bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Laïcité, islam politique et démocratie conservatrice en Turquie
Authors: Billion Didier
Published: April 2011

Le rapport à la laïcité en Turquie est souvent méconnu sinon caricaturé. C’est en particulier le cas de celui qu’entretiennent les kémalistes mais aussi le mouvement actuellement au pouvoir – le parti pour la Justice et le Développement (AKP) – dont la doctrine semble bien éloignée des différents avatars qui l’ont précédé dans la généalogie islamiste. Cet article permet de préciser ces positionnements. Il met également en exergue les termes actuels du débat sur le rapport entre sphères politique et religieuse ; même si ce débat retrouve une certaine acuité, celle-ci n’est pas pour autant annonciatrice d’une remise en question radicale d’un principe fondamental de la Turquie républicaine. Enfin, cet article permet de mieux appréhender la réalité doctrinale de l’AKP aujourd’hui, un exercice qui permet d’évaluer les contours de ses orientations stratégiques.
Iran - Liban : une relation stratégique ?
Authors: Hourcade Bernard
Published: April 2011

Si l’Iran considère le Proche-Orient comme une dimension très importante de sa politique extérieure, les contradictions au sein de la classe politique et de la société civile peuvent la relativiser au profit d’autres priorités liées à la sécurité du pays et plus largement à sa place dans le monde. En ce sens, le voyage au Liban de Mahmoud Ahmanidejad en octobre 2010 qui fut un incontestable succès populaire est peut-être un chant du cygne. En tout cas, l’issue des relations entre l’Iran et cette région se trouve dans la compétition désormais ouverte pour l’élection présidentielle iranienne de mai 2013.
Le Hezbollah libanais et la résistance islamique au Liban : des stratégies complémentaires
Authors: Daher Aurélie
Published: April 2011

Lorsque les troupes de Tel-Aviv envahissent le Liban pour la deuxième fois en juin 1982, la mobilisation d’une partie du monde militant chiite contre Israël se traduit par la création d’une nouvelle organisation militaire, la « Résistance islamique au Liban » (RIL). Quelques mois plus tard, celle-ci se dote d’un pendant civil chargé de défendre ses intérêts au sein de la société puis de la classe politique libanaises : le Hezbollah. Une répartition des rôles complémentaire est donc instaurée dès le début : la Résistance se charge de l’action extérieure, à travers le combat contre l’occupation israélienne, remplacé après la Libération de 2000 par une mission de défense du territoire contre les offensives en provenance du sud ; le Hezbollah, sur la scène intérieure, mobilise pour la RIL et désamorce les menaces qui proviendraient de la société – et surtout de l’équipe au pouvoir. Cet article étudie, période après période, comment ces stratégies jumelées font face aux impératifs des différents contextes, tout en restant perpétuellement ancrées dans la logique originelle qui définit les fonctions de chacune des deux formations.
Entretien avec Abed Al-Halim Fadlallah
Authors: Al-Halim Fadlallah Abed
Published: April 2011

Cet entretien a été réalisé au moment où le Hezbollah était associé à un gouvernement d’union nationale réunissant les deux pôles du 14-Mars (majorité) et du 8-Mars (opposition). Depuis, la situation a changé : la défection de Walid Joumblatt et de certains de ses partisans de la coalition du 14 Mars puis la démission des ministres du 8-Mars (Hezbollah et aounistes notamment) ont eu raison du gouvernement d’alors. Un nouveau Premier ministre sunnite, Najib Mikati, plus tourné vers le compromis politique avec le Hezbollah, a été nommé le 25 janvier 2011. Malgré cette nomination, le Liban est toujours dans l’attente d’un nouveau gouvernement. Cet entretien demeure d’actualité car il dessine les contours de la stratégie interne du Hezbollah dont la présence au pouvoir est peut-être appelée à se renforcer avec l’arrivée de Najib Mikati. En 1992, votre parti a officiellement intégré l’espace politique libanais en acceptant alors la participation aux élections législatives. Depuis 2009, il est entré dans le gouvernement d’union nationale tout étant membre de l’opposition du 8 mars. Dès lors que vous êtes devenu un parti en responsabilité gouvernementale, quelles sont les priorités que vous voulez faire prévaloir sur le plan économique et social ?
L'islamisme algérien, vingt ans après
Authors: Labat Séverine
Published: April 2011

