Business Commons^™

Assessing Web Site Usability In Retail Electronic Commerce, Charles E. Downing, Chang Liu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

In the increasingly competitive environment of electronic commerce, companies are paying careful attention to Web site design and function to attract and retain both traffic and customers. One key factor that has been shown to increase both is Web site usability. This paper presents and tests a Web site usability research framework derived from prior literature. Fourteen Fortune 500 retail Web sites are examined by 261 potential customers and rated on aspects of usability. Results show that Content and Ease of Use are not currently differentiating sites with regard to usability (these attributes are expected and required just to survive …

A Web-Based Knowledge Management Tool Utilizing Concept Maps For On-Line Student Advising, Jay M. Lightfoot

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Increasingly complex program offerings by universities combined with on-line educational opportunities have created a situation where students must deal with an extremely complicated array of curriculum decisions. At the same time, many universities are moving away from the traditional one-on-one advising model toward one that relies heavily on web-based resources. The result of this is that students are often forced to self-advise using complicated and often poorly structured websites. This paper describes a knowledge management tool to mitigate this problem by creating an intuitive, web-based interface to help students navigate directly to the Internet advising materials that are most applicable.

The Classification Performance Of Multiple Methods And Datasets: Cases From The Loan Credit Scoring Domain, Jozef Zurada, Niki Kunene, Jian Guan

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Decisions to extend credit to potential customers are complex, risky and even potentially catastrophic for the credit granting institution and the broader economy as underscored by credit failures in the late 2000s. Thus, the ability to accurately assess the likelihood of default is an important issue. In this paper the authors contrast the classification accuracy of multiple computational intelligence methods using five datasets obtained from five different decision contexts in the real world. The methods considered are: logistic regression (LR), neural network (NN), radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (kNN), and decision tree (DT). …

Shopping Preference: A Comparative Study Of American And Taiwanese Perceptions, Chuleeporn Changchit, Robert Cutshall, Tzong-Ru Lee

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

With a growing number of households turning towards the Internet and the world of e-commerce to shop, invest, make payments, and do online banking, it is crucial for online businesses to understand why some consumers prefer online shopping and some prefer shopping at a physical store. It is also important to investigate further whether their shopping preference is influenced by culture. This study aims at comparing the shopping preference between the consumers in the U.S. and in Taiwan. Three hundred and seventy-two (372) Americans and three hundred twenty- six (326) Taiwanese participated in this study. Five factors of shopping perception, …

Value Of Online Social Networks From The Perspective Of The User, A.J. Gilbert Silvius, Ruta Kavaliauskaite

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper reports a study on the willingness to pay for the services of online social networks (OSNs). The relevancy of the question is derived from indications that these OSNs are considering charging their users for more advanced services in order to develop from the advertisement-based business model. The value of these OSNs has been studied mainly from the perspective of the advertiser. This paper reports a study into the value of OSNs from the user perspective. More specifically, the study investigated the willingness to pay for the use of the OSNs Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and the factors influencing …

A Tribute On The 25 Th Anniversary To The International Information Management Association (Iima) And Its Co-Founders: C. E. Tapie Rohm Jr., Patrick J. Mcinturff Jr. And Walter T. Stewart Jr., Warren Adis, Joseph O. Chan, Xin James He, Tanya Goette, Frank Lin, Emmanuel Uzoma Opara, Trevor Rohm, Gerhard Steinke, Jake Zhu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

IIMA is a special place for all of us. For twenty-five years, it has served as a forum for all of us to gather together to engage in intellectual conversations, to disseminate knowledge, and to renew our profession. Over the many years, IIMA has helped many us with our tenure and promotion, and has made our manuscripts available worldwide through our publication outlets, the three IIMA journals and the seasonal conference proceedings. Also for many of us, IIMA is not only a forum for academics, but also a place for friendship, family and fun. Many of us have become life-long …

Developing A Mobile Learning Environment: An Axiomatic Approach, Walter Rodriguez, Ngan Nguyen-Huynh, Arnold Fernandez, James Royal, Victor Fernandez

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

A new mobile environment for learning has been designed via an axiomatic approach. And by simultaneously designing both tools (software) and processes (pedagogy), the resulting environment matches the functional requirements of the instructional program. This paper describes the axioms established for mobile learning as well as development of the mobile computing environment. The paper discusses the developmental evolution and system architecture as well as the requirements of the portable training programs being offered via this new system. Apps are designed to connect learners, instructors and practitioners as well as to facilitate collaborative learning from a variety of mobile devices, anywhere …

Electronic Health Records: Challenges And Opportunities, Jaymeen R. Shah, Mirza B. Murtaza, Emmanuel Opara

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

During the last three decades, healthcare expenditure in the U.S. has substantially increased. If this pace of increase is not controlled, it will lead to disastrous results for the healthcare system. An effective use of health information technology would not only improve the quality of healthcare but help reduce healthcare costs considerably. However, risks of privacy and security of patient electronic health records are great. It is recommended that healthcare organizations use IT management best practices, follow proper risk assessment and management guidelines, and keep up with latest technological advances to ensure the privacy and security of patient data.

