bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internet Work/Play Balance
Authors: Mahatanankoon Pruthikrai
Published: May 2011

Productivity gain can be achieved through utilitarian use of the Internet. Networked organizations foster intra- and interorganizational communications, which amplify team collaborations, information sharing, and relationship building. The Internet also provides linkage to external global information sources, allowing organizations to analyze market trends, predict competitors’ movements, and search for competitive advantages. However, Internet usage in the workplace is also a double-edged sword that can bring liabilities to modern workplaces. Employees can utilize their Internet connectivity and e-mail accounts for a variety of purposes. Publicized cases of Internet abuse in the workplace (i.e., pornography, employee harassment, information leakage, software piracy, etc.) have generated different ethical and legal concerns for many organizations. To prevent such occurrences, practitioners utilize several strategies to deter Internet abuses (e.g., training of proper Internet usage, communicating Internet usage policy, installing Internet monitoring, and filtering software, etc.). These strategies have been effective against such behaviors, but they often decrease employees’ job satisfaction and motivation. Understanding the underlying determinants of workplace Internet usage can bring balance to organizational work and play, and allow practitioners to apply the most effective Internet usage policies to increase job satisfaction. A feasible balance between proper behavioral controls and employee motivation is attainable through the equilibrium of organizational and individual psycho-socio-technical factors. The ultimate goal of this balance is to maintain and improve employee satisfaction and organizational well-being. To identify the appropriate balance, this article examines different perceptions of Internet usage activities and suggests three Internet management strategies.
Knowledge Architecture and Knowledge Flows
Authors: Morone Piergiuseppe , Taylor Richard
Published: May 2011

Modern society is increasingly seen as a knowledge economy; institutions, firms and individuals progressively rely on knowledge as a key component for individual and collective growth. This calls for a clear understanding of knowledge and its sharing patterns. This article has a two-fold aim: on the one hand, it aims at reviewing some of the most common definitions of knowledge provided in the economic and science and technology literature; on the other hand, it aims at providing a taxonomy of knowledge flows which should help scholars in distinguishing among various forms of knowledge sharing. Subsequently, we shall present a description of future trends and put forward some possible extensions of knowledge literature. Finally, our concluding remarks will be presented in the last section of the article.
Leader-Facilitated Relationship Building in Virtual Teams
Authors: Pauleen David J.
Published: May 2011

How do virtual team leaders assess and respond to boundary crossing issues when building relationships with virtual team members? Virtual teams are a new phenomenon, defined as groups of people working on a common task or project from distributed locations using information and communications technology (ICT). With rapid advances in ICT allowing alternatives to face-to-face communication, virtual teams are playing an increasingly important role in organizations. Due to their global coverage, virtual teams are often assigned critical organizational tasks such as multinational product launches, negotiating global mergers and acquisitions, and managing strategic alliances (Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000). Their use, however, has outpaced the understanding of their unique dynamics and characteristics (Cramton & Webber, 2000). Virtual team leadership remains one of the least understood and most poorly supported elements in virtual teams. Virtual team leaders are often the nexus of a virtual team, facilitating communications, establishing team processes, and taking responsibility for task completion (Duarte & Tennant- Snyder, 1999), and doing so across multiple boundaries. Recent research (Kayworth & Leidner, 2001-2002) has begun to look at virtual leadership issues and suggests that the trend toward virtual work groups necessitates further inquiry into the role and nature of virtual team leadership. This article begins by briefly looking at the key concepts of virtual team leadership, relationship building and boundary crossing. Then, drawing upon the author’s research, it examines the complexity inherent in building relationship across boundaries, and concludes with suggestions on how virtual team leaders can mediate this complexity.
Legal Issues of Virtual Organizations
Authors: Cevenini Claudia
Published: May 2011

In the present economic context, organizations, especially of small and medium dimensions, can draw a substantial advantage by collaborating and setting up flexible, temporary ICT-enabled networks. Identifying the legal issues relevant for virtual organizations can provide a knowledge basis to regulate their activities, thus providing support for their creation and management.
Linking Individual Learning Plans to ePortfolios
Authors: Crichton Susan
Published: May 2011

