bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Classifying Web Usage Behavior in the Workplace
Authors: Anandarajan Murugan
Published: May 2011

The ubiquitous nature of the World Wide Web (commonly known as the Web) is dramatically revolutionizing the manner in which organizations and individuals alike acquire and distribute information. Recent reports from the International Data Group indicate that the number of people on the Internet will reach 320 million by the year 2002 (Needle, 1999). Studies also indicate that in the United States alone, Web commerce will account for approximately $325 billion by the year 2002.
Managing E-business
Authors: Siau Keng , Meakim Shane
Published: May 2011

What would you do if I told you that I could read your mind? Given that I am not a psychic, but a Web site administrator, you would probably not believe me. There are organizations that maintain databases of almost every consumer in the United States and even the world. One organization claims to have a database that encompasses 90% of all US consumers. Once an organization was given the name of a man and was told he lived in the US. In less than 48 hours they found where he worked, where he lived, who he was married to, how many times he was married, the contents of his financial portfolio, what credit cards he had, and what he bought at grocery stores. Amazingly, this information was obtained legally from various Web sites. The fact that you use a computer at home does not ensure your anonymity. You are being tracked in more ways than you could possibly think. As you surf the Net, facts are compiled about you. These pieces of information can range from the places or sites you visit and how long you stayed there to where you come from. These issues concerning trust, security, and privacy in cyberspace must be addressed in the near future and are critical to the growth of electronic business (Siau & Whitacre, 2001; Keen et al., 2000; Turban et al., 2000; Fingar et al., 2000; Kaufman et al., 1995; Ford & Baum, 1997).
The Significance of Law and Knowledge for Electronic Government
Authors: Lenk Klaus , Traunmuller Roland , Wimmer Maria
Published: May 2011

Governments at all levels--national, regional and local--are faced with growing demands to organize their work more efficiently and effectively. Moreover, a fundamental reassessment of their agendas has started world wide, which in many cases reduces the role which governments play in serving their societies. Government is considered as a cost factor in the first place, and it has to explicitly legitimize both its standing agenda and the take-up of new tasks. At the same time, it is recognized that public governance structures continue to be necessary to tackle many problems of an ever-changing world. Since newly emerging tasks will demand more and more attention, the existing governmental units are urged to accomplish their core business with only a part of the costs incurred at present.
e-Government Trust Providers
Authors: Galindo Fernando
Published: May 2011

If trust is a key value in e-commerce, it is much more so e-Government. This is because confidence is essential to the automated, blind relations with government permitted by the new technologies The function of trust providers is thus to create confidence. This chapter outlines the activities of a number of trust providers with reference to the regulation of the Internet, and the laws and institutions which engender trust in the democratic state.
Strategic Knowledge Management in Local Government
Authors: Anttiroiko Ari-Veikko
Published: May 2011

The success of public organizations depends increasingly on how efficiently they utilize internal and external knowledge resources in adjusting to contextual changes. This requires a special emphasis on strategic knowledge management. Referring to the theoretical and empirical works of Nonaka, Blackler, Daft and Lengel, this contribution considers how organizational design can be used to facilitate the processes in which knowledge is gathered, created, processed, used and demolished in order to build an enriched knowledge base to deal with adjustment and development issues of strategic importance. This theme is discussed with special reference to local government. The main conclusion is that uncertainty and ambiguity increased in the last decades of the 20th century, and that local governments need new management tools to respond to this change. The challenge of knowledge management in local government is to manage knowledge processes concerning ICT-based information provision, interaction and transactions. They are needed to form an enriched knowledge-intensive orientation base that serves the strategic adjustment and trend-making processes in the context of information society development.
The Challenge of Teaching Effectively from a Distance
Authors: Polichar Valerie E. , Bagwell Christine
Published: May 2011

Distance learning has the potential to be as powerful at successful instruction as conventional classroom learning. To take advantage of this potential, planners and educators should apply known principles of perception and learning gleaned from cognitive, behavioral, educational, and perceptual psychological research. These principles include those of elaborative encoding, interactive learning, reinforcement and the spacing effect. These principles and their relationship to human learning are presented. Applications of these principles in conventional distance learning packages are discussed, including Web page development, course-in-a-box software, chat rooms, MUD/MOO environments, bulletin boards and real-time online lectures. Suggestions are provided to guide the course designer in developing effective instructional tools.
Distance Education Quality
Authors: Cavanaugh Cathy
Published: May 2011