Análisis Prospectivo Del Canal Del Dique Bajo El Contexto De Los Tratados De Libre Comercio, Liliana Andrea Vega Betancourt

Finanzas y Comercio Internacional

El Canal del Dique ha sido fundamental para el desarrollo del departamento de Bolívar debido a su relevancia para el transporte de diferentes tipos de mercancías tanto dentro como fuera del país. El propósito de esta investigación es determinar a partir de un análisis prospectivo, las posibles incidencias del Canal del Dique en el desarrollo de la subregión caribe colombiana, bajo el tratado de libre comercio con Estados Unidos. Para alcanzar el objetivo propuesto, se llevó a cabo una caracterización del Canal del Dique, del Tratado de Libre Comercio con Estados Unidos y se aplicó un modelo econométrico que permite …

Factoring: Una Alternativa De Financiamiento No Tradicional Como Herramienta De Apoyo A Las Empresas De Transporte De Carga Terrestre En Bogotá, Jairo Alejandro Chaves Camargo

Finanzas y Comercio Internacional

El sub-sector de trasporte terrestre de carga colombiano tiene gran influencia en la competitividad de las exportaciones y el movimiento total de mercancías en el país, sin embargo, ha sido poco eficiente y ha presentado diferentes dificultades a través de los años. Por lo tanto, es importante evaluar una herramienta de apoyo que fortalezca a las empresas individualmente. Este documento intenta evaluar la factibilidad financiera del factoring mediante el análisis comparativo de escenarios que simulan la utilización del factoring entre los años 2008 y 2012 en este sub-sector. Los resultados muestran que la aplicación del factoring genera ventajas financieras y …

Estrategias De Internacionalización Para Empresas Del Subsector De Turismo En Colombia: Un Enfoque Al Turismo Ecológico En El Eje Cafetero En El Periodo 2009-2012, Manuel Fernando Fuentes Rodríguez, Diana Marcela Gutiérrez Segura, Mónica Alexandra Ospina Amador

Finanzas y Comercio Internacional

Este trabajo tiene por objeto la formulación de estrategias de internacionalización para las empresas operadoras turísticas ecológicas ubicadas en la región del Eje Cafetero, con el fin de brindar un aporte al sector de servicios turísticos, en donde inicialmente se identifican las etapas que ha atravesado el sector, realizando un comparativo entre las estrategias que se han implementado, el comportamiento y la evolución del sub sector eco turístico dentro del país; aportando nuevas ideas de desarrollo en donde las empresas inicien o mejoren el proceso de internacionalización, identificando los factores potenciales que determinen la oferta turística que estas compañías podrían …

Valoración De Activos De Renta Variable Para El Mercado Accionario Colombiano En Los Sectores Industrial, Comercial Y De Servicios 2009-2013: Modelos Capm, Fama & French Y Reward Beta, Andrés Raúl Cruz Hernández, Germán Esteban Jaulin Acero

Finanzas y Comercio Internacional

La presente investigación se fundamenta en el interés de realizar una valoración de activos de renta variable para el mercado accionario colombiano en los sectores industrial, comercial y de servicios. Para tal propósito se desarrolla los modelos de valoración de CAPM, Fama & French y Reward Beta. Por otro lado, se plantea en el desarrollo la comparación de dos escenarios de tiempo, el primero a corto plazo partiendo de la tasa cero cupón a 1 año y el otro a largo plazo usando como tasa libre de riesgo la cero cupón a 10 años. En la investigación se concluye que …

Facility Matters: The Perception Of Academic Deans Regarding The Role Of Facilities In Higher Education, Wallace Harris

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how academic deans perceived the characteristics of facility built environment and its impact on learning in higher education. Q methodology was used as the means to explore the subjective opinions of academic deans within the State of Florida regarding the facility built environment’s impact on learning in higher education. For this Q study, the concourse statements were the result of communications taken from the subject literature and participant responses to this study’s online concourse questionnaire. The resulting 32 item Q sample was sorted online by 43 academic deans, associate and assistant deans. …