Throughout the 1990s, educators working in alternative schools explored the use of individual learning plans as support for at risk students and reluctant, returning adult learners (Crichton, 2005; Crichton & Kinsel, 2002). These early learning plans were strictly paper based. Each student had her/his own cardboard folder that contained goal personal statements, benchmarks, course process, and personal information (e.g., interests, preferred learning styles). Samples of completed work were included in the folders so students could see their improvement/progress. By 1998, there was interest in exploring the potential of technology to improve the paper portfolios, noting improvements in multimedia authoring and Internet access. It was found that electronic learning plans, complete with collaborative journals, showed promise (Kinsel, 2004). This chapter suggests that ePortfolios that draw on content from personal eJournals extend those early learning plans both in concept and impact on learning.
Making Sense of IS Failures
Authors: Dalcher Darren
Published: May 2011

Researchers with a keen interest in information systems failures are faced with a double challenge. Not only is it difficult to obtain intimate information about the circumstances surrounding such failures, but there is also a dearth of information about the type of methods and approaches that can be utilized in this context to support such information collection and dissemination. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the available approaches and to clarify and enhance the methodological underpinning that is available to researchers interested in investigating and documenting phenomena in context-rich and dynamic environments. The chapter concludes by introducing a new range of antenarrative approaches that represent future developments in the study of IS failures.
Managing the Integrated Online Marketing Communication
Authors: Gurau Calin
Published: May 2011

This chapter investigates the particularities of integrated marketing communication in the online environment. The study starts from the premise that the specific characteristics of the Internet transform the application of IMC principles from an alternative option to an absolute requirement for online organizations. Based on the analysis of the specific characteristics of the online environment and audiences, and on the primary data collected through face-to-face interviews with 19 marketing or communication managers of UK consumer retail firms, this article explores the opportunities and requirements for implementing integrated online marketing communication, proposing a theoretical model of that can be adopted by Internet-active organizations.
Mobile Positioning Technology
Authors: Deligiannis Nikos , Louvros Spiros , Kotsopoulos Stavros
Published: May 2011

A radio mobile-position system operates by measuring, processing, and storing physical quantities related to radio signals travelling between a mobile terminal and a set of transceivers, for example, satellites or Base Stations (BSs). Positioning techniques in cellular networks are of great importance for supporting emerging services that require a sufficient, precise estimation of the position of the mobile terminal (MT) associated with a number of given base stations. The ability to support position location within wireless networks provides network operators with valuable services, as well as users with a host of new applications. This includes navigation, location-based services, network management, and security applications. Nowadays in GSM networks, there is no specific algorithm included in the software to locate subscribers. The only possibility to locate a subscriber is accomplished by using GPS technology or special firmware. An innovative development should be the design and implementation of certain location positioning techniques, as Time of Arrival (ToA) and Angle of Arrival (AoA), over the existing GSM network. Although there are already next generation networks in use nowadays (UMTS, GPRS, WLAN), and there also is extensive research towards the fourth generation cellular networks, GSM seems to be the most popular network so far. GPRS network is a data network over GSM platform and it exists only with GSM architecture. The reason is that GPRS uses the GSM air interface (Radio Network Part) and it only diverts in the core network where it transmits the data packets towards a different switch. UMTS, on the other hand, is a unique network supporting cellular and voice-data applications, and is the evolution of GSM towards IP applications. Although it could be implemented separately from GSM, most of the operators preferred to implement it in a GSM convergence mode towards the core network for eliminating the investment. As a result, in most countries GSM is the major network with full geographical coverage and network location positioning techniques are most implemented in a network environment with a satisfactory number of Base Stations.
Mobile Technology Usage in Business Relationships
Authors: Salo Jari
Published: May 2011

Business relationships have been studied for decades (Wilkinson, 2001). However, the literature has been criticized of the lack of focus on information technology (IT) usage within business relationships (Reid & Plank, 2000). As managers have started to employ digital tools such as the Internet, intranets, and extranets, buyer-seller relationship scholars have realized the need to focus on IT deployment within relationships. There is a growing body of research that focuses on the different types of technologies being employed such as electronic data interchange (EDI) (Naudé, Holland, & Sudbury, 2000), Internet-based EDI (Angeles, 2000), and extranet (Vlosky, Fontenot, & Blalock, 2000) and their influence on business relationships. Nevertheless, mobile technology usage within business relationships is a nascent field of scientific inquiry. Besides buyer-seller relationship literature, mobile commerce (MC) (conducting commercial activities via mobile networks) literature also noticeably lacks academic research on business usage of mobile technology (Okazaki, 2005; Scornavacca, Barnes, & Huff, 2005). By combining these indications for further research from the buyer-seller relationship and MC fields it can be argued that there is a clear call for research in this area. Hence, I aim to bridge some aspects of the identified research gap. The research gap is filled in by discussing bonding within buyer-seller relationships to illustrate how mobile technologies create a novel bond in business relationships. It is acknowledged that some research on the adoption of mobile technology in the business context exists (see e.g., Kadyté, 2005). The paper is organized as follows: First, a brief discussion of the background of business relationships, mobile technologies, and bonding is provided. Then, I highlight how mobile technologies are used within relationships with a case study. After that, future trends in this pertinent area are presented. The paper finishes with a concluding discussion.
Models in E-Learning Systems
Authors: Martens Alke
Published: May 2011

