Business Commons^™

Decentralization And Centralization In Sociocratic Organizations—Dynamics, Combinations, And Hybrid Solutions, Ted Rau, Phd

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

The article discusses the interplay between decentralized and centralized aspects of governance in the context of decentralized self-governance and shares learnings from Sociocracy For All’s (SoFA) experience, including that decentralization is an active process that requires preparation, budget, strategy, and information can act as centralizing forces, and decentralization requires different ways of thinking about responsibility and leadership. SoFA is a young membership organization founded in 2016 promoting sociocracy, a governance system with consent-based decision-making in small groups, in nonprofits and other organizations.

Strategic Management Accounting Information And Performance: Mediating Effect Of Knowledge Management, Ruhanita Maelah, Baha'a Aldeen Hussein Mohamed, Amizawati Mohd Amir

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship ‎between Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) information, Knowledge Management (KM), and the performance of ‎Malaysian hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey is employed, and data is collected using self- administered questionnaires. Responses from 95 Malaysian private hospitals were ‎analysed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) 3.0.

Research Findings: The findings indicate that SMA ‎information positively affects ‎performance, and KM mediates the ‎relationship between SMA information and interpretation.

Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study utilised the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory to explain SMA information as a resource and KM as a capability that impacts the …

Stakeholder Involvement In Upscaling Of Soil Fertility Research Output In Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya, Serah W. Kimaru-Muchai

Journal of Global Awareness

Food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa has prompted a lot of research in the development of soil fertility technologies; however, few of the recommendations from soil fertility management research have been put into use by the target end-users. The objective of the study was to investigate information exchange pathways used by researchers in upscaling of soil fertility in Maara and Mbeere South Sub-counties in Kenya. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information from 22 researchers and 240 farmers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequency, mean, and percentages, while Chi-square, Kendal's correlation coefficient was used to test the magnitude of …

Piug: Patent Information Users Group, Inc.: A History Of The International Society For Patent Information Professionals, Barbara J. Hampton

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

Efforts to view and analyze patents began soon after the first patents were filed in the novel system founded in the U.S. Constitution. In the succeeding 200 plus years, classification and indexing tools have evolved from paper to digital, with searching demanding ever-higher skills. Answering the need of patent researchers and analysts for advocacy, scholarship, and professional education, leading searchers founded the Patent Information Users Group, Inc., now the pre-eminent professional organization for patent searchers in the United States. It offers formal coursework for prospective patent searchers, colloquia, and conferences where novice searchers can master their craft. Searchers, who often …

The Transparency And Disclosure Of Corporate Governance System In The Regard Of Investors, O. K. Iminov, A. B. Gafurov

Central Asian Problems of Modern Science and Education

The corporate is a form of business that attracts capital and expands it. The shareholders of corporations as investors fund their money in order to get profit from their ownerships. However, there is a relationship that lies on between shareholders and managers. As we know, the shareholders receive income in the form of dividends from the managers can gain profit over the shareholders‘ ownership. As we know, shareholders receive income in the form of dividends from the profits of companies, while managers receive income from the invested works in the company. It turns out a disagreement between them and the …

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Table of Contents for Volume 25 Number 4

Cultural And Religious Identities In An Era Of Information And Communications Globalization, M R. Neyestani, Pat Mcinturff

Communications of the IIMA

The rapid advances in information and communication technologies coupled with the dominant overarching Neo-liberal/capitalist ideological underpinnings of the dominant Western powers have generated a momentum towards a homogeneous global village. The impact of which has been to expand World conflict and propelled many nations towards losing their national identity and traditions. This article discusses the various impacts from IT globalization and calls for a new global communication awareness.