Organizational Development Consulting: A Study Of Expert Consultants' Key Strategies, Mona Vosoughi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study was conducted to capture the collective voice of expert organizational development consultants. Until now, very few studies have been conducted that take into account the collective voices of organizational development consultants. More specifically, the purpose of the present study is to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the approaches expert organizational development consultants use throughout their engagement with their clients in an attempt to add value to and enhance organizational capacity. To understand the process used by this distinct group of leaders, phenomenological qualitative inquiry was the methodology used to conduct this study. Data were collected …

The Parcel Tax As A Local Revenue Source For California Public Schools, Bree J. Lang

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Scholars Day Program Of Events 2014, Carl Goodson Honors Program

Scholars Day

No abstract provided.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics Affecting Sport Tourism Choices: A Structural Model, Nataša Slak Valek, Mike Shaw, Jakob Bednarik

All Works

© 2014 N. Slak Valek et al. Background: Effective tourism management in the field of sports tourism requires an understanding of differences in socioeconomic characteristics both within and between different market segments. Objective: In the broad tourism market demographic characteristics have been extensively analyzed for differences in destination choices, however little is known about demographic factors affecting sport tourists’ decisions. Methods: A sample of Slovenian sports tourists was analyzed using data from a comprehensive survey of local and outbound tourist activity conducted by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2008. After data weighting the information for 353,783 …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Development Of Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) Systems Education For Third-Level Business Students, Maurice O'Brien

Masters

This study is an empirical investigation of the development of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) education for Business students. It uses Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) as its case study to determine the benefits of practical ERP education, the challenges faced by third-level institutions and how ERP education should be provided to Business students. The researcher used observation, review of documentation, and semi-structured interviews of fifteen academics as the research techniques.

As well as being beneficial for students, employers and ERP vendors, this study finds that the provision of practical ERP education has reciprocal benefits for the third-level institution. By …

Is There Sufficient Guidance To Detect, And Obtain A Conviction For, Occupational Fraud In Ireland?, Carmel Buttimer

Masters

There has been an increased focus in the Irish media on fraud, particularly since the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank in 2007. There has however been little academic research undertaken into occupational fraud in Ireland. This study will examine whether or not the current guidance to detect and convict occupational fraud in Ireland is sufficient.

This study achieves its objective by examining the content of press articles reporting thirty-five occupational fraud cases convicted in Ireland in the period 2002 to 2013. It categorises the content of the articles using a framework developed by Cohen et al. (2010), which combines the …

Concerns Regarding Food Biotechnology: An Ongoing Debate, Fatme Al Anouti

All Works

The development of agricultural biotechnology has led to the production of numerous types of genetically modified crops with improved traits. The prevalence of genetically modified food is increasing globally. The Rapid progress in the development of genetically modified food has significantly however increased public concern about food safety in recent years. The appearance of such foods in the global market has lately resulted in debate and scientific discussion. This debate is likely to continue, probably in the broader context of other uses of biotechnology and their consequences for human societies. To date, regulations and policies which mandate the labeling of …

Mini-Track Introduction: Information Economics, Competition, Regulation, Law And Society, Eric K. Clemons, Robert John Kauffman, Thomas A. Weber

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This mini-track is informed by the most modern thinking in information economics and competitive strategy, and includes many interdisciplinary applications of IS and technology.

How Can Substitution And Complementarity Effects Be Leveraged For Broadband Internet Services Strategy?, Gwangjae Jung, Young Soo Kim, Robert J. Kauffman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With growth in mobile Internet services, the relationship between mobile and fixed broadband has become an issue in telecom firm strategy. Previous research focused on aggregate penetration for mobile and fixed broadband services. Our research analyzes the economic relationship between mobile and fixed broadband services at the household level, as a basis for how senior managers should rethink their strategy approach. Using data on broadband services subscriptions, we examine how changes that occur for mobile broadband services bandwidth (MBB) affect changes in fixed broadband bandwidth (FBB) services subscriptions, inclusive of new subscriptions - and vice versa. We explore the different …

Bank Valuation In Malaysia: An Empirical Comparison Of Conventional And Interest-Free (Islamic) Banking Models, Charlie Charoenwong, Ramin Cooper Maysami, David K. Ding

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Islamic banking, according to institute for Islamic Banking and Insurance "refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of the Shari'ah (Islamic rulings) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Shari'ah prohibits the payment or acceptance of interest charges (riba) for the lending and accepting of money, as well as carrying out trade and other activities that provide goods or services considered contrary to its principles." The thrust of the current article is to examine the underlying factors and variables that guide the valuation of a sample of five Malaysian …

