy, perceived cost and stability, and top I intend to use cloud SCM services for more of my job responsibilities
management initiative to test the model of attitude and intention to use I intend to use cloud SCM services more often with customers
cloud computing. Future researchers can test the same model in other I intend to use cloud SCM services more often with suppliers
sectors and industries. Furthermore, future researchers can also test the
model with the help of longitudinal data. References

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