bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resistance
Authors: Waddell Dianne
Published: May 2011

Resistance to change has long been recognised as a critically important factor that can influence the success or otherwise of implementing any technological innovation. Information technology (IT) focused interventions, for example, business process re-engineering (BPR) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), are often quoted as examples of costly failures, with reported levels of dissatisfaction with strategic IT investments ranging from 20-70 percent and that employee resistance was to blame. The intention of this chapter is to rethink resistance. The author suggests that resistance remains to this day a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that continues to affect the outcomes of change, both negatively and positively. Although research has procured a solid understanding of resistance and the benefits that can accrue to an organisation through its proper utilisation, it appears that the classical adversarial approach remains the dominant means of managing resistance because such learning is not reflected in modern management techniques. The author concludes that as companies in every industry are now translating the power and possibilities of e-business into strategic and operational realities, new approaches in change management are required to help organisations to understand the complex dynamics of technological innovation and especially the multifaceted nature of resistance.
Up In Smoke
Authors: Ross Steven C. , Tyran Craig K. , Auer David J.
Published: May 2011

On July 3, 2002, fire destroyed a facility that served as both office and computer server room for a College of Business located in the United States. The fire also caused significant smoke damage to the office building where the computer facility was located. The monetary costs of the disaster were over $4 million. This case, written from the point of view of the chairperson of the College Technology Committee, discusses the issues faced by the college as they resumed operations and planned for rebuilding their information technology operations. The almost-total destruction of the college’s server assets offered a unique opportunity to rethink the IT architecture for the college. The reader is challenged to learn from the experiences discussed in the case to develop an IT architecture for the college that will meet operational requirements and take into account the potential threats to the system.
Academic Online Resources and Global Implications
Authors: Inoue Y. , Bell S.
Published: May 2011

The question of finding the right information is perhaps even more important, and it requires a new organizing principle of information for the digital age…. The problem that people are running into with digitized information is that the amount of information is growing exponentially. The number of Web sites has grown from 5,000 to 50 million over the last 10 years or so, and the information they contain is very dynamic. At the same time, search engines are becoming more powerful and people are creating more sophisticated, semantically based retrieval mechanisms. All of that will, in fact, improve the quality of search and finding information. However, there is a different dimension, that of video and audio information, which cannot be routinely indexed and searched at present. (Goodman, 2001, pp. 13-14)
Digital Divides and Grassroots-Based E-Government in Developing Countries
Authors: Hossain Farhad
Published: May 2011

Once properly managed, e-governance can add tremendous dynamism in reforming public administration and can change the mode of interaction between the state and its citizens. However, concerns regarding digital divides and the challenges of e-governance in the developing states of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are growing. If the factors contributing to digital divides are not carefully identified and properly solved, there is a growing risk that in the coming years digital resources might become the preserve of the “haves,” while ignoring the plight of the “have-nots” as they seek access to resources in developing countries. The current Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan (2000) provided the insight that new information and communications technologies are bringing people together, and bringing decision-makers unprecedented new tools for development. At the same time, however, Mr. Annan added, the gap between information “haves” and “have-nots” is widening, and there is a real danger that the world’s poor will be excluded from the emerging knowledge-based global economy. E-governance in this article could be referred to as the use of digital devices, usually by public authorities, when dealing with their public, private and non-profit stakeholders. E-governance comprises a practice, process, or activities through digital means and could equally be practiced by different stakeholders in managing public affairs. While in contrast “e-government” is defined by Shafritz and Russel (2003) as conducting any aspect of government business operations over the Internet—from providing information by government to paying bills to the government. This article examines and analyzes the current status of emerging electronic and Web-based governance (e-governance) in developing countries. In doing so, the article outlines the market model, participatory state model, flexible government model, and the deregulated government model presented by Professor Guy Peters for reforming governance. In light of the above, the article brings forward the emerging issues of governance, e-governance, and the possibility of shared governance. Emerging e-governance is reshaping the process of administrative reforms in developing countries—which requires fresh academic research and a scholarly contribution.
Enhanced Learning and Leading in a Technology Rich, 21st Century Global Learning Environment
Authors: Gibson Ian W.
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the evolution of thinking about learning, resulting from the increasingly ubiquitous presence of instructional technology and communications technology in learning environments. It provides a short history of the pedagogical growth of technology usage. It further describes the impact of technology on the potential transformation of four-walled classrooms into global, online learning communities from a constructivist perspective, while looking at learner/teacher roles in the learning process. The Global Forum on School Leadership (GFSL) and the Global Forum on Educational Research (GFER) are introduced as applications of interactive educational technology, suitable for twenty-first century learners, teachers, and school leaders, that emphasize creation of new knowledge using exploration and collaboration through self directed, technology-enhanced learning controlled by the learner. The intent of this discussion is to explore the impact of technology on learning, and recognize the transformative power behind introducing this learning experience into school leader preparation programs.
Introducing Electronic Governance in the Philippines
Authors: Mariano Vicente D.
Published: May 2011