Models are everywhere. Terms like “modeling” and “model” are part of everyday language. Even in research, no overall valid definition of what a model is exists. Different scientific fields work with different models. Usually, the term “model” is used intuitively to describe something which is sort of “abstract”. This is a rather vague concept, but all models have in common that they are abstractions in a broad sense and that they are developed for a certain purpose, for example, for testing and investigating parts of reality, theories or hypotheses, for communication, or for reuse. In e-learning the notion of models is frequently used in a rather naive and uncritical way. The main purpose of developing models seems to be lost in the overwhelming amount of available models. A situation has emerged where the development of a new special purpose model often seems to be much easier than the reuse, validation, or revision of existing ones. In the following section approaches to define the term “model” will be sketched to provide a (historical) background in relation with computer science. Afterwards, an overview over existing models and different approaches to categorize e-learning models will be given. A future trend suggests a new categorization of e-learning models. The chapter closes with a conclusion.
Multi-Agent Simulation in Organizations
Authors: Vlahovic Nikola , Ceric Vlatko
Published: May 2011

Most economic and business systems are complex, dynamic, and nondeterministic systems. Different modeling techniques have been used for representing real life economic and business organizations either on a macro level (such as national economics) or micro level (such as business processes within a firm or strategies within an industry). Even though general computer simulation was used for modeling various systems (Zeigler, 1976) since the 1970s the limitation of computer resources did not allow for in-depth simulation of dynamic social phenomena. The dynamics of social systems and impact of the behavior of individual entities in social constructs were modeled using mathematical modeling or system dynamics. With the growing interest in multi agent systems that led to its standardization in the 1990s, multi agent systems were proposed for the use of modeling social systems (Gilbert & Conte, 1995). Multi agent simulation was able to provide a high level disintegration of the models and proper treatment of inhomogeneity and individualism of the agents, thus allowing for simulation of cooperation and competition. A number of simulation models were developed in the research of biological and ecological systems, such as models for testing the behavior and communication between social insects (bees and ants). Artificial systems for testing hypothesis about social order and norms, as well as ancient societies (Kohler, Gumerman, & Reynolds, 2005) were also simulated. Since then, agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) established itself as an attractive modeling technique (Klugl, 2001; Moss & Davidsson, 2001). Numerous software toolkits were released, such as Swarm, Repast, MASON and SeSAm. These toolkits make agent-based modeling easy enough to be attractive to practitioners from a variety of subject areas dealing with social interactions. They make agent-based modeling accessible to a large number of analysts with less programming experience.
A Multidisciplinary View of Data Quality
Authors: Borchers Andrew
Published: May 2011

This article introduces the concepts of data quality as described in the literature of several disciplines and discusses research results on how individual perceptions of data quality are influenced by different media (in particular World Wide Web vs. print). A search of literature on “data quality” and “media creditability” reveals that researchers in many disciplines are separately studying the subject. These disciplines include accounting, advertising and public relations, information systems, scientific data collection, education, journalism fields, and others. While these threads have developed separately, these streams of research approach similar issues of how people view the quality of information they receive from different sources.
Network Effects of Knowledge Diffusion in Network Economy
Authors: Li Zhang , Xiao Yao , Qiong Jia
Published: May 2011