Confluences a déjà publié cet article dans son numéro 68 (hiver 2009). Comme il reste toujours aussi pertinent, il nous a paru très utile de l’inclure dans ce dossier consacré aux stratégies islamistes. La problématique n’a donc pas changé. Vingt ans après l’irruption de l’islamisme et des islamistes dans l’espace public algérien, à la faveur de ce qui est désigné comme les « émeutes d’octobre 1988 », quelle lecture peut-on faire aujourd’hui de la séquence islamiste des années 1988-2008 ? Faut-il tenir que l’hypothèse d’une alternative islamiste au régime autoritaire en place depuis l’été 1962 est définitivement révolue ?
Les groupes islamistes se réclamant d'Al-Qaïda au Maghreb et au Nord de l'Afrique
Authors: Masson Michel
Published: April 2011

Les groupes islamistes se réclamant d’Al Qaïda au Maghreb et au Nord de l’Afrique constituent aujourd’hui le principal acteur d’un terrorisme dont le périmètre d’action s’est élargi de l’Algérie au Sahel comme l’a encore montré une actualité toute récente. L’objet de cet article est d’analyser : 1) la genèse de la création et les formes d’organisation d’un groupe, l’AQMI, désormais liée à Al Qaïda ; 2) les éléments de la politique d’éradication de ce terrorisme mise en place notamment par le gouvernement algérien.
Building mathematics cellular phone learning communities
Authors: Daher Wajeeh M.
Published: April 2011

Researchers emphasize the importance of maintaining learning communities and environments. This article describes the building and nourishment of a learning community, one comprised of middle school students who learned mathematics out-of-class using the cellular phone. The building of the learning community was led by three third year pre-service teachers majoring in mathematics and computers. The pre-service teachers selected thirty 8th grade students to learn mathematics with the cellular phone and be part of a learning community experimenting with this learning. To analyze the building and development stages of the cellular phone learning community, two models of community building stages were used; first the team development model developed by Tuckman (1965), second the life cycle model of a virtual learning community developed by Garber (2004). The research findings indicate that a learning community which is centered on a new technology has five 'life' phases of development: Pre-birth, birth, formation, performing, and maturity. Further, the research finding indicate that the norms that were encouraged by the preservice teachers who initiated the cellular phone learning community resulted in a community which developed, nourished and matured to be similar to a community of experienced applied mathematicians who use mathematical formulae to study everyday phenomena.
Software Maintenance and Organizational Health and Fitness
Authors: Chapin Ned
Published: April 2011

This chapter sets out a foundation for the management of software maintenance. The foundation highlights a fundamental for managing software maintenance effectively—recognition of the connection between managing change in organizations and the organizations’ health and fitness. The changes arising as a consequence of software maintenance nearly always impair or improve that health and fitness. The basis for that impact lies in how business rules contribute to the performance of systems, and in how systems contribute to the performance of organizations. An understanding and application of how changes from software maintenance on business rules and systems affect the performance of organizations provides a basis for management action. With that added confidence, managers can reduce impairing their organizations’ health and fitness and can increase positive action to improve their organizations’ health and fitness via software maintenance.
Environment for Managing Software Maintenance Projects
Authors: Ruiz Francisco , Garcia Felix , Piattini Mario , Polo Macario
Published: April 2011

A Software Engineering Environment (SEE) is quite useful in order to manage the complexity of SM projects, since it can provide the needed services. Of the different aspects to highlight in these environments, in this chapter we put our main attention on those that are more directly related to the goal of helping in the management of SM complexity: to approach the SMP from a wide perspective of business processes to integrate technological and management aspects; to define a Process-centered Software Engineering Environment (PSEE); and to use a multilevel conceptual architecture based on standards like MOF (Meta-Object Facility). The MANTIS proposal of integral environment for the management of SM projects is also presented, and the main components of this environment are commented: conceptual tools (multilevel architecture, ontologies, software processes models and metamodels); methodological tools (methodology, and interfaces with organizational and managerial processes) and technical tools (horizontal and vertical software tools, repository, and interaction with process enactment software tools).
Mobile Commerce
Authors: Siau Keng , Lim Ee-Peng , Shen Zixing
Published: April 2011

Advances in wireless technology increase the number of mobile device users and give pace to the rapid development of e-commerce using these devices. The new type of e-commerce, conducting transactions via mobile terminals, is called mobile commerce. Due to its inherent characteristics such as ubiquity, personalization, flexibility, and dissemination, mobile commerce promises business unprecedented market potential, great productivity, and high profitability. This paper presents an overview of mobile commerce development by examining the enabling technologies, the impact of mobile commerce on the business world, and the implications to mobile commerce providers. The paper also provides an agenda for future research in the area.
Mobile E-Commerce on Mobile Phones
Authors: van Thanh Do
Published: April 2011