The Philippines has recently identified five key reform packages where information and communications technology (ICT) will play a key role: job creation through economic growth, anti-corruption through good government, social justice and basic needs, education and youth opportunity, and energy independence and savings (Patricio, 2004). Such an important role of ICT can be seen in terms of the signing of the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, or the E-Commerce Act in June 2000. The law mandates all government agencies to adopt electronic means in their transactions within a period of two years (2000) of its signing.
Outsourcing Information Technology
Authors: Hoffman James J. , Walden Eric , Hoelscher Mark L.
Published: May 2011

The current chapter explores the role that one factor, social capital, may have on the success of IT outsourcing. It extends current understanding of outsourcing success and failure by examining the effect of social capital on outsourcing success. The chapter proposes that social capital has potential impact on information technology (IT) outsourcing success. Specifically, it is theorized that social capital has an inverted “U” shape relationship with outsourcing success.
Developing Regional Communities in Turkey
Authors: Kirlidog Melih
Published: May 2011

Virtual Communities (VC), as defined by Rheingold (2000), are the social groups formed in the cyberspace when enough people carry on public discussions long enough and with sufficient human feeling. VC enabled by the ICT technologies are formed in two ways. Either their members can be actively engaged with each other and tightly coupled in e-mail discussion and communication groups, or they can be the passive observers of the Web pages and thereby loosely coupled with other members of the community.
Electronic Architectures for Bridging the Global Digital Divide
Authors: Dholakia Nikhilesh , Kshetri Nir
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a comparative view of e-business systems designed to extend the benefits of e-business to the poor demographic segments of the developing world and to reach populations that are on the “wrong side of the digital divide.” Four such systems are selected: the Global Trade Point Network (GTPN) of the United Nations, Alcatel Telemedicine Network, Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS), and Johns Hopkins International’s (JHI) Telemedicine Network. The four networks are compared across various network architecture dimensions. Our analysis indicates that LINCOS offers reduced capital cost, flexible architectures, and at the same time access to worldwide information systems, and hence has the highest potential to reach effectively the most excluded population in developing countries. Collaborations among technology marketers, national governments and international agencies are needed to identify the needs of the digitally excluded population and select appropriate architectures to serve the needs.
Motivators for IOS Adoption in Denmark
Authors: Henriksen Helle Zinner
Published: May 2011

Organizational adoption of innovations does not always follow easily comprehendible patterns. This is often the case with interorganizational information systems (IOS), where adoption is dependent on attributes related both to the organization and to its environment. The present study operationalizes the Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) model for organizational adoption in order to investigate reasons for adoption and non-adoption among businesses in the Danish steel and machinery industry. This particular industry segment had been subject to massive information campaigns focusing on the benefits of IOS in the form of EDI from business associations. The study suggests that environmental and organizational attributes rather than technological attributes are the main determining forces for adoption of EDI.
Digital Divide, Gender and the Indian Experience in IT
Authors: Pande Rekha
Published: May 2011

