bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Collaboration in Multi-stakeholder, Multi-cultural Organizational Environments
Authors: A Straka Douglas 
Published: October 2017

[This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology]

Aim/Purpose	: Governments, private business, and academia have become increasingly aware of the importance of collaboration in multi-stakeholder, multicultural environments. This is due to the globalization and (developing) mutual relationships with other global partners, due to the often varying visions and goals between the respective organizations in managing projects that span those environments.

Background:	This research conducts a survey of literature pertaining to organizational collaboration in multi-stakeholder, multicultural environments in government, private business, and academic sectors, conducting an analysis to identify the gaps in the basic questions thus far explored in the literature. The gap analysis will expose the opportunities for greater collaboration in these environments.

Methodology: The author conducted a literature review to identify existing research gaps to focus interviews that will develop multiple case studies in future research

Contribution/Findings: This literature review has determined gaps in understanding how contributing factors to cultural communication impact collaboration in multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder organizations, encouraging additional research in this area

Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners have the opportunity to develop their use of cultural communication contributing factors, potentially increasing their collaboration efficiency.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Researchers have opportunity to gather empirical evidence that factors of cultural communication may influence collaboration in the multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder environment.

Impact on Society: Improved understanding of how cultural communication factors influence collaboration in multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder organizations can improve organizational efficiency.

Future Research:	Gather empirical evidence that factors of cultural communication may influence collaboration in the multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder environment.
Can Learners Become Teachers? Evaluating the Merits of Student Generated Content and Peer Assessment
Authors: E Murray David , J. McGill Tanya , Toohey Danny , Thompson Nik 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this project was to explore student perceptions of the value of both the creation of video content and exposure to other students’ work though peer assessment and inclusion of exemplars as unit material.

Background: The research was in a first year information technology flipped-learning unit, where the assessment involved students developing video presentations that were peer assessed and exemplars incorporated into the unit as teaching material.

Methodology: Data was gathered using a mixed methods approach using an online questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with a selection of questionnaire respondents. The interviews were designed to further explore issues identified from the analysis of the questionnaire data.

Contribution: Informs on student perceptions of peer review and the integration of student generated content into University teaching.

Findings: Most students enjoyed the video assessment (58%) with many preferring it to a written or programming task (55-58%). In the subsequent peer assessment, many liked seeing the work of others (67%) and found the approach engaging (63%) yet some other perceptions were mixed or neutral.

Recommendations for Practitioners: University IT students generally enjoyed and perceived peer assessment and found student generated content to be valuable.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Further investigation of peer review and student generated content in contexts where the student cohort represents a variety of cultures and age categories

Impact on Society: Contributes to a body of knowledge regarding peer assessment and student generated educational materials.

Future Research: Future work is needed to better understand this domain, in particular the role of learners’ individual differences in order to successfully integrate these approaches into modern learning environments.
The Emergent Global Marketing Challenges For Kerala Cardamom Producers Vis-à-Vis The Role Of The Spices Board Of India
Authors: George Majo , Cherian Elsa 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: Since the late 1980s the Indian monopoly on the export of Cardamom has suffered a sharp and devastating setback from which India cannot recover. The research is looking into the reasons and suggests remedies.

Background: The main problems are the competition from Guatemala, higher production costs, an increasing domestic demand, the lack of action from the Spices Board of India

Methodology	: The methodology used was not the conventional one, with an aim to obtain truthful and unbiased responses from all those involved using a mixture of all available methods.

Contribution: The paper focuses on the provocations, limitations and seriousness of the situation and highlights the facts and figures to make the plantation sector to regain its prosperity.

Findings: Lack of awareness among the farmers about the latest farming and post harvesting technologies and marketing strategies.

Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper suggests measures to be taken by the cardamom farmers and the market intermediaries, and analyses the future role of the Spices Board of India

Recommendation for Researchers:	Further detailed studies are needed to ascertain current market share of the main competitors, to reduce the cost of production

Impact on Society: If the findings in this paper are followed, the Indian Cardamom industry could retain its previous position in the market

Future Research: Studies can be done export market, the use technology and export.
Anxiety & Performance in Online Learning
Authors: George Saadé Raafat , Kira Dennis , Mak Tak , Nebebe Fassil 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: To investigate the state of anxiety and associated expected performance in online courses at the undergraduate level.