This chapter considers mobile e-commerce on mobile phones and in particular GSM mobile phones. It is aiming at clarifying the differences between e-commerce and mobile e-commerce. The powerful aspects of this new e-commerce form born with mobility are explained carefully. The chapter starts with a presentation of the generic business-to-consumer e-commerce followed by two typical examples of e-commerce on the World Wide Web. The mobile e-commerce is then described thoroughly. The fundamental differences with e-commerce are explained, and an ideal mobile commerce system is presented. The limitations in current wireless communication systems are clarified. The Wireless Application Protocol together with its impacts and limitations for mobile e-commerce are also considered. Different types of mobile phones will then be studied, and their limitations regarding security are shown. A solution providing adequate authentication and micro-payment, called Mobile ePay, is then presented with examples of operation. A mobile e-commerce receipt system enabling instantaneous delivery is described thoroughly. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future works.
Predicate Based Caching for Large Scale Mobile Distributed On-line Applications
Authors: Vora Abhinav , Tari Zahir , Bertok Peter
Published: April 2011

Robust mobile middlewares are crucial for online applications as they provide solutions for the core issues of mobility, data interoperability, and security. This chapter describes our experience in designing such middlewares for one of the largest Australian transport companies (CMS Transport Systems). We focus on the design of a predicate-based caching technique for mobile object-based middlewares that optimises the performance of the mobile medium by better utilising the available bandwidth. Several caching techniques have been proposed to improve system and application performance. Such techniques, along with consistency control mechanisms, are used to reduce the communication load between clients and servers, which is particularly important in wireless networks. Caching techniques are generally classified as either ID-based or predicate-based. In this chapter we propose a predicate-based caching scheme, in which the predicates are used in combination with updates and are broadcast by servers in a set of appropriate messages called cache invalidation reports. Each report/message contains information about the data items that have been updated in the server during a given period. A function mapping the predicate into binary representation is defined for each attribute. Because not all updates are relevant to a cache, there is a matching algorithm for detecting relevancy between the cache predicate and the predicates in the cache invalidation reports. The predicate-based cache invalidation reports inform the client cache manager concisely about items that need to be refreshed and about those that need to be discarded, and ensure efficient bandwidth usage.
Modeling Static Aspects of Mobile Electronic Commerce Environments
Authors: Veijalainen Jari , Weske Mathias
Published: April 2011

Mobile phones and other small and powerful portable devices have revolutionized personal communication and affected the lifestyles of the people in the industrialized world. Following credible estimates, in a few years there will be one billion of such portable devices. An emerging trend is the electronic commerce performed using mobile terminals, often called mobile commerce. Mobile commerce environments are characterized by high complexity, including myriads of technical and organizational aspects. This property makes it difficult to distinguish the more fundamental issues, structures, and concepts in mobile commerce from the hype. To capture the fundamental aspects of mobile commerce environments, we have developed a model. It covers fundamental static aspects of the m-commerce environment and their relationships. We distinguish four spheres of concern: Regulatory Frameworks, Business Models, Enabling Technologies, and the Global Infrastructure. Rather than providing technical details of m-commerce environments, our aim is to model invariant properties that will evidently persist for years to come. Making use of the abstraction capabilities provided by the object-oriented approach, the model is represented by OO structure diagrams.
Managing the Interactions Between Handheld Devices, Mobile Applications, and Users
Authors: Agosti Maristella , Ferro Nicola
Published: April 2011

In this work we present the problem of managing the interactions between handheld devices, mobile applications and users that are the three main entities involved in providing information access in the mobile scenario. After introducing a general framework, which gives the reader a comprehensive view of the features of a handheld device and presents some techniques to overcome the constraints imposed by handheld devices during the interaction with users and mobile applications, we focus our attention on the problem of searching for information using a search engine through a handheld device. We present the motivations for studying this kind of search engines and a discussion on their features and design choices, explaining the relevant aspects that need to be addressed during the design and the development of these mobile applications.
Aligning IS Research and Practice
Authors: Belanger France , Watson-Manheim Mary Beth , Jordan Dianne H.
Published: April 2011

Recent advances in information technologies have led organizations to diversify their organizational structures. One of the most prominent trends in this diversification is to conduct work in distributed or virtual environments. Distributed work alternatives are numerous, but the common characteristic that defines these alternatives is the physical separation of employees from each other and/or their organization’s workplace. Several corporations have reported their efforts, successes and failures at implementing some form of distributed work. Practitioners face a number of issues when considering virtual work alternatives. However, research does not seem to successfully help in understanding and solving some of these key issues. This chapter attempts to develop a new and broader research agenda that takes into account emerging issues and concerns of practitioners, existing published work and interdisciplinary perspectives on the topic. In doing so, emerging trends in virtual work and supporting technologies are explored.
The Societal Impact of the World Wide Web-Key Challenges for the 21st Century
Authors: Burn Janice M. , Loch Karen D.
Published: April 2011

