Computers & Education 53 (2009) 877889

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Computers & Education

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

Investigating Greek employees intention to use web-based training

Prodromos D. Chatzoglou *, Lazaros Sarigiannidis, Eftichia Vraimaki, Anastasios Diamantidis
Production and Management Engineering Department, Democritus University of Thrace, Library Building, Kimmeria, 67100 Xanthi, Greece

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 30 July 2008
Received in revised form 29 April 2009
Accepted 1 May 2009

Keywords:
Adult learning
Interactive learning environments
Country-specic developments

a b s t r a c t
In the last few decades, the implementation of information technology has given rise to several organizational training needs that have to be satised, in order to empower organizational IT performance. The
users of new technologies have to be trained quickly and efciently, and since they are usually distributed to different remote locations, web-based training is the preferred, and sometimes the only, process
for employee training. This study deals with the prognosis of employees intention to use a web-based
training process, by extending the technology acceptance model using some other related factors, such
as learning goal orientation, management support, enjoyment, self-efcacy and computer anxiety. Two
hundred and eighty seven employees participated in this study to test the validity of the research model.
The ndings of the structural equation modeling indicate that enjoyment, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use directly affect employees intention to use web-based training, while learning goal orientation has the strongest indirect impact on employees intention. Finally, three new causal relations are
proposed for further research.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The combined effect of reduced cost and the improved capabilities of information technology has inevitable led to signicant increased
in computer delivered training, such as computer- and web-based training, e-learning and multimedia learning environments (Brown,
2001). Welsh, Wanberg, Brown, and Simmering (2003: 246) dene e-learning as the use of computer network technology, primarily over
an intranet or through the internet, to deliver information and instruction to individuals [employees], while Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen, and
Yeh (2008) describe it as a web-based system that makes information or knowledge available to people for education and training purposes
in a modern society. Moreover Galagan (2000), stressed the increased use of internet technologies to deliver training, introducing the elearning Revolution period. For DeRouin, Fritzsche, and Salas (2005) and Burgess and Russell (2003), e-learning is a powerful tool which
helps rms to deliver many and varied instructional technologies and methods to employees (DeRouin et al., 2005: 921).
One of the major benets of such systems is the allowance of individuals to control the pace of the training and to tailor learning according to their personal needs (Ely, Sitzmann, & Falkiewicz, 2009). As training is regarded as a one of the most pervasive means for productivity
and job performance enhancement in the work environment (Gupta & Bostrom, 2006), organizations of all sizes should capitalize on the
advantages of such technologies to provide employees with the continually increasing demand for new skills acquiring. That is particularly
evident in relation to new technology usage, where evidence from the US conveys that one third of the employee-sponsored programs in
2004 targeted for computer skills improvement (Dolezalek, 2004). The enhancement of skills and abilities of employees in relation to information and telecommunication technologies (ICT) is of vital importance for European organizations, as well. Support for the importance of
ICT skills, namely professional skills, user skills and e-business skills, the competitiveness and growth of the European economy can be found
in various European Commission documents and initiatives (European Communities, 2008: The European e-Business Report 2008).
This issue is especially signicant for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) whose lack of ICT skilled human resources and inability to keep up with current market demands may jeopardize their viability (Duan et al., 2002). Realizing the importance of SMEs for national economies, since in the European Union (EU) 99.8% of the rms are SMEs, contributing to two-thirds of all employment (Carayannis,
Popescu, Sipp, & Stewart, 2006), several EU funded projects, such as the Leonardo da Vinci were set up to assess training needs and
provide SMEs with a web-based training system that is exible, low cost and easily accessible (Duan et al., 2002). Statistics regarding
the penetration of new technology in Greek business environment looks promising. According to The European Innovation Scoreboard

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +30 25410 79344.

E-mail addresses: pchatzog@pme.duth.gr (P.D. Chatzoglou), lsarigia@pme.duth.gr (L. Sarigiannidis), evraimak@pme.duth.gr (E. Vraimaki), adiamant@pme.duth.gr
(A. Diamantidis).
0360-1315/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.05.007

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P.D. Chatzoglou et al. / Computers & Education 53 (2009) 877889

