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A Methodology for Increasing Business Process Maturity in Public Sector




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The Technology Ownership and Information Acquisition Habits of HBCU Freshmen




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From Tailored Databases to Wikis: Using Emerging Technologies to Work Together More Efficiently




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Knowledge Production in Networked Practice-based Innovation Processes – Interrogative Model as a Methodological Approach




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Ontology-based Collaborative Inter-organizational Knowledge Management Network




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Pedagogy for Mobile ICT Learning Using Video-Conferencing Technology




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Adaptive Innovation and a MOODLE-based VLE to Support a Fully Online MSc Business Information Technology (BIT) at the University of East London (UEL)




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Discovering Interesting Association Rules in the Web Log Usage Data




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Generativity: The New Frontier for Information and Communication Technology Literacy




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Using eTechnologies for Active Learning




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Socio-Technical Knowledge Management and Epistemological Paradigms: Theoretical Connections at the Individual and Organisational Level




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A Knowledge Integration Methodology for Developing Customized Maintenance Documents




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A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis of Collaboration Technology in the Navy

Collaboration technologies enable people to communicate and use information to make organizational decisions. The United States Navy refers to this concept as information dominance. Various collaboration technologies are used by the Navy to achieve this mission. This qualitative descriptive study objectively examined how a matrix oriented Navy activity perceived an implemented collaboration technology. These insights were used to determine whether a specific collaboration technology achieved a mission of information dominance. The study used six collaboration themes as a foundation to include: (a) Cultural intelligence, (b) Communication, (c) Capability, (d) Coordination, (e) Cooperation, and (f) Convergence. It was concluded that collaboration technology was mostly perceived well and helped to achieve some levels of information dominance. Collaboration technology improvement areas included bringing greater awareness to the collaboration technology, revamping the look and feel of the user interface, centrally paying for user and storage fees, incorporating more process management tools, strategically considering a Continuity of Operations, and incorporating additional industry best practices for data structures. Emerging themes of collaboration were collected to examine common patterns identified in the collected data. Emerging themes included acceptance, awareness, search, scope, content, value, tools, system performance, implementation, training, support, usage, structure, complexity, approach, governance/configuration management/policy, and resourcing.




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KenVACS: Improving Vaccination of Children through Cellular Network Technology in Developing Countries

Health Data collection is one of the major components of public health systems. Decision makers, policy makers, and medical service providers need accurate and timely data in order to improve the quality of health services. The rapid growth and use of mobile technologies has exerted pressure on the demand for mobile-based data collection solutions to bridge the information gaps in the health sector. We propose a prototype using open source data collection frameworks to test its feasibility in improving the vaccination data collection in Kenya. KenVACS, the proposed prototype, offers ways of collecting vaccination data through mobile phones and visualizes the collected data in a web application; the system also sends reminder short messages service (SMS) to remind parents on the date of the next vaccination. Early evaluation demonstrates the benefits of such a system in supporting and improving vaccination of children. Finally, we conducted a qualitative study to assess challenges in remote health data collection and evaluated usability and functionality of KenVACS.




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Does Usability Matter? An Analysis of the Impact of Usability on Technology Acceptance in ERP Settings

Though the field of management information systems, as a sector and a discipline, is the inventor of many guidelines and models, it appears to be a slow runner on practical implications of interface usability. This usability can influence end users’ attitude and behavior to use IT. The purpose of this paper was to examine the interface usability of a popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system, SAP, and to identify related issues and implications to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A survey was conducted of 112 SAP ERP users from an organization in the heavy metal industry in Bangladesh. The partial least squares technique was used to analyze the survey data. The survey findings empirically confirmed that interface usability has a significant impact on users’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use which ultimately affects attitudes and intention to use the ERP software. The research model extends the TAM by incorporating three criteria of interface usability. It is the first known study to investigate usability criteria as an extension of TAM.




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Towards A Methodology for the Pre-Stage of Implementing a Reengineering Project

In order to reduce cost, improve functionality and gain competitive advantages, organizations resort to reengineering projects by developing and making changes to organizational processes. The absence of a unified methodology and appropriate analytic approaches prior to the implementation of reengineering projects has made authorities not to adopt correct decision making approaches in this respect. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology that has to be adopted prior to the implementation of reengineering projects. The statistical population here consists of 25 expert analysts with MA and PhD degrees who are subject to answering a questionnaire. In this proposed methodology the Multi Criterion Decision Making model is applied to allow the analysts to select appropriate models for better and accurate implementation through the least failure coefficient. The Neyriz White Cement Corporation is selected as the subject and the obtained results are compared with the results obtained from similar implemented projects.