Network industries are the central nervous system of the 21st century economy. During this time the newly developing “network economy” will act as the engine that will drive world development (Bao, 2001). The most valuable commodity in this economy has become information, and the economics of networks applies to almost all information products and services. Information can be consumed by more than one person. Most importantly, the total social value of information increases as it is shared with more consumers. Consumers of computers and software programs, cellular phones, faxes, and Internet services all have more valuable products as the use of these products by others increases. Whether we call this an “information economy” or a “network economy,” the implication is the same—network economics accounts for an increasingly larger share of the economy. It is also the driving force behind many of the innovations and technological changes that occur (Balto, 2001). At the same time, knowledge is nowadays considered to be a fundamental asset of the organizations. Although this concept is not new, in the few last years increasing attention has been devoted to knowledge and knowledge management (KM) issues within organizations. In fact, due to environmental factors such as the market globalization, the increased product complexity, and the turbulence of competitive scenarios, the powerful role of knowledge as a source of sustainable advantage has been considerably emphasized (Zack, 1999). The knowledge economy represents a strategic new era that human beings are entering. In this new environment of social and economic development, knowledge and information are recognized as being at least as important as physical capital, financial capital, and natural resources as a source of economic growth. Network economy has provided an equal platform for the participation of all of society. It creates unique values and establishes an operational system in the globalization context, depending on the knowledge as core resource, utilizing the network as the fundamental mode, and taking the information industry as leadership. However, in the knowledge economy, networks are adapted better to knowledge-rich environments because of their superior information-processing capabilities. They minimize idiosyncratic investments in fixed assets and technology, and thus are more flexible and responsive to change. “In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the only sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge” (Nonaka, 1994). And one of the most important aspects is that network economy needs to utilize the knowledge diffusion to create more value. Because knowledge diffusion is the core process of knowledge management to explore more network effects and knowledge diffusion is important for total factor productivity, it is also important for international competitiveness. In consequence, knowledge diffusion should be regarded as one of the companies’ core competencies.
Organizational Aspects of Cyberloafing
Authors: Bortolani Elisa , Favretto Giuseppe
Published: May 2011

The introduction of new technologies at workplaces causes the emergence of new organizational productivity threats. These threats are both inside and outside the organizations themselves. More often, organizations regret1 programming and administrative errors; system and technical failures; sabotages; unauthorized accesses; disruption, manipulation, or loss of data and programs, not due to cyber-criminality (intrusions, employees’ disloyalty, etc.); widespread virus; and issues caused by wireless devices. External threats, on the other hand, are more related to natural catastrophes (flooding, earthquakes, etc.), fires, industrial espionage, cyber-criminality, viruses, unfair competition, and physical damages to structures. It is necessary for organizations to protect themselves from both intrusion attempts and employees’ technology misuse. A United States survey2 revealed that 35% of companies interviewed about suffered attacks in 2004 said that the prevalence was from insiders; on the other hand, only 26% revealed a prevalence of outsider attacks. Compared to the previous year, the trend was inverted. In 2003, in fact, insider attacks were around 14% and outsider attacks were about 23%. This, it is possible to think that insider threats will become more and more frequent and dangerous. According to Radcliff (2004), internal data thefts are estimated to be 75% of total data thefts. An employee, for example, can copy and misappropriate a customer’s database before passing it to the competitors. Another possible scenario is referred to as waste of efficiency caused by business e-mail abuse or Internet access misuse. The FBI’s Computer Crime Squad affirms that it is not necessary to blame corrupt or vindictive employees for all intrusion issues. Many problems, in fact, can be traced back to an improper use of IT business resources. Actually, for example, many companies that had put up with employees surfing the Internet for non-work-related activities for years now regretted Internet misuse, characterized by pornography, mp3, and illegal software downloading. More than this, illicit software downloading and surfing insecure sites allow virus and malware introduction. This software, if installed on strategic machines, can make the company vulnerable. And so, costs are not limited to loss of business resources (e.g., working time), but are also related to damages caused by illicit and careless online employees’ activities. If, on one hand, the opportunity to work online helps in increasing several organizations’ productivity (Anandarajan, Simmers, & Igbaria, 2000), on the other hand it causes an addition in number and level of risks. So, a lot of Internet access issues are related to information download (copyrighted software, offensive material, infected files, etc.), but the loss of productivity related to this habit does not seem secondary. In other words, without leaving their desks and without social control risk, the employees may, more easily than in the past, give themselves up to surfing the Net for non-work-related purposes.
Organizational Assimilation Capacity and IT Business Value
Authors: Morabito Vincenzo , Viscusi Gianluigi
Published: May 2011

IT business value represents important outcomes in firms (Banker & Kauffman, 2004; Gable, Darshana, & Chan, 2003; Ravichandran & Chalermsak Lertwongsatien, 2005) whereas information systems (IS) integration represents a relevant amount of the IT spending. Notwithstanding, while most firms are making major investments in information technology, particularly in information systems integration (e.g., ERP and data warehouse solutions), not all of them apply IT effectively in their business activities (Brynjolfsson, McAfee, Zhu, & Sorell, 2006; Dehning & Stratopoulos, 2003; Jason, Vijay, & Kenneth, 2003) obtaining IT business value and organizational competitive advantage. This research is based on an integrative model of IT business value, aiming to evaluate the mediating effect of an “IT organizational assimilation capacity” between IS integration and organization competitive advantage. Taking into account the theoretical premises that IT business value is generated by the exploitation of both IT and organizational resources, we develop a research model and propose two research hypotheses. The model and the related hypotheses are based on a large-scale sample survey (Francalanci & Morabito, 2006). The responses were obtained from 466 CIOs and senior business executives, who were members of the firms’ top management teams in Italian companies.
OWL
Authors: Gouveia Adélia , Cardoso Jorge
Published: May 2011