The current growth in distance education is a result of a convergence of factors. The delivery technology has become more affordable, available, familiar and interactive. With improvements in the technology, distance courses are now more realistic, engaging, inexpensive, and varied. The audience of learners is more experienced and capable with the technology, due to the increased availability of distance education, and they welcome distance learning into their busy lives. Technology-mediated distance education research has matured enough to produce an extensive body of evidence that distance education can be at least as effective as classroom instruction. The exciting convergence that brought about the growth in distance education also presented distance learners with a challenge: how to choose the best distance learning opportunities from the vast catalog of options. Distance learners can easily compare the costs, technical needs, cognitive requirements, and time demands of distance learning courses. Learners are less well equipped to distinguish high quality courses from the offerings. Distance education programs have the responsibility of communicating to students the quality assurance measures they employ, whether the measures consist of in-house practices or accreditation by outside bodies.
Teaching Enterprise Systems in a Distance Education Mode
Authors: Rosemann Michael
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the needs and opportunities for teaching comprehensive business applications, Enterprise Systems, in the form of academic distance education courses. Specific factors of the educational market in Enterprise Systems such as high demand, limited resources or the increased importance of Application Hosting Centers will be described. An appropriate learning model will be selected that stresses the role of the lecturer as a moderator. The subject, Process Engineering at Queensland University of Technology, is taken as an example in order to discuss different forms of distance and also collaborative education in Enterprise Systems. The summary includes recommendations and sketches possible future directions.
A Model for Culturally Informed Web Interfaces
Authors: Corbitt Brian , Thanasankit Theerasak
Published: May 2011

This chapter will challenge the accepted notions of cultural vanilla applications for e-Commerce and e-Business on the Web. The approach taken suggests that national culture exists at all levels from the visual to the implicit behaviors that frame interpretation of business process when undertaking e-Commerce. Studies done show quite clearly that culture distorts the relationships in any trading and business situation in ways that are not always obvious. We will explore the in-depth nature of the trading relationships and demonstrate the impact of cultural practice on the trading interface both on the Web and in the negotiations for business.
Internet Interface Design
Authors: Haynes John D. , Mahfouz Ahmed
Published: May 2011

Electronic commerce (e-Commerce) has exploded on the Internet over the past few years and is expected to continue growing at an exponential rate (Kannan, Chang and Whinston, 1998; Fellenstein and Wood, 2000). According to the GVU’s 8th WWW User Surveys (1997), the most important issues facing online users are privacy (31%), censorship (24%) and navigation (17%). Since user interface design directly impacts navigation and affects the user’s interaction with a Web site, this chapter will explore a number of different factors that affect user interface design on the World Wide Web. In all there are six factors that we explore in this chapter. They are the user’s mental model as newly defined and focused upon perception and conception (Haynes and Mahfouz, 2001), the level of expertise of the user, the user’s learning style, the richness of the media used, the organizational image and message, and the user’s intentions. All these factors involve internal (to the Web page design) and external (to the user’s environment) implications that impact user interface design on the Internet. Since all factors are external with the exception of the richness of the media used and, to some extent, the organizational image and message, it follows that we have chosen to emphasize in this chapter the external factors, namely those factors that directly relate to the user.
Electronic Business Strategic Orientation
Authors: Deakins Eric
Published: May 2011

This chapter addresses the current lack of empirical research into the organizational impacts of electronic business (e-Business). Any organization that delivers, or intends to deliver, Internet products or services can only be successful if its realized business process goals are operationally aligned with a set of (credible) top-level strategy goals. By introducing the concept of Aware and Enlightened organizations, this chapter posits that alignment of the organization’s (e-Business) information systems, quality, and learning strategies with the top-level e-Business strategy is a catalyst for superior e-Business outcomes. It recognizes that most organizations still attempt to achieve a fit between a financially focused business strategy and an organization structure that matches the environment and helps to meet expected performance. Hence, some traditional approaches for achieving sound strategy-process linkages are reviewed and a strategy alignment model is proposed that is judged capable of delivering superior firm performance to Internet-enabled organizations. A set of (pre-tested) instruments is then described that can be used to assess changes in alignment between the firm’s top-level e-Business strategy and its information systems, quality, and learning strategies that occur as a result of the e-Business initiative. Because it is important that the goals of the project team are also properly aligned with the top-level e-Business strategy, a project-level alignment model is also described that assesses the degree of alignment between the project deliverables and the firm’s e-Business strategy. This chapter has relevance for practitioners and academics who wish to understand how e-Business initiatives impact the alignment of key business processes with strategic business objectives.
Virtual Absenteeism
Authors: Friedman William H.
Published: May 2011

