A Human Capital Perspective of Organizational Intention to Adopt Open Source Software
This study adopts the human capital perspective as a theoretical lens to understand the factors that influence organizational intention to adopt open source software (OSS). We posit that availability of internal human capital and accessibility to external human capital significantly affect an organization’s intention to adopt OSS either directly or indirectly through switching cost. We analyze survey responses from 81 chief information officers or information systems managers and the results indicate that organizational availability of internal human capital has an indirect effect on an organization’s intention to adopt OSS through switching cost whereas accessibility to external human capital has a direct effect on an organization’s intention to adopt OSS. This study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the unique approach from the human capital perspective adds to the extant literature on organizational adoption of innovation and calls for more attention to be directed at understanding the influence of human capital in an increasingly technologically complex environment. Practically, our findings suggest that potential OSS adopters and proponents should develop the human capital necessary for effective exploitation of OSS.

title: An Investigation of Online Group-Buying Institution and Buyer Behavior
abstract: This study draws on interdependency theory to propose and assess the effects of two artifacts - conditional purchase and information cue - on decisional choice in the online group-buying context. Our results suggest that buyers presented with conditional purchase options (i.e., of not honoring the purchase when the expected discount price is not met) are more willing to make a purchase choice (i.e., deviate from an inactive inertia). Counter-intuitively, provision of information cues (i.e., information about procurement actions of the other buyers) appears to induce inaction. However, when a choice has to be made between a riskier and a less risky choice, the presence of information cues leads to a higher propensity for the riskier choice. Implications for theory and practice are further discussed.

title: An Empirical Investigation of the Auction Buyer's Choice to Buy Out or Bid: Cry of Regret or Laugh of Satisfaction?
abstract: Online auction buyers often face the predicament of choosing between the buyout strategy and the bidding strategy to acquire an auctioned product. A buyer who chooses to buy out will obtain the item immediately at the posted price while the one who chooses to bid will have to monitor the bidding process in the hope of acquiring the product at a price lower than the posted one. Despite the wealth of auction literature, relatively few studies empirically assess the buyout option. This study seeks to bridge the gap by investigating how the buyout option (permanent or temporary) and price parameters (starting price and buyout price) affect the formation of two emotions, namely anticipated satisfaction of choice and anticipated regret of outcome, which in turn affect the buying strategy (i.e., buy out or bid). We employ laboratory experiments in our study and our results indicate two interesting findings. First, when the permanent buyout option is available, a buyer is more likely to exhibit loss aversion characteristics and prefer to adopt the buyout strategy. Second, when the temporary buyout option is present, the thought that one could avoid premature ending of auction by exercising the bidding option at the start decreases one’s preference for adopting the buyout strategy. Implications of these results for further research and practice are discussed.

title: Comparison-Shopping Websites: An Empirical Investigation on the Influence of Decision Aids and Information Load on Consumer Decision-Making Behavior
abstract: Rapid advances in Internet commerce technology have brought about the emergence of comparison-shopping Websites, which act as agents to consolidate vast amounts of product information. Researchers have traditionally focused on incorporating the latest database interrogation technology and investigating the economic implications of the existence of comparison-shopping Websites. Little attention has been paid to understanding whether the decision aids provided are capable of assisting a consumer in managing a large quantity of information or, more importantly, are compatible with the decision-making behavior of the consumer. This study surveys several successful comparison-shopping Websites, enumerates two comercially successful forms of decision aids (i.e., screening and sorting), and examines their effects on decision effectiveness under different information loads. Based on a 3×2×2 factorial controlled experiment, we had three major findings. First, more sophisticated screening aids that assist a consumer in filtering a large quantity of information do not necessarily improve decision effectiveness. Surprisingly, our results even suggest that in some circumstances the opposite could be true. Second, the results indicate that the effectiveness of decision aids, to a large extent, depends on the information load. Third, decision makers are adaptive. One may supplement the absence of more sophisticated screening aids with the sorting aid.

title: Key Substitution Attacks on Some Provably Secure Signature Schemes

title: Hough technique for bar charts detection and recognition in document images
abstract: Charts are common graphic representation for scientific data in technical and business papers. We present a robust system for detecting and recognizing bar charts. The system includes three stages, preprocessing, detection and recognition. The kernel algorithm in detection is newly developed modified probabilistic Hough transform algorithm for parallel lines clusters detection. The main algorithms in recognition are bar pattern reconstruction and text primitives grouping in the Hough space which are also original. The experiments show the system can also recognize slant bar charts, or even hand-drawn charts.

title: Forecasting and Analysis of Marketing Data Using Neural Networks
abstract: This study aims to incorporate Artificial Neural Networks into a Marketing Decision Support System (MDSS), specifically, by discovering important variables that influence sales performance of colour television (CTV) sets in the Singapore market using neural networks. Three kinds of variables, expert knowledge, marketing information and environmental data, are examined. The information about the effects of each of these variables has been studied and made available for decision making. However, their combined effect is unknown. This study attempts to explore the combined effect for the benefit of our collaborator, a multinational corporation (MNC) in the consumer electronics industry in Singapore. Putting these three variables together as input variables results in a neural network model. Neural network training is conducted using historical data on CTV sales in Singapore collected over the past one and a half years. Sensitivity analysis is then performed to reduce input variables of neural networks. This is done by analyzing the weights of the input node connections in the trained neural networks using two different methods. The weaker variables can be excluded, and this results in a simpler model. Further, an R-Square value of almost 1 is obtained through the inclusion of an Unknown variable when the network model consisting only of the most influential variables is trained and tested. Knowing the most influential variables, which in this case include Average Price, Screen Size, Stereo Systems, Flat-Square screen type and Seasonal Factors, marketing managers can improve sales performance by paying more attention to them.

title: Neural Logic Network Learning Using Genetic Programming
abstract: Neural Logic Networks or Neulonets are hybrids of neural networks and expert systems capable of representing complex human logic in decision making. Each neulonet is composed of rudimentary net rules which themselves depict a wide variety of fundamental human logic rules. An early methodology employed in neulonet learning for pattern classification involved weight adjustments during back-propagation training which ultimately rendered the net rules incomprehensible. A new technique is now developed that allows the neulonet to learn by composing the net rules using genetic programming without the need to impose weight modifications, thereby maintaining the inherent logic of the net rules. Experimental results are presented to illustrate this new and exciting capability in capturing human decision logic from examples. The extraction and analysis of human logic net rules from an evolved neulonet will be discussed. These extracted net rules will be shown to provide an alternate perspective to the greater extent of knowledge that can be expressed and discovered. Comparisons will also be made to demonstrate the added advantage of using net rules, against the use of standard boolean logic of negation, disjunction and conjunction, in the realm of evolutionary computation.

title: Text extraction from name cards with complex design
abstract: This paper addresses the problem of text extraction from name card images with fanciful design containing complicated color background and reverse contrast regions. The proposed method is based on special edge detection followed by grouping of edges based on size, orientation and color attributes. The difficulties from color complexity caused by background color variation or reverse contrast are overcome by edge detection and color histogram. The grouping of edges filters out the background textures or graphical objects. The final detected text grouping is then binarized for OCR. Experimental results show improved text extraction in comparison with a conventional method.