Building technological capability (TC) is a long-term process that must be planned carefully to achieve the desired results. Therefore, companies should increase their effort to maintain technological interactions with other companies and gain competitive advantages. This study aims to review the literature in the field of TC and provide a conceptual framework that highlights the relationship among TC, competitive advantage and manufacturing performance. After reviewing the literature, the researcher found that TC plays an important role in achieving competitive advantage for any company and improving the performance of companies. In addition, most previous studies have focused on TC in manufacturing companies probably due to the fact that manufacturing is currently an extremely important industry in the economy of most countries. TC strongly participates in the production and operation sectors, which are the cornerstones of every manufacturing company. Focusing on TC will play a role in developing the performance of manufacturing companies while gaining competitive advantages and maintaining commercial success in domestic and international markets.

BACKGROUND: Technology has recently become a major component of the educational field and learning process for it provides students with opportunities to learn more effectively and to operate efficiently in this age of technological advances. As academics, the use of technology in universities is transforming our work, and more specifically the way we support students in the classroom. As higher education institutions bring more technology into their classrooms, academics will in turn strive to put more technology in their students’ hands. That is, if they are prepared to do so. More importantly, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic becomes a central and integral focus globally regardless one is associated with college or university. OBJECTIVE: This paper therefore attempts to examine the internal factors that should be taken into consideration when using technology for teaching and learning purposes in higher education in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The study develops a number of hypotheses and a theoretical framework based on a questionnaire conducted among the faculty staff in Hail university to test the study hypotheses. RESULTS: All the study six hypotheses have been supported. The relationship among these hypotheses are clear and significant. Data analysis of this study have shown that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy, attitudes and computer anxiety have direct and substantial effect on the university teaching staff’s intention to use technology. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study will for sure assist in overcoming the problems and difficulties facing the use of ICT in higher education in Saudi Arabia, particularly those challenges which have arisen amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are drastically changing the norm in today's society, economy and culture. The acceptance and successful adoption of new technologies is as important as their introduction. This matter is particularly relevant to the current health crisis, especially for the aspect of education. The implementation of ICTs is changing the practice of learning institutions. Thus, this study aims to review academic publications on the use of technology in the education sector in Saudi Arabia. From the review of the literature, we determine six main factors influencing the successful adoption of ICTs. Using these factors, we develop a conceptual framework on the basis of the analysis and knowledge obtained from relevant literature. The proposed conceptual model helps identify the main factors that affect the successful adoption of innovative technologies in the education sector.We also provide potential research directions concerning the use of technology in the education sector in Saudi Arabia.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore external factors: organization technical support, organization administrative support, organization infrastructure and resources, and organization ICT policy’s effect on the commitment in use of technology among the faculty staff Hail university, Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey approach was used to collect data. A sample of 300 fulltime employees, having administrative and teaching responsibilities participated using a self-completion questionnaire. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation and multiple regressions to determine the impact of external factors on the commitment in use of technology.FindingsOverall, the results provided evidence that organization technical support, organization administrative support, and organization infrastructure and resources have a significant positive impact on the commitment in use of technology. However, organization ICT policy has an insignificant negative impact on the commitment in use of technology. The findings could be generalized on other public sector universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected from one public sector university of Hail province, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Only four external factors were taken into consideration in investigating its influence on the commitment in use of technology. There could be other external/environmental factors which might be useful to underpin the theory and advance literature.Practical implicationsIn-service and trainee faculties should take an advantage of using learning management system. Faculty should create a positive learning environment in their online classes so the learners can take a benefit out of the immense investment on ICT by ministry of higher education. Apart from giving training to teaching staff in use of technology, learners should also be given a platform to increase and improve their digital literacy. Workshops can be conducted frequently for both faculties and learners. Faculty can offer additional and out of the class support to their reluctant and weak students in order to assist them in the use of technology.Originality/valueTechnology integration after COVID-19 outbreak has significantly changed the education sector throughout the world. The use of technology now is unavoidable at primary, secondary and at tertiary level. This study provides an exclusive viewpoint concerning the external/environmental evidence based findings that have not been investigated empirically in the Saudi Arabian context. The current study also provides statistically a theoretical five-component model to understand the phenomena in the field of information communication technology.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence the willingness of Saudi Arabian students from four universities in Saudi Arabia, to adopt learning management systems (LMSs). This will be accomplished by using two popular technology acceptance models unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and theory of planned behavior (TPB). Design/methodology/approach In total, 445 undergraduates from four Saudi educational institutions participate in filling out the study questionnaire. To investigate the correlations between the variables, the study used structural equation modeling for data analysis. Findings The results of the study show that effort expectancy (EE), subjective norm (SN), attitude toward behavior (ATB) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) are found to be substantially connected with their intentions to use (ITU) LMSs. The findings also show that there is a strong relationship between students’ intentions and their actual use of LMSs. Research limitations/implications Like many studies, this research has some limitations. The primary limitation is that the findings of the study cannot be extrapolated to other settings since the report’s analysis and investigation were limited to four Saudi universities. Therefore, to generalize the study’s findings, similar research needs to be conducted in other Gulf and similar cultural universities. Practical implications The integrated model identifies key factors that influence the intent of Saudi Arabian students to use LMS, including EEs, social influence, ATB and PBC. This model can help develop solutions for the obstacles that prevent students from using LMS. The findings can be used to provide assistance to increase the likelihood of LMS acceptance as part of the educational experience. The model may also inspire further research on this topic in the Gulf nations, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Originality/value As none of the relevant studies conducted previously in Saudi Arabia has integrated the two models to study the students’ ITU LMSs, this study combines two major theories, TPB and UTAUT, in the context of Saudi Arabia, contributing to the field of technology use in education by expanding empirical research and providing a thorough understanding of the challenges associated with the use of LMS in Saudi universities. This study should be viewed as filling a crucial gap in the field. Moreover, this integrated model, using more than one theoretical perspective, brings a thorough comprehension of the barriers that hinder students’ adoption of LMSs in the academic context in Saudi Arabia and thus assists in making effective decisions and reaching viable solutions.