This chapter will discuss problems arising from employee use of the Internet for personal pursuits during paid working hours. Since there are both financial and non-financial consequences of such behavior (Friedman, 2000), it is worthwhile to evaluate existing attempts to deal with this problem and suggest some new ones. Nevertheless, virtual absenteeism is not a totally negative phenomenon; hence, one needs to give a fair hearing to the claims of the employees engaged in this activity. It is not necessarily an economic loss to the employer when employees take care of private matters or even play on the Internet, if it is within reason and results in a refreshed approach to the job at hand. Still, if the employee is excessively occupied with non-business Internet activity, there is no doubt a corresponding decrease in the amount of conscious attention given to the processing of organizational concerns. Moreover, ethical issues emerge concerning the misuse of time, avoidance of responsibility and violation of employee-employer contracts, implicit or explicit. Since the employer is defraying the cost of both the hardware and software involved, Internet misuse results in expenses far exceeding losses from such minor trespasses as personal telephone calls and company stationery misappropriated for personal reasons. Further, diversionary materials such as magazines and games brought to the workplace by employees which were paid out of their own pockets, while clearly resulting in lost time for the employer, at least did not require highly sophisticated and expensive technology to support the diversions. Finally, it is necessary to show that the sheer scale of modern slacking requires very special measures that consider not only financial, but legal, social, moral and psychological ramifications as well.
A Survey of Distributed Information Management Approaches for Virtual Enterprise Infrastructures
Authors: Garita Cesar , Afsarmanesh Hamideh , Hertzberger L. O.
Published: May 2011

The support of real collaborative virtual enterprise (VE) scenarios sets forward particularly interesting challenges in terms of distributed information management, regarding the proper sharing and exchange of information among preexisting autonomous enterprises. In order to address these challenges, it is necessary to achieve a comprehensive analysis of advanced information management approaches that can be applied in VE platforms. In this context, this chapter provides a representative survey of several VE-related information management standards, technologies, and existing approaches that can be applied to support future VE infrastructures.
Global Manufacturing Virtual Network (GMVN)
Authors: Shi Yongjiang , Gregory Mike
Published: May 2011

This paper seeks to understand the relationship between virtual organizations (VOs) and international strategic alliances (ISAs) in the manufacturing industry. Aiming to develop frameworks demonstrating the position and role of the global manufacturing virtual network (GMVN) in the spectrum between VO and ISA, the paper suggests that GMVNs represent a new form of manufacturing system based on Internet interfirm collaborations.
Artificial Immune Systems
Authors: Timmis Jonathan , Knight Thomas
Published: May 2011

The immune system is highly distributed, highly adaptive, self-organising in nature, maintains a memory of past encounters and has the ability to continually learn about new encounters. From a computational viewpoint, the immune system has much to offer by way of inspiration. Recently there has been growing interest in the use of the natural immune system as inspiration for the creation of novel approaches to computational problems; this field of research is referred to as Immunological Computation (IC) or Artificial Immune Systems (AIS). This chapter describes the physiology of the immune system and provides a general introduction to Artificial Immune Systems. Significant applications that are relevant to data mining, in particular in the areas of machine learning and data analysis, are discussed in detail. Attention is paid both to the salient characteristics of the application and the details of the algorithms. This chapter concludes with an evaluation of the current and future contributions of Artificial Immune Systems in data mining.
Heuristic Search-Based Stacking of Classifiers
Authors: Ledezma Agapito , Aler Ricardo , Borrajo Daniel
Published: May 2011

Currently, the combination of several classifiers is one of the most active fields within inductive learning. Examples of such techniques are boosting, bagging and stacking. From these three techniques, stacking is perhaps the least used one. One of the main reasons for this relates to the difficulty to define and parameterize its components: selecting which combination of base classifiers to use and which classifiers to use as the meta-classifier. The approach we present in this chapter poses this problem as an optimization task and then uses optimization techniques based on heuristic search to solve it. In particular, we apply genetic algorithms to automatically obtain the ideal combination of learning methods for the stacking system.
Bayesian Learning
Authors: Macrossan Paula , Mengersen Kerrie
Published: May 2011