A Networking-Based View Of Business Model Innovation: Theory And Method, Rong Fu, Li Qiu, Liang Quyang

Communications of the IIMA

After reviewing the literature, the concept of Business Model or E-Business Models are discussed in Ms paper. Firms keep interacting with each other and build all kinds of relationships among them. Based on the theory of business networks, we put forward a networking-based view of business model analysis frame. When we make decisions to choose one or other business models, first, the source of value should be found. Second, business network models, which show the procedure of value creation and distribution, should be analyzed. Third, we choose the feasible network among networks we analyzed. Finally, the firms' strategy to ensure …

Modular Curriculum Design Using Personal Learning Plans And Reusable Learning Components, Jay M. Lightfoot

Communications of the IIMA

University-based education is facing direct competition from for-profit corporations over the lucrative lifetime-learning market. This is occurring primarily because universities have not adapted to advances in technology and changes in the educational needs of students. To correct this problem, a new curriculum solution is proposed. This solution is loosely based upon the model curricula generated by professional organizations. The solution utilizes personal learning plans tied to a global learning schema. The end result is a very flexible curriculum delivery model that effectively utilizes modern technology and is potentially superior to any offered by commercial education providers.

Web Data Mining: A Case Study, Samia Jones, Omprakash K. Gupta

Communications of the IIMA

With an enormous amount of data stored in databases and data warehouses, it is increasingly important to develop powerful tools for analysis of such data and mining interesting knowledge from it. Data mining is a process of inferring knowledge from such huge data. The main problem related to the retrieval of information from the World Wide Web is the enormous number of unstructured documents and resources, i.e., the difficulty of locating and tracking appropriate sources. In this article, a survey of the research in the area of web mining and suggest web mining categories and techniques. Furthermore, a presentation of …

Mobile Electronic Commerce: What Is It? Who Uses It? And Why Use It?, Andrew Cook, Tanya Goette

Communications of the IIMA

When individuals and businesses conduct transactions electronically over a network using mobile devices, they have participated in mobile e-commerce. The advantages and disadvantages of mobile e-commerce are presented in this paper. This is followed by a discussion of who is using mobile e-commerce and why they are using it. Information is also presented on how to be successful with mobile e-commerce.

The National Health Information Network And The Future Of Medical Information Privacy, Edward J. Szewczak

Communications of the IIMA

Medical information has a special status among the various items of personal information. The introduction of information technology (IT) has changed the handling of medical information in ways that are both promising for improving health care as well as threatening to the individual patient's medical information privacy. The challenge to business practitioners is to manage medical information intelligently and to avoid the negative consequences of mismanaging this information, which may include customer backlash in the forms of boycotts, lawsuits, and loss of company reputation. This challenge is particularly important in the context of the U.S. National Health Information Network initiative, …

Utilization Of Buffers For Performance Evaluation Of Local Area Network Protocols, Sarhan M. Musa, Emmanuel Uzoma Opara, Cajetan M. Akujuobi, Nader F. Mir

Communications of the IIMA

This paper discusses the performance of traffic flow over Local Area Networks (LAN) utilizing buffers to avoid any irrelevant traffic that clusters the network using sniffer pro. The study applies buffer technology to filter out unnecessary information so the system captures only required information packets. Buffers that capture the protocols are identified. These are. Address Resolution Protocols (ARP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The study identified to the user/analyzer of an Ethernet technology, how to isolate a cluster network problem, monitor network performance, and offer tips on how to correctly assess …

The Business Models Of E-Marketplace, Weijun Zheng

Communications of the IIMA

An electronic marketplace (EM) is an inter-organizational information intermediary that enables participating buyers and sellers to exchange information about price and product offerings and to cooperate on commodity exchange. Prior researches on EM design have not defined EM business model clearly. With a review of existing literatures on business model, this paper developed taxonomy of EM business models and classified existing EMs business model from a network role perspective. Further discussion of the evolution of EM business model is provided at the end.

Information Technology-Based Logistics Planning: Approaches To Developing A Coordination Mechanism For Decentralized Planning, Ingo Beyer

Communications of the IIMA

This research focused on mid-term planning representing the tactical level of supply chain management among manufacturers. Mid-term planning is based on established frame contracts between suppliers and customers. Demand forecasts and early customer orders (from retailers or consumers) are the starting point for performing planning runs involving logistical functions such as procurement, production, storage, and distribution. The aim is to draw up consistent plans among supply chain partners.

