bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Designing and Evaluating Learning Spaces
Authors: Reushle Shirley
Published: October 2011

This chapter discusses the purposes, design and implementation of a physical experimental learning and teaching space which forms part of the University of Southern Queensland’s Australian Digital Futures Institute (ADFI). It identifies challenges associated with the initial design and offers some recommendations for addressing these challenges. The concept and principles of the PaSsPorT design model which has been developed to guide the redesign of the space are introduced, and a brief description of another ADFI space, the software research and development laboratory follows. The paper also introduces a process for evaluating the design and implementation of learning, teaching, and research spaces using design-based research to frame the model.
The Role of Institutions in Creating Student-Focused Virtual Learning Spaces with ePortfolio Systems
Authors: Heinrich Eva , Bozhko Yuliya
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we explore the currently dominant virtual learning spaces employed in institutions of higher education and contrast them with the virtual social spaces provided by Web 2.0 tools. Guided by the increasing focus on lifelong learning skills in the world of work and in higher education, we identify the gap that exists between institutional and social virtual spaces. We argue for filling this gap by providing access to institutional e-Portfolio systems to students in higher education, giving students an institutionally supported student-focused virtual learning space. By examining the perspectives of stakeholders involved in higher education, we identify challenges inherent in the adoption of institutional e-Portfolio systems and make recommendations for overcoming these based on practical experience and research findings.
The DE Hub Virtual Learning Space
Authors: Wise Nathan , Tynan Belinda
Published: October 2011

Our concept of ‘virtual learning spaces’ is changing, as are the practices that are adopted within these spaces. To understand these changes, this chapter will provide an exploration of the conceptualisation and creation of an interactive, online, social network community of practice. The case that will be used is based around the Distance Education Hub (DE Hub) which is both virtual and physical. DE Hub is in the simultaneous process of constructing and facilitating a virtual space to support and encourage both knowledge dissemination and knowledge creation. The DE Hub space focuses on learning as a cooperative, constructive, and dynamic process involving engaged communities of scholars, learners and practitioners. It will tackle the question of why this virtual learning space is defined as a niche social network and how this impacts on the conceptualisation and consequent development of virtual spaces — in this instance, co-development by the community. Finally, it will demonstrate through this analysis how changing concepts of ‘virtual learning spaces’ are put into practice through ‘virtual space’ design and development for creating and supporting niche social networks.
Ezine and iRadio as Knowledge Creation Metaphors for Scaffolding Learning in Physical and Virtual Learning Spaces
Authors: Dillon Steve , Seeto Deidre , Berry Anne
Published: October 2011

eZine and iRadio represent knowledge creation metaphors for scaffolding learning in a blended learning environment. Through independent and collaborative work online participating students experience a simulated virtual publishing space in their classrooms. This chapter is presented as an auto-ethnographic account highlighting the voices of the learning designer and the teacher. Using an iterative research design, evidence is provided for three iterations of each course. A collaborative approach to the development, planning, implementation, and evaluation of two tertiary music elective courses between lecturers, tutors, learning and technological designers is narrated. The student voice is embedded in the methodology, which involved an innovative approach that blends software development and pedagogy in iterations of software and experience design. The chapter describes how the teachers and learning designers translate these data into action and design. A blended learning space was incorporated within each of these elective music courses and the movement between these learning spaces is described and problematized. The research suggests that learning design, which provides real world examples and resources integrating authentic task design, can provide meaningful and engaging experiences for students. The dialogue between learning designers and teachers and iterative review of the learning process and student outcomes has engaged students meaningfully to achieve transferable learning outcomes.
Learning Spaces for the Digital Age
Authors: Hunt Lynne , Huijser Henk , Sankey Michael
Published: October 2011