The World Wide Web (WWW) emerged in 1989, developed by Tim Berners-Lee who proposed to build a system for sharing information among physicists of the CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. Currently, the WWW is primarily composed of documents written in HTML (hyper text markup language), a language that is useful for visual presentation (Cardoso & Sheth, 2005). HTML is a set of “markup” symbols contained in a Web page intended for display on a Web browser. Most of the information on the Web is designed only for human consumption. Humans can read Web pages and understand them, but their inherent meaning is not shown in a way that allows their interpretation by computers (Cardoso & Sheth, 2006). Since the visual Web does not allow computers to understand the meaning of Web pages (Cardoso, 2007), the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) started to work on a concept of the Semantic Web with the objective of developing approaches and solutions for data integration and interoperability purpose. The goal was to develop ways to allow computers to understand Web information. The aim of this chapter is to present the Web ontology language (OWL) which can be used to develop Semantic Web applications that understand information and data on the Web. This language was proposed by the W3C and was designed for publishing, sharing data and automating data understood by computers using ontologies. To fully comprehend OWL we need first to study its origin and the basic blocks of the language. Therefore, we will start by briefly introducing XML (extensible markup language), RDF (resource description framework), and RDF Schema (RDFS). These concepts are important since OWL is written in XML and is an extension of RDF and RDFS.
Physiologic Adaptation by Means of Antagonistic Dynamics
Authors: Perl Juergen
Published: May 2011

In particular in technical contexts, information systems and analysing techniques help a lot for gathering data and making information available. Regarding dynamic behavioral systems like athletes or teams in sports, however, the situation is difficult: data from training and competition do not give much information about current and future performance without an appropriate model of interaction and adaptation. Physiologic adaptation is one major aspect of targetoriented behavior, in physical training as well as in mental learning. In a simplified way it can be described by a stimulus- response-model, where external stimuli change situation or status of an organism and so cause activities in order to adapt. This aspect can appear in quite different dimensions like individual biochemical adaptation that needs only milliseconds up to selection of the fittest of a species, which can last millions of years. Well-known examples can be taken from learning processes or other mental work as well as from sport and exercising. Most of those examples are characterized by a phenomenon that we call antagonism: The input stimulus causes two contradicting responses, which control each other and – by balancing out – finally enable to reach a given target. For example, the move of a limb is controlled by antagonistic groups of muscles, and the result of a game is controlled by the efforts of competing teams. In order to understand and eventually improve such adaptation, models are necessary that make the processes transparent and help for simulating dynamics like for example, the increase of heart rate as an reaction of speeding up in jogging. With such models it becomes possible not only to analyze past processes but also to predict and schedule indented future ones. In the Background section, main aspects of modeling antagonistic adaptation systems are briefly discussed, which is followed by a more detailed description of the developed PerPot-model and a number of examples of application in the Main Focus section.
Qualitative Methods in IS Research
Authors: Trauth Eileen M.
Published: May 2011

As information technologies have evolved, so too has our understanding of the information systems that employ them. A significant part of this evolving understanding is the role of the human contexts within which information systems are situated. This, in turn, has led to the need for appropriate methods of studying information systems in their context of use. Just as decisions about information systems need to be considered within their contexts of use, so also do choices about the appropriate research methodologies to employ for studying them. Increasingly, qualitative methods are chosen as an appropriate method for studying contextual aspects of information systems development, use and impact. Qualitative research refers to research methods that engage in the interpretation of words and images rather than the calculation of numbers. These methods include: ethnography, case study, action research, interviews, and text analysis (i.e., conversation analysis, discourse analysis, and hermeneutics). Qualitative research can be theory-driven in much the same way as quantitative analysis. However, it can also employ grounded theory techniques in order to develop theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Following some early uses of qualitative methods in the 1980s (e.g., Benbasat et al., 1987; Kaplan & Duchon, 1988; Lee, 1989; Mumford et al., 1985), there has been a significant growth in the use of qualitative methods for information systems research since the 1990s (e.g., Journal of Information Technology, 1998; Lee et al., 1997; MIS Quarterly, 1999, 2000; Nissen et al., 1991; Trauth, 2001). Accompanying the increased use of qualitative methods for IS research has been a discussion of various methodological issues. Among the key aspects of this dialogue are discussions about the suitability of qualitative methods for various types of research and issues arising from a particular type of qualitative methods: interpretive methods. This article presents a reflection on some these discussions in the form of a consideration of five factors that can influence the choice of qualitative (particularly interpretive) methods for information systems research.
A Requirement Elicitation Methodology for Global Software Development Teams
Authors: Aranda Gabriela N. , Vizcaíno Aurora , Cechich Alejandra , Piattini Mario
Published: May 2011