report for 2008 (EIS, 2009) broadband access by Greek rms has increased by 51.6%, over the past 5 years. Yet, the European Information
Technology Observatory (EITO) reported that in 2004, IT expenditure in Greece was still among the lowest in EU countries. These steps
forward can be largely attributed to several projects that have been developed to help SMEs and very small enterprises keep up with ebusiness and e-commerce technologies, such as the Go-digital project, funded by the Greek Ministry of Development and approved in
2000 by the European Commission as a part of the eEurope action plan. An example of actions undertaken in line with this project include
a model for the design of a web-based electronic train systems (ETS) for Greek agribusiness SMEs proposed by Costopoulou, Vlachos, and
Tsiligiris (2002). The basic aims of this system include building awareness on ICT and e-business practices, teaching of necessary skills in
using the Internet for e-commerce, provision of necessary education material and provide on-line training and consultancy. Despite those
signicant developments, little is known regarding the acceptance of such system by users in the organizational context. This is because
most of prior studies on user acceptance have focused on specic information systems in Management Information Systems elds, other
than education (Lau & Woods, 2008). Moreover, investigating the acceptance and use of such systems by employees is as important as
building web-training systems, specically designed to address the needs of Greek enterprises.
Stemming from the importance, diversity of form, effectiveness and impact of e-learning, this study concentrates, primarily, on employees training approach and, more specic, their training through the web (web-based training). The signicant growth of the World Wide
Web has enabled it to emerge as a powerful new tool, which provides organizations the necessary facilities to strengthen and improve their
operational and managerial processes. Web-based training indicates the planned efforts to increase job-related knowledge and skill
(Welsh et al., 2003: 246) through the web. With the intention of achieving a successful and useful web-based training in organizations,
managers have to take into account different views, such as the eld of design and development, different departments, like marketing,
human resources, research and development (R&D) and information technology (IT), and different employee needs, roles and capabilities
(Chan et al., 2002). Web-based training can be seen as a vehicle that may increase the speed, decrease the barriers, disperse the geographical range and reduce the costs of knowledge sharing within an organization and improve and accommodate the communication between
users. Nevertheless, there are also a few inhibitors that limit its adoption and implementation by organizations, such as software and hardware constraints or psychological factors (Chan et al., 2002).
Web-based training has generated the noteworthy interest of scholars from social psychology and information system elds who have
identied specic constructs which inuence the intention of employees to use it for their educational purposes (Sun et al., 2008; Yi &
Hwang, 2003). The technology acceptance model (TAM), introduced by Davis (1986) is one of the most frequent used models for predicting
and explaining user behavior and IT usage. According to Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989: 985), the main goal of TAM is to provide an
explanation of the determinants of computer acceptance that is general, capable of explaining user behavior across a broad range of enduser computing technologies and user populations.
However, many scholars (Venkatesh, 2000) underlined the parsimony of the initial TAM and proposed several extension constructs from
related theories, such as economic, psychology and marketing (Xu & Yu, 2004). Based on another similar research (Yi & Hwang, 2003), this
study makes an effort to extend original TAM and its constructs (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), by incorporating additional ones, namely, management support, enjoyment, self efcacy, computer anxiety and learning goal orientation, for predicting the
intention of Greek employees to adopt web-based training. Although similar models have been widely utilized in the past to examine user
intentions, it is signicant to further test the applicability of the model and the generalizability of results produced from Western-European, Northern-American and Asian samples in the Greek context.
This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, a theoretical framework and the research hypotheses are presented. Section 3 provides
an overview of the methodological approach adopted concerning the data collection instrument and process. The results of the data analysis are discussed in Section 4, while some concluding remarks, managerial implications, limitations and directions for future research are
provided in Section 5.

2. Theoretical framework and hypotheses

2.1. Technology acceptance model
In the original TAM, the variables of intention and attitude mediate the perceived usefulness and ease of use to inuence technology
acceptance and use (Kim, Park, & Lee, 2007). Davis (1989: 320) denes perceived usefulness as the degree to which a person believes that
using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance and perceived ease of use as the degree to which a person believes
that using a particular system would be free of effort. In addition, according to the TAMs predecessor Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
(Fishbein & Azjen, 1975; Verhoef & Langerak, 2001), behavioral intention refers to a persons subjective probability that he will perform
some behavior, while an attitude represents a persons general feeling of a favorableness or unfavorableness toward some stimulus
object (Fishbein & Azjen, 1975: 288; 216). However, in consistency with other empirical studies (Adams, Nelson, & Todd, 1992; Davis
et al., 1989; Igbaria, Zinatelli, Cragg, & Cavaye, 1997; Lee, Kim, & Lee, 2006; Szajna, 1996; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) that exclude attitude
from their models, considering it as a weak mediator (Yi & Hwang, 2003), the proposed research model of this study (see Fig. 1) also excludes it. Therefore, based on the literature (Chin & Gopal, 1995; Davis et al., 1989; Gefen & Straub, 2000; Liu & Wei, 2003; Moon & Kim,
2001; Venkatesh, 1999), the following hypotheses are rst proposed:
H1. Perceived Ease of Use has a positive effect on Behavioral Intention.
H2. Perceived Usefulness has a positive effect on Behavioral Intention.
Moreover, TAM posits that perceived usefulness is determined by perceived ease of use, advocating that a system would be perceived to
be more useful if it is easier to use (van der Heijden, Verhagen, & Creemers, 2001; Vijayasarathy, 2004). Thus, the following hypothesis is
also proposed:
H3. Perceived Ease of Use has a positive impact on Perceived Usefulness.

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Management
Support

H5

H4
H7

Enjoyment

H6

H17

Perceived
Usefulness

H2

H8

H14

Learning Goal
Orientation

H15

Intention

H12

H3
H1

Self Efficacy

H11
H13

H10

Perceived
Ease of Use

H9
Computer
Anxiety

H16
Fig. 1. Employees acceptance of web-based training.

2.2. Management support

Although TAM has emerged as an effective model for predicting and explaining user behavior and IT usage, IS researchers have proposed
many extensions to the original TAM model, incorporating exogenous constructs (Lu, Hsu, & Hsu, 2005; Vijayasarathy, 2004; Yu, Ha, Choi, &
Rho 2005). One of these constructs is management support. This study is focused on this construct, examining its inuence on the acceptance of web-based training in the workplace by employees (Kim et al., 2007). For Igbaria, Guimaraes, and Davis (1995) and Igbaria, Zinatelli, Cragg, and Cavaye (1997), management support includes, among others, top management encouragement, information center support
and allocation of resources.
According to TAM, management support, being an external variable to the model, inuences perceived usefulness and perceived ease of
use; there is also evidence in the literature supporting the positive relationship among these variables (Igbaria et al.,1995, 1997; Kim et al.,
2007; Trevino & Webster, 1992). The following hypotheses are therefore, proposed:
H4. Management Support has a positive effect on Perceived Usefulness.
H5. Management Support has a positive effect on Perceived Ease of Use.

2.3. Enjoyment
Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1992) and Igbaria, Schiffman, and Wieckowshi (1994) introduced perceived enjoyment and placed it in
parallel to the main belief constructs of TAM as a cognitive response (Al-Gahtani & King, 1999). Perceived enjoyment is dened as the
extent to which the activity of using the technology is perceived to be enjoyable in its own right, apart from any performance consequences
that may be anticipated (Davis et al., 1992: 1113). Scholars argue that the perceived enjoyment of using a system positively inuences the
perceived ease of use (Koufaris & Hampton-Sosa, 2002; Moon & Kim, 2001; Venkatesh, 1999, 2000; Yi & Hwang, 2003), the perceived usefulness (Agarwal & Karahanna, 2000; Koufaris, 2002; Yi & Hwang, 2003) and the behavioral intention to use a system (Davis et al., 1992;
Venkatesh, Speier, & Morris, 2002). Consequently, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H6. Perceived Enjoyment has a positive effect on Perceived Ease of Use.
H7. Perceived Enjoyment has a positive effect on Perceived Usefulness.
H8. Perceived Enjoyment has a positive effect on Behavioral Intention.