This chapter shows how virtual and physical learning spaces are shaped by pedagogy. It explores the shift in pedagogy from an orientation to teaching to an emphasis on student learning. In so doing, it touches on Net Generation literature indicating that this concept has a poor fit with the diverse nature of student populations engaged in lifelong learning. The argument is that the skill set required for lifelong learning is not age related. At the core of the chapter is a case study of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) which describes a history of learning environments that have been variously shaped by pedagogy and the limits of technology. It refers to the concept of the ‘edgeless university’, which acknowledges that learning is no longer cloistered within campus walls, and it describes how USQ is engaging with this concept through the development of open source learning materials. An important point in the chapter is that the deliberate design of quality learning spaces requires whole-of-institution planning, including academic development for university teaching staff, themselves often ill-equipped to take advantage of the potential of new learning environments. The import of the discussion is that higher education learning spaces are shaped by deliberate design, and that student learning is optimised when that design is pedagogically informed and properly managed.
The Charles Darwin University vHospital®
Authors: Hercelinskyj Gylo (Julie) , McEwan Beryl
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents an overview of an innovative teaching approach in an undergraduate nursing degree at Charles Darwin University (CDU). The authors describe the development and initial integration into the first year clinical nursing subject of a virtual learning space using a case-based approach to address some of the issues associated with an externalised Bachelor of Nursing program. In addition, the use of the CDU vHospital® in supporting early role socialisation into nursing and professional identity of first year nursing students will be explored. The findings and outcomes of formal and informal evaluations of the resource are also presented. Lastly, the authors identify recommendations for future development and areas for potential future research.
Re-Imagining Teaching for Technology-Enriched Learning Spaces
Authors: Steel Caroline , Andrews Trish
Published: October 2011

New technology-enriched learning spaces are a focus of institutional investment to address the identified shortcomings of traditional teaching and learning environments. Academic development, an area that has received little attention in this context, can be designed to provide strong opportunities for university teachers to re-imagine their teaching for these new spaces while also building their leadership capacity. This chapter discusses challenges that teachers face in transforming their teaching practices and proposes a model for academic development to support this. Two case studies demonstrate the flexibility and efficacy of the model and provide pointers for further adoption in the higher education context.
ICTs for Enhanced Use of Indigenous Medicinal Plants by the Ashante Speaking People of Ghana
Authors: Boaduo Nana Adu-Pipim , Boaduo Nana Kwaku Kyei
Published: October 2011

Knowledge, over the centuries, has been recognised as power when acquired and used to resolve pertinent human problems. It helps to develop and advance communities in the environment they reside. Knowledgeable communities manage to elevate themselves from diseases and other catastrophes. It does not matter whether people are knowledgeable in the indigenous African ways or in the Western ways of knowing. What matters most is that the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values embedded in their social contexts are not only essential for their advancement and development, they are also critical for their survival. Knowledge acquisition through education enables communities to emancipate themselves from ignorance and poverty and raise themselves above all the challenges that may impinge negatively on their general and specific well-being. There is urgent need to gather together the indigenous wisdom of different ethnic groups around the world, especially the knowledge of indigenous medicinal plants and their uses for treatment and healing. This paper proposes to make a contribution in this respect by providing the basis of some of the IKS of the Akan ethnic group of Ghana, the Asantes, related to indigenous medicinal plants application for the treatment of a multiplicity of ailments. Recommendations regarding how this IKS can be preserved and commercialized through the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to benefit the indigenous Asante speaking people of Ghana are provided.
A Synopsis of Information Communication Technologies Applications in Agro-Based Livelihoods in Nigeria
Authors: Oladele O. I.
Published: October 2011

This paper examines the applications of information communication technologies in agro-based livelihoods in Nigeria. A multipurpose community information access point was established at a pilot level in Ago-Are, Oyo State, Nigeria. The center equipped with basic ICT infrastructures including Internet connectivity made available through a VSAT, provided timely solutions to the basic problems of farmers’ lack of information on agriculture, lack of access to inputs and output markets, and lack of access to some basic but relatively expensive equipment. The services include the Answering Farmer’s Needs-a private-public collaborative project involving several organizations. There is also the Fantsuam Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that works with farmers in rural communities in Northern Nigeria with an on-going micro-credit project aimed at alleviating poverty among rural women. The paper highlights the synergistic use and challenges for each of these projects and proffers suggestions for the adoption and adaptation in different parts of the world.
Libraries as Portal for Knowledge Driven Rural Community Development Cases from Botswana
Authors: Lekoko Rebecca , Modise-Jankie Josephine , Busang Christopher
Published: October 2011

Realizing that the rural communities lag behind with information that can help improve their lives, the government has set up the Rural Communication Program (RCP) with a goal “to provide telecommunications services to the rural areas in the most cost effective, efficient, logical and transparent manner possible” (Ministry of Communication Science and Technology, 2006, p. 14). Among specific objectives of the Rural Communications Program (RCP) is using appropriate technology to provide services, and in this case, the Internet or computers have been used to augment information found in local libraries. The Botswana Long Term Vision 2016 stipulates as a challenge the need to ensure that all people in Botswana especially those in the rural areas or those who need special assistance, receive the same benefits, and achieve their maximum potential, and RCP is the main foundation on which efforts for availing information that reaches the rural communities are based. Rural here refers to isolated and poorly served communities. These are communities where the government has identified that essential and basic services are required as part of its social obligation and mandate to integrate these areas into economic and social development of the nation. While these communities are of interest in this chapter, the chapter draws some cases from urban places because Internet connectivity in the rural areas of Botswana is still a problem.
Music as a Catalyst for Improved Livelihood
Authors: Nhlekisana Rosaleen O. B.
Published: October 2011