Learning from the Bayesian perspective can be described simply as the modification of opinion based on experience. This is in contrast to the Classical or “frequentist” approach that begins with no prior opinion, and inferences are based strictly on information obtained from a random sample selected from the population. An Internet search will quickly provide evidence of the growing popularity of Bayesian methods for data mining in a plethora of subject areas, from agriculture to genetics, engineering, and finance, to name a few. However, despite acknowledged advantages of the Bayesian approach, it is not yet routinely used as a tool for knowledge development. This is, in part, due to a lack of awareness of the language, mechanisms and interpretation inherent in Bayesian modeling, particularly for those trained under a foreign paradigm. The aim of this chapter is to provide a gentle introduction to the topic from the KDD perspective. The concepts involved in Bayes’ Theorem are introduced and reinforced through the application of the Bayesian framework to three traditional statistical and/or machine learning examples: a simple probability experiment involving coin tossing, Bayesian linear regression and Bayesian neural network learning. Some of the problems associated with the practical aspects of the implementation of Bayesian learning are then detailed, and various software freely available on the Internet is introduced. The advantages of the Bayesian approach to learning and inference, its impact on diverse scientific fields and its present applications are identified.
Cluster Analysis of Marketing Data Examining On-line Shopping Orientation
Authors: Voges Kevin E. , Pope Nigel K.L. , Brown Mark R.
Published: May 2011

Cluster analysis is a common market segmentation technique, usually using k-means clustering. Techniques based on developments in computational intelligence are increasingly being used. One such technique is the theory of rough sets. However, previous applications have used rough sets techniques in classification problems, where prior group membership is known. This chapter introduces rough clustering, a technique based on a simple extension of rough sets theory to cluster analysis, and applicable where group membership is unknown. Rough clustering solutions allow multiple cluster membership of objects. The technique is demonstrated through the analysis of a data set containing scores on psychographic variables, obtained from a survey of shopping orientation and Web purchase intentions. The analysis compares k-means and rough clustering approaches. It is suggested that rough clustering can be considered to be extracting concepts from the data. These concepts can be valuable to marketers attempting to identify different segments of consumers.
Heuristic Knowledge Discovery for Archaeological Data Using Genetic Algorithms and Rough Sets
Authors: Lazar Alina
Published: May 2011

The goal of this research is to investigate and develop heuristic tools in order to extract meaningful knowledge from archeological large-scale data sets. Database queries help us to answer only simple questions. Intelligent search tools integrate heuristics with knowledge discovery tools and they use data to build models of the real world. We would like to investigate these tools and combine them within the genetic algorithm framework. Some methods, taken from the area of soft computing techniques, use rough sets for data reduction and the synthesis of decision algorithms. However, because the problems are NP-hard, using a heuristic approach by combining Boolean reasoning with genetic algorithms seems to be one of the best approaches in terms of efficiency and flexibility. We will test our tools on several large-scale archeological data sets generated from an intensive archaeological survey of the Valley of Oaxaca in Highland Mesoamerica.
Applying Instructional Design Principles and Adult Learning Theory in the Development of Training for Business and Industry
Authors: Armstrong Anne-Marie
Published: May 2011

Learning and instruction exist beyond secondary and post-secondary education. In business and industry, corporate universities and learning institutes are replacing the traditional human resource-based training departments. Learning communities such as Motorola University or SAS Institute Boot Camp are being studied and replicated throughout the world as the importance of knowledge as a resource and knowledge management as a strategic goal become indicators of a system’s economic health (Newman & Smith, 1999). e-Learning, CBT, and WBT can also replace costly training systems and provide a wider dissemination of consistent and up-to-date knowledge and skills throughout an organization without huge impacts on the bottom line (Hyland, 2000).
A Blended Technologies Learning Community - From Theory to Practice
Authors: Bridges Barbara Rogers , Baily Mary C. , Hiatt Michael , Timmerman Deborah , Gibson Sally
Published: May 2011

This chapter of the section will share the journey of a higher education faculty development team as they meet the challenge to modify a state accredited teacher licensure program to be delivered in a technology-enhanced learning environment. The Bemidji/Metro Urban Teacher Education Collaborative faculty for physical education, art, music, educational psychology and Foundations of American Education recently began to develop hybrid (blended technologies and face-to-face) courses which will meet the new K-8 Minnesota state licensure competencies. In this chapter of the section, we will also suggest a model for future blended technologies program development.
Video Database Techniques and Video-on-Demand
Authors: Ding Jen-Wen , Huang Yueh-Min , Zeng Sheng-Yuan , Chu Chang-Chung
Published: May 2011