Failures during the elicitation process have been usually attributed to the difficulty of the development team in working on a cooperative basis (Togneri, Falbo, & de Menezes, 2002), but today there are other points that have to be considered. In order to save costs, modern software organizations tend to have their software development team geographically distributed, so distance between members becomes one of the most important issues added to the traditional problems of the requirement elicitation process (Brooks, 1987; Loucopoulos & Karakostas, 1995). So far, literature has widely analysed real life Global Software Development (GSD) projects and pointed out the main problems that affect such environments, especially related to communication. As a complementary view, we have focused our research on analysing how cognitive characteristics can affect people interaction in GSD projects, especially during the requirement elicitation process, where communication becomes crucial. In this article, we present the main characteristics of requirements elicitation in GSD projects and introduce a cognitive-based requirement elicitation methodology for such environments.
Requirements Prioritization Techniques
Authors: Carod Nadina Martinez , Cechich Alejandra
Published: May 2011

As part of Requirements Engineering, “Elicitation” is the phase where an analyst collects information from the stakeholders, clarifies the problems and the needs of the customers and users, tries to find the best solutions, and makes its planning on what software system will be developed. During elicitation, to get well-defined requirements, a consensus among the different stakeholders is needed. There are several elicitation techniques in the literature; however every technique faces the same problem: each stakeholder has different requirements and priorities, which potentially produces conflicting situations. Therefore, this situation points out Requirements Prioritization as a relevant research area to define the requirements’ level of importance. Nevertheless, often the strategies implemented to solve conflicts among stakeholders are inadequate; for example, weighting requirements can be problematic because sometimes weights are inconsistent and lead to confusion about which are the most essential customer requirements. The prioritizing process must hold stakeholder satisfaction considering high-priority requirements first. However, practical experience shows that prioritizing requirements is not as straightforward task as the Literature suggests. In any case, clearly defining a way of balancing preferences on requirements is essential to the elicitation process. The remainder of this chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 describes a conceptual framework to describe several prioritization proposals, which are characterized in Section 3. Future trends are presented afterwards.
Risk Management in the Digital Economy
Authors: Ritchie Bob , Brindley Clare
Published: May 2011

Business processes have been transformed by radical changes predicated on the digital economy. Every business sector has witnessed changes in the competitive structure of the marketplace, consumer preferences, buying habits, marketing and promotional strategies, production operations, internal administration systems, supply chain arrangements, and the opening up of the global economy. These changes provide an array of risks for managers. A study of 500 financial executives in Europe and America (FM Global, 2007) concluded that they expected an increase in overall business risks in the foreseeable future. Similarly, Harland, Brenchley, and Walker (2003) concluded that the risk exposure of organizations will heighten due to increased complexity, turbulence, and the dynamic and changing supply chain context. However, the digital economy is a two-edged sword in the sense that the information and communication technologies (ICTs) generating the additional uncertainties and risks also provide the means to enable decision makers to manage them more effectively. The key to survival in the digital economy depends on the abilities of managers to utilize ICTs effectively to manage uncertainties and risks. ICTs have largely been seen as helping to enhance database access, analytical powers, and the communications capacity of managers. The justification for these efforts has been based on the premise that more and better quality information will result in reduced uncertainty and improved risk perceptions in decision situations. In short, the outcome would be reflected in “better quality” decisions in terms of risk assessment and resolution. Key topic areas presented in this article include: • primary elements of the digital economy • overview of risk and risk management, • risk and uncertainty, • individual/organizational response to resolving risk, • role of information search and corporate intelligence, • contribution of the digital economy to risk resolution, • individual characteristics and risk perceptiveness, • management of risks, • risk perception, • information processing and risk resolution, and • risk management within the digital economy.
Robustness in Neural Networks
Authors: Alippi Cesare , Roveri Manuel , Vanini Giovanni
Published: May 2011

