Business Commons^™

Towards A Typology Of Green Is Strategies: Insights From Case Study Research, Fabian Loeser

Fabian Loeser

Presentation held @ ICIS 2012, Orlando Track 9: Green IS and Sustainability Session: Green IS/IT Initiatives December 19, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, Salon 10

Innovation Dans La Livraison, Jacob Johnsen

Jacob Johnsen, MSc

A summary of the status of postal volumes, the current decline in volumes and the compelling strategies to position posts for the future based on their delivering ability.

How Can Pacific Island Economies Benefits From The Advent Of Ict’S – Review Of Best Practices In Education, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This paper explored implementation and use of information and communication technologies in Fiji, in order to gain insight into recent government initiatives to introduce computers and other ICTs for the community of Fiji. The focus of this paper in that it provided the framework for an in-depth exploration of e-learning centers around the country and the benefits from the advent of ICT’s in e-learning community centers in Fiji. Areas concentrated on are outcome of ICT’s in formal education to students and community as a whole in areas of agriculture, health, environment and infrastructure etc. The research sought understanding from the …

A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its …

Technical Assistance, Knowledge Gatekeeping And Indigenous Knowledge: Re-Thinking The International Development Practice, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This paper presents results from a multi-disciplinary conceptual analysis of development theory and practice. It reviews issues raised and proposes a shift in the epistemology of possession towards an epistemology of practice which is guided by the following aspects (1) The consideration of the learning culture of parties involved, (2) the ability and willingness for decontextualisation of the knowledge by the source and (3) the ability to embedded it by recipients (embededness ), (4) the importance that is attached to knowledge of the host country as reflected through (5) Similarity in culture, values, understanding of context and knowledge bases; (6) …

Delivery Innovation, Jacob Johnsen

Jacob Johnsen, MSc

Jacob Johnsen reviews the postal role in communication and draws some conclusions. This was presented at the Innovation Seminar on 17 September 2012.

Zoho For Ticketing: Project Management & Reporting Using A Custom-Built Zoho Application, M Ryan Hess

M Ryan Hess

This ticketing application was developed by the DePaul University Libraries Web Services Team for project management. It uses the Zoho Creator application building platform and is available for use for free on the Zoho Marketplace. The application manages projects, keeps stakeholders up to date on project statuses and generates reports.

Messaging Focus, Jacob Johnsen

Jacob Johnsen, MSc

Jacob Johnsen argues that Posts must take a stand in defining part of the core Business in order to change from a Focus on Letters, to a broader Focus on Messages

Mis Mock Questions (Why Mis In Corporate Turbulant Times), Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

With corporate strategy becoming more and more dependent on speed,focus, innovation and strategy, what can MIS do? and what should be MIS role ? what is the relationship between Corporate Strategy KPI and MIS? These questions are answered in an MBA Management Information Systems at USP. This programme is delivered across the entire Pacific region through the Graduate School of Business. It is my privilege to post here few questions that students who attended one of the course in Nadi, at Tanoa International Hotel had to answer in one of the Quiz test.

Economic Benefits Analysis Of Mining Industries In Png And Solomon Islands, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This paper discusses mining and mineral operations in the two countries Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands with regards to its contribution to the overall Gross domestic Product and the economic development of each country.

Our finding shows that mining is an excellent contributor to economic growth and development as in the case of Papua New Guinea.Tax revenue from PNG Mining industries contributions to the PNG fiscal basket remains strong and growing steadily. The mining and minerals tax revenue remains an important contributor to the government fiscal budget over the last 10 years. This has been a strong contributor to …

Understanding Economics Of The Pacific Island Nations: Issues And Cases, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

No abstract provided.

Job Creation In The Tuna Industry Of The Solomon Islands- A Tentative Strategic Analysis, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The principal objective of this paper is to review the current Tuna Fisheries Policies in the Solomon Islands with a view to proposing strategies that will maximize Job creation while at the same time address the issues that currently exist in this sector. Although the Tuna Industry’s contribution to GDP is quite significant, the Solomon Island Government (SIG) gets little or close to nothing out of it in the form of revenue and Job creation with the majority of vessels being foreign owned and fishing license fees amongst the lowest in the Pacific. SOLTAI which is partly owned by the …

Review Of Solomon Islands’ Policies And Programs To Promote Private Sector Development And Small Business, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

Solomon Islands is a nation with vast resources with huge potential to excel economically if proper business atmosphere is provided for both private sector development and small and medium enterprises entrepreneurship. Conducive policies that, not only, a mere statement but is broken down to workable strategies with quantitative expected outcome with a strong mentoring mechanism is very important. Previous governments have continuously ignored the importance of having small business policies until lately when NCRA government came up with a set of policies that strategically addresses the significance of small and medium businesses. However, notwithstanding foreign investment is very important in …

Using The Case Study Methodology In Teaching, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This paper reviews the Why, How, to use the Case Study Methods in MBA teaching. The Presentation was prepared for and delivered as part of MBA students induction Programme in the Graduate School of Business.