Check 21: The New Technological Drive Towards Paperless Banking, Chang-Tseh Hsieh

Communications of the IIMA

Over the last decade, banks have spent a great deal of resources on technology improvements. With decreasing interest rate spreads, banks are being forced to look for new ways to increase profits. Recently, new legislation was passed that will allow banks to become more efficient in check truncation through technology. The new legislation is commonly referred to as Check 21. If used properly. Check 21 will increase employee efficiency and reduce other operational costs such as courier services. This paper examines the short history of Check 21 and discusses how technology affects banks profitability. Key areas where banks can become …

Dell's Use Of Crm-Scm Integration To Dominate The Pc Market, Sharon Klinker, Ronald Terrell, Ahmed Y. Mahfouz

Communications of the IIMA

Dell is one of the most successful and profitable computer corporations in history. It has been known for its innovative customer service and product custom configuration. As it continues to grow, it is faced with the challenge of how to maintain its customer relationships and inventory management, while continuing to meet the demands and requirements of its customers. This paper will examine how Dell implements enterprise-wide computing software, which profiles and targets its customers, as well as streamlines the flow of its products throughout the supply chain. Dell's collaboration with other computer software companies has allowed it to become a …

Teaching Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) Systems In The Supply Chain Management Course, Huei Lee, Kuo Lane Chen, Jiaqin Yang

Communications of the IIMA

The major purpose of this paper is to investigation the issues of teaching ERP systems in a supply chain management course. The secondary purpose of the paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of students' perception of learning ERF systems in a supply chain management course.

Naturalness Of Ontology Concepts For Rating Aspects Of The Semantic Web, Yoo Jung An, Kuo-Chuan Huang, James Geller

Communications of the IIMA

The Semantic Web is expected to be the next generation of the WWW. Ontologies and agents are major ingredients of the Semantic Web. In (Lee and Geller 2005), we have argued that some existing ontologies make use of unnatural concepts. We stated that unnatural concepts make it difficult to use an ontology and they contradict the purpose of an ontology, which includes explanatory power for the purpose of sharing information. In this paper we elaborate what makes a concept unnatural. We also analyze existing ontologies to get numeric measures of how natural their concepts are.

A. Survey Of Entity Resolution And Record Linkage Methodologies, David Guy Brizan, Abdullah Uz Tansel

Communications of the IIMA

A great deal of research is focused on formation of a data warehouse. This is an important area of research as it could save many computation cycles and thus allow accurate information provided to the right people at the right time. Two considerations when forming a data warehouse are data cleansing (including entity resolution) and with schema integration (including record linkage). Uncleansed and fragmented data requires time to decipher and may lead to increased costs for an organization, so data cleansing and schema integration can save a great many (human) computation cycles and can lead to higher organizational efficiency. In …

Explicitly Stated Security Policies Of Web Sites Of Global Banks Of Europe, Australia, Asia And The U.S, Donald R. Moscato, Eric D. Moscato

Communications of the IIMA

This paper is the latest component of a research project conducted by the authors over a three-year period. The first phase emphasized the privacy policies of global banks and other businesses engaged in E-commerce. Over 600 individualized web-sites were visited and evaluated. This, the second phase of the research project, focuses on the security policies in place for global financial institutions. The purpose of this research study is to review, compare and summarize the security policies of global banks as they are expressed on their web sites. A total of over 300 web sites of global banks were included in …

A Case Study Of Cmm Deployment At Sbc Communications, James T. Sofos, Jack T. Marchewka

Communications of the IIMA

Recently, SBC Communications (SBC) initiated a project to improve the software development processes of its Information Technology (IT) group. The project was named EXPRESS (Excellence in Process for Enterprise Software Solutions), and the goal was to transform the IT function to a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 3 operation. SBC's management hopes that achieving CMM level 3 will result in improved delivery of IT services and products through greater efficiency by having a standardized means to initiate and perform IT work. This paper provides a case study that describes the EXPRESS project. This will include comparing SBC's former project management …

A Case Study Of Pratt And Whitney Aircraft's Commercial Spares Planning, Vincent A. Mabert, Ashok Soni, Gerard Campbell

Communications of the IIMA

This case study, which can be used as a teaching case, deals with jet engine spare parts planning at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Company, a division of United Technologies Corporation. The case includes background on the company's history and an overview of their jet engine manufacturing operations. The primary focus of the case is on the application and evaluation offorecasting models for demand planning within an ERF system environment. An Excel-based decision support system (DSS), which is available from the authors upon request, enables the evaluation of alternative time series forecasting models for a variety of jet engine spare parts. …