This chapter showcases how a traditional music group, Culture Spears, employs ICTs to promote, preserve, and sell musical culture. Their songs have messages of love affairs, adultery, diseases, and marriage. They use the World Wide Web, websites, and others gadgets such as digital camera, CD, DVD, and video to sell their products worldwide. Culture Spears’ existential goal is mainly that of entertainment and education. Being a group from rural and humble poor background, they did not have instruments when they started. They used traditional utensils to produce sound and balls to beat drums. They could not get a loan from any bank as banks discriminate in terms of economic standing, and it was difficult for them to get sponsorship to record their pieces. Their first cassette was self-recorded using a borrowed radio. The group experienced harsh teething problems but the media, especially television advertised them well and now their sales are very impressive. They have a recording studio. Current challenges include piracy, copying, and reproducing their music from computers to sell, and there seems to be no stringent copyright laws in Botswana. This negatively affects their sales. Another problem is the issue of royalties. Promoters cheat them in many respects.
Moving with Time and Strategy
Authors: Bhaskar Sandeep
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents evidence of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) towards the goal of sustainable community development. It argues that the biggest impediment to the growth of communities in the developing world is a lack of information and a fair incentive system, both of which can be addressed through ICTs. A three pronged action plan comprising of a development strategy, an information strategy, and a technology strategy is proposed towards this effect. The paper also showcases how a for-profit business, ITC Limited, transformed the face of agriculture in some parts of India, and how this model can be replicated in other parts of the world. It concludes with a description of the agricultural sector in Bangladesh and show how lessons drawn from the Indian case can be applied to Bangladesh and other developing countries.
The National Spatial Database Infrastructure (NSDI) in the Context of E-Governance Initiatives in Botswana
Authors: Maphanyane Joyce Gosata
Published: October 2011

The National Spatial Database Infrastructure (NSDI) is presented in this chapter as ideal for sharing information that can help improve the lives of citizens. It takes into consideration technologies, policies, and people as necessary resources to promote sharing of geospatial data at all levels of government, private, and academic community. To this effect, the government of Botswana has a service portal where anyone, anywhere in the world who is networked can use it. NSDI is part of this portal. This chapter presents NSDI as a mitigation tool for e-governance in the monitoring of natural resource like deforestations and land for agriculture. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture use NSDI to help farmers to locate the best soils suitable for certain types of crops like land suitability for rainfed crops. The Department of Geological Survey uses it for monitoring and assessing for mineral prospects in the country. The Botswana Defence Force could employ it for poaching or for wildlife movement surveillances. Challenges to the use of NSDI include low level of literacy, lack of technical knowhow and communication framework necessary for NSDI building. This leads to some stakeholders being excluded in the planning and access of the technology.
Managing and Enhancing ICT Uptake in Rural Communities in Botswana
Authors: Gatsha Godson , Masalela Regina K
Published: October 2011

This chapter focuses on the management of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) deployed in rural communities in Botswana to ensure its effective and efficient utilisation in order to improve the quality of life of the rural people. The key for ICT to reach rural communities and satisfy their needs lies with the availability of the telecommunication infrastructure. ICT rural service centres help connect the rural communities to the global village. One of the critical steps in the management of the uptake of ICT in rural communities is a strategic plan driven by village development committees (VDCs). This is expected to facilitate ownership and accountability of the recipients of ICTs. It empowers the communities and establishes keen interest in the uptake of ICT by male and female, old and young. Community centred development is enhanced when the communities themselves are involved right from the conception of ICT initiatives. Communities are more likely to tap into their indigenous knowledge systems to craft strategies that can minimise the digital phobia, hence, increase the ICT uptake by all age groups. Ultimately this arrangement can ensure gender parity. The increase in ICT uptake by rural communities has the potential to close the digital divide between urban and rural areas in Botswana.
A Complex Adaptive Systems-Based Enterprise Knowledge Sharing Model
Authors: Small Cynthia T. , Sage Andrew P.
Published: October 2011

