Author: Ahmed Mohammad Al Othman

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

The aim of this study is to develop an information model for representing people's needs in charity organizations of Saudi Arabia. The target population are the charity organizations that are concerned with donations gathering and distribution to their constituents.The aim of this study is achieved through three objectives; the first objective is to identify the current state of information systems use in the sector of charity organizations. The second objective is to identify the information needs of those charity organizations with regard to their constituents. By using the sense-making theory and its set of methods, we were able to understand the informational needs from the perspective of the users themselves. The third objective is to match the resulting sets of informational needs of charity organizations with the dimensions of human development needs by Narayan et al., (2000) which was researched to inform the World Development report on Poverty and Development. This study is significant because it was not conducted in that scale or scope before, and it provides a clear picture of the current state of information systems use in the sector, it also provides a research informed model, which will help better fulfill the needs of the poor people registered at those charities. The information needs model resulting from this study provides a valuable building block for a future information system, which is based on research data to improve efficiency, reliability and accountability in donations management for the wellbeing of the constituent.The data for this research was collected through two studies, the first study was targeted at the whole population of charity organizations through an electronic survey, and the final case number was 83 charities. This study aimed at investigating the current state of information systems use at charity organizations, respondents answered 18 questions divided in four sections. The first section was about the organization's profile. The second was about information systems for constituents and donations. The third was about the constituents. The fourth, was additional information about adaptation of future IS. The second study was an interview with 15 charity organizations from Riyadh region. They included masculine and feminine charities, and charities of different localities such as village and small-city. This study used the sense-making theory byPage 2 of 2Brenda Dervin to investigate the information needs from the user's perspective at the charity with regard to constituents and donations. The interviews were conducted face-to-face with each single case in the second study.The results of this research show that the use of information systems at charities is widespread, with 89.2% of charities using an IS in some or all work processes. It also revealed the diversity of processes in which charities employee IS, comprising 4 major themes and 22 distinct work processes. It also revealed that the information needs of charity organizations has seven distinct sets, and each set included between 2 and 19 information gaps. The results also show that the information needs of charities has a great coverage of the wellbeing dimensions of the World Development report of 2000/2001, spanning from 50% to 100% coverage. It also revealed that the number of all information sources, which could bridge the information gaps, are 18 sources spread across five sectors in the country.The information needs model for representing people's needs was a result of the combination and analysis of all research findings to develop that model. It has nine dimensions of information and its corresponding data inputs, leading to the desired knowledge about the constituent. The model covers all aspects of the life of the constituent and can be modified by individual charities to satisfy their own objectives and to lead to new and relevant knowledge.