This paper addresses the impact of information technology (IT) and the World Wide Web (WWW) on the 21st century and the challenges which we will face as responsible members of a dynamically changing society. Reviewing the spread of potentially alienating technology, the paper highlights the implications for change with reference to the “haves” and the “have nots” — developing societies, economically disadvantaged groups, women and children. The authors argue that organisational, sociological and cultural factors may inhibit an effective transformation to a global Information Society. Particular consideration is given to policies, infrastructure, human resources and development responsibilities in developing societies.
The Value of Managerial Flexibility in Strategic IT Investment
Authors: Li Xiaotong , Johnson John D.
Published: April 2011

In this chapter, we discuss the real options theory and its applications in IT investment evaluation. We provide a framework within which the appropriateness of using real options theory in strategic IT investment evaluation is systematically justified. In our framework, IT investment opportunities are classified into four categories based on two criteria: the technology switching costs and the nature of competition. We point out that different real options models should be adopted for each category. The electronic brokerage’s investment decision in wireless technology is discussed as a real-world case within the framework. Our study also provides some insights about the relationship between technology standardization and IT investment decisions.
An Architecture for Active and Passive Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Galup Stuart D. , Dattero Ronald , Hicks Richard C.
Published: April 2011

Knowledge management systems (KMSs) offer an environment for organizations to manage their information assets (e.g., documents, databases, etc.). Existing KMSs passively employ knowledge by querying a database, showing a document, displaying a Web page, etc. KMSs can be extended to incorporate active components, such as expert systems and business rule systems. Currently, business rules reside in application code and database triggers. A KMS with an embedded expert system using business rules from the organization, combined with the connectivity of a server in a client/server architecture, provides an excellent environment for automating business activities at both local and enterprise levels. The segregation of business rules into the knowledge tier (KT) should lower the cost of development and maintenance, increase accuracy and ensure corporation-wide consistency. In addition, knowledge verification tools are now being developed that will allow the computerization of less structured tasks, enabling another round of increased efficiency through computerization.
Social Issues in Electronic Commerce
Authors: Papazafeiropoulou Anastasia , Pouloudi Athanasia
Published: April 2011

The revolutionary development of network technologies launched electronic commerce as a global phenomenon. Consequently, the policy issues that arise from its use create new responsibilities for policy makers worldwide. Apart from the technical (e.g., fast and reliable networks) and regulatory (e.g., legal frameworks and standardization) challenges that need to be tackled, there are a number of social concerns that also need consideration. It is important for policy makers to see Internet use and electronic commerce as a social as well as a technical phenomenon. In this chapter we examine how social concerns such as trust and digital democracy pertain to all levels of Internet and electronic commerce policy, posing dilemmas and influencing the construction of an effective and socially responsible strategy for electronic commerce.
Exploring the Influence of Rewards on Attitudes Towards Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Bock Gee Woo (Gilbert) , Kim Young-Gul
Published: April 2011

This study theoretically examines and empirically tests factors expected to affect an individual’s knowledge sharing attitudes, intention and behavior in an organizational context. The research model is constructed based on the economic exchange theory, the social exchange theory, the self-efficacy theory and the theory of reasoned action. Results from the field survey of 467 employees of four large and government-invested organizations show that ‘anticipated reciprocal relationships’ and ‘perceived personal contribution to the organization’ are the major determinants of the individual’s attitudes towards knowledge sharing. ‘Anticipated extrinsic rewards,’ believed by many as the most important motivating factor for knowledge sharing, are not significantly related to the attitudes towards knowledge sharing. As expected, positive attitudes towards knowledge sharing are found to lead to a positive intention to share knowledge and, finally, to actual knowledge sharing behaviors.
Chaos Theory as a Framework for Studying Information Systems
Authors: Dhillon Gurpreet S. , Ward John
Published: April 2011

This paper introduces Chaos Theory as a means of studying information systems. It argues that Chaos Theory, combined with new techniques for discovering patterns in complex quantitative and qualitative evidence, offers a potentially more substantive approach to understand the nature of information systems in a variety of contexts. The paper introduces Chaos Theory concepts by way of an illustrative research design.
Organizational Mission Statements
Authors: Pillay John , Hackney Ray
Published: April 2011