Information technology is being perceived as the magical wand and the harbinger of prosperity as it can guarantee access to global markets and enable direct foreign investment and e-commerce. Several projects aim at bringing information technologies to India with a belief in the transforming potential of IT. However, these technologies have created a digital and gender divide. In this article, attempts have been made to look into the digital divide and the constraints that women share by gender specifically in India. India is a multilateral, multilingual, and multireligious society with many subdivides based on region, ethnic groups, class, and caste. The digital divide and gender has become yet another component of this diversity. In India, women comprise 14% of the IT industry and 26% of the business processing outsourcing (BPO) workforce. The total workforce of IT and BPO is made up of approximately 70 million people (http://www.ciol.com). At the lower experience level (about 3 years), about 19% of the workforce comprises women. At senior levels, women constitute less than 6% of the workforce (http://www.dqqindia.com). This indicates that few manage to reach the top level, and the majority of them remain at lower levels as computer or data-entry operators. The gender gap in the digital divide is of great concern as it is directly linked to socioeconomic development. A major developmental issue of the coming decades will be the access and use of IT (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1989). Policy makers of both industrial and developing countries have agreed that IT is one of the fastest growing industries and is likely to be the largest by the turn of the century (Kraemer, 1994). Hence, if women are not actively present at all levels in this growing industry, then we would see marginalization that could undermine the advances made by women in other fields in the 20th century.
The Need for Community Informatics in Malaysia
Authors: Gnaniah Jayapragas , Songan Peter , Yeo Alvin W. , Zen Hushairi , Hamid Khairuddin Ab.
Published: May 2011

The Malaysian government, through many initiatives, has seriously looked into reducing and if possible eliminating, the digital divide that exists between the developed urban and the technologically impoverished rural communities. The e-Bario Project, a successful research showcase of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, is one of the leading examples in Malaysia of such an attempt to bridge the digital gap and to achieve sustainable human development through the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT). According to Harris, Bala, Songan, Khoo and Trang (2001), the World Bank had introduced a systematic approach to the application of ICT to meet the needs and bridge the digital divide of the rural community.
Planning and Managing the Human Factors for the Adoption and Diffusion of Object-Oriented Software Development Processes
Authors: Serour Magdy K.
Published: May 2011

Although there are a large number of contemporary software development processes/methodologies available to assist and guide software professionals in developing software systems, there is no specific process that can assist organizations in planning and managing their transition to this new work environment. As a result, there are still a large number of information technology (IT) organizations that have not yet implemented any object-oriented (OO) process. For them, the transition to a new work environment and the adoption and utilization of a software process implies a number of problems, commonly including necessary human and organizational resistance to the ensuing cultural change. This chapter provides IT organizations and professionals with insights into the most important key success factors that may promote the entire process of organizational change. We investigate the effect of various human factors on the adoption and diffusion of an object-oriented software development process. Some of the human factors include motivation, leadership, resistance to culture change, and willingness and readiness to change. In addition, this chapter explores the significant role of these factors in controlling the entire process of implementing an OO process in practice, emphasizing the significance of planning and managing these “soft” factors to achieve clear advantages and gain enviable results.
Supply Chain Globalization and the Complexities of Cost-Minimization Strategies
Authors: Polin Brian A. , Troutt Marvin D. , Acar William
Published: May 2011

We review the evolving literature on globalization with three aims in mind. First, we introduce the concept of globalization within the context of supply chain management. Second, with an eye toward information that may be useful for supply chain planners, we detail the motivation for global integration of the supply chain. Our third aim is to address global supply-chain issues that may be at odds with cost-minimizing strategies. Specifically, in this time of political debate regarding trade legislation, these issues involve the consideration of country of origin when sourcing, and the disparate demands of customers when marketing. A country offering inexpensive components may be associated with poor quality. Thus, despite inexpensive inputs, the overall profitability of the supply chain may suffer as perceived quality deteriorates. Similarly, a largely standardized product across multiple markets may present the lowest cost alternative from a production standpoint, but a high degree of standardization may reduce the attractiveness of the product in the eyes of the end consumer, and reduce overall profitability.
A Disconnect in Stakeholders' Perceptions from Emerging Realities of Teledensity Growth in Africa's Least Developed Countries
Authors: Mbarika Victor W. , Meso Peter N. , Musa Philip F.
Published: May 2011

With the dynamic and meteoric rise in teledensity diffusion across Sub Saharan Africa, one would expect a departure in the perceptions of stakeholders as they relate to the Bernt and Weiss framework that identifies organizational, financial, technological, and geographical factors as the key impediments to teledensity growth. The findings of this research show that there is disconnect between current happenings and perception of stakeholders. Specifically, there is no change in stakeholders’ perceptions with respect to the framework mentioned above. However, historical and recent teledensity data from Africa’s Least Developed Countries illustrate that the model is inconsistent with the emerging realities in these countries, and that it may be getting obsolete. This leads us to conjecture that in this new dispensation, there may be some emerging factors, issues, constraints, and opportunities that may be of greater importance to understanding telecommunications capabilities in these countries and the world at large.
Global Integrated Supply Chain Implementation
Authors: Sheng Margaret L.
Published: May 2011