Background:	Online courses continue to increase dramatically. Computer related anxieties remain an important issue, and, in this context, it has evolved to online learning anxieties with deeper psychological states involved. Consequently, performance is compromised.

Methodology: A first semester online course in information technology was used for the study. A survey methodology approach was used for the anxiety scale measurements. A sample of 1377 participants was obtained.

Contribution: Although there are many technology and internet related anxieties studies, they are relatively scarce. Characteristics of educational performance as they relate to anxiety have not matured and are still controversial. We contribute to this body of literature.

Findings: 30% of students seem to experience some sort of anxiety with online courses. Female students are more anxious about taking online courses than male.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Through successive iterations between design and measuring the experience of anxiety, it is important to identify and mitigate sources of anxieties and to design course with greater distribution of marks on more tasks.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Anxiety in online learning should take front stage as it represents an underlying stream of influence on all research in the field.

Impact on Society: It has been shown that the progress of nations depends on the academic performance of its students. As such, studies have also shown that anxiety in learning affects performance. Ultimately this impacts the nation’s progress and quality of life.

Future Research: Pedagogy for efficient and effective online courses to reduce anxieties and enhance performance.
Outsourcing Best Practice - The Case of Large Construction Firms in Iran
Authors: Akbari Mohammadreza , J Clarke Steven , Maleki Far Shaghayegh 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: During an evolutionary time for Iran the purpose of this research study was to establish the outsourcing best practices in the area of supply chain by investigating in the construction firms in Iran, which is identified as the most successful industry in outsourcing.

Background:	Clarifying outsourcing decisions have been a difficult and challenging task because the outsourcing itself is complex. Meanwhile, the construction industry is recognized as one of the most complex and vibrant industries, although no concentration was set to outsourcing practices and its approach in construction firms in Iran. This paper aims to address this gap.

Methodology: Based on a combination of academic literature, screening interviews, and survey, data was collected from Iranian construction firms involved in outsourcing. Participants were senior managers and CEOs from twenty one large construction firms in Tehran. The analysis methods in this study were centered on comparative analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and relative important indices.

Contribution: The paper offers insight into outsourcing decisions, focusing on Iranian construction firms.

Findings: The findings identified that construction firms regularly choose to outsource their operation functions/processes to find operational expertise, a wider pool of knowledge and experience, and cost restructuring. The study revealed that selective outsourcing was the popular practiced outsourcing type in construction firms. On the other hand, the study has acknowledged that construction firms mainly practiced strategic outsourcing as a level of outsourcing. The study established that conducting a need analysis prior to making the outsourcing decision is the outsourcing success element for Iranian construction firms. Lastly, the result shows that nearly two thirds of the large construction firms were identified as successful at outsourcing process.

Recommendations for Practitioners and Researchers: The outcomes of this research offer practical value for construction managers and researchers to choose the best outsourcing practices method.
Impact on Society	As the sanctions are removed, it is predicted the economic settings in Iran will become more firm and the findings of the study will assist the successful implementation of outsourcing in economic growth of Iran.

Future Research: To further development of this study, an in-depth investigation into risks involved in outsourcing, reasons to insource, economical and environmental effects on outsourcing process, cultural and social effects, as well as the result of sanctions on the process of outsourcing can provide more insight to the outsourcing practitioners.
Transforming Communications in the Workplace: The Impact of UC on Perceived Productivity in a Multi-national Corporation
Authors: Fluker Joy , Coffin Murray Meg 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: Unified Communications (UC) is touted as a technology that will transform business communication. While positive claims abound, the factors of UC attributable to its success have yet to be identified. By examining how users perceive UC impacts productivity, this study aids organizations in making better decisions regarding investments in and usage of communications technologies.

Background:	Unified Communications integrates disparate communications and information sharing applications into a single platform. The promise of UC is that it will revolutionize the workplace by providing a more synchronized fit between the way people communicate and the technology they use.