The mission statement embodies certain beliefs about the management culture of the organization, which can be examined and placed within underlying theoretical contexts. This chapter examines postmodernism in this respect, which, in addition to forming a critique of modernist approaches, posits alternative views about philosophy, organization and subsequently IS/IT management theory. The study applies an ethnographic case research methodology where data was collected from 16 interviewees employed within a multi-national financial services group. In this way, the organizational mission statement was used as a vehicle for analyzing the contribution of postmodern approaches to the management of the IS/IT function. The influential Ashridge Model was adopted to map the findings of the study which suggest three propositions for postmodernism in providing: (i) cultural context, (ii) a textual or ‘deconstructive’ analysis and (iii) an ethnographic empathy for further IS/IT research. Finally, it is argued that the modernist/postmodernist dialectic is ultimately a productive discussion, which can positively contribute towards research in terms of analytical techniques and interpretative strategies.
Beyond Models of National Culture in Information Systems Research
Authors: Myers Michael D. , Tan Felix B.
Published: April 2011

Many IS scholars argue that global organizations need to understand cultural differences if they are to successfully deploy information technology. We agree that an understanding of cultural differences is important, but suggest that the concept of “national culture” that has tended to dominate the IS research literature is too simplistic. In this article, we challenge information systems researchers to go beyond models of national culture. We propose that IS researchers should adopt a more dynamic view of culture – one that sees culture as contested, temporal and emergent.
Lines of Advance in Global Information Technology Management
Authors: del Aguila Ana R. , Bruque Sebastián , Padilla Antonio
Published: April 2011

During the last decades, numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed in the field of general management. Each theoretical framework has proved useful to explain specific questions about the structure, processes, or performance of the modern firm. In this study we try to propose some connections between general management literature and IT literature. Some of the most important management theories, such as the Transaction Costs Economics, the Agency Theory, the Resource-Based View, and the Knowledge- Based View can be useful to explain specific IT issues. The final goal of this chapter is to propose several lines of advance in global IT using different theories or frameworks as the basis for future research.
Beyond Relative Advantage
Authors: Turner Susan , Turner Phil
Published: April 2011

Researchers in Information Systems have produced a rich collection of meta-analyses and models of factors influencing the uptake of information technologies. In the domain of CSCW, however, these models have largely been neglected, and while there are many case studies, no systematic account of uptake has been produced. We use findings from Information Systems research to structure a meta-analysis of uptake issues as reported in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) case studies, supplemented by a detailed re-examination of one of our own case studies from this perspective. This shows that while there are some factors that seem to be largely specific to CSCW introductions, many of the case study results are very similar to standard IS findings. We conclude by suggesting how the two communities of researchers might build on each other’s work.
The Roles of Computer Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectancy in Influencing the Computer End-User's Organizational Commitment
Authors: Stone Robert W. , Henry John W.
Published: April 2011

The study uses data collected by a survey of computer-based medical information system end users in a large hospital in the southeastern United States. The theoretical model examined using this data links several antecedents to the end users’ organizational commitment, mediated by computer self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. These antecedents are past computer experience of the end user, computer staff support for the computer system, ease of system use, and the degree of system use (i.e., percentage of time the system is used by the end user). The empirical results indicate that past computer experience and the degree of system use positively influence the end user’s organizational commitment through both computer self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. These also show that computer staff support and ease of system use positively impact the end user’s organizational commitment through outcome expectancy. From these results, conclusions and implications for practicing managers are discussed.
Personal and Situational Factors as Predictors of End User Performance
Authors: Jawahar I. M.
Published: April 2011

End-user computing (EUC) has the potential to enhance productivity. However, for this potential to be realized, end users must learn EUC skills and perform at high levels. Because of the significance of end user performance to organizations, it is important to uncover factors that influence end user performance. However, prior research has relied almost exclusively on person factors to predict end user performance even though several models suggest that both person and situational factors influence behavior and performance. This limitation of previous research was overcome by examining the influence of both person and situational factors on end user performance. The three person factors and four situational factors investigated in this study, together, explained almost 40% of the variance in end user performance. Suggestions to enhance end user performance are offered, and directions for future research are discussed.
A Dynamic Model of End-User Computing
Authors: McBride Neil , Wood-Harper A. Trevor
Published: April 2011

Control is a major issue in end-user computing. The migration of responsibility, resources and authority from IT departments to user departments is frequently seen as a loss of power by the IT departments and an erosion of cost control by senior management. Reactions to this situation tend to focus on technology and formal control mechanisms. This chapter contrasts such an IT-oriented view with a proposed, alternative user-oriented view. An IT-oriented view of EUC focuses on the problems it causes, the technology it requires, the methods that should be used and the means of limiting, controlling and standardizing. A user-oriented view of EUC focuses on the problems it solves, the user’s task and the organizational environment. The chapter advocates a shift in EUC research away from the technology and the IT issues towards the political, social and cultural issues associated with the users. EUC problems are, in the main, organizational problems requiring a research approach which addresses dynamic issues emerging over a period of time. As a basis for such research, the chapter proposes a dynamic model for EUC in which the progression of EUC within an organization is visualized as a series of inference loops.
A Comparison of End User and Expert Systems Quality Assessments
Authors: McGill Tanya J.
Published: April 2011

