Business Commons^™

Nonrivalry And Price Discrimination In Copyright Economics, John P. Conley, Christopher S. Yoo

All Faculty Scholarship

The literature on the economics of copyright proceeds from the premise that copyrightable works constitute pure public goods, which is generally modeled by assuming that such works are nonexcludable and that the marginal cost of making additional copies is essentially zero. A close examination of the foundational literature on public goods theory reveals that the defining characteristic of public goods is instead the optimality criterion known as the “Samuelson condition,” which implies that the systematic bias toward underproduction is the result of the inability to induce consumers to reveal their preferences rather than the inability to exclude or price at …

Microfinance In Asia: Not So Risky, Not So Micro, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Microfinance is proving to be a successful way to help the rural poor and disadvantaged improve their economic conditions by running their own businesses. However, the current economic crisis has reduced funding available for this pool. But with a proven strong credit history and improvements in technology, microfinancing is now seen as more than just as a nice social obligation. In the words of Nhan Phan Cu, a speaker at a recent seminar on this issue, microfinance in Asia is less risky than investment banking. However, the economic outlook poses some challenges.

Cultural Analytics: A New Field That Combines Arts, Media And It, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

The volume of digital data is exploding, driven largely by visuals, text, video and other cultural content. Just about everyone can be a “culture professional”. Thus, there is a need to find ways to track and make sense of the growing cultural data volume. Cultural analytics, as this new field is called, is a combination and extension of arts, media and IT. The study of this field will have applications far and wide-ranging, says Lev Manovich, a professor of visual arts at University of California.

The Strategies Of Chinese And Indian Software Multinationals: Implications For Internationalization Theory, Jorge Niosi, F. Ted Tschang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

China and India are emerging as major entrants into the international software industry. Both are rapidly learning through outsourcing with multinational enterprises (MNEs) from advanced nations, yet their paths to this dynamic sector are very different. Chinese software firms have focused on their domestic market by working with foreign MNEs, while they move cautiously abroad. Indian firms, which are already large, continue to expand overseas as well as to climb the value chain. Different approaches to MNEs provide useful perspectives. At the same time, the innovation systems approach is necessary to explain the foundations of the industry. The article provides …

Where In The World Is Library Technical Services? Finding Ourselves In Fun, Learning, And Food, Connie Foster

DLTS Faculty Publications

Public libraries do it, historical societies are a natural, especially in Boston; media centers incorporate them into special events; the British started it. The “it” or “them” represents a tea party. But why in academic libraries? Why in Library Technical Services?

Me-Business Model: Building Value From Consumer Created Content, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

As more businesses move from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, they can benefit immensely from the insights gained through consumer generated intelligence. The newest customer-centric technologies shaping the Internet, and how they create opportunities for new business models, formed the theme of a talk by Andreas Weigend, former Chief Scientist at Amazon.com, at the Singapore Management University recently.

Globality Is What Happens After Globalisation, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Globality is what happens after globalisation, say authors Hal Sirkin, Jim Hemerling and Arindam Bhattacharya of Boston Consulting Group in their book, Globality -- Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything, published last year. Incumbents, companies from developed economies, must face the challengers from emerging economies who are quickly shifting the balance.

Collaboration With Mit Gaming Lab Fosters Industry Development In Singapore, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Singapore aims to be a seedbed for the computing gaming industry. One educational initiative to develop in-country capacity is an ongoing gaming laboratory known as GAMBIT (Gamers, Asethetics, Mechanics, Business, Innovation, Technology), run jointly by MIT and Singapore’s Media Development Authority.