Information Mining Capabilities In Malaysian Smes: Specific Use Of Enterprise Resource Planning System, Nursyahida Zulkifli, Rugayah Hashim, Jasmine Ahmad

Nursyahida Zulkifli

Information mining has never been more crucial in organizational decision making than now. Without information and communication technologies (ICTs), most companies, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would not be able to survive the demands of the current volatile economic conditions. Hence, this paper reports the findings from the assessment of ICT usage by 110 SMEs in the Klang Valley,Malaysia. Specifically, the usage of enterprise resource planning system (ERP) was assessed and the outcome showed that SMEs in Malaysia are still lagging in computer usage for improved organizational decision. The implications for non-usage bode negatively for SME’s sustained survival …

The Optimal Timing Of Strategic Action – A Real Options Approach, Gordon G. Sollars, Sorin A. Tuluca

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

The possibility of a first-mover advantage arises in a variety of strategic choices, including product introductions, business start-ups, and mergers and acquisitions. The strategic management literature reflects ambiguity regarding the likelihood that a first mover can or will capture additional value. This paper uses a real options approach to address the optimal timing of strategic moves. Previous studies have modeled real options using either a perpetual or a European financial option. With these models, a strategic choice could only be made either without respect to a time frame (perpetual) or at a fixed point in time (European option.) Neither case …

The Role Of The Internet In Overcoming Information Barriers: Implications For Exporting Smes Of The East African Community, Neema Mori, Gibson Munisi

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

Small and medium-sized enterprises play a significant role in the East African Community, contributing highly to the national income and employing a significant number of people. Exportation provides a great opportunity for these enterprises to expand their businesses and improve their performance. However, they encounter a number of informationrelated barriers before and during exportation. Based on literature, this paper identifies these barriers and discusses how the internet could be used to reduce them. Based on the internet, international business and small business literature, the paper provides propositions and develops a model that will be useful for future studies in this …

Innovation Capital And Its Measurement, Tomasz Kijek

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

Innovation capital regarded as an element of intellectual capital reflects the ability of an organization to create and commercialize the new knowledge (innovations). The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, an attempt is made to give a concise review of innovation capital concept and its measures in selected intellectual capital – IC –models. Secondly, this paper sets out to extend the current models and introduce a new valuation method of innovation capital. Moreover, the paper provides empirical evidence about the use of the proposed method.

The Spanish Cod Fishing Industry: Radical Production Changes Without Significant Changes In The Innovation System, Manuel González-López

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

This paper studies the changes which have occurred in the Spanish cod fishing industry in the last few years. We also aim to understand the dynamics of industrial change and its relation to institutions, understood here as both formal and informal rules and conventions. Our results suggest that sometimes industries, in order to maintain their competitive position, need something more than incremental changes in their products or in the technologies that they use. As we can see with the Spanish cod fishing industry, major changes are needed which affect the institutional set-up of their production system. Nevertheless, even when major …

Languages In Problem Solving And Modeling, Kazimierz Śliwa

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

The article concerns the problem of languages used in modeling and solving problems. Its framework stems from the distinction between two problem solving approaches – expert and interactive approach. The language choice is particularly important for the latter; we cannot solve a problem using a language that has not been used for the problem description. The text presents some arbitrarily chosen problem modeling languages, including computer supported ones. Special attention is paid to the SEQUAL and System Dynamics language.

Modeling Customer Behavior And Social Relations With Analytical Profiles, Jerzy Surma

Jerzy Surma

Contemporary companies try to build customer relationship management systems based on the customersocial relations and behavioral patterns. This is in correspondence with the current trend in marketing thatis to move from broadcast marketing operation to a one-to-one marketing. The key issue in this activity ispredicting to which products or services a particular customer was likely to respond to. In order to buildcustomer relationship management systems, companies have to learn to understand their customer inthe broader social context. The key hypothesis in this approach is that the predictors of behavior in thefuture are customers behavior patterns in the past. This is …

1001 Listes: Strategic Breakthroughs By A Low-Tech Company In A High-Tech World, Chris Kimble, Isabelle Bourdon

Chris Kimble

Most articles on strategic breakthroughs tend to concentrate on large, high-tech organizations. Yet the French firm 1001 Listes, which creates and manages wedding lists, has shown that it is possible for even a relatively small organization to generate strategic breakthroughs with standard off-the-shelf information technology. Its experience highlights two points that previous studies have overlooked: Breakthrough strategies are based on innovations in business models as well as innovations in technology, and breakthrough strategies may actually reduce a company's reliance on high-tech solutions as a means of maintaining its competitive advantage. Using Henderson and Venkatraman's (1993) model of strategic alignment, this …