Organizations rely heavily on applications developed by end users, yet lack of experience and training may compromise the ability of end users to make objective judgments about the quality of their applications. The study reported on in this chapter investigated the ability of end users to assess the quality of applications they develop. The results confirm that there are differences between the system quality assessments of end user developers and independent expert assessors. In particular, the results of this study suggest that end users with little experience may erroneously consider the applications they develop to be of high quality. Some implications of these results are discussed.
A Matter of Perspective
Authors: Karsten Rex
Published: April 2011

The working relationship of information systems (IS) professionals and end users is an ongoing source of both research and practical concern. This study employs Attribution Theory to examine the causal attributions IS professionals and end users make for successful and unsuccessful user-system outcomes—end user attempts to use an information system to get the information needed to complete system-dependent, work-related tasks. Eighty-six IS professionals and 122 end users participated. The results show no differences in the nature of IS professional-end user attributions for successful outcomes, but very significant differences between them following unsuccessful outcomes. Post hoc analysis indicates that for unsuccessful user-system outcomes, the causal attributions of IS professionals and end users who are cross-functional team members are significantly less divergent than the causal attributions of those who are not. The implications of Attribution Theory for IS professional-end user interaction are discussed.
Knowledge Management through End User Developed Expert Systems
Authors: Wagner Christian
Published: April 2011

Knowledge is receiving recognition as a strategic force in organizations. Correspondingly, one form of knowledge capture and maintenance organizations are tempted to use is expert system design by end users. The chapter discusses difficulties associated with end-user development, both in terms of design quality and knowledge content. An analysis of 25 expert systems written by non-professional developers reveals significant quality and size limitations that indicate limited feasibility of end-user expert system development. Furthermore, the lack of design quality may not be easily compensated for by a “knowledge advantage” of the end users, as end users may have a performance advantage in using their knowledge, but not in “knowing” it. The chapter then offers suggestions for alternate forms of end-user oriented expert system development that considers end-user limitations and takes advantage of recent developments in information technology.
A Framework for Cognitive Skill Acquisition and Spreadsheet Training
Authors: Kruck S. E. , Maher John J. , Barkhi Reza
Published: April 2011

It is well documented that electronic spreadsheet models utilized in many professions to enhance decision-making frequently contain errors that have negative effects on the ultimate quality of decisions. Limited research has been published that systematically identifies potential reasons for the causes of these errors, and what procedures can be taken to minimize or eliminate them. Our research provides initial evidence concerning this problem area by investigating how several important cognitive skills are affected by formalized spreadsheet training. Results indicate that one cognitive skill, logical reasoning, significantly increases after a six-week training period. Importantly, the greater the increase in logical reasoning skill, the more effectively the subject performed developing competent spreadsheet models. These findings provide a meaningful step in more perceptibly understanding and defining important cognitive changes that occur in individuals as they undergo formalized spreadsheet development training. Further extensions of this research should more clearly refine our understanding of the cognitive changes that occur in spreadsheet developers and eventually cultivate the development of more efficient and effective training methods for spreadsheet model designers.
Attitude and Management Style Matter in IT Implementation
Authors: Winston Elaine R. , Dologite Dorothy G.
Published: April 2011

According to previous studies, a positive attitude towards information technology (IT) among small business owners appears to be a key factor in achieving high quality IT implementations. In an effort to extend this stream of research, case studies were conducted with small business owners. A surprising finding of this study was that high quality IT implementations resulted with owners who had either a positive or a negative attitude towards IT. Another finding was that these owners also all had an entrepreneurial, or shared, management style. By contrast, owners who had an uncertain attitude about IT uniformly practiced a traditional (non-entrepreneurial) management style. This group also uniformly had low quality IT implementations. It is proposed, based on case study data, that small business owners with an uncertain attitude towards IT might experience higher quality IT results in their organizations through practicing a more entrepreneurial, or shared, management style. The study provides insights for both computer specialists and small business owners planning IT implementations.
A Three-Tier Technology Training Strategy in a Dynamic Business Environment
Authors: Huang Albert H.
Published: April 2011