Generally, a large-scale video server is composed of numerous disk striping groups. The striping policies employed by each disk striping group largely determine the performance of a video server. For storage and transmission efficiency, video data are usually compressed using variable-bit-rate (VBR) encoding algorithms, such as JPEG and MPEG. The amount of data consumed by a VBR video stream varies with time. This property, when coupled with striping, unfortunately, results in load imbalance across disks, degrading the overall server performance significantly. This chapter focuses on VBR video striping. It presents two state-of-the-art VBR striping schemes proposed in the literature: one is designed for homogeneous disks and the other is designed for heterogeneous disks. To gain insights into VBR striping, this chapter also develops performance models for the two striping policies. With these performance models, system designers can predict the maximum service capacity of a server, perform online admission control for clients, and optimize the performance of a server, without performing exhaustive tests on a real-system.
Hiding Images Using Dynamic Bit-Replacement and Human Visual System
Authors: Chang Chin-Chen , Hwang Kuo-Feng
Published: May 2011

A simple image hiding scheme in spatial domain is proposed in this chapter. The main idea is to utilize a threshold mechanism to embed as much information of the secret image into the cover image as possible. The changing of the cover image is hard to be discovered by the human eyes because the threshold mechanism is setup especially to fit the human visual system. The experimental results show that the human visual system has improved the quality in terms of perceptibility. On the hiding capacity issue, the proposed method has capability to embed two times the size of the secret image of previous work. A partial encryption strategy is used for the security of the secret image. In addition, a two-dimensional permutation function, torus automorphism, is also introduced in this chapter.
A Simple Prediction Method for Progressive Image Transmission
Authors: Chang Chin-Chen , Xiao Guang-Xue , Chen Tung-Shou
Published: May 2011

BPM is a simple and intuitive method to implement the progressive image transmission. However, its reconstructed image quality at each of the beginning stages is not good. In this paper, we propose a simple prediction method to improve the quality of the reconstructed image for BPM at each of the beginning stages. By partitioning the input image into smaller blocks, our method transmits an important part of the pixel information of each block to the receiver in each stage. To reconstruct the whole image, the receiver recovers the missing pixel information in each block by linear prediction based on the transmitted pixel information. The experiment results show that our method can significantly improve the reconstructed image quality at each of the beginning stages compared to the BPM and IBPM proposed previously.
Combining Supervised and Unsupervised Neural Networks for Improved Cash Flow Forecasting
Authors: Smith Kate A. , Lokmic Larisa
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the use of neural networks as both a technique for pre-processing data and forecasting cash flow in the daily operations of a financial services company. The problem is to forecast the date when issued cheques will be presented by customers, so that the daily cash flow requirements can be forecast. These forecasts can then be used to ensure that appropriate levels of funds are kept in the company’s bank account to avoid overdraft charges or unnecessary use of investment funds. The company currently employs an ad-hoc manual method for determining cash flow forecasts and is keen to improve the accuracy of the forecasts. Unsupervised neural networks are used to cluster the cheques into more homogeneous groups prior to supervised neural networks being applied to arrive at a forecast for the date each cheque will be presented. Accuracy results are compared to the existing method of the company, together with regression and a heuristic method.
The Changing Face of Leadership
Authors: Einstein Walter O. , Humphreys John H.
Published: May 2011

In this Chapter’s beginning, we introduce the degree to which emerging information technologies have changed both the organizational context and the traditional leader-follower power relationship, and the significant challenges that have arisen from this evolution. In addition, we examine the emergence of leadership substitutes, such as teams, that are common to many information technology work groups and discuss the kind of leader influence that appears to be warranted. Most importantly, however, we present a leader behavior model tied closely to the situational leadership paradigm. In this model, we seek to show that unique actions and behaviors are associated with four specific leadership styles. Further, the model shows leaders’ behavioral differences based upon whether they do or do not possess rational legal authority, commonly referred to as “position power.” Most leadership discussions are limited to the descriptive nature of leadership and fail to offer specific guidance in identifying which leadership style is situational appropriate. We seek to remedy that shortcoming and take the critical next step of identifying leader behaviors that are appropriate for enhancing followers’ effort toward successful goal-directed behavior.
A University/Community Partnership to Build a K-8 School Network Infrastructure
Authors: Ruppel David , Ruppel Cynthia
Published: May 2011

This chapter chronologically follows a multi-phased service-learning project. The project involved graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in Information Technology (IT) courses. A network infrastructure, including the physical wiring, was planned, designed, and built for a K-8 elementary school primarily to provide Internet access. A later group also assessed the future of the network. The self-selected students were members of their chosen team for the relevant semester and may be viewed as part of the larger team for the multi-phased project. The pros, cons, and caveats of this particular service-learning project are assessed and suggestions for similar projects are included.
E-Commerce Curriculum Strategies and Implementation Tactics
Authors: Knight Linda V. , Chan Susy S.
Published: May 2011

