Business Commons^™

Mobile Information Services Marketing To Serve The Bop Market, Md. Shahriar Akter, Fumiyo N. Kondo

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Wireless technologies have created an unprecedented opportunity for direct marketing to communicate with customers in an instantaneous, interactive and customized way. At present the number of mobile customers in the world have already exceeded 3 billion and among them two third of the customers are coming from the developing countries where there is high growth of mobile penetration and mobile service consumption. Our study has focused on this developing segment to market mobile information services to the unconnected and deprived customers to solve their problems at the robust pace. The paper has recommended some basic information needs as well as …

Systems Dynamics Modelling Of Human And Information Aspects Of Network-Centric Configurations, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is based on the definition of a network-centric structure as one which enables members of an organisation to create and leverage information to increase competitive advantage through the joint efforts of creative individuals and independent teams. While the technical components of this environment are enabling, the organisational and behavioural components generate value as traditionally competitive workers strive to cooperate in self-directed, distributed teams. Many organisations are now complex hybrids of hierarchical and network-centric configurations and there is a need to increase our understanding of their human and informational aspects. Due to its suitability for managing complexity without reducing …

A Soft Landing, Steady Growth, And Accelerating Farm Income, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Nick Hernandez, Bruce Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

After years of accelerating growth, the U.S. economy achieved a soft landing in 2006. The rate of economic growth remained positive but slowed sufficiently to reduce inflation pressures and the need for further interest rate increases. At the same time the economy remained strong enough to continue the current expansion which has been in place since late 2001. Such a soft landing is vital because it should allow the economy to continue to expand for years to come, but with moderate inflation.

Pillars Of Growth In Nebraska's Non-Metropolitan Economy, Eric Thompson, Ernie Goss, Chris Decker, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bruce Johnson, Ben Schmitz, Julian Neira, Pavel Jeutang

Economics Faculty Publications

Agriculture is a critical part of Nebraska’s economy, and changes in the fortunes of agriculture play an important role in the success of the state’s non-metropolitan regions. Trends toward consolidation and rising productivity in agriculture, however, have raised concerns about the future of non-metropolitan Nebraska. Some citizens and policymakers have begun to wonder if the economy can create sufficient job opportunities for non-metropolitan residents. The answer to this question depends not only upon the relative strength of the agricultural sector, but also upon the presence of other industries that can join agriculture as pillars for employment growth in non-metropolitan Nebraska. …

Manufacturing Rebounds, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Nick Hernandez, Bruce Johnson, Ken Lemke, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National economic conditions will continue to favor growth over the next three years, including sustained increases in manufacturing employment. Higher energy prices, particularly for oil, gasoline, and natural gas, will impact the economy, but probably only will moderate economic growth rather than cause a significant slowdown.

After rapid growth in 2004 and 2005, growth in real gross domestic product is expected to moderate in 2006-2008, due to higher long-term interest rates as well as higher energy prices. Real gross domestic product will grow 3 percent in 2006 and fall to 2.5 percent growth in later years. The housing market will …

Mobile Information Access And Diffusion In Ambulatory Care Service Settings, Jason P. Sargent, Peter W. Eklund, Amanda Ryan, Lois Burgess, Joan Cooper, Carole Alcock, Damien Ryan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Clinical information systems for Ambulatory Care are predominantly paper-based. This paper represents a preliminary overview (work-in-progress) of the electronic Point of Care (ePOC) Personal Digital Assistant Project- a mobile e-Health research and development project and the intrinsic considerations which arise when designing alternative electronic patient data management systems tailored to Ambulatory Care. Its purpose is to address issues which allow technological enablement of electronic patient data management in the delivery of home-based medical care. We present the methodological considerations for document management within this e-Health setting and proposed rollout of an electronic Point-Of-Care (ePOC) system. While the replacement of more …

Continued Growth In Nebraska, Saeed Ahmad, John Austin, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thomson, Keith K. Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National economic conditions will continue to favor growth over the next three years. Increased business investment will combine with rising industrial production, expanding exports, and moderate increases in consumer spending to grow the economy. The rate of inflation is expected to increase as well. The rate of real (inflation-adjusted) growth will moderate compared to strong economic growth during 2004. Real gross domestic product will grow 3 percent to 3.5 percent over the next three years. High oil prices will remain a drain on the economy, siphoning spending from domestically produced goods and services. Fuel prices are expected to remain at …

The Attitudes Of Educators To Information Technology Adoption In Schools Settings, Manoj Maharaj, Wesley Govender

Manoj Maharaj

No abstract provided.