2.4. Computer anxiety

In a web-based environment, computers are the key tools for carrying out the learning task, therefore, anxiety, which may stem from its
usage, would probably obstruct the intention to use such a system. Computer anxiety can be dened as the tendency of individuals to be
uneasy, apprehensive, or fearful about current or future use of computers (Igbaria & Parasuraman 1989: 375).
Many researchers have attempted to document the signicance of computer anxiety on original TAM constructs, such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. First of all Igbaria and Chakrabarti (1990), Igbaria et al. (1994) and Igbaria and Iivari (1995) presented
empirical support for the presumption that computer anxiety is negatively related to perceived usefulness. In addition Venkatesh (2000)
and Igbaria and Parasuraman (1989) supported that computer anxiety has a negative inuence on the perceived ease of use of a system.
Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed:

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H9. Computer Anxiety has a negative effect on Perceived Ease of Use.

H10. Computer Anxiety has a negative effect on Perceived Usefulness.

2.5. Self efcacy

Computer self-efcacy is studied regularly from the scope of social cognitive theory (Venkatesh, 2000) as a main predecessor to technology use and acceptance (Compeau, Higgins, & Huff, 1999). According to Wood and Bandura (1989: 408), self-efcacy refers to beliefs in
ones capabilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources and courses of action needed to meet given situational demands, while
Bandura (1986: 391) explained that it is not related with the skills one has but with judgments of what one can do with whatever skills
one possesses.
There are many theoretical and empirical studies in the IT literature which support that people with high self-efcacy will have a positive perception regarding how easy and useful a system is (Gong, Xu, & Yu, 2004; Venkatesh, 2000; Venkatesh & Davis, 1996; Yi & Hwang,
2003), because of its impact on the degree of effort, the persistence and the level of learning which takes place (Igbaria & Iivari, 1995). The
following hypotheses are proposed:
H11. Computer Self efcacy has a positive effect on Perceived Ease of Use.
H12. Computer Self efcacy has a positive effect on Perceived Usefulness.
Furthermore, many scholars applied Bandura (1977) theory of self-efcacy to computer-based learning and argued that there is a negative inuence of self-efcacy on computer anxiety (Brosnan, 1998; Compeau et al., 1999; Igbaria & Iivari, 1995; Meier, 1985). The following hypothesis is therefore, proposed:
H13. Computer Self efcacy has a negative effect on Computer Anxiety.
Moreover, people with low self-efcacy tend not only to be very anxious but also to have a low perception about their capabilities, concerning the tasks that they have to carry out (Xu & Yu, 2004). This fact, normally, leads to vulnerability, low performance and dysfunction.
On the other hand, the sense of enjoyment in using a given system is emerging as a critical factor, being able to efciently reduce anxiety
and raise people condence about their skillfulness to successfully carry out the requisite actions (Yi & Hwang, 2003). Consequently, relating computer self-efcacy with perceived enjoyment, the following hypothesis is suggested:
H14. Perceived Enjoyment has a positive effect on Computer Self efcacy.

2.6. Learning goal orientation

Goal orientation is a theory that conceptualizes a personality dimension from the broader goals pursued by individuals (Peloso & Galliford, 2003) and attempts to explain the reasons for setting goals and motivations for achieving or failing to achieve those goals (Code,
MacAllister, Gress, & Nesbit, 2006). It was initially divided into two different classes: learning goal or mastery orientation, and performance
goal orientation, also called ego orientation and ability-goal orientation (Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Elliot & Dweck, 1988; Nicholls, 1984). This research focuses on the learning goal orientation, which is concentrated on the learning process itself, through understanding the task and task strategies (Carson, Mosley, & Boyar, 2004). It is related to an incremental theory about their skills development
(through effort and experience), motivating individuals to improve their level of competence in order to facilitate task performance
improvements (Carson et al., 2004; Hwang & Yi, 2002; Printrich, 2000). It assesses their competence comparing it with previous levels
of competence, engages them in solution-oriented self-instruction and chooses, persists and enjoys on a challenging task that foster learning (Egan, 2005; Hwang & Yi, 2002; Steele-Johnson, Beauregard, Hoover, & Schmidt, 2000). Learning goal orientation was found to have a
positive and statistical signicant effect on self-efcacy, indicating that individuals with a learning goal orientation are more likely to develop a higher sense of condence (Bandura, 1986; Hwang & Yi, 2002; Peloso, 2003; Phillips & Gully, 1997; Yi & Hwang, 2003). Thus, the
following hypothesis is proposed:

H15. Learning Goal Orientation has a positive effect on Self efcacy.

In addition, learning goal orientation is found to have a positive impact on ease of use perception via its effects on self-efcacy (Hwang &
Yi, 2002). In this study, the direct relation between the two constructs will also be examined. Therefore, the next hypothesis is also suggested:

H16. Learning Goal Orientation has a positive effect on Perceived Ease of Use.
Moreover, considering the adoption of a new system, it has been found that learning goal orientation enhances the enjoyment which
individuals are expected to have from the challenge of learning new features of the technology. Yi and Hwang (2003) tested this positive
relationship, but they did not nd any signicant effect on it. Thus, the following nal hypothesis is proposed:
H17. Learning Goal Orientation has a positive effect on Perceived Enjoyment.