The fast-paced world of e-commerce demands flexible and rapid e-commerce curriculum development. This chapter describes a successful approach to e-commerce curriculum design and development implemented by DePaul University’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems (CTI). The master’s e-commerce curriculum, designed, developed, and implemented in just seven months, drew 350 students in its first year, and approximately 650 students with majors and concentrations in the e-commerce area in its second year. Underlying the curriculum is reliance upon the principles of the IRMA / DAMA 2000, ISCC ’99, and IS ’97 model curricula. Strong technological expertise and infrastructure, solid industry relationships, and an entrepreneurial culture were critical success factors in developing and implementing the curriculum. The strategies that DePaul CTI employed and the lessons that it learned in the process of implementing its e-commerce curriculum are relevant to other universities seeking to move into the e-commerce arena. Projections are made concerning the future of university programs in e-commerce and the challenges that loom ahead.
Computer Security in Small Businesses - An Example from Slovenia
Authors: Werber Borut
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the results of an investigation conducted in Slovenia from November 1999 until January 2000, focusing on some basic computer security problems and use of information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) in 122 small Slovenian businesses. The average number of total employees was 5.7, including the owner of the small business. In some countries, businesses of this size are also called ‘very small businesses.’ According to that, this chapter is dedicated to small business owners/managers or those dealing with small businesses. In the first section I present the main reason for this research and discuss some previous research dealing with small business use of IT and computer security practice. In the following section I define small business and the methodology that I used for data collection and analysis. The results were based on interviews given by the owners or managers of these companies. In the results section the overall purpose of this study is presented. The aim of the research was to assess why some Slovene small businesses do not use IT, how IT and IS are used in small businesses, what kind of security measures are used, how many and what kind of problems they had with computer hardware and software, and how they managed to solve those problems. I compare the results with some similar research in other countries.
The Role of SMEs in Promoting Electronic Commerce in Communities
Authors: Romm Celia , Taylor Wal
Published: May 2011

The primary emphasis of much of the literature on electronic commerce (EC) is on its global nature. The literature is replete with examples of companies that, over a relatively short period of time, made a successful transition from a local, small business, to a global enterprise, with customers and suppliers based all over the world. The literature in EC, both in the popular media and the learned journals, attributes this phenomenon to the fact that with access to the Internet, many businesses can sell globally without having to make an investment in “bricks and mortar.” The rhetoric that EC is free from constraints of geography is, however, contradicted by a growing evidence that, particularly for small and medium enterprises (defined in this chapter as “organizations with less than 500 employees”), business on the Internet is not necessarily as profitable and risk free as it is supposed to be. Establishing an EC “shop-front” may be a relatively painless exercise, but having prospective customers notice that shop-front, having them actually transact with the virtual business, and setting the business so that it successfully copes with the demands of a virtual customer base are all challenges that most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find difficult to meet.
Interorganizational Knowledge Management
Authors: Blecker Thorsten , Neumann Robert
Published: May 2011

New organizational approaches like virtual organizations have the potential to provide the flexibility and to reduce the complexity and risk of management necessary to survive in the actual economic environment. A crucial factor for gaining and sustaining competitive advantages in the current economic environment is knowledge. The management of knowledge has been extensively discussed during the past few years. However, there is still a considerable lack of research that addresses innovative ways of managing the transfer of knowledge, best-practices and competence between organizations. In order to partially overcome these conceptual deficiencies we introduce the concept of an interorganizational knowledge management and discuss its implications on knowledge-oriented strategic management in virtual organizations.
Computer Mediated Interorganizational Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Rice Ronald E. , Majchrazak Ann , King Nelson , Ba Sulin , Malhotra Arvind
Published: May 2011

How does a team use a computer-mediated technology to share and reuse knowledge when the team is inter-organizational and virtual, when the team must compete for the attention of team members with collocated teams, and when the task is the creation of a completely new innovation? From a review of the literature on knowledge sharing and reuse using collaborative tools, three propositions are generated about the likely behavior of the team in using the collaborative tool and reusing the knowledge put in the knowledge repository. A multi-method longitudinal research study of this design team was conducted over its tenmonth design effort. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained. Results indicated that the propositions from the literature were insufficient to explain the behavior of the team. We found that ambiguity of the task does not determine use of a collaborative tool; that tool use does not increase with experience; and that knowledge that is perceived as transient (whether it really is transient or not) is unlikely to be referenced properly for later search and retrieval. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.
Virtual Organizations That Cooperate and Compete
Authors: Loebbecke Claudia , van Fenema Paul C.
Published: May 2011