Supply chain functions must operate in an integrated manner in order to optimize performance. However, the dynamics of the organization and the market make this challenging. In particular, the procurement function is a crucial link between the sources of supply and the organization. With most organizations spending at least one-third of their overall budget to purchase goods and services, procurement holds significant business value. Emerging technologies, especially e-procurement, are promising to change the picture of traditional procurement processes. However, the implementation of e-procurement is facing significant reengineering and change management challenges. This study identifies four main challenges in e-procurement implementation: business process integration, technological issues, value creation, and change management. The major challenge among them is change management. Critically, leadership is one of the primary requirements to make the change successfully.
A Cooperative Communicative Intelligent Agent Model for E-Commerce
Authors: Jentzsch Ric. , Gobbin Renzo
Published: May 2011

The complexities of business continue to expand. First technology, then the World Wide Web, ubiquitous commerce, mobile commerce, and who knows. Business information systems need to be able to adjust to these increased complexities, while not creating more problems. Here, we put forth a conceptual model for cooperative communicative intelligent agents that can extend itself to the logical constructs needed by modern business operations today and tomorrow.
Bayesian Modelling for Machine Learning
Authors: Rippon Paul , Mengersen Kerrie
Published: May 2011

Learning algorithms are central to pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, and statistical learning. The term often implies analysis of large and complex data sets with minimal human intervention. Bayesian learning has been variously described as a method of updating opinion based on new experience, updating parameters of a process model based on data, modelling and analysis of complex phenomena using multiple sources of information, posterior probabilistic expectation, and so on. In all of these guises, it has exploded in popularity over recent years.
Soft Computing Paradigms and Regression Trees in Decision Support Systems
Authors: Tran Cong , Abraham Ajith , Jain Lakhmi
Published: May 2011

Decision-making is a process of choosing among alternative courses of action for solving complicated problems where multi-criteria objectives are involved. The past few years have witnessed a growing recognition of soft computing (SC) (Zadeh, 1998) technologies that underlie the conception, design, and utilization of intelligent systems. In this chapter, we present different SC paradigms involving an artificial neural network (Zurada, 1992) trained by using the scaled conjugate gradient algorithm (Moller, 1993), two different fuzzy inference methods (Abraham, 2001) optimised by using neural network learning/evolutionary algorithms (Fogel, 1999), and regression trees (Breiman, Friedman, Olshen, & Stone, 1984) for developing intelligent decision support systems (Tran, Abraham, & Jain, 2004). We demonstrate the efficiency of the different algorithms by developing a decision support system for a tactical air combat environment (TACE) (Tran & Zahid, 2000). Some empirical comparisons between the different algorithms are also provided.
The Application of Swarm Intelligence to Collective Robots
Authors: Sharkey Amanda J.C. , Sharkey Noel
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers the application of swarm intelligence principles to collective robotics. Our aim is to identify the reasons for the growing interest in the intersection of these two areas, and to evaluate the progress that has been made to date. In the course of this chapter, we will discuss the implications of taking a swarm intelligent approach, and review recent research and applications. The area of “swarm robotics” offers considerable promise for practical application, although it is still in its infancy, and many of the tasks that have been achieved are better described as “proof-of-concept” examples, rather than full-blown applications. In the first part of the chapter, we will examine what taking a swarm intelligence approach to robotics implies, and outline its expected benefits. We shall then proceed to review recent swarm robotic applications, before concluding with a case study application of predator-prey robotics that illustrates some of the potential of the approach.
Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Medicine and Health Care
Authors: Begg Rezaul
Published: May 2011

Now-a-days, researchers are increasingly looking into new and innovative techniques with the help of information technology to overcome the rapid surge in health care costs facing the community. Research undertaken in the past has shown that artificial intelligence (AI) tools and techniques can aid in the diagnosis of disease states and assessment of treatment outcomes. This has been demonstrated in a number of areas, including: help with medical decision support system, classification of heart disease from electrocardiogram (ECG) waveforms, identification of epileptic seizure from electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, ophthalmology to detect glaucoma disease, abnormality in movement pattern (gait) recognition for rehabilitation and potential falls risk minimization, assisting functional electrical stimulation (FES) control in rehabilitation setting of spinal cord injured patients, and clustering of medical images (Begg et al., 2003; Garrett et al., 2003; Masulli et al., 1998; Papadourokis et al., 1998; Silva & Silva, 1998).
Computational Intelligence Applications in Business
Authors: Voges Kevin E. , Ll. Pope Nigel K.
Published: May 2011