This paper describes a complex adaptive systems (CAS)-based enterprise knowledge-sharing (KnS) model. The CAS-based enterprise KnS model consists of a CAS-based KnS framework and a multi-agent simulation model. Enterprise knowledge sharing is modeled as the emergent behavior of knowledge workers interacting with the KnS environment and other knowledge workers. The CAS-based enterprise KnS model is developed to aid knowledge management (KM) leadership and other KnS researchers in gaining an enhanced understanding of KnS behavior and its influences. A premise of this research is that a better understanding of KnS influences can result in enhanced decision-making of KnS interventions that can result in improvements in KnS behavior.
Conflicts, Compromises, and Political Decisions
Authors: Smolander Kari , Rossi Matti
Published: October 2011

This article describes the architecture development process in an international ICT company, which is building a comprehensive e-business system for its customers. The implementation includes the integration of data and legacy systems from independent business units and the construction of a uniform Web-based customer interface. We followed the early process of architecture analysis and definition over a year. The research focuses on the creation of e-business architecture and observes that instead of guided by a prescribed method, the architecture emerges through somewhat non-deliberate actions obliged by the situation and its constraints, conflicts, compromises, and political decisions. The interview-based qualitative data is analyzed using grounded theory and a coherent story explaining the situation and its forces is extracted. Conclusions are drawn from the observations and possibilities and weaknesses of the support that UML and RUP provide for the process are pointed out.
Game- Based Representations as Cues for Collaboration and Learning
Authors: Sharritt Matthew J. , Suthers Daniel D.
Published: October 2011

Literature suggests that games can support learning in schools by enabling creative problem solving, allowing dynamic resource allocation, providing a motivating, immersive activity, and supporting explorations of identity. A descriptive, inductive study was carried out to identify how high school students make use of the video game interface and its representations. Results demonstrate that specific cues direct attention, helping to focus efforts on new or underutilized game tasks. In addition, consistent and well-organized visualizations encourage learning and collaboration among students by providing shared referential resources and scaffolding coordinated sequences of problem solving acts during gameplay. Conversely, when affordances are inconsistently represented, students’ focus can shift from problem solving at the goal level (game strategy, etc.) to problem solving at the game interface level (which is frustrating their goals). In general, the design of game representations and behaviors can help guide or hinder student learning.
The Play of Persuasion Why “Serious” Isn’t the Opposite of Fun by Nicholas Fortugno Keynote Speech delivered at Meaningful Play, East Lansing, October 2008.
Authors: Fortugno Nicholas
Published: October 2011

Game designer Nick Fortungno’s keynote speech at the Meaningful Play conference talked about the conundrum of whether serious games can or even should be fun. Fortugno looks back at historical works of popular culture that exerted transformative effects on society. He examines three current persuasive games and offers his thoughts on what it will take for a game to achieve societal transformation.
Researching and Developing Serious Games as Interactive Learning Instructions
Authors: Loh Christian Sebastian
Published: October 2011

As serious games gain momentum in the academic arena, no doubt more educators and instructional technologists will begin considering the possibility of making their own games for instruction. As developers of instructional resources, instructional technologists need to steer clear of producing more ‘video’ games, and instead, developing more ‘serious’ games that incorporate both learning and assessment. The research community needs to learn from tested processes and best practices to avoid repeating old mistakes. The model for serious game making presented in this article has been used successfully for the creation of an award winning project, and will now be shared for the benefits of fellow researchers, educators, and instructional technologists.
Investigating Perceptions of Avatar Creation for Use in Educational MUVEs
Authors: DiPietro Joseph C.
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this qualitative inquiry is to extend the investigation of perceptions and experiences of users creating avatars for interactions in online learning environments. Using Linden Lab’s Second Life, volunteers created three-dimensional representations of themselves, called avatars, under the premise of participating in a hypothetical online class. Avatar creation sessions were book-ended with pre- and post- interviews focused on participant perceptions of various elements of self-representation and interactions as situated in online environments. Human computer interactions (HCI) of avatar creation were also explored. Findings indicate users created avatars that mirrored their respective physical appearances as closely as possible and were collectively adamant in feeling morally obliged to do so.
Blending Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with an Accounting System
Authors: Dahawy Khaled , Samaha Khaled
Published: October 2011

Improving our understanding of the accounting information system development in a specific Egyptian context, this case aims to investigate the development of a redesigned automated accounting system in a privately owned Egyptian company that was planning material changes in its accounting systems and organizational structure through integrating ICT systems. In other words, this case attempts to explore the company’s strategic decisions regarding computerized accounting information system implementation choices, problems met during the implementation process, and the actions taken to takeover these problems to gain the potential accounting system redesign benefits. Tracking the automated accounting system redesign highlights some implementation success key factors and emphasizes that obtaining top management commitment to the process of an automated accounting system implementation is a prerequisite for success.
Electronic Commerce and Management Accountants in Egypt
Authors: Youssef Mayada Abd El-Aziz
Published: October 2011