‘Co-opetition’ describes the phenomenon that firms engage in a virtual form of interaction where they cooperate and compete with their counterparts. Such hybrid relationships challenge traditional notions of firm boundaries and strategic resource management. There seems a contradiction in the fact that partners are supposed to share knowledge which is at the same time a key determinant of their competitive advantage. This balancing act suggests the need for special competencies that enable companies to reap the benefits of temporary synergy, while avoiding risks associated with making knowledge available to external partners. This chapter explores the art of controlling knowledge flows in ‘coopetitive’ relationships. We conceptualize types of knowledge flows and dependencies, resulting in four configurations. For each of these, risks in terms of deviations from the original agreement are examined. We propose control strategies that allow companies engaged in co-opetition to anticipate deviant trajectories and define adequate responses. Directions for future research on this topic are indicated.
Knowledge Needs of Self-Organized Systems
Authors: Carvalho João Álvaro
Published: May 2011

Self-organized systems are capable of changing their own structure in order to adapt themselves to significant changes in their environment. They are at the top of a hierarchy of systems that arranges systems according to the degree of control they have upon their own actions. Self-directed systems, self-regulated systems and uncontrolled systems are the reminder levels of that hierarchy. The framework developed in this chapter identifies the necessary components at each level of control. These components include operators, coordinators, regulators, directors, organizers and informers. The framework can be described as a model of the general architecture of self-organized systems. It is used to identify and characterize the knowledge needs of self-organized systems by examining the functionality, characteristics and knowledge needs of each of those components.
Branding Strategies for Digital Television Channels
Authors: Pagani Margherita
Published: May 2011

In the previous chapters, technical features and economic implications following the digitalisation of the TV signal as well as the development of interactive television were the focus of our analysis. At this point, it is worth considering some managerial implications stemming from the adoption of these new digital technologies. The goal of this section is to determine those managerial areas mainly influenced by the digitalisation process, as well as the way corporate strategies define changes. In this chapter, focus is placed on the analysis of the impact of digitalisation on marketing strategies through an investigation on the growing importance of the brand as a loyalty-based resource, available to digital television networks to aggregate and make loyalty vis-à-vis television viewers more concrete. Special attention is being paid to branding policies adopted by digital television networks through a better knowledge of the reasons why brand equity is important in the television industry.
EFTWeb
Authors: Gouveia Luís Borges , Gouveia Joaquim Borges
Published: May 2011

The EFTWeb is a model proposed for developing a World Wide Web based-system that allows the interaction between users and contents. The users can be students and teachers that place, modify and use available contents. Contents can be any type of digital education materials. The system provides the means to control security, intellectual property rights and billing issues, giving both types of users the necessary tools to access the system, prepare materials and use them. One important facility associated with the system is its ability to create contexts. The creation of context is made possible by the combined use of thesaurus technology and referencing content by recurring to dynamic catalogues, providing different perspectives to exist at the same time. The authors defend the importance that context may have to provide a usable environment to support education, learning and training activities, and to make available the associated concepts that help to support such a semantic approach to content reuse.
Maintaining the Own Responsibility
Authors: Weissbach Ruediger
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces an alternative concept against the dominating trend of a complete outsourcing of IT services, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). It argues that the undiscriminating adoption of this trend tends to reduce IT on a cost factor and neglects the importance of specific IT knowledge for the continuous improvement of business processes. Also, it neglects the importance of a “communication interface” between the IS users on the one hand and the software development and IT production on the other hand. In opposition to leading management trends, this chapter will present an approach that bases on an internal competence centre for IS and that demands a steady communication between the IT staff and the various departments. In this approach, only selected IT services are externalized and the continuing growth of specific IS knowledge is essential. This approach was developed since the end of the 1990s at the building society, with about 100 employees, in which the author is working.
Using Spreadsheets as a Decision Support Tool
Authors: Burgess Stephen , Schauder Don
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses a model that has been set up to assist small businesses in the decision-making processes associated with setting up a Web site by which they can interact with their customers. Specifically, the chapter addresses the use of a spreadsheet to support decision-making processes in relation to the level of capital needed to devote to the Web site and who should be used to develop it. The chapter describes the process followed, from the initial SWOT analysis used to collect information about the business to the decision-making process modelled in the spreadsheet.
SME Barriers to Electronic Commerce Adoption
Authors: Ihlstrom Carina , Magnusson Monkia , Scupola Ada , Tuunainen Virpi Kristiina
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we look into earlier empirical research on the barriers to e-commerce (EC) adoption and diffusion for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We explore research conducted in the context of information and communications technologies (ICT) in general, as well as EDI and Internet-based e-commerce. What we are interested in is whether these barriers are something new created by the new wave of Internet based technologies. We divide the barriers, inhibitors, or factors slowing down the diffusion of new technologies found in previous literature into those internal to an organization and those imposed by external forces. The basic premise of this chapter is that technologies advance or change, but the barriers for SMEs to adopt them do not. The authors hope that understanding this will help researchers, small companies, and policy makers to move on and do something active to reduce such barriers.
Virtual Organization
Authors: Lee Jinyoul , Jayatilaka Bandula
Published: May 2011