As end-user training becomes increasingly important in today’s technology-intensive business environment, progressive companies remain alert to find ways to provide their end users with timely training and resources. This paper describes an innovative training strategy adopted by one midsize organization to provide its end users with adequate, flexible, and responsive training. The paper then compares the three-tier strategy with other models described in technology training literature. Managers who supervise technology end users in organizations comparable to the one in the study may find the three-tier strategy workable and may want to use it in their own training programs to facilitate training and improve end-user skills. Researchers and scholars may find that the idea of three-tier training generates new opportunities for research.
Information Technology and the Internationalization of the Firm
Authors: Mol Michael J. , Koppius Otto R.
Published: April 2011

A key concern for all multinationals is where to find a suitable location for their business activities, bearing in mind that they must find the right balance between global integration and local responsiveness. This article contributes to the internationalization debate by asking: in what sense will information technology enable globalization? We focus on the sourcing process, an area where globalization is often claimed to be the case. Re-examination of empirical evidence shows that global sourcing is not as generally predominant as is claimed. Consequently inhibitors to global integration exist and we classify these inhibitors into three categories: geographical, relational and environmental inhibitors. We then analyze the role information technology plays in reducing these inhibitors and formulate propositions that are then illustrated in two case studies. Information technology is proposed to reduce the geographical and relational inhibitors, but it will have no effect on environmental inhibitors. However, the latter category of inhibitors will become more prominent in the future. Information technology thus shifts the balance towards global integration, but simultaneously creates new problems in managing internationalization.
Software and Culture
Authors: Kersten Gregory E. , Kersten Mik A. , Rakowski Wojciech M.
Published: April 2011

Software applications are designed around user interaction. One interaction component is the user interface; the other deeper components represent the applications’ logic and core functionality. Internationalization architectures recognize the need for localizing user interfaces to particular cultures. We continue the discussion on culture and software focusing on the software core rather than the user interface. This core corresponds to deep culture as opposed to the surface cultural manifestations embedded in the user interface. We argue here that deep culture can be embedded into application software in a modular way.
Culture, Information Technology Choice and Empowerment
Authors: Downing Charles E. , Gallaugher John , Segars Albert H.
Published: April 2011

Empowerment is an important and desirable state for employees within business enterprises around the world. Yet, the pursuit of empowerment across national boundaries may vary due to innate differences within cultures. This may be particularly true with respect to choice of technologies for achieving empowerment. Using an interpretive field study of Fellows within the Japanese MITI and US Dept. of Commerce Manufacturing Technology Fellowship (MTF) Program, this study suggests that the achievement of empowerment through choice of information technology is matched to cultural context. Specifically, employees of Japanese companies prefer, need, and use media-rich information technologies in their efforts to achieve empowerment. In contrast, employees of American companies prefer, need, and use collaborative information technologies in their pursuit of empowerment. These findings suggest that information technology is used synergistically with cultural attributes in the enhancement of employee empowerment.
An Exploratory Study and Design of Cross-Cultural Impact of Information Systems Managers' Performance, Job Satisfaction and Managerial Value
Authors: Choi Hae-Yeon , Choi Haiwook
Published: April 2011

This research is an exploratory study and design to find cross-cultural impact on information systems (IS) managers’ performance, job satisfaction and managerial value, particularly on American IS and Korean IS expatriate managers in the U.S. in the banking industry. Through the literature review, first, this study attempts to find frequently used variables to measure the magnitude of the cross-cultural impact on the two national IS managers. Second, a literature-derived research instrument was developed and pretested for content validity. Third, to examine the goals and objectives of the study, 14 hypotheses were developed through the literature research. And then the hypotheses were matched to the specific items in the research instrument in order to test them. Fourth, this chapter presents a research design, which used the cultural variables to separate the influences of the cross-cultural impact on the IS managers from the other variables, followed by the research methodology in which the questionnaire’s reliability and validity were tested using Pearson’s correlation analysis, Cronbach’s a test and factor analysis. Fifth, based on the data analysis, the test results of the hypotheses were examined, and compared with the existing literature. Finally, the research conclusion is presented.
Evolutionary Stages of e-Tailers and Retailers
Authors: Lee Jae K. , Kang Heegoo , Lee Hoe K. , Lee Han S.
Published: April 2011