This research reports on a longitudinal case study in an Egyptian organization (TexCo1) that implemented Business-to-Business (B-to-B) electronic commerce. The objective is to explore the process of change in the role of management accountants associated with the implementation of B-to-B e-commerce. TexCo was subject to a change in leadership; subsequently, their traditional means of operation was put into question. This process resulted in realizing issues related to planning and internal control within the company. The B-to-B system was chosen to introduce new control-based rules. Resistance to change was detected in the case. It is posited that various power strategies were used to ameliorate covert and overt resistance. Over time, the role of management accountants in TexCo changed towards greater decision support and control. B-to-B electronic commerce poses management accountants with new challenges in TexCo. As such, it represents both an opportunity and a threat.
Path to Success
Authors: Genis-Gruber Ahu , Aktas Ramazan
Published: October 2011

The current case examines the management strategies of a leading furniture company that started off as a small business and rapidly expanded globally. The success the company has achieved through its innovative marketing strategies and use of international management techniques is presented. The case highlights the company’s flexibility in adapting its organizational structures to the nature of the market in different countries, and its reliance on a cross-cultural management approach to marketing in order to increase product acceptance by consumers across the world.
Facing Organizational Change and Stress Management
Authors: Metwally Elham
Published: October 2011

In today’s hyper-competitive environment, understanding factors that contribute to effective management of change and achieving strategic competitiveness are critical. Based on management theories and best practices, this case study provides a detailed exploration, description, and explanation of the implementation of two electronic banking delivery systems, namely ATMs and Internet Banking, in a leading bank in Egypt. The case identifies and describes the bank’s approach to managing change through Information Technology, with regards to leadership actions, overcoming resistance to change, personal and organizational attributes, strategies, structures, business processes, culture, as well as organizational commitment. The arrangement of the case followed a question-and-answer format rather than the traditional narrative. A series of questions and answers based on the semi-structured face-to-face interviews assessed the research topic. The researcher treated both products side-by-side throughout the case, as action planning was the same for each product. Outcomes revealed great commonalities, which meant tremendous overlap and repetition, had a separate case study been presented for each product.
Implementing Business Intelligence in the Dynamic Beverages Sales and Distribution Environment
Authors: Akabawi Sami , Hodeeb Heba
Published: October 2011

To compete successfully in today’s retail business arena, senior management are often demanding fast and responsive Information Systems that enable the company not only to manage its operations but to provide on-the-fly performance measurement through a variety of tools. Use of (ERP) systems have been slow in responding to these needs, despite the wealth of the internally generated business databases and reports as a consequence of functional integration. The specific nature and demands by those senior management staff require the congregation of many external data elements and use data mining techniques to provide fast discovery of performance slippages or changes in the business environment. Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence (BI) applications, evolved during the past few decades, have been implemented to respond to these needs. In this case write-up, we present how the ERP system was utilized as the backbone for use by BI tools and systems to provide Sales and Marketing units in a transnational company subsidiary in Egypt to actively respond to the demands for agile information services. The Egypt subsidiary is the HQ of the African region’s operations of several franchises and distributers of the company products, in addition to operating a beverage concentrate manufacturing plant in Egypt, which services the entire region’s beverage products needs.
Ghabbour Group ERP Deployment
Authors: Akabawi M. S.
Published: October 2011

Ghabbour group “GB Auto,” an Egyptian auto trading and manufacturing establishment, has gone through two ERP successive implementations within the past 12 years. The newer implementation has experienced several impediments. The executives and the Board of Directors at the group have thoroughly and aggressively examined the status of the IS services provided by this ERP system and assessed their impact on the quality of decision making at all levels of management. The driver for this was to secure all the necessary platforms and management tools for enabling growth and improving efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s business operation and resources. The extent of lack of control and effective utilization of the use of resources in the group has been cited by the top management in many interviews. Following its public offering and registration in the CASE and CMA, GB Auto was legally demanded to provide annual and quarterly audit reports of its varied LOBs’ performance. The existing information management infrastructure was not providing such agile services. The trajectory of implementations of integrated Enterprise Information Systems at the group was reviewed in this case study and was duly investigated to assess the effectiveness and appropriateness in servicing those purposes and increasing the company’s competitive advantage.
Honda Power Products
Authors: Ismail Noha
Published: October 2011