Managing Information Technology Project Escalation And De-Escalation: An Approach-Avoidance Perspective, Gary Pan, Shan Ling Pan, Michael Newman

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper presents an integrated theoretical process model for identifying , describing, and analyzing the complex escalation and de-escalation phenomena in software development projects. The approach-avoidance theory is used to integrate core elements of various escalation theories into a holistic, explanatory framework for the two phenomena. We use a process model to identify antecedent conditions, sequences of events, critical incidents, and outcomes over the course of a project. The analysis also operates at multiple levels: project, work, and environment. This highlights the recursive interactions between project, organizational work activities, and their contexts during the software project development process. By conceiving …

A Phone Of One's Own: Texting At The Bryant University Reference Desk, Laura Kohl, Maura Keating

Library Staff Publications, Presentations & Journal Articles

Librarians take great pride in their continuous efforts to be accessible to their patrons. By summarizing the “Text a Librarian” program at the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library at Bryant University, this article highlights the many ways reference librarians and their services have evolved. This article takes you on a journey through their “eureka moment” to the phone plan and purchase, implemented guidelines and policies and ultimately, their “texting success”.

Proctored Versus Unproctored Online Exams: Studying The Impact Of Exam Environment On Student Performance, Kimberly Hollister, Mark L. Berenson

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Increasing numbers of universities are offering courses in online and hybrid formats. One challenge in online assessment is the maintenance of academic integrity. We present a thorough statistical analysis to uncover differences in student performance when online exams are administered in a proctored environment (i.e., in class) versus an unproctored environment (i.e., offsite). Controlling for student grade point average (GPA), no significant differences in mean overall course performance or exam performance between the two groups were found, nor were there any differences in the mean vectors of individual exam scores. The study reveals that the group taking online exams in …

Evaluation Of Maine Technology Institute Programs For Awards Ending July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2008, Charles Colgan, Bruce Andrews

Policy Reports

The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is charged by the Legislature to conduct an evaluation of its programs every two years addressing issues of the effectiveness of MTI’s grant programs in fostering technology-based economic development. MTI has engaged the Maine Center for Business and Economic Research (MCBER) at the University of Southern Maine to conduct this evaluation. This is the fourth valuation report prepared by MCBER; previous reports were released in 2003, 2005, and 2007.

This report covers all MTI grants that were completed between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2008, except for grants d th Cl t E h …

Innovation Rules: A Step By Step Approach Towards Identifying New Innovation Opportunities, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Institute Of Innovation And Entrepreneurship

Research Collection Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This book is organized in three sections. The first section introduces twenty five innovation rules that reflect how innovations have progressed over time. The second section explains how the innovation rules can be used to identify possible innovation opportunities. The third section explains how to choose innovations for commercialization. Pay sufficient attention to each of the Innovation Rules when you read the first section. Each rule captures the introduction and evolution of successful innovations. Each rule is listed on one page and its description on the opposite page. Rules have more than one stage, the initial stage followed by one …

An Automation Algorithm For Harvesting Capital Market Information From The Web, Pankaj Agrrawal

Finance Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm to harvest user specified information on finance portals and compile it into machine‐readable datasets for quantitative analysis. The Visual Basic macro language in Microsoft Excel is applied to develop code that is not constrained by the single‐query function of Excel. The core of the algorithm is built around the splitting of the URL connector line and the placement of a continuously updating variable into which are looped as many tickers as there are in the input list. The output is then written to non‐overlapping cells. Numerical information placed on major …

Strategic Leadership And Innovation In High Technology Firms, Terri A. Scandura Phd

Management Faculty Articles and Papers

Did you ever wonder what the organizations that produce some of the high tech gadgets we marvel at such as the IPhone and the Blu-ray player are like? How do their leaders create and maintain a spirit of innovation that produces these hit products? High technology firms face unique challenges because of the fast paced and ever-changing landscape of their industry. Intellectual capital and innovation have become the key sources of competitive advantage in a wide range of industries and many have argued that the key to the future competitiveness of organizations in the U.S and abroad is the ability …

Teaching Blog Management: Preparing Professors For The Opportunities And Challenges Of Teaching Web 2.0 In The Classroom, J A. Robinson, Richard D. Waters