Methodology: Through case study research conducted within a large multinational corporation (the Hewlett Packard Company), this study investigated the impact of UC on productivity. Interview narratives were examined using an open coding technique to capture individual perceptions of productivity. Further, to assess the role UC plays in facilitating relationship building and its connection to productivity, participant responses were mapped to the key factors of technology that influence relationships within an organization as identified by Dillon and Montano (2005).

Contribution: This research contributes to studies on the impact of UC on productivity in the workplace.
Findings	UC was found to increase personal productivity, remove communication barriers, and create a more positive work environment.

Recommendations for Practitioners	: The findings of this study will aid organizations in making investment decisions as they evolve their business communications strategy.

Impact on Society: Unified Communications will play an increasingly important role as people adapt to the evolving digital world through which they communicate and collaborate.

Future Research: Little research exists that examines the impact of UC within an organization. Additional research investigating the use of UC in a variety of business sectors is needed.
Devising Enabling Spaces and Affordances for Personal Knowledge Management System Design
Authors: Schmitt Ulrich 
Published: October 2017

[This Proceedings paper was revised and published in Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline (InfoSci)]

Aim/Purpose: Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) has been envisaged as a crucial tool for the growing creative class of knowledge workers, but adequate technological solutions have not been forthcoming.

Background:	Based on former affordance-related publications (primarily concerned with communication, community-building, collaboration, and social knowledge sharing), the common and differing narratives in relation to PKM are investigated in order to suggest further PKM capabilities and affordances in need to be conferred.

Methodology: The paper follows up on a series of the author’s PKM-related publications, firmly rooted in design science research (DSR) methods and aimed at creating an innovative PKM concept and prototype system.

Contribution: The affordances presented offer PKM system users the means to retain and build upon knowledge acquired in order to sustain personal growth and facilitate productive collaborations between fellow learners and/or professional acquaintances.

Findings: The results call for an extension of Nonaka’s SECI model and ‘ba’ concept and provide arguments for and evidence supporting the claims that the PKM concept and system is able to facilitate better knowledge traceability and KM practices.

Recommendations and Impact on Society: Together with the prior publications, the paper points to current KM shortcomings and presents a novel trans-disciplinary approach offering appealing opportunities for stakeholders engaged in the context of curation, education, research, development, business, and entrepreneurship. Its potential to tackle opportunity divides has been addressed via a PKM for Development (PKM4D) Framework.

Future: DSR Activities	After completing the test phase of the prototype, its transformation into a viable PKM system and cloud-based server based on a rapid development platform and a noSQL-database is estimated to take 12 months.
Can Finance Education Benefit from Online Collaborative Methods? An Experiment
Authors: N Abou Jaoude Joe , G Saade Raafat 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: We introduce interactive and collaborative learning tools into a “traditional” finance course and collect feedback from the students concerning satisfaction, engagement, and overall learning. The aim is to show that collaborative learning methods have a place in finance academia.

Background: Finance education still relies on the traditional education model. We implement a collaborative learning method in a Finance course to measure its use on the topic.

Methodology	: We conducted two peer-to-peer sessions in a class environment, Following the two tests, we released a survey to collect information about the tool’s effectiveness. We received 42 responses out of a population of 57.

Contribution: Our case study aims to bridge the gap between the use of collaborative learning methods and the academic learning environment of finance.
Findings	The learning tool implemented was well received and provided a significant benefit to the students in the class, per the survey.

Recommendations for Practitioners	: We recommend further implementations of collaborative learning methods in finance, and their injection into other traditional courses to better study their effectiveness.

Recommendation for Researchers:	Experiments in different courses of the same field as well as different fields and different academic schools is needed to fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the collaborative learning tools.

Impact on Society: Moving away from the traditional academic model into an interactive and collaborative framework can help expand and extend the reach and effectiveness of education.

Future Research: Research on the tools is needed to fit this learning approach to the multiple fields of academia (if any are needed).
Design Based Research in Doctoral Studies: Adding a New Dimension to Doctoral Research
Authors: M Goff Wendy , Getenet Seyum 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: We show a new dimension to the process of using design-based research approach in doctoral dissertations.