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3. Research methodology
3.1. Sampling and data collection
A structured questionnaire was designed and used for collecting data. This study measures eight (8) constructs and the questionnaire
was divided into nine sections. The rst section refers to the general characteristics of the correspondent and the rm, while each one of the
following sections refer to (includes questions that measures) each of the constructs used in the research model: correspondents perceived
ease of use, perceived usefulness, rms management support for web-based training usage, correspondents enjoyment, computer anxiety,
self efcacy, learning goal orientation and, nally, the last section measures correspondents intention to use web-based training. All items
(totally 44) were measured using a seven point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree) (Appendix A). Table 1
shows the questionnaire constructs, their operational denition, the number of items used to measure each construct and the related
literature.

3.2. Instrument validation

Samples content validity was established through questionnaire pre-testing process (Zikmund, 2003). Ten employees (pre-test participants) were asked to make remarks regarding the research questionnaire instructions and to point out any drawbacks or lack of clarity of
the items examined. Further, a number of modications (wording) are made in order to ensure that the original text was clearly interpreted
in the target language (Greek). The back translation method, which refers to the fact that the questionnaire is translated back to the original
language to secure correspondence with the original version, was used to validate the translated questionnaire (Francis et al., 2004). Moreover, the wording of the questions was again slightly modied before the nal draft was established, based on the pre-test process participants remarks and instructions.
Totally, ve hundred (500) employees from a hundred (100) rms were initially contacted and 414 of them accepted to participate in
this research. Finally, only 287 employees (response rate 69.3%) from 72 rms have successfully completed and returned the questionnaire.
More of these rms have not implemented web-based or other e-learning training programs. Table 2 presents in brief the prole of the
research participants. The research sample consists of medium to large sized competitive rms, balanced as far as the sector they belong
to is concerned, while the respondents are well educated with many years of professional experience. Data analysis has been performed
using AMOS software and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Approach.

4. Data analysis and results

4.1. Conrmatory factor analysis
In this study conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess each factors construct validity. Four t measures were used to evaluate the model t: chi-square/degree of freedom (v2/d.f.), goodness-of-t index (GFI), comparative t index (CFI), and root mean square
residual (RMR).
Table 3 presents the model t results for all (eight) research constructs. As can be seen, all loadings are above 0.6 (threshold 0.5, Bergeron, Raymond, & Rivard, 2004), chi-square/degree of freedom (v2/d.f.) scores are close to the accepted threshold score 5 (Harrison & Rainer, 1996) for most of the constructs, GFI scores are above the 0.92 threshold (Bollen & Long, 1993), CFI scores are also above the 0.9
threshold (Smith & McMillan, 2001), while RMR values are below the 0.1 threshold (Bollen, 1989; Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black,
1992). It must be stressed here, that as far as the self-efcacy construct is concerned, CFA indicated that six items (SEF 5, SEF 6, SEF 7,
SEF 8, SEF 9 and SEF 10) should be excluded from the construct due to statistically insignicant loadings.

Table 1
The questionnaire constructs and operational denitions.
Constructs

Operational denition

Items

References

Intention to use
web-based
training
Management
support
Perceived enjoyment

A persons subjective probability that he will perform some behavior (use Web-based
training).

Fishbein and Azjen (1975) and Hsu, Lu, and

Hsu (2007)

Perceived level of general support offered by top management, including encouragement

and resource support (technical and managerial).
The extent to which the activity of using the technology is perceived to be enjoyable in its
own right, apart from any performance consequences that may be anticipated.
The degree to which a person believes that using a computer would enhance his/her job
performance.
The degree to which a person believes that using a computer will be free of effort (with
the minimum effort possible).
The motivation of individuals to improve their level of competence in order to facilitate
task performance improvements.
The beliefs in ones capabilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources, and
courses of action needed to meet given situational demands.
The tendency of an individual to be uneasy, apprehensive and phobic towards current or
future use of computers in general.

Igbaria et al. (1997)

Davis et al. (1992) and Yi and Hwang

(2003)
Arbaugh (2000); Davis (1989); Davis et al.
(1989); Sun, Ke, and Cheng (2007)
Arbaugh (2000); Davis (1989); Davis et al.
(1989); Sun et al. (2007)
Carson et al. (2004)); Hwang and Yi
(2002)); Printrich (2000))
Compeau and Higgins (1995); Compeau
et al. (1999); Wood and Bandura (1989)
Compeau et al. (1999); Igbaria (1993);
Raub (1981)

Perceived usefulness
Perceived ease of use
Learning goal
orientation
Self-efcacy
Computer anxiety

4
4
8
10
4

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Table 2
Respondents prole.

Employees

Measure

Items

Percentage

Gender

Male
Female
Mean: 37.24 years
Std. 9.816
High school
Undergraduate studies
Postgraduate studies
Mean: 12.39 years
Std. 9.583
Mean: 10.54 years
Std. 5.745
Full time
Part time
Management
Production
Support (Technical & clerical)

59.8%
40.2%

Manufacturing
Trade
Construction
Banks
Services
Leader
Big player
Competitive
Small player
Follower

28.9%
25.1%
6.6%
21.3%
18.1%
28.6%
27.5%
33.1%
10.5%
0.3%

Age
Education

Work experience
Computer experience
Occupation
Position

Firms

Sector

Competitive position

31.4%
59.3%
9.3%

95.1%
4.9%
50.8%
22.8%
26.4%

Sample size, N = 287.