We present an overview of the literature relating to computational intelligence (also commonly called artificial intelligence) and business applications, particularly the journal-based literature. The modern investigation into artificial intelligence started with Alan Turing who asked in 1948 if it would be possible for “machinery to show intelligent behaviour.” The computational intelligence discipline is primarily concerned with understanding the mechanisms underlying intelligent behavior, and consequently embodying these mechanisms in machines. The term “artificial intelligence” first appeared in print in 1955. As this overview shows, the 50 years of research since then have produced a wide range of techniques, many of which have important implications for many business functions, including finance, economics, production, operations, marketing, and management. However, gaining access to the literature can prove difficult for both the computational intelligence researcher andthe business practitioner, as the material is contained in numerous journals and discipline areas. The chapter provides access to the vast and scattered literature by citing reviews of the main computational intelligence techniques, including expert systems, artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, rough sets, evolutionary algorithms, and multi-agent systems.
It's All in the Game
Authors: Achterbergh Jan , Vriens Dirk
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we explore the role of simulation games for intelligence activities. Although games have been used in intelligence activities, the contribution of building and using simulation games to Competitive Intelligence has, to our knowledge, not been examined thoroughly. In this chapter we fill this gap by explaining the building and using stages of simulation gaming and by discussing the contribution of these stages to directing, collecting, analyzing and disseminating Competitive Intelligence. Moreover, we discuss the role of ICT to enhance the contribution of simulation games to competitive intelligence.
Ethics of Workplace Surveillance Games
Authors: Danielson Peter
Published: May 2011

Many problems in the ethics of technology arise because our ethical conventions take time to adapt to our technology. Workplace surveillance is a good example. This chapter develops some of the ethical issues raised by surveillance technology in the workplace, using a framework of informal game theory. One leading approach to workplace surveillance, following Foucault’s Panopticon metaphor, emphasizes the power of employers over employees; another looks at unexpected consequences from a managerial perspective. Our analysis shows that both of these approaches have more structure than is often noticed, yielding new alternatives for ethical policy recommendation. On the one hand, even those under surveillance by the more powerful have options, and the equilibrium includes outcomes not preferred by the more powerful player. On the other, most surveillance systems have at least two equilibria. Here, ethics has an important role in helping agents choose and maintain socially better equilibria. A number of policy recommendations follow from this approach. This chapter deploys a framework of informal game theory to elucidate some of the ethical issues raised by surveillance technology in the workplace. We do not use “games” in our title to diminish the importance of the issues we discuss, but rather to highlight their interactive, strategic, and dynamic aspects. This chapter focuses on how alternatives are structured by new electronic workplace surveillance technologies, yielding new opportunities for ethics. This chapter extends the approach of Danielson (2002b) to support recommendations for policy in the workplace.
An Overview of E-Commerce Security and Critical Issues for Developing Countries
Authors: Tiako Pierre F.
Published: May 2011

Deficient information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure, lack of awareness on e-commerce issues, network payment and secure transaction services present enormous challenges to developing countries. For e-commerce to be a viable tool for trade in developing countries (DC), a “secure infrastructure” which makes possible the electronic exchange of financial transactions is a necessary prerequisite. There has been significant research on e-commerce security, although most of these studies have focused on developed countries. Less attention has been paid to underdeveloped countries that face different circumstances due to the above challenges. From technological perspectives, this work discusses important issues of e-commerce security for developing countries in regards to lack of fraud repression and justice in those countries.
Open Source Software Business Models and Customer Involvement Economics
Authors: Langdon Christoph Schlueter , Hars Alexander
Published: May 2011

This chapter is focused on the business economics of open source. From a strategic perspective, open source falls into a category of business models that generate advantages based on customer and user involvement ( CUI). While open source has been a novel strategy in the software business, CUI-based strategies have been used elsewhere before. Since the success of e-commerce and e-business, CUI-based strategies have become far more prevalent for at least two reasons: Firstly, advances in information technology and systems have improved feasibility of implementation of CUI strategies and secondly, CUI-based economics appear to have often become a requirement for e-business profitability. This chapter presents a review of CUI-based competition, clearly delineates CUI antecedents and business value consequences, and concludes with a synopsis of managerial implications and a specific focus on open source.
Perceived Risk, the Internet Shopping Experience and Online Purchasing Behavior
Authors: Doolin Bill , Dillon Stuart , Thompson Fiona , Corner James L.
Published: May 2011