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Analogical Thinking for Generation of Innovative Ideas: An Exploratory Study of Influential Factors

Analogical thinking is one of the most effective tools to generate innovative ideas. It enables us to develop new ideas by transferring information from well-known domains and utilizing them in a novel domain. However, using analogical thinking does not always yield appropriate ideas, and there is a lack of consensus among researchers regarding the evaluation methods for assessing new ideas. Here, we define the appropriateness of generated ideas as having high structural and low superficial similarities with their source ideas. This study investigates the relationship between thinking process and the appropriateness of ideas generated through analogical thinking. We conducted four workshops with 22 students in order to collect the data. All generated ideas were assessed based on the definition of appropriateness in this study. The results show that participants who deliberate more before reaching the creative leap stage and those who are engaged in more trial and error for deciding the final domain of a new idea have a greater possibility of generating appropriate ideas. The findings suggest new strategies of designing workshops to enhance the appropriateness of new ideas.




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Research Foci, Methodologies, and Theories Used in Addressing E-Government Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in Developing Countries

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the key research foci, methodologies, and theoretical perspectives adopted by researchers when studying E-government accessibility for persons with disabilities (PWDs), particularly in developing countries. The study aims to develop a conceptual framework for designing accessible E-government for PWDs in developing countries. Background: Studies on E-government accessibility for persons with disabilities in developing countries have been minimal. The few studies conducted until now have failed to integrate PWDs, a population already marginalized, into the digital society. Accessibility has been identified by researchers as a major hindrance to PWDs participating in E-government. It is imperative therefore to examine the manner in which researchers investigate and acquire knowledge about this phenomenon. Methodology : The study synthesizes literature from top IS journals following a systematic literature review approach. The data synthesis focuses on identifying key concepts relating to E-government accessibility for PWDs. Contribution: The study contributes to the field of E-government, with a focus on how E-government services can be made accessible to PWDs. The study calls on researchers to reflect on their epistemological and ontological paradigms when examining accessibility of E-government services in developing countries. Findings: The findings show that most researchers focus on the evaluation of E-government websites and predominantly adopt quantitative methods. The study also reveals that the use of technological determinism as a theoretical lens is high among researchers. Recommendations for Practitioners : The study recommends that E-government web developers and policy makers involve PWDs from design to evaluation in the development of E-government applications. Recommendation for Researchers: The study advocates the need to conduct studies on E-government accessibility by employing more qualitative and mixed approaches to gain in-depth and better understanding of the phenomenon. Impact on Society : This study creates greater awareness and points out inadequacies that society needs to address to make E-government more inclusive of and participatory for PWDs. Future Research: Further empirical work is required in order to refine the relevance and applicability of various constructs in EADM so as to arrive at a framework for addressing E-government accessibility for PWDs in developing countries.




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Typology on Leadership toward Creativity in Virtual Work

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to develop a descriptive typology to better identify leadership toward creativity in virtual work in different types of companies. Background: The study empirically explores how leadership toward creativity occurs in virtual work and uses the theoretical lenses of creativity-conducive leadership and heterarchy to generate a typology. Methodology : A multiple qualitative case study design, interpretivist approach, and abductive analysis are applied. Data is collected by interviewing 21 leaders and employees face-to-face in four companies in the ICT sector and one business advisor company. Contribution: The empirical evidence of this study enriches the understanding of leadership toward creativity in virtual work and contributes to the limited empirical knowledge on leadership that stimulates a virtual workforce to achieve creativity. Findings: The four different types of companies in the typology utilize various transitions toward leadership creativity in virtual work. The trend in leadership in the existing virtually networked business environment is toward the “collective mind” company, which is characterized by shared values, meaningful work, collective intelligence, conscious reflection, transparency, coaching, empowering leadership by example, effective multichannel interaction, and assertiveness. The findings empirically support applying a heterarchy perspective to lead a virtual workforce toward creativity and promote leaders who are genuinely interested in people, their development, collaboration, and technology. Recommendations for Practitioners: The typology helps professionals realize the need to develop leadership, communication, interaction, learning, and growth to foster creative interaction and improve productivity and competitiveness. Recommendation for Researchers: This study enables researchers to more rigorously and creatively conceptualize the conditions and relationships in leadership that facilitate creativity in virtual work. Impact on Society : The findings highlight humanistic values for developing leadership. The study strengthens the view that collective creativity in virtual work cannot emerge without virtual and physical interaction in appropriate spaces and caring for each other. Future Research: Future studies may focus on other fields, industries, networks, roles of materialities, and employees in fostering creativity and on theory development. Longitudinal studies are advisable.