Corporate Or Network Governance? The Case Of The Italian Productive Chains And Their Scaffolding Finance Approach., Guido Max Mantovani, Teresa Guidone

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

We investigate and find out the inner differences between stand-alone firms and those participating to Productive Chain Networks (PCNs) as far as ownership and corporate governance characteristics are concerned. PCNs are typical Italian economic realities made of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which behave like a unique meta-firm. Different clusters are found from an empirical analysis: firms outside PCNs, leaders in PCNs and suppliers participating to PCNs. The clusters differentiate on corporate governance practices and the consequent capability to attract funding from financial institutions. The inner differences in governance structure relate to the underpinnings of the competitive advantage of the …

The Use Of Unregulated Staff: Time For Regulation?, Christine M. Duffield, Di E. Twigg, Judith D. Pugh, Gemma Evans, S Dimitrelis, Michael A. Roche

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Internationally, shortages in the nursing workforce, escalating patient demands, and financial constraints within the health system have led to the growth of unlicensed nursing support workers. Recently, in relation to the largest publicly funded health system (National Health Service), it was reported that extensive substitution of registered nurses with unskilled nursing support workers resulted in inadequate patient care, increased morbidity and mortality rates, and negative nurse outcomes. We argue that it is timely to consider regulation of nursing support workers with their role and scope of practice clearly defined. Further, the addition of these workers in a complementary model of …

Liminal Experience Of East Asian Backpackers, Huong T. Bui, Hugh Wilkins, Y S. Lee

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Acknowledging the increasing popularity of independent travel from East Asia, this article explores the backpacking experience of young travellers of the region, from a socio-anthropological angle. Using liminality theory as a guideline and adopting a qualitative investigative approach, 31 interviews with East Asian backpackers were conducted. The findings suggest there are dual facets of the liminal experiences of the backpackers. On one hand, young travellers were motivated to escape from temporal, spatial and social pressures at home. On the other, their narratives reflected a strong commitment to home through a sense of filial piety, an awareness of their identity and …

Line Managers' Involvement In Hrm Activities: A Malaysian Case Study, Nik Hazimah Nik Mat, Pattanee Susomrith

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite evidence on greater line managers involvement in many HRM activities, the overall picture of their HRM role is still blurred especially in terms of their coverage and depth of involvement in HRM activities. For line managers to deliver their HRM role effectively, it must be clearly defined so they can enact the role according to the expectations of their role evaluators, who include the line managers supervisors, employees and HR specialists. The expectations of role evaluators are important because the assessment of line managers performance depends on what the role evaluators perceive as valuable. However, the expectations of the …

A Moral Debate: The Responsibility Of Human Resource Professionals In The Implementation Of A Code Of Ethics, Erika Felty

Senior Honors Theses

The overarching idea of this thesis is that human resource professionals have a responsibility to oversee a code of ethics that governs employee behavior within an organization. Although the development and implementation of such a code is a collaborative effort between stakeholders, human resource managers bring value to a code through factors such as training and communication. Initially, one must define ethics and a code of ethics, in order to better understand the creation, management, and implementation of the code. Recent ethical situations in the world today, such as Enron and TI Instruments, establish and exemplify the purpose and overall …

An Ever Closer Union: An Investigation Of Accounting Measurement And Timing In The European Union, Elizabeth Marie Devos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper explores whether the implementation of a unified set of accounting standards, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is able to overcome prior reporting behaviors by using multiple measures of accounting conservatism, both conditional and unconditional, to proxy for changes in accounting outcomes. Conservatism makes a good proxy for changes in accounting outcomes because it is used as a mechanism to protect key stakeholders and the level of conservatism differs in an international context (Gray, 1988). Countries from different legal systems have different institutional structures and different reporting incentives. Therefore, the sample is bifurcated and regressions are also run based …

Using Fair Division Methods For Allocating Transportation Funds, Edith Montes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Current transportation funding allocation methods are very complex due to limited budgets and conflicting interests. In order to maintain an efficient infrastructure transportation system, agencies must balance the allocation of funds required either to increase the roadway capacity or to preserve the existing roads in service. Depending on the target objectives and specific constraints, the funding allocation process is approached using different methods. The funding allocation process is usually addressed using expert judgment which involves subjective criteria, weighted formulas with pre-established priorities, or a combination of both. However, formula-based funding allocation methods may lead to the public's disagreement if final …