Table 3
Conrmatory factor analysis.
Construct

Items

Mean

St. deviation

Loadings

CMIN/DF

GFI

CFI

RMR

Ease of use

EOU1
EOU2
EOU3
EOU4

5.55
5.58
5.45
5.43

1.403
1.359
1.454
1.456

0.904
0.922
0.902
0.917

7.545

0.967

0.986

0.029

Usefulness

US1
US2
US3
US4

5.87
5.67
5.77
5.70

1.237
1.354
1.253
1.367

0.860
0.902
0.863
0.916

5.764

0.976

0.986

0.025

Management support

MS1
MS2
MS3
MS4
MS5
MS6

5.46
5.18
5.03
5.05
5.25
5.22

1.570
1.721
1.770
1.680
1.660
1.658

0.709
0.932
0.901
0.866
0.854
0.830

1.624

0.985

0.997

0.035

Enjoyment

ENJ1
ENJ2
ENJ3

5.56
5.55
5.39

1.375
1.318
1.404

0.910
0.977
0.834

1.452

0.926

0.931

0.061

Computer anxiety

CA1
CA2
CA3
CA4

1.90
2.10
1.94
1.71

1.608
1.666
1.603
1.506

0.854
0.887
0.943
0.934

8.500

0.957

0.980

0.042

Self efcacy

SEF1
SEF2
SEF3
SEF4

4.64
4.87
5.02
5.21

1.896
1.756
1.735
1.599

0.909
0.911
0.869
0.756

3.795

0.987

0.994

0.042

Learning goal orientation

LGO1
LGO2
LGO3
LGO4
LGO5
LGO6
LGO7
LGO8

6.05
6.31
5.90
6.27
6.27
6.20
6.31
6.10

1.149
1.149
1.231
1.012
1.021
1.116
9.935
1.127

0.673
0.761
0.631
0.822
0.790
0.758
0.840
0.700

3.250

0.945

0.965

0.037

Intention

INT1
INT2
INT3
INT4
INT5

5.88
5.88
5.27
5.82
5.97

1.482
1.324
1.545
1.379
1.303

0.725
0.884
0.785
0.822
0.776

4.203

0.964

0.977

0.057

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4.2. The metric model

The overall metric model was tested using the Structural Equation Modeling Approach. The overall model t was appraised using again
the ve common t measures: (v2/d.f.), (GFI), (CFI), (RMR) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Table 4 summarizes the
overall t values of the CFA model, where all the extracted t values are within the acceptable levels.

Table 4
Overall t of the CFA model.
Model-t index

Scores

Chi-square/degree of freedom (v2/d.f.)

Goodness-of-t index (GFI)
Comparative t index (CFI)
Root mean square residual (RMR)
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)

2.944
0.974
0.974
0.079
0.082

.23***
Management
Support
(R2= .09)

.11**

Perceived
Usefulness
(R2= .43)

***

***

.31

Enjoyment
(R2= .27)

.28

.31***

.44***
.39***

.24***

Learning
Goal
Orientation

- .23***
.27***

.21***
Self
Efficacy
2
(R = .19)

.41***

Perceived
Ease of Use
(R2= .55)

**

- .23
.20***

Intention
(R2= .52)

.26***

Computer
Anxiety
(R2= .07)

.16**

- .18***
Notes: *** Significant at the p < 0.01 level, ** Significant at the p < 0.05 level
________: Originally Proposed Causal Paths
- - - - - - - : Additional Relationships Proposed by Modification Indexes

Fig. 2. Research structural model.

Table 5
Hypotheses testing results.
Hypothesis

Path

Path coefcient

Remarks

H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
H8
H9
H10
H11
H12
H13
H14
H15
H16
H17

Perceived ease of use ? intention

Perceived usefulness ? intention
Perceived ease of use ? perceived usefulness
Management support ? perceived usefulness
Management support ? perceived ease of use
Perceived enjoyment ? perceived ease of use
Perceived enjoyment ? perceived usefulness
Perceived enjoyment ? intention
Computer anxiety ? perceived ease of use
Computer anxiety ? perceived usefulness
Self-efcacy ? perceived ease of use
Self-efcacy ? perceived usefulness
Self-efcacy ? computer anxiety
Perceived enjoyment ? self efcacy
Learning goal orientation ? self efcacy
Learning goal orientation ? perceived ease of use
Learning goal orientation ? perceived enjoyment

0.16**
0.31***
0.26***
0.11**

0.24***
0.28***
0.39***
0.18***

0.41***

0.23**
0.21***
0.27***
0.20***
0.44***

Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Dropped
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Dropped
Accepted
Dropped
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted

Computer anxiety ? perceived enjoyment

Learning goal orientation ? perceived usefulness
Learning goal orientation ? management support

0.23***
0.23***
0.31***

Accepted
Accepted
Accepted

Proposed causal relationships

**
***

p < 0.05 level.

p < 0.01 level.

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P.D. Chatzoglou et al. / Computers & Education 53 (2009) 877889