Threats Escalate: Corporate Information Technology Governance Under Fire, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

In a previous publication The Board’s Responsibility for Information Technology Governance, (with Kara Altenbaumer-Price) we examined: The IT Governance Institute’s Executive Summary and Framework for Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology 4.1 (COBIT®); reviewed the Weill and Ross Corporate and Key Asset Governance Framework; and observed “that in a survey of audit executives and board members, 58 percent believed that their corporate employees had little to no understanding of how to assess risk.” We further described the new SEC rules on risk management; Congressional action on cyber security; legal basis for director’s duties and responsibilities relative to IT governance; …

Delivery Innovation, Jacob Johnsen

Jacob Johnsen, MSc

In a more personal reflection of the future, experienced consultant Jacob Johnsen argues that the decline of letter volume should be seen as a signal for posts to move beyond the letter and embrace fully the possibility of playing a role in digital.

The Gatekeeper And The Knowledge Environment-Who They Are, How They Work Empirical Evidences From High-Tech Manufacturing And R&D Firms, Deogratias Harorimana

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to critically study the role of the Knowledge Gatekeeper within the manufacturing and high tech selected case studies and by explaining who they are, how they work and identify and analyse the barriers to knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Methodology: The research was guided by an inductive approach with a multiple case study strategy. Research instruments included a questionnaire and interviews from respectively 105 and 40 respondents. Findings: In the African Manufacturing context, and in absence of sophisticated technologies and highly qualified personnel, technical knowledge can be obtained from organizational …

Review Of Economics Of Manamagement Information Systems, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

“Information technology is the "digital nervous system" of any business.” (Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, 1997)

The way business is conducted in this era is phenomenal. Almost everything is a “click” away. The customers are satisfied, businesses are satisfied, Government is satisfied and the entire globe is gratified by the work of information technology (IT). This research discloses the several returns and shortcomings of IT, and how businesses use IT to realize their strategic goals.

The report presents discussion on two organisations, Dell Computer Corporation and Sydney Waters, which had a prosperous and disastrous implementation of IT systems respectively. The …

Using Mis To Deliver Essential Services:Case Of Healthcare Provision Support In Fiji, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

In comparison to other Pacific Island countries, Fiji’s health system is the most developed amongst Pacific Island countries (UNDP 2006) and has undergone significant change in the last decade. From 1999 – 2009, AusAid, a major donor to Fiji’s health system, has supported two stage health sector improvement programs. The first stage (1999 - 2003) was a management reform program designed to improve decision making by supporting a new model of decentralized management. The second phase (2004 – 2009) looked at improving governance, health systems performance, clinical outcomes and supported public health and infrastructure initiatives at the divisional level (WHO …

Impact Of Crm Systems On Organisational Performance: A Case Study Of Anz Bank, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This paper reports case study results analysis of the ANZ Bank in the Pacific Region. The case study results show that ANZ has a well-established CRM system supporting its marketing and sales activities, but equally the results indicate mixed scenarios. A positive relationship between CRM to performance was established. That is, it has a positive contribution to the bank’s performance, both financial and non-financial. There is also negative feedback on the bank’s CRM system which illustrates that CRM system can also have negative consequences. CRM success is questionable from a stand-alone perspective. Although there are encouraging results from the use …

Portals And Task Innovation: A Theoretical Framework Founded On Business Intelligence Thinking, Mutaz M. Al-Debei, Dima Jalal

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

The main aim of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for the success of Web portals in promoting task innovation. This is deemed significant as yet little research has tackled this important domain from the business intelligence perspective. The D&M IS Success Model was used as a foundational theory and then was refined to match the context of the current research. Importantly, in this study, system quality and information quality constructs were defined on the basis of portals' characteristics since a mapping was conducted between the most significant functions and features of Web portals and quality constructs. The …

A Framework Of Value Exchange And Role Playing In Web 2.0 Websites, Mutaz M. Al-Debei, Enas M. Al-Lozi

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Digitally engaged communities can be described as communities created and evolved within Web 2.0 Websites such as Facebook, Bebo, and Twitter. The growing importance of digitally engaged communities calls for the need to efficiently manage the building blocks of sustaining a healthy community. The initial operation of any digitally-engaged community depends on the existence of its own members, the beneficial values created and exchanged, and the relationships interlinking both. However, the level of contribution and involvement might vary depending on the benefits being gratified from engaging in such communities. In other words, motivations for participating and getting involved are purposive; …