Public and Nonprofit Administration

As the impact of blogging continues to grow, public relations practitioners must be prepared to develop and manage constituency relationships by managing and responding to blogs. Journal articles and trade publications encourage academics to introduce blogging in the classroom; however few examples outline the opportunities and challenges that instructors may face during blogging assignments. Using a case study methodology, this paper reports on the professional and personal concerns that students (n = 28) expressed during and after a six-week blog management assignment at a large journalism college in the United States. An awareness of these concerns can prepare other public …

The Lookup Technique To Replace Nested-If Formulas In Spreadsheet Programming, Thomas A. Grossman Jr., O Ozluk, J Gustavson

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Spreadsheet programmers often implement contingent logic using a nested-IF formula even though this technique is difficult to test and audit and is believed to be risky. We interpret the programming of contingent logic in spreadsheets in the context of traditional computer programming. We investigate the “lookup technique” as an alternative to nested-IF formulas, describe its benefits for testing and auditing, and define its limitations. The lookup technique employs four distinct principles: 1) make logical tests visible; 2) make outcomes visible; 3) make logical structure visible; and 4) replace a multi-function nested-IF formula with a single-function lookup formula. It can be …

Socially Innovative Youth Projects In Asia, Lien Centre For Social Innovation

Social Space

The Lien Centre spotlights the creative efforts of four groups of tertiary students in spearheading new social projects in Asia.

Structuring U.S. Innovation Policy: Creating A White House Office Of Innovation Policy, Stuart M. Benjamin, Arti K. Rai

Faculty Scholarship

This article begins with a discussion of innovation’s importance to the future well-being of American society. The authors then discuss limitations of the current federal framework for making innovation policy. Specifically, the relative absence of innovation from the agenda of Congress and many relevant federal agencies manifests the confluence of two regulatory challenges: first, the tendency of political actors to focus on short-term goals and consequences; and second, political actors’ reluctance to threaten powerful incumbent actors. Courts, meanwhile, lack sufficient expertise and the ability to conduct the type of forward-looking policy planning that should be a hallmark of innovation policy. …

Globalization, Adjustment, And Employment Drivers, Winfred M. Villamil, Rachel C. Reyes

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

This study is a comparative analysis of the relative performance of two key industries in the Philippines during the period when the country liberalized trade. These industries are (1) the textile and garments industry and (2) the information and communications technology (ICT)-based industries consisting of the electronics industry and the business process outsourcing (BPO) services sector.

The Influence Of Affect, Attitude And Usefulness In The Acceptance Of Telemedicine Systems, Soussan Djamasbi,, Ann L. Fruhling, Eleanor T. Loiacono

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Grounded in current theories of affect this study examines the role positive and negative moods play on the acceptance of a specialized telemedicine system for microbiology consultation and diagnostics, referred to as telepathology. From a laboratory experiment using microbiology laboratory assistants, the notion that healthcare users’ attitude is an important factor in the acceptance behavior of a healthcare information system is supported. A regression analysis of the data revealed the need to tailor the IS Technology Acceptance Model for the healthcare field. Specifically, our results show that ease of use which is thought to be a main antecedent of end-user …

Innovation: Not For The Non-Profit?, Sharifah Maisharah Mohamed

Social Space

Is innovation a foreign language in the social sector? Sharifah Maisharah Mohamed studies the innovation conundrum in the non-profit world.

New Models For Doing Business: An Interview With Ho Kwon Ping, Kwon Ping Ho

Social Space

The business sector has been a tremendous source of innovation for the social space, giving the world social innovations such as microfinance and venture philanthropy. Business entrepreneur Ho Kwon Ping shares with Social Space his insights on how business principles can be applied to the social sector, and on the paradigm shifts needed in the commercial sector as well as in business schools.