4.3. The structural model: Results and discussion

Fig. 2 demonstrates the structural model with the extracted path coefcients and the adjusted R2 scores while Table 5 presents the overall ndings as far as the hypotheses tested are concerned.
First, the relationships between (i) management support and perceived ease of use (H5), (ii) computer anxiety and perceived usefulness
(H10), as well as, (iii) self-efcacy and perceived usefulness (H12), are not supported by the results of the statistical analysis thus, they
must be removed from the model. The remaining 14 relationships originally proposed are acceptable and statistically signicant. Moreover,
modication indexes indicated that three new additional relationships appeared to be statistically signicant and therefore, should be included in the model (they are presented in Fig. 2 with dotted lines). These relationships are between: (i) learning goal orientation and management support, (ii) enjoyment and computer anxiety and (iii) learning goal orientation and perceived usefulness. Table 6 summarizes the
total, direct and indirect effects between all model constructs.
As regards to the relationship between management support and perceived usefulness and ease of use, only the former is accepted. The
relative effect of management support on ease of use and usefulness perceptions has been found to vary studies in the literature. For example Igbaria et al. (1995) found that organizational support only affects ease of use, while results of Igbaria et al. (1997) and Kim et al. (2007)
studies indicate that management support has a stronger effect on usefulness than ease of use. The variance in results can be partially
attributed to the different dependent variables used (Igbaria et al., 1997). In this case; however, the fact that the pre-implementation
acceptance is examined should be taken into consideration. This means that management efforts, that can take many forms (Igbaria
et al., 1997), may be primarily focused on enhancing web-based training usefulness, in order to encourage employee acceptance. Moreover,
employee perceptions of ease of use could be rather associated with application specic training, which in this case was not examined.
Nonetheless, the relationship between management support and perceived usefulness, although quite low, is statistically signicant, indicating the necessity of management support in rms web training processes and, especially, in supporting a trainees perception of web
training usefulness.
As far as learning goal orientation is concerned, the initial three hypotheses (H15, H16 and H17) are conrmed, while the strongest relationship (0.44***, H17) appears to be between learning goal orientation and perceived enjoyment. Results regarding the
relationship between LGO and self-efcacy have been also conrmed by past studies (Hwang & Yi, 2002; Yi & Hwang, 2003). However, in this case the proposed direct effect of LGO on enjoyment and ease of use is statistically signicant, as well. By denition,
individuals with high learning goal orientation react to challenging work with positive affect and intrinsic motivation (Dweck &
Leggett, 1988). They would therefore, enjoy exploring the features of the specic application per se, along with any learning opportunities this would offer them. Moreover, since these individuals are expected to relish challenging work and are willing to try
hard when working on a task, it would be reasonable to assume that they are likely to view the features of web-based training
as easy to use.
Two new causal paths linking learning orientation with management support (0.31***) and perceived usefulness (0.23***) have also
been suggested by modication indexes. As regards to the relationship between LGO and usefulness, it would be safe to say that the
learning opportunities offered by a web-based training program could only be viewed as appealing to individuals with high learning
goal orientation. In general Kozlowski et al. (2001) explain that individuals with a learning goal orientation have adaptive responses
to new and/or challenging situations. As a result, these situations are treated as opportunities for self-improvement through learning
(Loraas & Diaz, 2009). In effect, except for the positive inuence on perceptions of ease of use, or even regardless of the appraisal
regarding the ease of use, potential users with a learning goal orientation are expected to have more positive evaluations regarding
the usefulness of a web-based training tool. Linderbaum (2006), investigating feedback seeking behavior, proposed that learning goal
orientation is positively related to perceptions of utility, which . . .refers to an individuals tendency to believe that feedback is useful
in achieving goals and obtaining desired outcomes (p. 29). Correspondingly, employees with higher LGO may develop more positive

Table 6
Direct and indirect standardized effects of the model constructs.

ENJ

SEF

CA

MS

EOU

US

Intention

D
I
T
D
I
T
D
I
T
D
I
T
D
I
T
D
I
T
D
I
T

LGO

ENJ

0.436
0.019
0.455
0.269
0.096
0.372

0.212
0.002
0.214

0.084
0.084
0.308
0.308
0.198
0.274
0.472
0.227
0.283
0.511
0.411
0.411

0.049
0.049

0.241
0.099
0.340
0.280
0.092
0.372
0.393
0.186
0.565

SEF

CA

MS

EOU

US

0.230
0.003
0.233

0.410
0.059
0.469

0.179
0.077
0.256
0.107

0.262

0.137
0.137

0.031
0.031

0.107

0.104
0.104

0.172
0.172

0.033
0.033

0.262
0.163
0.080
0.243

0.306
0.306

Note: ENJ, enjoyment; SEF, self efcacy; CA, computer anxiety; MS, management support; EOU, ease of use; US, usefulness; D, direct effect; I, indirect effect; T, total effect.