The robustness analysis for neural networks aims at evaluating the influence on accuracy induced by perturbations affecting the computational flow; as such it allows the designer for estimating the resilience of the neural model w.r.t perturbations. In the literature, the robustness analysis of neural networks generally focuses on the effects of perturbations affecting biases and weights. The study of the network’s parameters is relevant both from the theoretical and the application point of view, since free parameters characterize the “knowledge space” of the neural model and, hence, its intrinsic functionality. A robustness analysis must also be taken into account when implementing a neural network (or the intelligent computational system into which a neural network is inserted) in a physical device or in intelligent wireless sensor networks. In these contexts, perturbations affecting the weights of a neural network abstract uncertainties such as finite precision representations, fluctuations of the parameters representing the weights in analog solutions (e.g., associated with the production process of a physical component), ageing effects or more complex, and subtle uncertainties in mixed implementations.
Sectoral Analysis of ICT Use in Nigeria
Authors: Ajiferuke Isola , Olatokun Wole
Published: May 2011

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become key tools and had a revolutionary impact of how we see the world and how we live (Dabesaki, 2005). They have the potential to be a major driving force behind the economic growth of any nation because of their potentially strong restructuring impact on existing economic activities and the ability to affect economic activities in a variety of ways. These include improving the quality of existing services, creating new services, raising labor and productivity, increasing capital intensity, enhancing economics of scale, and creating new economic structures. ICTs are also paving the way for greater ease of movement of technical and financial services, and are instrumental to development during the rapid globalization process. From the information technology revolution, a new kind of economy emerges. This is the information-based economy in which information along with capital and labor is a critical resource for creation of income and wealth for the enhancement of competitiveness. ICTs have also left their mark on the political and social dimensions of development, specifically by enhancing participation in decision-making processes at the corporate, local, and national levels. It is an established fact that a few developing countries like China, India, and Brazil are successfully taking advantage of the opportunities information and communications technologies offer and have made significant improvement in their economic, and many more developing countries (including Nigeria) are beginning to derive some of the potential benefits. For most of the developing world, however, information and communications technologies remain just a promise, and it seems a distant one at that. There is little evidence from past experience of national and international development policies, strategies, and programs to suggest that much will change for large segments of the world’s poorest people. Nigeria, like most developing countries, is an “information- poor” country where the deployment and application of ICTs is still in its infancy. This article, which is an updated version of an earlier one (Ajiferuke & Olatokun, 2005), presents the current status of ICT in Nigeria, particularly its applications in some sectors of the nation’s economy. It also identifies some inhibitions to the effective deployment and exploitation of ICT in Nigeria and concludes with a discussion of the policy issues, challenges, and prospects of ICT use in Nigeria.
Security for Electronic Commerce
Authors: Pasquet Marc , Rosenberger Christophe , Cuozzo Félix
Published: May 2011

E-commerce permits a dematerialized financial transaction between a customer and a merchant (Schafer, Konstan, & Riedl, 2001). It uses a complex architecture involving many aspects in computer science (security, database management) and in electronics (smartcards, tokens) (Tang, Waichee, & Veijalai, 2004). E-commerce is in a constant growth (Herrmann & Herrmann, 2004). To be used by the majority of individuals, electronic transactions must be secured to increase the confidence in the e-commerce. Security is necessary in commercial relationships for many reasons. First, the customer must be sure that the goods he/she is buying will be the expected ones, and will be well delivered at his/her address. Second, the merchant must be sure to be paid. If the customer uses banknotes or electronic payment, two or more partners are involved in that transaction: the customer’s bank and the merchant’s one. The two banks must be sure of the customer’s identity and of the merchant’s one in order to avoid banking frauds. In the transaction process, many security systems are used to ensure the confidentiality, authentication, and integrity of exchanges. The security is guaranteed by using specific procedures and hardware. The objective of this chapter is to present how the classical security concepts are applied for an electronic payment and especially to limit the fraud. The background section first gives a general idea of the problem generated by the electronic commerce. Second, we present briefly the public key infrastructure approach that is generally used for authentication within this context. The main thrust introduces two protocols that have been developed: SSL (secure sockets layer) and TLS (transport layer security), to create a secure channel where all transactions are encrypted by using specific architectures and algorithms. For the payment part of the transaction process, banks have been considered that SSL and TLS are not sufficiently secure. The main reason is that the cardholder is not authenticated by the issuer bank and the responsibility stays on the merchant side. Banks have so tried to implement different architectures to meet these requirements. These different methods, use of token with SET (secure electronic transaction) or a smartcard such as C-SET developed in the last fifteen years, began to converge to the 3D-secure (three domains security) protocol. These methods to secure the distant payment was adopted together by the card scheme Visa© and MasterCard©. The last, but not the least problem, concerns the distant authentication of the client by its bank, which is described in the future trends.
Security Issues in Mobile Code Paradigms
Authors: de Sousa Simão Melo , Freire Mário M. , Cardoso Rui C.
Published: May 2011