Towards Executive Information Systems Adoptions By Knowledge Workers: An Extension Of The Technology Acceptance Model To Account For Social-Cultural Factors, Emmanuel Ikart

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In recent years a number of organisations have implemented executive information systems (EIS) in order to improve the performance gains on their executives’ job. Although the use of EIS is important to executives, majority of executives are unwilling to use EIS because of their design failures. By using social factors, habits and facilitation conditions variables from Triandis’ framework, this paper extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to derive useful variables to address the problem of the low usage of EIS by executives. This paper reports on the research in progress in Australia on the adoption and usage of EIS by …

An Investigation Of The Determinants Of User Acceptance Of Information Technology In A West African Nation: The Case Of Nigeria, Emmanuel Ikart

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In today’s hypercompetitive business environments hardly anyone questions the important role that information technology plays. The conventional wisdom is that IT is necessary for business survival and that careful deployment and management of IT resources and capabilities leads to enhance value for the business (Ying and Ram, 2004). Despite this recognition of information technology as a key enabler of organisational strategy (Preston and Karahanna, 2004), and despite recent investment in IT in Nigerian economy (Ajayi, 2003) an increasing number of organisations in this economy have found themselves unable to apply IT effectively (Modum, 1983). For corporate IT to be meaningful …

Knowledge Management In Information Technology Help Desk: Past, Present And Future, Kar Yin Leung, Sim K. Lau

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Information technology has changed the way organizations function. This resulted in the reliance of help desks to deal with information technology related areas such as hardware, software, and telecommunication. Besides, the adoption of business process reengineering and downsizing have led to the shrinkage of the size of help desk. The shorter information technology product life cycle has worsened the situation by increasing the already sizeable help desk’s user base. Consequently, the help desk has to cover more information technology products and resolute more technical enquiries with less staff. Thus, the outcome is clear that users have to wait comparably longer …

Executive Information Systems And The Top-Officers' Roles: An Exploratory Study Of User-Behaviour Model And Lessons Learnt, Emmanuel Ikart

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In recent years a number of organisations have implemented executive information systems (EIS) in order to improve the performance of their executives’ jobs. Although the use of EIS is important in executives’ work, the majority of executives are unwilling to use EIS applications because of their design flaws. By using social factors, habits and facilitation condition variables from Triandis’ framework, this paper extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to derive useful variables to address the problem of the low usage of EIS by executives. This paper reports on research in progress in Australia on the adoption and usage of EIS …

The Customization Of Knowledge Management Techniques In Information Technology Help Desk, Kar Yin Leung, Sim K. Lau, Geng Liang

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Information Technology (IT) has converted a majority of organizational activities to automatic and electronicbased. This conversion greatly increases Help Desk (HD)'s coverage on IT related areas. Alternatively, the adoption of business process reengineering and downsizing has led to the shrinkage of the size of HD. This not only leads to the loss of priceless knowledge, but also coerces HD to provide more service with less staff - the outcome is clear that users have to wait comparably longer before HD staff is available. This paper describes how generic Knowledge Management process can be customized to improve support process in HD.

Machine Learning Techniques And Use Of Event Information For Stock Market Prediction: A Survey And Evaluation, Paul D. Yoo, Maria H. Kim, Tony Jan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper surveys machine learning techniques for stock market prediction. The prediction of stock markets is regarded as a challenging task of financial time series prediction. In this paper, we present recent developments in stock market prediction models, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we investigate various global events and their issues on predicting stock markets. From this survey, we found that incorporating event information with prediction model plays very important roles for more accurate prediction. Hence, an accurate event weighting method and a stable automated event extraction system are required to provide better performance in financial time …

Epoc: Mobile Clinical Information Access And Diffusion In Ambulatory Care Service Settings, Peter W. Eklund, Jason P. Sargent

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper represents an overview of a field trial for a patient data management system used in ambulatory care. Its purpose is to give an outline of the issues that allow technological enablement of electronic patient data management in the delivery of home-based medical care. While the replacement of more traditional paper-based patient data management using PDAs as a collection platform are technically straightforward, the organizational realignment of an electronic document management system require careful study and deployment in order to maximize success. We outline the methodological considerations for document management diffusion within this e- Health setting and describe the …