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Crisis and Disaster Situations on Social Media Streams: An Ontology-Based Knowledge Harvesting Approach

Aim/Purpose: Vis-à-vis management of crisis and disaster situations, this paper focuses on important use cases of social media functions, such as information collection & dissemination, disaster event identification & monitoring, collaborative problem-solving mechanism, and decision-making process. With the prolific utilization of disaster-based ontological framework, a strong disambiguation system is realized, which further enhances the searching capabilities of the user request and provides a solution of unambiguous in nature. Background: Even though social media is information-rich, it has created a challenge for deriving a decision in critical crisis-related cases. In order to make the whole process effective and avail quality decision making, sufficiently clear semantics of such information is necessary, which can be supplemented through employing semantic web technologies. Methodology: This paper evolves a disaster ontology-based system availing a framework model for monitoring uses of social media during risk and crisis-related events. The proposed system monitors a discussion thread discovering whether it has reached its peak or decline after its root in the social forum like Twitter. The content in social media can be accessed through two typical ways: Search Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and Streaming APIs. These two kinds of API processes can be used interchangeably. News content may be filtered by time, geographical region, keyword occurrence and availability ratio. With the support of disaster ontology, domain knowledge extraction and comparison against all possible concepts are availed. Besides, the proposed method makes use of SPARQL to disambiguate the query and yield the results which produce high precision. Contribution: The model provides for the collection of crisis-related temporal data and decision making through semantic mapping of entities over concepts in a disaster ontology we developed, thereby disambiguating potential named entities. Results of empirical testing and analysis indicate that the proposed model outperforms similar other models. Findings: Crucial findings of this research lie in three aspects: (1) Twitter streams and conventional news media tend to offer almost similar types of news coverage for a specified event, but the rate of distribution among topics/categories differs. (2) On specific events such as disaster, crisis or any emergency situations, the volume of information that has been accumulated between the two news media stands divergent and filtering the most potential information poses a challenging task. (3) Relational mapping/co-occurrence of terms has been well designed for conventional news media, but due to shortness and sparseness of tweets, there remains a bottleneck for researchers. Recommendations for Practitioners: Though metadata avails collaborative details of news content and it has been conventionally used in many areas like information retrieval, natural language processing, and pattern recognition, there is still a lack of fulfillment in semantic aspects of data. Hence, the pervasive use of ontology is highly suggested that build semantic-oriented metadata for concept-based modeling, information flow searching and knowledge exchange. Recommendation for Researchers: The strong recommendation for researchers is that instead of heavily relying on conventional Information Retrieval (IR) systems, one can focus more on ontology for improving the accuracy rate and thereby reducing ambiguous terms persisting in the result sets. In order to harness the potential information to derive the hidden facts, this research recommends clustering the information from diverse sources rather than pruning a single news source. It is advisable to use a domain ontology to segregate the entities which pose ambiguity over other candidate sets thus strengthening the outcome. Impact on Society: The objective of this research is to provide informative summarization of happenings such as crisis, disaster, emergency and havoc-based situations in the real world. A system is proposed which provides the summarized views of such happenings and corroborates the news by interrelating with one another. Its major task is to monitor the events which are very booming and deemed important from a crowd’s perspective. Future Research: In the future, one shall strive to help to summarize and to visualize the potential information which is ranked high by the model.




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Information Technology Capabilities and SMEs Performance: An Understanding of a Multi-Mediation Model for the Manufacturing Sector

Aim/Purpose: Despite the fact that the plethora of studies demonstrate the positive impact of information technology (IT) capabilities on SMEs performance, the understanding of underlying mechanisms through which IT capabilities affect the firm performance is not yet clear. This study fills these gaps by explaining the roles of absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship. The study also elaborates the effect of IT capability dimensions (IT integration and IT alignment) upon the SMEs performance outcomes through the mediating sequential process of absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship. Methodology: This study empirically tests a theoretical model based on the Dynamic Capability View (DCV), by using the partial least square (PLS) technique with a sample of 489 manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan. A survey is employed for the data collection by following the cluster sampling approach. Contribution: This research contributes to the literature of IT by bifurcating the IT capability into two dimensions, IT integration and IT alignment, which allows us to distinguish between different sources of IT capabilities. Additionally, our findings shed the light on the dynamic capability view by theoretically and empirically demonstrating how absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship sequentially affect the firms' performance outcomes. At last, this study contributes to the literature of SMEs by measuring the two levels of performance: innovation performance and firm performance. Findings: The results of the analysis show that the absorptive capacity and the corporate entrepreneurship significantly mediate the relationship between both dimensions of IT capability and performance outcomes.