Big-Time Small-Scale Innovations, Corline Van Es, Chris Sigaloff

Social Space

Is there value in supporting small-scale, yet innovative projects? Based on their experience in Digital Pioneers – a programme supporting innovative Dutch civil society initiatives – Corline Van Es and Chris Sigaloff of Kennisland, Netherlands, make a case for this latest sector trend and the support it deserves.

Why Small Technology Firms Are Producing More High Impact Patents - And How Resources Such As Ieee Help Small Firms Compete, Anthony Breitzman

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

A fascinating trend has emerged in the area of patent production. A recent study by 1790 Analytics shows that small firms are producing a larger percentage of emerging technology patents given their participation in the patent system. For example: while small firms in the U.S. represent less than 2% of all Computer Hardware patents, they account for almost 12% of all of the Computer Hardware patents considered likely to contain leading edge technology. What’s driving the small firm’s patent success? This paper describes how use of scientific papers from resources such as IEEE helps small technology firms compete.

Secondary Liability And The Fragmentation Of Digital Copyright Law, Jacqueline D. Lipton

Articles

The digital age brought many challenges for copyright law. While offering enticing new formats for the production and dissemination of copyright content, it also raised the specter of large scale digital piracy. Since the end of the 20th century, content industries have reeled to keep up with technological developments that offer significant promise as well as threats of large scale piracy. There has always been some tension between promoting innovation in content creation and promoting innovation in technologies that enable the enjoyment of copyright works, such as photocopiers, audio tape recorders, video tape recorders, and peer-to-peer file sharing systems. The …

Heat Transfer Correlations For Low Approach Evaporative Cooling Systems In Buildings, Ben Costelloe, Donal Finn

Articles

The experimental performance of an open industrial scale cooling tower, utilising small approach temperature differences (1–3 K), for rejection of heat at the low water temperatures (11–20 °C) typical of chilled ceilings and other sensible air–water heat dissipation systems in buildings, is examined. The study was carried out under temperate maritime climatic conditions (3–18 °C wet-bulb temperature range). Initially a theoretical analysis of the process at typical conditions for this climate was conducted, which indicated that a water to air (L/G) mass flow rate ratio of less than 1.0 was required for effective operation. Consequently for these low L/G ratios, …

Analysis Of U.S. Senate Web Sites For Disability Accessibility, Joanne M. Kuzma, Gregory Weisenborn, Thomas Philippe, Anthony Gabel, Rachel Dolechek

Applied Business Faculty Publications

U.S. federal government web sites have increased significantly the level of services and information offered to various internal and external stakeholders. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which complemented the intent and aims of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, federal agencies and departments were mandated to provide disabled stakeholders with access to key information from federal web sites. However, since this enactment, some federal web sites still do not meet fully the legal requirements to accommodate users with disabilities. Additionally, web sites of members of the …

Did Trips Spur Innovation? An Empirical Analysis Of Patent Duration And Incentives To Innovate, David S. Abrams

All Faculty Scholarship

How to structure IP laws in order to maximize social welfare by striking the right balance between incentives to innovate and access to innovation is an empirical question. It is a challenging one to answer, both because innovation is difficult to value and changes in IP protection are rare. The 1995 TRIPS agreement provides a unique opportunity to learn about this question for two reasons. First, the adoption of the agreement was uncertain until shortly before adoption, making it a plausibly exogenous change to patent duration. Second, the nature of the law change meant that the patent duration change was …

Algorithms To Automate Estimation Of Time Codes For Captioning Digital Media, Daniel Harvey, Peter Liu

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Procedures were developed to partially automate the captioning process by estimating caption time codes using plain-text transcripts and audio recordings. Signal analysis is performed on the audio to measure pause location and duration, zero crossing rate (ZCR), and obtain frequency domain data. Algorithms were developed to match pauses in the audio to the ends of sentences in the transcript based on the observation that pause durations are greater at ends of sentences than within sentences. We have observed that ZCR peaks correspond to consonants in speech and that continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) work well for distinguishing between groups of consonants. …