Sustained Growth In Nebraska, Saeed Ahmad, John Austin, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Mike Lundeen, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thompson, Keith K. Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National Macroeconomic conditions are favorable for future expansion of income, employment, and revenue in Nebraska. In particular, the U.S. economy is now in the heart of an expansion expected to persist over the three year forecast period. The principal engine of growth will be a sustained expansion in private sector investment and consumption demand. However, the rate of growth in the national economy likely will be moderate rather than rapid. At least three factors will act to moderate growth. The first is higher energy prices. Rapid growth in global demand is expected to keep prices for oil and natural gas …

Online Information Values For Recreational Travellers: A Review Of Online Sources In Decision Making For An Unfamiliar Long Haul Destination, Robert Grant

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Acquisition or purchase of travel arrangements involves an exchange of information which is theoretically suited for transfer from offline to online interaction. The ability to digitise material and ease access through searchability based on metatags (Reedy and Schullo, 2004, p 276) make the internet a potentially ideal medium for information gathering and exchange. This paper reviews the value of information sources for consumer decision making for a high involvement experience product with multiple and variable components and points to further research which help our understanding of the value of electronic networks.

Source Of Value Online For Recreational Travellers: Customer Information Needs In The Buying Process And Internet Capability, Robert Grant

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The information needs of buyers of high involvement recreational travel products are potentially a source of customer value in their decision making process. The internet's ability to provide large amounts of information in real time with high levels of customer convenience are compounded by the ability to deliver information from multiple sources. In theory then, the internet seems able to largely replace the value delivered by retail travel intermediaries in the physical world. This critical review suggests however that the physical world intermediaries and online information sources are more likely to be complementary rather than competitive resources for shoppers for …

Analysis Of Information Cost Incurred In Foreign Exchange Risk Management By Smes, Shyam S. Bhati

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In this study, the theory of Information Cost developed by Casson (1995) is used to explain the various intormatlOn cost associated with foreign exchange risk management by SMEs. From the application of Casson's theory, 1t 1S concluded that the SMEs incur maximum cost in collecting, communicating and synthesising information while managing foreign exchange risk. Also, the SMEs do not seem to have the potential to reduce these information costs because of ,their limited bargaining capacity in relation to service provIders. As such, SMEs would fit the description of "optimal" organisation as defined by Casson (1995) due to the trade-offmade by …

The Effects Of Ethnicity, Ethnic Salience And Ethnic Identification On Consumers' Sources Of Information And Purchase Behavior, Patricia Wooten Humphrey

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any significant differences in the search and purchase behavior between white and black consumers due to ethnicity, ethnic identification, ethnic salience and ethnic situation.

The sample was chosen from two universities, one predominately white, the other predominately black. Of the 360 questionnaires administered, 345 were usable. The sample was representative of the student population of each university with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity. Statistical techniques used were ANOVAs, t-tests and paired comparisons.

The findings indicate that ethnicity plays an important role in an individual's sources of information used …

A Metaphorical Study Of Information Seeking Using Q Methodology, Joseph A. Meloche, Kate Crawford

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This brief paper examines a metaphorical perspective for information science. Metaphorical understanding, like learning itself, is a fundamental component in the movement from the known to the unknown. Adopting this perspective has the potential to inform and further advance the study of characteristics ofinformation and.how it relates to emerging knowledge. This will be demonstrated by an examination ofthe metaphors used by theorists to describe how users approach information.

Hypertext And The Docuverse: A Research Memo, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The term docuverse was first developed by Apple Computer guru Allen Kay in the late 1960’s. The underlying idea can be traced back decades earlier, to the visionary Vannevar Bush and the Memex (Bush, 1945). According to Kay, a docuverse is a set of related documents together with the linkages between them. In this paper, a docuverse is conceived as a collection of related scholarly documents together with the links, ties and bonds that can bring them together into an integrated logical and conceptual whole. Kay who also coined the term hypertext, which refers to an electronic document with existing …

Information Processing In Social Services: A Review Of Project Iniss, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Project INISS is a research project seeking to establish the information processing practices of social workers in Great Britain. This article summarizes its most important findings for U.S. social workers and social administrators. Originally published in 1983, this article offers a snapshot of information practices in human services organizations a decade before the widespread adoption of the internet and just prior to the early beginnings of ubiquitous – nearly universal – use of computers for record keeping and information processing by social workers.

Love, Death And The Hexadecimal, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper analyzes the role of information in social casework practice. Three models of computer-based information processing are discussed: Cybernetic, Management Information Systems and Natural Language Processing. The latter is most consistent with social casework information needs because of its potential to focus on the problems of the meaning of social action.