The International Commercial and Industrial Investment Company, S.A.E (ICII) is a trading company specialized in high-end power products and construction equipment. Honda power products accounts for almost 25% percent of the company’s sales. Since the introduction of Chinese products into the Egyptian market, Honda sales have been increasing, however at a decreasing rate. ICII is facing a number of challenges related to Honda’s decreasing market share. The main challenges are configuring a marketing strategy to ensure its viability in a turbulent market and selecting growth alternative that ensures its sustainability in light of the changing market conditions.
E-Business Strategy in Franchising
Authors: Chen Ye-Sho , Liu Chuanlan , Zeng Qingfeng
Published: October 2011

Franchising as a global growth strategy is gaining its popularity (Justis and Judd, 2002; Thomas and Seid, 2000; Chen and Justis, 2006). For example, the U.S. Commercial Service estimated that China, having over 2,600 brands with 200,000 franchised retail stores in over 80 sectors, is now the largest franchise market in the world (U.S. Commercial Service, 2008). The popularity of franchising continues to increase, as we witness an emergence of a new e-business model, Netchising, which is the combination power of the Internet for global demand-and-supply processes and the international franchising arrangement for local responsiveness (Chen, Justis, and Yang, 2004; Chen, Chen, and Wu, 2006). For example, Entrepreneur magazine – well known for its Franchise 500 listing – in 2001 included Tech Businesses into its Franchise Zone that contains Internet Businesses, Tech Training, and Miscellaneous Tech Businesses. At the time of this writing, 45 companies are on its list. In his best seller, Business @ the Speed of Thought, Bill Gates (1999) wrote: “Information Technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talking about the other.” (p. 6) Gates’ point is quite true when one talks about e-business strategy in franchising. Thus, to see how e-business can be “meaningfully” used in franchising, one needs to know how franchising really works.
Demand Driven Web Services
Authors: Sun Zhaohao , Dong Dong , Yearwood John
Published: October 2011

Web services are playing a pivotal role in e-business, service intelligence, and service science. Demand-driven web services are becoming important for web services and service computing. However, many fundamental issues are still ignored to some extent. For example, what is the demand theory for web services, what is a demand-driven architecture for web services and what is a demand-driven web service lifecycle remain open. This chapter addresses these issues by examining fundamentals for demand analysis in web services, and proposing a demand-driven architecture for web services. It also proposes a demand-driven web service lifecycle for the main players in web services: Service providers, service requestors and service brokers, respectively. It then provides a unified perspective on demand-driven web service lifecycles. The proposed approaches will facilitate research and development of web services, e-services, service intelligence, service science and service computing.
Between Supply and Demand
Authors: Egyedi Tineke M.
Published: October 2011

There is a continuous pressure for improvement in e-business. Increasing technical possibilities, new forms of outsourcing, the ongoing integration of business processes, the expansion of value chains, the emergence of new markets and new players; they affect the infrastructure and underlying ICT standards. Contrary to the inherent stability one might expect from standards, maintenance of and change in standards are rule rather than exception. The benefit of standards change is sometimes obvious. However, it can also pose severe problems (e.g. heavy switching costs and reduced market transparency). This chapter synthesizes research findings on standards change. A conceptual framework is developed to determine under which circumstances standards change is avoidable; if so, in what manner; and if not, which means exist to reduce the negative impact of change. While some change drivers are innovation- related, others stem from the standardization activity itself. They require distinct coping strategies: change control and quality control, respectively. Along these two lines, the chapter discusses strategies to cope with the impact of standards change.
Business Analytics Success
Authors: Ramakrishna Hindupur
Published: October 2011

The chapter presents a conceptual framework that identifies technological and organizational factors that impact the success of business analytics (BA) use in organizations in general and virtual organizations in particular. The framework explores BA success through three business disciplines: Decision sciences (DS), information systems (IS), and management. We believe that BA success comes from proper interaction between the three disciplines. Though the concept of BA has been around for a long time in business literature, its full potential use has not been realized in organizations for a variety of reasons. The information and communication technologies (ICT) that have made virtual organizations, and flattening of the world possible have also created a better infrastructure/environment for use of BA by providing the capability to collect massive amounts of data and by providing easier-to-use analytic tools. Currently, BA is being touted as the next information technology (IT) capability that will generate considerable value including competitive advantage to businesses. In this chapter we present and discuss our framework, discuss its viability through existing examples of BA success, and finally apply the framework to a special emerging context in organizations, virtual organizing. Implications of this framework for identifying and filling research gaps in this area and implications for managers interested in exploring BA use in their organizations are presented
An Overview of International Intellectual Capital (IC) Models and Applicable Guidelines
Authors: Banegil Palacios Tomas M. , Galvan Ramon Sanguino
Published: October 2011