Background:	Design-based research is a long-term and concentrated approach to educational inquiry. It is often a recommendation that doctoral students should not attempt to adopt this approach for their doctoral dissertations. In this paper, we document two doctoral dissertations that used a design-based research approach in two different contexts.

Methodology	: The study draws on a qualitative analysis of the methodological approaches of two doctoral dissertations through the lenses of Herrington, McKenney, Reeves and Oliver principles of design-based research approach.

Contribution: The findings of this study add a new dimension to using design-based research approach in doctoral dissertations in shorter-term and less intensive contexts.

Findings: The results of this study indicate that design-based research is not only an effective methodological approach in doctoral dissertations, but it also has the potential to guide future research direction beyond examination.

Recommendations for Practitioners	: The findings of this study demonstrate that the design based research approach could bring researchers and practitioners together regarding a common purpose to design context-based solutions to educational problems.

Impact on Society: We show an alternative view and application of design-based research in doctoral dissertations. Also, we identify the benefits of this type of research for doctoral students after completing their dissertations.
Let’s Tell a Story Together
Authors: Kelsey Karishma , J. Zaliwski Andrew 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose: The teaching solution presented in this paper was implemented to overcome the common problems encountered by authors during years of practice of applied business studies teaching.

Background:	In our school, we have deep multicultural environments where both teachers and students are coming from different countries and cultures. The typical problems encountered with students include: not reading the case studies, language problems, different backgrounds and cultures, a different understanding of leadership in teamwork related to various management traditions, lack of student participation, and engagement in teamwork.

Methodology	: The above problems were solved on the basis of the novelty use of several tools usually used separately: a combination of case studies with visualization and current representation of knowledge related to the case study. The visualization context is provided by “rich picture” (as a part of SSM methodology) to create a shared understanding among students. Another ingredient of the proposed solution is based on Pacific storytelling tradition and the Pacific methodology of solving problems.

Contribution: It was suggested the new delivery model strengthening advantages of case studies.

Findings: Studies and surveys made from 2009 to the present are promising. There is a visible improvement in students’ grades and observed changes in students’ behavior toward more active in-class participation.

Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper focuses on implementation and technical aspects of the presented method. However, the application of the presented method needs robust and time-consuming preparation of the teacher before the class.

Recommendation for Researchers:	The current results show that the proposed method has the potential to improve students’ experience in applied business courses. The project is ongoing and will undergo progressive changes while collecting new experiences. The method may be applied to other types of courses. By focusing on the storytelling and rich picture, we avoid technological bias when we teach business problem-solving. We focus instead on teaching students the social-organizational interactions influencing the problem solution.

Impact on Society: Implementing of cultural sensitivity into the teaching process. Making teaching process more attractive for multicultural students.

Future Research: Reducing teacher overload when using the method presented by the development of computerized tools. This is undergoing through utilizing Unreal Engine. Also, it is planned to enhance our team by artists and designers related to computer games.
Applying a Fit Perspective to College Presidential Turnover and Selection
Authors: L. McNaughtan Jon 
Published: October 2017

Aim/Purpose	: The role of college presidents has become increasingly critical, yet their tenure as institutional leaders have decreased over the last half century, leading to institutional instability and an expensive search process for new presidents. Scholars have sought to understand this phenomenon by focusing on either presidential characteristics, or institutional characteristics, with few approaches that examine both.

Contribution: This article posits that our understanding of presidential departure and selection is in need of a more holistic and theoretically sound approach. This paper presents a structured literature review college presidential turnover that illustrates the limited approaches taken to understand this challenge.

Recommendations for Practitioners	: The conceptual framework presented here provides practitioners with specific areas to focus on when seeking to measure fit with their current/ future presidents. This is beneficial as it leads to intentional defining of goals, values, skills, and experiences desired in a new president and clarifies expectations for the incoming leader. In addition, this article argues that such models could enhance presidential evaluations.

Recommendation for Researchers: This model can help illuminate underlying causes of presidential turnover, and offers a theoretically robust model for building on past research in a cohesive way. Further, researchers should seek to apply this model in to many professions in higher education as a way to both understand challenges created by employee is fit, and the benefits of strong fit on efficiency and effectiveness.