P.D. Chatzoglou et al. / Computers & Education 53 (2009) 877889

885

perceptions regarding the utility of a web-based training application. On the other hand Saad (2007), proposed that LGO comprises,
along with extrinsic (outcome expectations and performance goal orientation) and intrinsic motivation (enjoyment), the three subdimensions of perceived usefulness. The author developed an extended TAM model to study students intention to use an Internet-based learning tool, in which perceived usefulness was replaced by the three aforementioned dimensions. Saad (2007: 296) postulates that . . .LGO can be considered equivalent to perceiving the system that is being used to be useful, but for reasons of selfimprovement.
The suggested relationship between LGO and perceptions of management support, to the best of the authors knowledge, has not
indicated before in the relevant literature, although the impact of various environment features has been widely examined in training-relevant studies. For example, evidence of a positive impact of organization climate (which includes management support) on
valence, i.e. according to expectancy theory, individuals beliefs regarding the desirability of outcomes obtained from training. . . (Colquitt & LePine, 2000: 680). Moreover, past literature has advocated that the extent to which environmental features as a whole are perceived by learners as barriers or enablers has an inuence on their motivation to learn; these perceptions are not necessarily based on
actual events or conditions (Klein, Noe, & Wang, 2006). As Klein et al. (2006) explains, learner characteristics, including learning goal
orientation, inuence the likelihood that certain features are perceived as enablers or barriers; accordingly, the impact of LGO on motivation to learn is proposed to be, at least partially, mediated by those perceptions. Seen from this angle, individuals with high LGO could
view management support as an enabling environmental feature, being more sensitive to realizing the efforts on behalf of top
management for promoting and supporting the utilization of such systems and viewing it as a means to achieve further personal
development.
Alternatively, there is evidence in the literature that LGO may be inuenced by environmental factors (e.g. Button, Mathieu, & Zajac,
1996; Dweck, 1986; Sample, 2004; VandeWalle, Cron, & Slocum, 2001). VandeWalle (2001) postulates that the dispositional goal orientation that an employee brings to the workplace can be supported or discouraged by the organizational culture. Although goal orientation is
mainly regarded as a dispositional factor, and is conceptualized as such in this study, literature has also been focusing on situational goal
orientation (also categorized as learning and performance) that can be induced via normative instruction (Loraas & Diaz, 2009). This has
given rise to a number of studies concerned with the design of goal orientation-based training interventions, which seem to yield consistent ndings with those of trait-based research (Kozlowski et al., 2001). Sample (2004), proposes a series of strategies that practitioners
may use in order to effectively combine learning a performance, among which are the assessment of employees goal orientation and
the design of human resource management strategies that emphasize and enhance learning for long-term results. However, further qualitative research is granted to study the dynamics between these constructs, as well as more empirical investigation to examine whether the
aforementioned relationship can be replicated.
Similarly to other studies (Koufaris, 2002; Venkatesh et al., 2002; Yi & Hwang, 2003), all the hypotheses for the perceived enjoyment
construct have been conrmed by the results of this analysis (H7, H6, H8 and H14). The strongest direct relationship is between perceived
enjoyment and a trainees intention to use web training (0.39***, H8), indicating that the level of the trainees perceived enjoyment mainly
affects the intention construct. Focusing on this relationship, it can be said that an employee, possibly, intends to use a web-training platform when he/she believes that the training process will be an interesting, helpful and enjoyable one. In other words, if the employee
thinks that the training program will be boring and without any real value for him/her, he/she will not be excited enough to participate
in the training process.
Moreover, if the training program is enjoyable for and considered as interesting by the trainee, its on-the-job usefulness (H7) and ease of
use (H8) will be realized more easily and faster. The relationship between perceived enjoyment and self efcacy conrms the fact that an
interesting and joyful training program may lead trainees to develop new initiatives, to overcome difcult and anxious on-the-job situations and to improve their personal job-esteem (H14).
Further, there is also a proposed negative relationship ( 0.23***) between perceived enjoyment and computer anxiety. This relationship
possibly indicates that, when the trainee enjoys his participation to a web-training program, his computer anxiety level is low. On the other
hand, if the trainees perceived enjoyment is low then he is unsure of his computer usage capabilities, he is not condent to use the computer for the training program and he may possibly put relatively limited effort into the training process.
Further, self-efcacy positively affects a trainees perceived ease of use (H11), as Venkatesh (2000) also found, because of the fact that
trainees perceived ease of use is possibly based on their perception of their capabilities. In other words, if trainees have a strong condence
in their computer usage capabilities (judgment, skills and abilities) then they more easily realize the easiness of the training program.
As Brosnan (1998) also found, there is a negative relationship ( 0.23**, H13) between self-efcacy and computer anxiety, probably because, when trainees are condent of their computer usage capabilities (judgment, skills and abilities) then they are not fearful and anxious
about using a web-training platform.
As far as the computer anxiety construct is concerned, only one of the two causal relationships is valid. Firstly, there is a negative relationship ( 0.18***, H9) between computer anxiety and perceived ease of use as Igbaria and Iivari (1995) also found. This relationship is
possibly extracted because when trainees are anxious and fearful about their computer use, then it is more difcult for them to realize
or understand the easiness of a web training learning method.
As far as the perceived ease of use is concerned, its positive relationships with intention and usefulness (H1, H3) have been conrmed,
as many other studies also found (Liu & Wei, 2003; Moon & Kim, 2001; Vijayasarathy, 2004). These ndings imply that if a trainee has
realized the easiness of a training program then he or she also realizes its on-the-job usefulness and intent to use it. Finally, a positive
relationship between perceived usefulness and intention (H2) also appears, as Moon and Kim (2001) and Liu and Wei (2003) also found,
suggesting that when a trainee understands the usefulness of the web-training program then the lack of his/her intention to participate
increases.
Overall, all these direct relationships between enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness with intention have been found to be statistically signicant (Table 6). Interestingly, the relationship with the highest magnitude is the one between enjoyment and intention (0.393***) suggesting that, apart from anything else, web-training program designers must pay particular attention to make the whole process more
joyful for the trainees. The second more important relationship seems to be between usefulness and intention (0.306***) and the third between ease of use and intention (0.163**). Surprisingly, though, when taking into consideration the indirect impact as well, learning orientation arises as the relationship with the second highest total importance for intention (0.411***). This is a very signicant result indicating

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that training programs must be directly related to trainees real task-execution problems and that managers must explain to trainees the
usefulness of these programs to each one of them.
As regards to the three relationships of the originally proposed model, they are not supported by the statistical analysis; therefore, they
must be removed from the model. In detail, the relationship between management support and perceived ease of use (H5) found to be
insignicant (as Wu, Chen, & Lin, 2007 also found). This nding is in contrast with other previous researches (Igbaria & Iivari, 1995; Igbaria
et al., 1995, 1997) where there is, indeed, a signicant relationship between management support and perceived ease of use. However, it
must be stressed here that in these previous researches the relationship coefcients are too weak (0.09 in Igbaria & Iivari, 1995; 0.14 in
Igbaria et al., 1995; 0.07 in Igbaria et al., 1997) and as Igbaria and Iivari (1995: 601) stated managers . . . are most likely to have a great
impact on the users belief in the systems usefulness and benets implying that management support inuences mostly perceived usefulness than perceived ease of use.
The nding that management support is not related to perceived ease of use probably indicates the fact that managers stress out mainly
the benets for the employees derived from using a web-based training system and thinking that their employees will eventually use the
training platform regardless its degree of easiness. This nding is in line with the aspect that perceived usefulness is more inuential than
perceived ease-of-use in determining usage (Igbaria & Iivari, 1995: 602).
The second relationship that has to be removed from the model is between computer anxiety and perceived usefulness (H10). The ndings indicate no direct inuence to perceived usefulness, but a weak negative ( 0.031) indirect inuence to perceived usefulness through
perceived ease of use. As Igbaria and Iivari (1995) also pointed the effects of computer anxiety to perceived usefulness are mainly indirect
and channelled through perceived ease of use. Since this form of anxiety is a dynamic feature of the trainees, it can be changed by improving trainees abilities via training. This nding probably indicates that as trainees use the training platform systematically their anxiety is
reduced and their condence is increased, thinking now that the training platform is an ease one to handle and eventually try to utilize it in
the most useful way for them.
Furthermore, as Igbaria and Iivari (1995) and Wu et al. (2007) also found, the relationship between self-efcacy and perceived usefulness (H12) has also to be removed from the model as the ndings indicate that their relationship is not a signicant one. However, again
there is a weak (0.137) indirect inuence to perceived usefulness through perceived ease of use. According to Venkatesh (2000: 347) there
is experimental evidence supporting the causal ow from computer self-efcacy to system-specic perceived ease of use (Venkatesh &
Davis, 1996). and their relationship can be . . .justied on the basis that in the absence of direct system experience, the condence in ones
computer related abilities and knowledge can be expected to serve as the basis for an individuals judgment about how easy or difcult a
new system will be to use Venkatesh (2000: 347).