In line with the increasing importance of the intangible economy within the last few years, a higher number of models have been published. In this sense, the authors main original contribution when measuring Intellectual Capital is related to comparing and assessing the different existent Guidelines, unlike previous published papers.The purpose of this chapter is to present and compare some of the most recent and significant contributions from researchers to the field of the measurement and management of intangibles.
Guidelines for Preparing Organizations in Developing Countries for Standards-Based B2B
Authors: Aggestam Lena
Published: October 2011

B2B development has been faster in the developed world comparing to developing countries. This chapter proposes a “tool” for managing CSF in B2B settings. The tool is in the form of guidelines, which are concrete and detailed, and which enable a more clear view of actions needed during the preparation stage of B2B projects. We argue that developing countries seldom have the luxury of affording failure in new B2B ventures, but that they instead must learn from the mistakes already made by the developed countries. Thus, our proposed guidelines are based on an existing framework and experiences made in the developed countries. The guidelines are furthermore discussed with regard to the specific problems and conditions that developing countries face. Much work still remains, and problems still must be resolved. From a global perspective, this is important for all of us!
An Information Technology Planning Framework for an Industry Cluster
Authors: Tan Albert Wee Kwan
Published: October 2011

Strategic IS planning (SISP) has been found to be a key issue of concern for management across organizations in various industries. However, most SISP studies have been conducted in the context of large, for-profit organizations but not at the industry level. An industry approach to SISP has been found to be most effective in Singapore to develop the IT capabilities of each industry. This chapter introduces a framework for planning of information technologies (IT) for the industry cluster. More specifically, the different stages in planning and executing an industry scale IT project for supply chain management are discussed here based on an example from Singapore. This generic framework proposed can be used in any industry where IT plays a strategic role for industry transformation.
Linking Information Technology, Knowledge Management, and Strategic Experimentation
Authors: Narayanan V. K.
Published: October 2011

Historically, the focus of IT infrastructure had been to capture the knowledge of experts in a centralized repository (Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Grover & Davenport, 2001; Nolan, 2001). The centralized databases contained knowledge that was explicit and historical (e.g., competitor pricing, market share), and the IT infrastructure served to facilitate functional decision making or to automate routine tasks (as in reengineering). The users of technology approached the repository to obtain data in a narrowly defined domain (Broadbent, Weill, & St. Clair, 1999). Consequently, IT originally played a significant, yet ultimately limited role in the strategy creation process. Management information systems (MISs) arguably generated information that was less applicable to strategy creation, as noted in early writings on the linkage between MIS and strategic planning (e.g., Lientz & Chen, 1981; Shank, Boynton, & Zmud, 1985; Holmes, 1985). The active management of knowledge was similarly underdeveloped. Despite the fact that strategic decision makers had always emphasized the role of tacit knowledge, the actual importance of knowledge was not explicitly recognized. Formalized knowledge management (Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Dalkir, 2005), with its associated terminology and tools, is a recent development and as such did not inform the strategic planning process. However, the shifts that have taken place in IT infrastructures over the last decade and the recent developments in knowledge management (KM) have brought them closer to the creators of strategy. Indeed, both IT and knowledge management are increasingly enablers in the contemporary strategic management practice: 1. IT infrastructure is transitioning in its focus from the functional work unit to a process orientation. Whereas computer systems were once the focal point, the new infrastructure is network centric, with an emphasis on business knowledge (Nolan, 2001). For example, traditional search engines utilized rule-based reasoning to identify elements matching specific search criteria; the “state-of-the-art” knowledge management systems employ case-based search techniques to identify all relevant knowledge components meeting the user’s request (Grover & Davenport, 2001). 2. IT now takes into account contexts that include crossfunctional experts, knowledgeable on a wide variety of potentially relevant issues. Additionally, there is greater emphasis on the integration of infrastructure with structure, culture (Gold, Malhotra, & Segars, 2001), and organizational roles (Awad & Ghaziri, 2004). In many ways, the newer IT infrastructures have enabled the garnering of explicit knowledge throughout the organization to speed up strategy creation. The objective of this article is to outline how the developments in IT and KM are facilitating the evolution of strategic management to strategic experimentation to create quantum improvements in strategy creation and unprecedented developmental opportunities for the field if IT.
Using Enterprise Architecture to Transform Service Delivery
Authors: Biggert Timothy
Published: October 2011