This chapter discloses the social aspects of a virtual organization and identifies the role of human actors in a virtual organization (consciousness). This consciousness exists in the perceptual world that we create beyond the limits of time and space. However, its counterparts exist in various forms (entities) in the real world. To bridge the gaps between the consciousnesses and the entities, there exist dual identities of human interveners in both virtual and real worlds. This research provides the meaning of virtual organization, and proceeds to explain the relationship between the consciousnesses (virtual organizations) and entities (real organizations) with human intervention (human players) using structuration theory. This study uses a theory-building process to understand human activities in virtual organizations. The theory proposed in this study reflects the epistemological positions of virtual organization research.
Executive Information Systems Use in Organisational Contexts
Authors: Ditsa George
Published: May 2011

Executive Information Systems (EIS) are designed to enhance the managerial roles of executives, including other senior managers, in organizations. Despite reported growth in the popularity of EIS, there are reports of low usage of these systems that, in part, contributes to their failures in organizations. The majority of prior EIS research has focused on documenting the features, benefits, development methodologies, and implementation of the systems. However, very few research studies address the problem of low EIS usage from behavioural point of the user. This chapter reports on a research on the use of EIS in organizational settings. The primary focus of the research is to investigate factors that explain users’ behaviour towards using EIS. It is also aimed at identifying the relative importance of those factors that determine the use of EIS. The research model is based on Triandis’ theoretical framework, a model from organizational behaviour. The research model is used to hypothesis that EIS use (behaviour) is determined by EIS experience and ability to use EIS (habits); subjective norms, roles, values and social situations (social factors); perceived usefulness of EIS (consequences); user satisfaction with EIS information, system, support, and plan (affect); and EIS development processes, management processes and organisational environment (facilitating conditions). Field data obtained by survey questionnaire from CEOs, CFOs and one other executive from 255 organisations using EIS in Australia were used to test and confirm the appropriateness of the behavioural model through correlation and regression analyses. The results of the study have some implications for research and practice.
The Impact of E-Business on the Competitive Landscape - Case of Automotive Industry in Asia
Authors: Albadvi Amir
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on the power and challenges of e-business in enhancing the competitive advantage in developing countries’ industries and reports of some survey results in the Asian auto-industry. The study confirms that as many web-based businesses are learning that the real value of e-business comes not in the form of sales, but in removing inefficiencies in traditional business models. The study shows that currently, most auto manufacturers in Asia use e-business only for internal administration; despite all the talk of e-business, the development in Asia is slow. The current infrastructure in the industry is largely internally focused, incongruent with the customer-orientation of e-business. Furthermore, the author concluded that due to the uncertain nature of e-business, few companies understand how to integrate e-business into their corporate strategy in Asian developing countries. Companies need a clearly planned vision, starting with basic solutions. From there, the strategy will evolve to solutions in wider marketplaces.
Adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning Software by Organizations in India
Authors: Tarafdar Monideepa , Roy Rahul K.
Published: May 2011

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are designed to integrate various functions and processes, and are used by organizations as the first-level transaction processing systems in their information architecture. Although many studies have been conducted and reported on ERP implementation cases in the developed countries, there is not much literature on the experiences of companies in Asia and other parts of the developing world. These organizations confront issues that are significantly different from those faced by companies in the developed world, because of differences in the sophistication of IT use, and cultural and social contexts. This chapter describes a three-stage model for analyzing the deployment of ERP in developing countries, based on an empirical study of ERP implementation exercises in Indian organizations. Each stage describes a specific aspect of the implementation process. The specific characteristics of each stage and their implications for managers have also been discussed.