Unlike mobile computing, in which hardware moves, mobile code moves from nodes to other nodes and can change the machines where it is executed. A paradigmatic example of such mobile code are Java applets that can be downloaded from a distant machine and executed by a virtual machine embedded in a browser. Multi-application smart cards (like Javacards) are an example of an execution environment that allows the loading and the execution of (mobile) programs into a card after its issuance. Code mobility allows the software reconfiguration without delivering a physical support, as done by Sun initially with Java to reprogram cable TV boxes, or nowadays, by Microsoft to promptly distribute software patches. PostScript files are another type of mobile programs which execute in printers to produce graphic images. Mobile code may also be used in distributed systems to adapt autonomously in order to balance loads or compensate for hardware failures (Brooks, 2004). Mobile code has received a great deal of interest as a promising solution to increase system flexibility, scalability, and reliability. However, to reach such objectives, some issues need to be matured, namely security issues. This article addresses security issues in mobile code paradigms.
Simulation Model of Ant Colony Optimization for the FJSSP
Authors: Xing Li-Ning , Chen Ying-Wu , Yang Ke-Wei
Published: May 2011

The job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is generally defined as decision-making problems with the aim of optimizing one or more scheduling criteria. Many different approaches, such as simulated annealing (Wu et al., 2005), tabu search (Pezzella & Merelli, 2000), genetic algorithm (Watanabe, Ida, & Gen, 2005), ant colony optimization (Huang & Liao, 2007), neural networks (Wang, Qiao, &Wang, 2001), evolutionary algorithm (Tanev, Uozumi, & Morotome, 2004) and other heuristic approach (Chen & Luh, 2003; Huang & Yin, 2004; Jansen, Mastrolilli, & Solis-Oba, 2005; Tarantilis & Kiranoudis, 2002), have been successfully applied to JSSP. Flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSSP) is an extension of the classical JSSP which allows an operation to be processed by any machine from a given set. It is more complex than JSSP because of the addition need to determine the assignment of operations to machines. Bruker and Schlie (1990) were among the first to address this problem.
Tacit Knowledge and Discourse Analysis
Authors: Zappavigna-Lee Michele , Patrick Jon
Published: May 2011

The emphasis in information systems research is typically on converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge (Hershel, Nemati, & Steiger, 2001). Attention is also given to setting up a dichotomy of tacit and explicit knowledge in terms of articulation (can it be carried in language?), codification (can it be turned into an artifact?) or judgment (is it objective or subjective?). This article is structured to critique the dominant position in information systems research that tacit knowledge is ineffable. The background section provides an introduction to the extensive interdisciplinary literature on tacit knowledge, providing context for the subsequent section that deconstructs the assumptions that this literature makes about what it means to, in Polanyi’s (1966, p. 4) terms, “know more than we can tell.” To conclude, the role of linguistic and semiotic analysis in realising the growing trend toward theorising “community knowing,” rather than knowledge as an artifact, is suggested in the final sections.
Trust Management in Virtual Product Development Networks
Authors: Wong Eric T.T.
Published: May 2011

The basic hypothesis forwarded in this chapter is that a major cause for VPN failure is managerial, and therefore controllable and potentially avoidable. Although today’s managers are well-trained in competitive behavior, cooperative processes in VPN require special trust management(TM) skills, skills that a majority of managers do not possess. As a result, cooperation often appears to be managed reactively, rather than being based on a deliberate, proactive cooperation strategy. For a VPN to be competitive and successful in a dynamic environment characterized by constantly changing customer demands and technological innovations, it must be capable of rapid adjustment in order to reduce the time and cost needed to deliver to the customer quality products. The main objective of this chapter is to propose essential guidelines for developing and maintaining partnership trust in Virtual Product Development Networks (VPDN) such that these networks can be managed in a proactive manner. In the following sections, the background of VPDN collaboration will be described, followed by an analysis of the key factors likely contributing to successful VPN collaboration. Based on findings reported in the trust and product development literature, basic requirements for developing and maintaining effective partnership trust in VPDNs have been proposed. Barriers likely to occur in practice are also outlined.