This chapter provides a case study on how the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has led the establishment of the Human Resources Line of Business (HR LOB). It explains how the HR LOB program has used enterprise architecture to drive transformation to a new Human Resources service delivery model across the United States Federal government. The authors propose that the common view and vocabulary that EA artifacts provide, along with the collaborative governance that took place to create the artifacts, has produced a solid business foundation for this extensive business transformation effort.
Reverse Supply Chain Design
Authors: Pochampally Kishore K. , Gupta Surendra M.
Published: October 2011

The success of a reverse supply chain heavily relies on the efficiency of the collection facilities and recovery facilities chosen while designing that reverse supply chain. In this chapter, we propose a neural network approach to evaluate the efficiency of a facility (collection or recovery) of interest, which is being considered for inclusion in a reverse supply chain, using the available linguistic data of facilities that already exist in the reverse supply chain. The approach is carried out in four phases, as follows: In phase I, we identify criteria for evaluation of the facility of interest, for each group participating in the reverse supply chain. Then, in phase II, we use fuzzy ratings of already existing facilities to construct a neural network that gives impacts (importance values) of criteria identified for each group in phase I. Then, in phase III, using the impacts obtained in phase II, we employ a fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) approach to obtain the overall rating of the facility of interest, as calculated by each group. Finally, in phase IV, we employ Borda’s choice rule to calculate the maximized consensus (among the groups considered) rating of the facility of interest.
Semantic Interoperability Enablement in E-Business Modeling
Authors: Fengel Janina
Published: October 2011

Businesses all over the world are faced with the challenge of having to flexibly react to change and to dynamically work with varying business partners. For establishing electronic business, the underlying processes and subsequent IT-support need to be described clearly. For doing so, conceptual modeling has become an indispensable means. Models describe interrelated business objects and activities, expressed in a certain modeling language with elements labeled in natural language. If the decision for the labels is not dominated by rules, models are semantically heterogeneous, not only concerning their modeling language, but more importantly, concerning their domain language, making their comparison or integration a non-trivial task. For its alleviation Semantic-Web technologies are applied. Transforming legacy models of different types into ontologies allows for reusing and connecting the domain facts modeled. Here, the novel method of semantic model referencing developed for this task is used, and this chapter will show how it can provide the basis for semantic integration.
A Reverse Auction-Based E-Business Model for B2C Service Markets
Authors: Kollmann Tobias
Published: October 2011

LetsWorkIt.de is a German B2C platform for different kinds of service and handcraft orders. Based on the concept of reverse auctions, demanders compose descriptions of the required services to place orders on the platform. The supplier bidding lowest at the end of the auction obtains the right to carry out the order. Drawing upon and widely confirming existing theories on e-marketplaces, this chapter examines the underlying e-business model and the competitive strategy of LetsWorkIt. The case provides evidence that the reverse auction-based intermediation of handcraft and service orders is suitable to form the basis of an e-marketplace and points out that for such ventures, a combination of public relations, performance marketing, and cooperation, represents an ideal strategy to increase the number of demanders and suppliers. Moreover, the case suggests that, depending on the business model, it may be feasible to concentrate marketing activities on one of these two customer groups, since LetsWorkIt has managed to achieve a significant number of successful, high-quality auctions by primarily aligning its competitive strategy with the demand side.
Designing e-Business Applications with Patterns for Computer-Mediated Interaction
Authors: Lukosch Stephan , Schümmer Till
Published: October 2011

Probably the most important aspect of e-Business and e-Commerce is that it mediates the interaction between various stakeholders in a business setting. New organizational forms such as virtual organizations emerged in which independent companies form a strategic alliance for a close collaboration towards a shared goal (e.g., shared product development). New forms of B2C (business-to-customer) interaction argue for the importance of hearing the customer’s voice e.g., by providing means for customization (Piller, 2006) or by collecting the customers’ feedback (Levine, Locke, Searls, & Weinberger, 2000). And in some cases, C2C (customer-to-customer) interaction has become an integrated part of the business (in settings where customers also act as providers of goods or services). Closely related to these trends is the emergence of the Web 2.0 as “a set of economic, social, and technology trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the Internet – a more mature, distinctive medium characterized by user participation, openness, and network effects.” (Musser, O’Reilly et al., 2006, p. 4). Again, collaboration and user participation is one of the most important terms in this definition and it is what makes Web 2.0 different from traditional web sites that have mainly focused on content delivery rather than interaction and collaboration among users of content. Considered from an e-business perspective, there are important analogies, especially the shift from mass delivery to customized goods and services that are co-created by traditional sellers and customers.