This paper develops a research model of the importance of consumers’ perceived risk and the Internet shopping experience in the online purchasing behavior of Internet users. The model was tested using a survey of some 700 New Zealand Internet users. Both the perceived risk and perceived benefits of Internet shopping were found to be significantly associated with the amount and frequency of online purchases made. Loss of social interaction in Internet shopping was associated with reduced online spending. The results of the study suggest that Internet retailing Web sites should include features that enhance customer service and reduce perceived risk.
Signals of Trustworthiness in E-Commerce
Authors: Kimery Kathryn M. , McCord Mary
Published: May 2011

Signaling theory provides the framework to address three main research questions: (1) How accurately do consumers notice and recollect TPA seals on retail Web sites? (2) How familiar are consumers with major TPA seals? and (3) How accurately do consumers understand the assurances represented by the TPA seals? Results of this study of three major TPA seals (TRUSTe, BBBOnLine Reliability, and VeriSign) reveal that subjects have poor recall of TPA seals viewed on a Web site, have limited familiarity with TPA programs, and have incomplete and largely inaccurate perceptions of the assurances that TPA seals represent. These results suggest that TPA seals may not fulfill their potential to influence consumer trust in e-commerce because the signals are not noticed on merchant Web sites or adequately understood by consumers.
Intelligent Software Agents in E-Commerce
Authors: Raisinghani Mahesh S. , Klassen Christopher , Schkade Lawrence L.
Published: May 2011

Agent technology is one of the most widely discussed topics in information systems and computer science literature. New software products are being introduced each day. A growing number of computer information professionals recognize that there are definite issues surrounding intelligent agent terminology. These must be resolved if agent technology is to continue to develop and establish.
Semantic Web Support for Customer Services
Authors: Tho Quan Thanh , Cheung Hui Siu , Fong A. C.M.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses Semantic Web support for customer services. Customer service support is an important operation for most multinational manufacturing companies. It provides installation, inspection, and maintenance support for their worldwide customers. However, knowledge integrated in customer service support systems is typically closed in terms of exchanging information. Therefore, the systems do not easily share, reuse, or exchange knowledge. It causes difficulty when customers seek service support for products produced by various companies. In this chapter, we propose to incorporate Semantic Web services into customer service systems to solve such problems. In our system, KSOM neural network is first used to mine knowledge from reported cases. Then, ontology is used as a semantic representation for knowledge discovered and Semantic Web services are used to make constructed ontology accessible from different systems. As a result, users can use semantic knowledge distributed across various sources on the Internet to solve their problems. Performance evaluation on the system is also present in the chapter.
Evolution of Mobile Commerce Applications
Authors: Lalopoulos George K. , Chochliouros Ioannis P. , Spiliopoulou-Chochliourou Anastasia S.
Published: May 2011

The tremendous growth in mobile communications has affected our lives significantly. The mobile phone is now pervasive and used in virtually every sector of human activity—private, business, and government. Its usage is not restricted to making basic phone calls; instead, digital content, products, and services are offered. Among them, mobile commerce (m-commerce) holds a very important and promising position.
Secure Multicast for Mobile Commerce Applications
Authors: Eltoweissy Mohamed , Jajodia Sushil , Mukkamala Ravi
Published: May 2011

With the rapid growth in mobile commerce (m-commerce) applications, the need for providing suitable infrastructure to support these applications has become critical. Secure multicast is a key element of this infrastructure, in particular, to support group m-commerce applications such as mobile auctions, product recommendation systems, and financial services. Despite considerable attention to m-commerce security, most existing security solutions focus on unicast communications. On the other hand, numerous solutions for secure multicast exist that are not specifically designed with m-commerce as a target environment. Clearly, to address secure multicast in m-commerce, we must start by forming a comprehensive picture of the different facets of the problem and its solutions. In this chapter, we identify system parameters and subsequent security requirements for secure multicast in m-commerce. Attacks on m-commerce environments may undermine satisfying these security requirements resulting, at most times, in major losses. We present a taxonomy of common attacks and identify core services needed to mitigate these attacks and provide efficient solutions for secure multicast in m-commerce. Among these services, authentication and key management play a major role. Given the varying requirements of m-commerce applications and the large number of current key management schemes, we provide a taxonomy and a set of performance metrics to aid m-commerce system designers in the evaluation and selection of key management schemes.
Multilingual Web Sites in Global Electronic Commerce
Authors: He Shaoyi
Published: May 2011