5. Conclusions and research limitations

5.1. Conclusions
This study has examined the employees intention to accept a web-based training program. The results that were extracted
from the analysis of data from 287 employees indicated that trainees enjoyment, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of
use directly affects their intention to use a web-training platform. Furthermore, learning goal orientation signicantly affects all
models constructs and has the second strongest total effect on usage intention. These results provide further support for the
need to assess individual differences of employees before designing a training program, as tting a training program to each employee has been found to have a positive impact on training effectiveness (Hertenstein, 2001; Ingham, 1991). Individuals with
different levels of goal orientation are believed to respond differently to different training designs; for example people with high
LGO would be better suited to a mass training program (Hertenstein, 2001). It is therefore, suggested that employees could be
rst assessed and then assigned to different types of training so as to t their level of learning orientation, as Hertenstein
(2001) also proposes.
From a managerial perspective, after the organizational training needs identication, managers should customize the rms technical and managerial support on the web-training program needs. Successful employee training needs an identication process that
may help managers to outline the correct set of learning goals that have to be achieved by a web-based training program. Managers ought to focus on employees on-the-job learning needs in order to design a training program that will satisfy employees
learning needs. Further, managers need to design trainee-centered programs taking into account the trainees knowledge level
and style, in order to increase their interest and motivation for the training program. The programs participants should feel comfortable and joyful during the training process, in order to quickly realize the usefulness and ease of use of the training programme.
For a successful web-training program, managers should design and create an environment where the trained employees will be
convinced of their personal knowledge and abilities, they will feel free to overcome challenging on-the-job problems and they will
learn how to use their mistakes in order to improve their job capabilities. Conclusively, a well designed web-training program must
ensure and improve trainees enjoyment, self efcacy, reduce their anxiety in order for them to successfully accept and use the
training program.
5.2. Research limitations
A potential limitation of this research relates to the sample size, which is considered a small one (287). This study does not include any
dynamic changes that may appear after trainees test a web-training program and detail the changes that may occur in trainees self efcacy
after testing a specic web-training platform. With the exception of learning goal orientation, all other results do not deviate from past
research. Learning goal orientation should be further examined so that its role can be explained. Also, further research may be useful
for the examination of the direction of causality for the proposed relationships of the model. Finally, further research on employees characteristics should receive more attention.

P.D. Chatzoglou et al. / Computers & Education 53 (2009) 877889

Appendix A. Questionnaire items

Intention
1 = Extremely Unlikely to 5 = Extremely Likely (for all 5 items)
INT1 I intent to use web-based training when it will be implemented.
INT2 I intent to use web-based training in order to improve my performance.
INT3 I intent to use web-based training on a regular basis.
INT4 Given the circumstances, in would use web-based training.
INT5 I would strongly recommend my colleagues to use web-based training.
Perceived Ease of Use
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 4 items)
EOU1 It would be easy for me to become skilful at using web-based training.
EOU2 Learning to operate web-based training would be easy for me.
EOU3 I would nd it easy to get web-based training to do what I want it to do.
EOU4 I would nd web-based training easy to use.
Perceived Usefulness
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 4 items)
US1 Using web-based training would enhance my job effectiveness.
US2 Using web-based training would improve my performance.
US3 I would nd web-based training useful in my job.
US4 Using web-based training would enhance my productivity.
Computer Anxiety
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 4 items)
CA1 I feel apprehensive about using computers
CA2 It scares me to think that I could cause the computer to destroy a large amount of information by hitting the wrong key.
CA3 I hesitate to use a computer for fear of making mistakes I cannot correct.
CA4 Computers are somewhat intimidating to me.
Self Efcacy
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 10 items)
I could use web-based training if...
SEF1 . . .there was no one around to tell me what to do as I go.
SEF2 . . .I had never used anything like it before.
SEF3 . . .I had only the software manuals for reference.
SEF4 . . .I had seen someone else using it before trying it myself.
SEF5 . . .I could call someone for help if I got stuck.
SEF6 . . .someone else had helped me get started.
SEF7 . . .I had a lot of time to complete the job for which the software was provided.
SEF8 . . .I had just the built-in help facility for assistance.
SEF9 . . .if someone showed me how to do it rst.
SEF10 . . .I had used similar packages before this one to do the same job.
Enjoyment
1 = Not at all to 5 = Very much (for all 3 items)
ENJ1 I would have fun using web-based training.
ENJ2 Using web-based training would be pleasant.
ENJ3 I would nd enjoyable to use web-based training.
Learning Goal Orientation
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 8 items)
LGO1 The opportunity to do challenging work is important to me.
LGO2 When I fail to complete a difcult task, I plan to try harder the next time I work on it.
LGO3 I prefer to work on tasks that force me to learn new things.
LGO4 The opportunity to learn new things is important to me.
LGO5 I do my best when Im working on a fairly difcult task.
LGO6 I try hard to improve my past performance.
LGO7 The opportunity to extend the range of my abilities is important to me.
LGO8 When I have difculty solving a problem, I enjoy trying different approaches to see which one will work.
Management Support
1 = Extremely Disagree to 5 = Extremely Agree (for all 6 items)
MS1 Management is aware of the benets that can be achieved with the use of web-based training.
MS2 Management would always support and encourages the use of web-based training for every-day job related work.
MS3 Management would provide most of the necessary help and resources to enable people to use web-based training.
MS4 Management would be really keen to see that people are happy with using web-based training.
MS5 Management provides good access to hardware resources when people need them.
MS6 Management provides good access to various types of software when people need them.

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