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A New Typology Design of Performance Metrics to Measure Errors in Machine Learning Regression Algorithms

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze various performance metrics and approaches to their classification. The main goal of the study was to develop a new typology that will help to advance knowledge of metrics and facilitate their use in machine learning regression algorithms Background: Performance metrics (error measures) are vital components of the evaluation frameworks in various fields. A performance metric can be defined as a logical and mathematical construct designed to measure how close are the actual results from what has been expected or predicted. A vast variety of performance metrics have been described in academic literature. The most commonly mentioned metrics in research studies are Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), etc. Knowledge about metrics properties needs to be systematized to simplify the design and use of the metrics. Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted to achieve the objectives of identifying related peer-reviewed research studies, literature reviews, critical thinking and inductive reasoning. Contribution: The main contribution of this paper is in ordering knowledge of performance metrics and enhancing understanding of their structure and properties by proposing a new typology, generic primary metrics mathematical formula and a visualization chart Findings: Based on the analysis of the structure of numerous performance metrics, we proposed a framework of metrics which includes four (4) categories: primary metrics, extended metrics, composite metrics, and hybrid sets of metrics. The paper identified three (3) key components (dimensions) that determine the structure and properties of primary metrics: method of determining point distance, method of normalization, method of aggregation of point distances over a data set. For each component, implementation options have been identified. The suggested new typology has been shown to cover a total of over 40 commonly used primary metrics Recommendations for Practitioners: Presented findings can be used to facilitate teaching performance metrics to university students and expedite metrics selection and implementation processes for practitioners Recommendation for Researchers: By using the proposed typology, researchers can streamline development of new metrics with predetermined properties Impact on Society: The outcomes of this study could be used for improving evaluation results in machine learning regression, forecasting and prognostics with direct or indirect positive impacts on innovation and productivity in a societal sense Future Research: Future research is needed to examine the properties of the extended metrics, composite metrics, and hybrid sets of metrics. Empirical study of the metrics is needed using R Studio or Azure Machine Learning Studio, to find associations between the properties of primary metrics and their “numerical” behavior in a wide spectrum of data characteristics and business or research requirements




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Critical Success Factors for Implementing Business Intelligence Projects (A BI Implementation Methodology Perspective)

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for Business Intelligence (BI) implementation projects by studying the existing BI project implementation methodologies and to compare these methodologies based on the identified CSFs. Background: The implementation of BI project has become one of the most important technological and organizational innovations in modern organizations. The BI project implementation methodology provides a framework for demonstrating knowledge, ideas and structural techniques. It is defined as a set of instructions and rules for implementing BI projects. Identifying CSFs of BI implementation project can help the project team to concentrate on solving prior issues and needed resources. Methodology: Firstly, the literature review was conducted to find the existing BI project implementation methodologies. Secondly, the content of the 13 BI project implementation methodologies was analyzed by using thematic analysis method. Thirdly, for examining the validation of the 20 identified CSFs, two questionnaires were distributed among BI experts. The gathered data of the first questionnaire was analyzed by content validity ratio (CVR) and 11 of 20 CSFs were accepted as a result. The gathered data of the second questionnaire was analyzed by fuzzy Delphi method and the results were the same as CVR. Finally, 13 raised BI project implementation methodologies were compared based on the 11 validated CSFs. Contribution: This paper contributes to the current theory and practice by identifying a complete list of CSFs for BI projects implementation; comparison of existing BI project implementation methodologies; determining the completeness degree of existing BI project implementation methodologies and introducing more complete ones; and finding the new CSF “Expert assessment of business readiness for successful implementation of BI project” that was not expressed in previous studies. Findings: The CSFs that should be considered in a BI project implementation include: “Obvious BI strategy and vision”, “Business requirements definition”, “Business readiness assessment”, “BI performance assessment”, “Establishing BI alignment with business goals”, “Management support”, “IT support for BI”, “Creating data resources and source data quality”, “Installation and integration BI programs”, “BI system testing”, and “BI system support and maintenance”. Also, all the 13 BI project implementation methodologies can be divided into four groups based on their completeness degree. Recommendations for Practitioners: The results can be used to plan BI project implementation and help improve the way of BI project implementation in the organizations. It can be used to reduce the failure rate of BI implementation projects. Furthermore, the 11 identified CSFs can give a better understanding of the BI project implementation methodologies. Recommendation for Researchers: The results of this research helped researchers and practitioners in the field of business intelligence to better understand the methodology and approaches available for the implementation and deployment of BI systems and thus use them. Some methodologies are more complete than other studied methodologies. Therefore, organizations that intend to implement BI in their organization can select these methodologies according to their goals. Thus, Findings of the study can lead to reduce the failure rate of implementation projects. Future Research: Future researchers may add other BI project implementation methodologies and repeat this research. Also, they can divide CSFs into three categories including required before BI project implementation, required during BI project implementation and required after BI project implementation. Moreover, researchers can rank the BI project implementation CSFs. As well, Critical Failure Factors (CFFs) need to be explored by studying the failed implementations of BI projects. The identified CSFs probably affect each other. So, studying the relationship between them can be a topic for future research.