The World Wide Web (the Web), a distributed hypermedia information system that provides global access to the Internet, has been most widely used for exchanging information, providing services, and doing business across national boundaries. It is difficult to find out exactly when the first multilingual Web site was up and running on the Internet, but as early as January 1, 1993, EuroNews, the first multilingual Web site in Europe, was launched to simultaneously cover world news from a European perspective in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. (EuroNews, 2005). In North America, Web site multilinguality has become an important aspect of electronic commerce (e-commerce) as more and more Fortune 500 companies rely on the Internet and the Web to reach out to millions of customers and clients. Having a successful multilingual Web site goes beyond just translating the original Web content into different languages for different locales. Besides the language issue, there are other important issues involved in Web site multilinguality: culture, technology, content, design, accessibility, usability, and management (Bingi, Mir, & Khamalah, 2000; Dempsey, 1999; Hillier, 2003; Lindenberg, 2003; MacLeod, 2000). This article will briefly address the issues related to: (1) language that is one of the many elements conforming culture, (2) culture that greatly affects the functionality and communication of multilingual Web sites, and (3) technology that enables the multilingual support of e-commerce Web sites, focusing on the challenges and strategies of Web site multilinguality in global e-commerce.
Trust in B2B E-Commerce Virtual Communities
Authors: Turner Eric
Published: May 2011

In any virtual community, issues of trust can dictate the level of interaction among participants within that community. In business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce), trust is an important factor in an organization’s willingness to expose itself to certain business risks without perfect knowledge of another organization’s capabilities, commitment or intentions. Within a virtual B2B community, the negotiation for the purchase and selling of goods, services and information involves little or no physical interaction such as eye contact or handshakes. Additionally, there is limited accessibility to physical locations that may display goods or be a source of information that could be used for assessing the trustworthiness of organizations. Although the Internet provides a medium for interconnecting a broad range of potential business partners at relatively low start-up and ongoing costs, the inherent information asymmetries create additional risks not present in traditional commerce. Individual organizations are required to dynamically assess and mediate these risks through the implementation of strategies for limiting the exposure of valued information assets and protecting resources. Since it is not feasible, nor practical, to eliminate all risks associated with online B2B collaborations, a means for establishing and maintaining levels of mutual trust is essential among multiple organizations that participate in electronically based transactions.
Virtual Communities in Banking Customer Retention
Authors: Dardaras Dimitris , Karakostas Bill
Published: May 2011

Although it is difficult to measure the e-commerce economy precisely, its size is estimated to be relatively small (some $26 billion United States) at present, but it is expected to grow very rapidly and approach $1 trillion by 2005. E-banking represents a significant share of the overall e-commerce activities. Five strategic and tactical reasons exist for banks to invest in e-commerce. The first one is cost reduction in transactions between bank and customer. Second, the image of the bank can be promoted and visibly increased globally. Third, new services can be introduced, either standalone or as added features to existing products. Fourth, market expansion and reach is increased. Recent changes in the regulatory framework have enabled many banks to expand their services into non-traditional banking areas. For instance, many banks have already moved into or are in the process of moving into insurance and stock brokerage. Finally, communication costs through online transactions and global information distribution are lowered (Dannesnberg & Kellner, 1998; Quelch & Klein, 1996; Prescott & Van Slyke, 1997; Mandeville, 1998). Traditionally, banks use the branch system and mass marketing techniques. Due to the emergence of new technologies and increased competition, banks need to develop one-to-one relationships with their customers and to improve the quality of their services. This, however, can only be possible if they can organise and establish their own Internet-based Virtual Communities (VCs).
Personas of E-Commerce Adoption in Small Businesses in New Zealand
Authors: Al-Qirim Nabeel
Published: May 2011

