Title: Managing internet usage in Palestinian private sector environment

Authors: Rania Yaser Jaber

Addresses: Birzeit University, P.O. Box 14, Birzeit, Ramallah, Palestine

Abstract: Acknowledging the complexity of using the internet on a daily basis in the workplace, this study attempts to investigate how private companies manage and regulate employees' non-work-related internet usage among Palestinian private companies in the Ramallah area. The literature review is based on various studies conducted mainly in the developed economies explored the issue of using internet and e-mail in workplaces. The study design is a mixed method research that combines qualitative and qualitative tools, each of which is used to examine relevant aspects. The qualitative tools used are interviews with managers and IT specialists in private Palestinian companies; while the quantitative tool included a designed questionnaire and raw data analysis from companies' servers as a mean to address validity. The findings provide evidence that a culture of awareness is rooted among these companies due to restricted internet access policies.

Keywords: internet access policy; IAP; filtering software; internet misuse; social media; bandwidth; non-work-related sites; Palestine; internet usage; private sector; culture of awareness; restricted access.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2016.076815

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2016 Vol.16 No.4, pp.471 - 490

Received: 06 Apr 2015
Accepted: 06 Apr 2015
Published online: 01 Jun 2016 *

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