We have studied the evolutionary stages of pure e-tailers, click & mortar (C&M) and brick & mortar (B&M) retailers for three points of time: June 1999, June 2000, and June 2001. To evaluate the dynamic stages of e-tailing business as an innovative venture, we propose four stages: exploration, breakeven, growth, and maturity. The stages are measured by the impact of revenue and income on the firm value, and a regression model is adopted to formulate the model. To empirically examine the stages of e-tailers and retailers, we have collected 14 e-tailers, 112 C&M, and 75 B&M from the U.S. stock markets. According to this study, the proposed stage model explains the evolution of pure e-tailers very meaningfully. E-tailers were in the late exploration stage in 1999, breakeven stage in 2000, and growth stage in 2001. Unlike our hypothetical expectation, the stage model could not adequately explain the effect of online business to C&M. In this regard, the impact of online channel to traditional retailers was not revolutionary. In 1999 and 2000, the primary contributing factor to firm value of C&M was income, but in 2001, it was revenue. According to this result, investors were very conservative to the risky investment on the click business of traditional retailers. However, it turned out that C&M has performed better than B&M in terms of revenue, income, income/revenue, stock price, and market capitalization. It is noteworthy that the revenue effect of C&M in 2001 was significantly higher than that of B&M.
How Can We Enhance Member Participation in Virtual Communities?
Authors: Yoo Won-Seok , Suh Kil-Soo , Lee Moon-Bong
Published: April 2011

The purpose of this study is to find the factors that enhance member participation in virtual communities. Although there are many factors influencing member participation, this study limits its independent variables to those of managing strategy and information system quality. In addition to finding their direct impacts, this study identifies indirect effects through two mediating variables such as member visit and sense of community. The results of this study revealed that there was no significant direct path from managing strategy to participation. However, the path from sense of community to participation was strongly supported by the results. This then implies that a manager of a community has to emphasize the sense of community, membership in particular, in order to enhance participation. In addition, the results showed that sense of community could be enhanced by an appropriate managing strategy, while the number of visits could be increased by the information system’s quality.
The Role of Inter-Organizational Trust in B2B E-Commerce
Authors: Ratnasingam Pauline
Published: April 2011

This chapter seeks to understand inter-organizational-trust as an antecedent factor in the adoption of and participation in e-commerce. Exploratory research from different theoretical perspectives including the inter-organizational relationship theory, transaction cost economics theory, resource dependency theory, and a literature review on trust in business relationships, and trust and security based mechanisms paved the way to the development of a conceptual model. The model was tested via four case studies consisting of a large public sector organization and three Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) involved in customs clearance. SME included an Internet service provider, a customs broker (agent) and an importer. Data was collected via in-depth interviews, discussions with key personnel, and from existing documents. The findings suggest that there are two forms of trust; trust in the technology and trust in the trading partner. Further, the findings strongly indicate that inter-organizational-trust is important for e-commerce participation, as organizations need to cooperate, collaborate and communicate timely and relevant information in order to facilitate e-commerce. This entails not only technological proficiencies, but also trust between trading parties, so that business transactions are sent and received in an orderly fashion.
Perceptions and Attitudes About eCommerce Development in China
Authors: Stylianou Antonis C.
Published: April 2011

It is widely recognized that eCommerce represents a critical resource for most business organizations. With over 1.25 billion people and double-digit economic growth, China could potentially emerge as the largest Internet and telecommunications market in the world if certain economic, environmental, and organizational barriers are effectively addressed. This chapter develops a descriptive profile of Chinese business managers with respect to their awareness of the technological infrastructure as well as their perceptions and attitudes regarding eCommerce. Management’s viewpoint on a variety of environmental, organizational, and personal factors provides insight into the future of eCommerce in China within the framework of organizational commitment to eCommerce driven innovation. Findings indicate that firms interested in engaging in eCommerce in China will find a knowledgeable and supportive business climate; however, eCommerce initiatives may be hindered by constraints imposed by the current infrastructure.
Agile Development Methods and Component-Orientation
Authors: Stojanovic Zoran , Dahanayake Ajantha , Sol Henk
Published: April 2011

Agile software development methods have been proposed as the way to address the problem of delivering high-quality software on time under constantly and rapidly changing requirements in business and IT environments. An agile development process is characterized by extensive coding practice, intensive communication between stakeholders, fast iterative cycles, small and flexible teams, and minimal efforts in system modeling and architectural design. This paper presents the state-of-the-art of agile methods and analyzes them along the selected criteria that highlight different aspects of their theory and practice. Certain limitations of agile methods are identified. The chapter presents the component paradigm as a way of balancing traditional (model-driven or plan-driven) and agile development, depending on the project settings. Service-based component concepts applied at the level of modeling, architectural design and development can ensure and strengthen agile development principles and practices, and at the same time introduce necessary agility to more traditional development. By using components, the software development process can easily scale in size, robustness, and the level of details. This provides an effective balance between the requirements for agility in software development and needs for a disciplined, design-driven way of building complex software.