Organizational Culture And Telecommuters' Quality Of Work Life And Professional Isolation, Susan J. Harrington, Julie Santiago

Communications of the IIMA

While much has been studied and written about the adjustments managers must make when supervising remote workers in virtual work arrangements, little has been written about the potential change in the organizational culture and the effect the culture has on the virtual worker's quality of work life and professional isolation. Not only may culture affect the implementation and success of telecommuting arrangements, but the increased isolation and independence of a virtual worker may impact the culture surrounding remote workers and create an organizational subculture. This study examines the relationship between quality of work life, professional isolation, and an organization's cultural …

Evaluating The Usability Of Union Web Sites In The United States: A Case Study, Christopher M. Lowery, Nicholas A. Beadles Ii

Communications of the IIMA

Union membership has undergone a dramatic decline and some have hailed the internet as a means for unions to reverse their membership declines. This study examines the usability of union websites. The content of union websites has been analyzed, but the usefulness of that content, and the overall usability of the websites, has not been assessed. In order for unions to fully utilize the internet and realize the potential benefits of cyberspace usage, they must provide websites that users find easy to use and that provide useful content. This study employs Hassan and Li's (2005) benchmarking approach in order to …

Relieving The Overloaded Help Desk: A Knowledge Management Approach, Nelson K.Y. Leung, Sim Kim Lau

Communications of the IIMA

The establishment of an organizational help desk (HD) is to provide technical support to users when they encounter technical problems related to hardware, software and network connections. Due to the lack of resources, users often have to wait for a considerably long time before their enquiries and problems are answered and solved. This paper discusses the background of HD and its existing challenges. The application of Knowledge Management (KM) techniques and Knowledge Management System (KMS) enables HD to manage its knowledge effectively. In addition, the combination is capable of relieving the overloaded HD by shifting some of the troubleshooting responsibilities …

Web Design: Elements Of Effective Communication, Kurt Collins, Anthony Coulson, Jake Zhu, C.E. Tapie Rohm, Walt Stewart

Communications of the IIMA

The rapid evolution of information technology over the past several decades has opened many new and unique modes of communication. Clearly, the web is one such technology. However, it is quite possible that a fascination with the technology per se can hinder participants from one of its main functions— effective communication. The following essay explores a return to the basics of designing an effective web-based communication strategy. The key components of this strategy are: 1) consistent look and feel, 2) conceptual consistency, and 3) positive attention.

Feasible Task Schedules With Minimum Project Cost Solved By A Genetic Algorithm, Michael L. Gargano, Louis V. Quintas

Communications of the IIMA

Suppose that a project consists of n separate tasks and one and only one task can be completed in one time period. However, since some tasks can be started only before others have been completed, only feasible task schedules are considered. There is a cost associated with the time at which a task is completed and the project cost is equal to the sum of all the task costs. How can a feasible task schedule with minimum project cost be found for completing the entire project? This research proposes using a genetic algorithm to solve this problem efficiently.

Bioinetric And Systems Security: An Overview Of End-To-End Security System, Emmanuel Opara, Mohammad Rob, Vance Etnyre

Communications of the IIMA

As online security threats continue to spread, protecting valuable data becomes one of the security challenges businesses face in today's business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce. Biometrics technology shows increased promise in enterprise network security. It will play a vital role as system developers fortify the security apparatus of its organization. In this paper, we analyze biometrics technologies and describe techniques that can be utilized to decrease the probabilities of online attacks.

Integrating Technology To Achieve A Measurable Level Of Learning, Dawn Morgan, S. A. Humphries, Tanya B. Goette

Communications of the IIMA

The purpose of this paper is to detail the barriers to the integration of technology in US school systems. The harriers experienced by both individual teachers and to school systems as a whole are discussed. Student barriers, such as computer skill levels or poverty, are also discussed. In addition, this paper explains how technology should be used and the measurable benefits of doing so. Measurable benefits reported in the literature include increased performance on measures of reading comprehension, writing, components of IQ, transfer to novel tasks, and grade point average. Closing comments focus on how technology integration must be an …