Focus group methodology is introduced in this article as one appropriate methodology to study the impact of technological innovation factors on e-commerce (EC) adoption in small businesses (SMEs) in New Zealand. The research results suggested two emerging issues pertaining to EC adoption in SMEs in this research. First, SMEs would not invest their scant resources on perceived risky advanced EC initiatives. In adopting simple EC technologies such as Web pages and e-mail, factors like cost and compatibility were found not hindering the adoption decision. On the other hand, the proposed drivers to adopt these simple technologies were not highly significant as such. Second, the SMEs retained a particular view about advancing their simple EC initiatives. They envisaged that advancing their EC initiatives, such as adopting full-blown and interactive Web sites, will give more weight to the impact of the different factors in this research on their adoption decisions of EC. The gulf between the current adoption and usage levels and the envisaged advanced EC initiatives seemed to be increasing further, suggesting the weakness of the EC phenomenon in SMEs in this research. The research portrays a path where such gaps could be addressed, and hence, this path should guide the SMEs in advancing their EC initiatives. Implications arising from this research with respect to theory and to practice are discussed in this research.
Corporate Strategies in a Digital World
Authors: Kansal Purva , Arora Keshni Anand
Published: May 2011

These days, the majority of management literature stresses the concept of “learning organizations”, i.e., an organization’s capacity to change. However, it is not easy for people to accept this fundamental aspect especially when it comes to the Internet and technologies’ growing importance in business operations. They claim it’s a temporary trend that will leave little visible change in the way business is conducted. For these businessmen, the philosophy seems to be “keep making better products and offering new services, and the customers will keep buying”. They ignore changes occurring in the buying habits of customers and impact of technology. There are some businesses who are happy to follow the leader and adopt tools like supply chain management. Supply chain management is a recognized discipline to shorten cycle times, reduce inventories, decrease logistics costs and streamline communication process across the business network. On the other hand are the businessmen who understand the learning organization concept and develop a forward orientation. They are prepared to ride the technology wave to new heights and accomplishments by using technology as a defining element in business operations. This chapter suggests a new approach to this new breed of entrepreneurs. In this chapter, we are trying to give supply chain management a customer orientation and to study its results. We highlight the synergistic advantage of linking supply chain management with customer relationship management into a tightly knit network using technology. The main focus is on finding a solution to deal with Internet empowered customers and to learn how to apply technologies demanded in the new digital economy.
Introducing the Check-Off Password System (COPS)
Authors: Warkentin Merrill , Davis Kimberly , Bekkering Ernst
Published: May 2011

The objective of information system security management is information assurance: to maintain confidentiality (privacy), integrity, and availability of information resources for authorized organizational end users. User authentication is a foundation procedure in the overall pursuit of these objectives, and password procedures have historically been the primary method of user authentication. There is an inverse relationship between the level of security provided by a password procedure and ease of recall for users. The longer the password and the more variability in its characters, the higher the level of security provided by such a password (because they are more difficult to violate or “crack”). However, such passwords tend to be more difficult for end users to remember, particularly when the password does not spell a recognizable word (or includes non-alphanumeric characters such as punctuation marks or other symbols). Conversely, when end users select their own more easily remembered passwords, the passwords may also be easier to crack. This study presents a new approach to entering passwords, which combines a high level of security with easy recall for the end user. The Check-Off Password System (COPS) is more secure than self-selected passwords as well as high-protection, assigned-password procedures. The present study investigates trade-offs between using COPS and three traditional password procedures, and provides a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of COPS. The study offers evidence that COPS is a valid alternative to current user authentication systems. End users perceive all password procedures tested to have equal usefulness, but the perceived ease of use of COPS passwords equals that of an established high-security password, and the new interface does not negatively affect user performance compared with that high-security password. Further research will be conducted to investigate long-term benefits.
A Generic Adaptation Framework for Web-Based Hypermedia Systems
Authors: Paramythis Alexandros , Stephanidis Constantine
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a framework intended for facilitating the implementation of Web-based adaptive hypermedia systems. The framework is orthogonal to Web “serving” approaches, and poses only minimal requirements in that direction. As such, it can be easily integrated into existing, non-adaptive Web-publishing solutions. This chapter presents in detail several aspects of the framework, and provides an overview of its application in the European Commission-funded IST-1999-20656 PALIO project (“Personalised Access to Local Information and Services for Tourists”). Furthermore, it discusses some of the lessons learned from our work on the framework thus far, as well as what we consider the most likely directions of future work in the area.