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Establishing a Security Control Framework for Blockchain Technology

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to propose a new information security controls framework for blockchain technology, which is currently absent from the National and International Information Security Standards. Background: Blockchain technology is a secure and relatively new technology of distributed digital ledgers, which is based on inter-linked blocks of transactions, providing great benefits such as decentralization, transparency, immutability, and automation. There is a rapid growth in the adoption of blockchain technology in different solutions and applications and within different industries throughout the world, such as finance, supply chain, digital identity, energy, healthcare, real estate, and the government sector. Methodology: Risk assessment and treatments were performed on five blockchain use cases to determine their associated risks with respect to security controls. Contribution: The significance of the proposed security controls is manifested in complementing the frameworks that were already established by the International and National Information Security Standards in order to keep pace with the emerging blockchain technology and prevent/reduce its associated information security risks. Findings: The analysis results showed that the proposed security controls herein can mitigate relevant information security risks in blockchain-based solutions and applications and, consequently, protect information and assets from unauthorized disclosure, modification, and destruction. Recommendations for Practitioners: The performed risk assessment on the blockchain use cases herein demonstrates that blockchain can involve security risks that require the establishment of certain measures in order to avoid them. As such, practitioners should not blindly assume that through the use of blockchain all security threats are mitigated. Recommendation for Researchers: The results from our study show that some security risks not covered by existing Standards can be mitigated and reduced when applying our proposed security controls. In addition, researchers should further justify the need for such additional controls and encourage the standardization bodies to incorporate them in their future editions. Impact on Society: Similar to any other emerging technology, blockchain has several drawbacks that, in turn, could have negative impacts on society (e.g., individuals, entities and/or countries). This is mainly due to the lack of a solid national and international standards for managing and mitigating risks associated with such technology. Future Research: The majority of the blockchain use cases in this study are publicly published papers. Therefore, one limitation of this study is the lack of technical details about these respective solutions, resulting in the inability to perform a comprehensive risk identification properly. Hence, this area will be expanded upon in our future work. In addition, covering other standardization bodies in the area of distributed ledger in blockchain technology would also prove fruitful, along with respective future design of relevant security architectures.




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The Influence of Soft Skills on Employability: A Case Study on Technology Industry Sector in Malaysia

Aim/Purpose: This research investigates the influence of soft skills on graduates’ employability in the technology industry, using the technology industry sector in Malaysia as a case. Background: Organizations are looking for appropriate mechanisms to hire qualified employees with strong soft skills and hard skills. This requires that job candidates possess a set of qualifications and skills which impact their employability. Methodology: Fuzzy Delphi analysis was conducted as preliminary study to identify the critical soft skills required by technology industry sector. The preliminary study produced ten critical soft skills to form a conceptual model of their influence on employability. Then, an online questionnaire survey was distributed in two industry companies in Malaysia to collect research data, and regression analysis was conducted to validate the conceptual model. Contribution: This research focuses on the influence of soft skills on graduate employability in the technology industry sector, since the selection of the best candidate in the industry will improve employee performance and lead to business success. Findings: The results of regression analysis confirmed that Communication skills, Attitude, Integrity, Learnability, Motivation, and Teamwork are significantly correlated with employability, which means that these soft skills are the critical factors for employability in Malaysian technology companies. Recommendations for Practitioners: The model proposed in this article can be used by employers to give better assessment of candidates’ compatibility with the jobs available. Impact on Society: This research highlights the critical soft skills required by technology industry sector, which will reduce the unemployment percentages among graduates. Future Research: More studies are required to examine the soft skills found in the literature and to define the most important skills from a general perspective of the industry. Future research should assess the moderating role of other variables, such as skills gap, employee performance, and employee knowledge. Furthermore, it is recommended to conduct similar studies of soft skills for employability in other countries.




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Adoption of Telecommuting in the Banking Industry: A Technology Acceptance Model Approach

Aim/Purpose: Currently, the world faces unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, particularly concerning individuals’ health and livelihood and organizations and industrial performance. Indeed, the pandemic has caused rapid intensifying socio-economic effects. For instance, organizations are shifting from traditional working patterns toward telecommuting. By adopting remote working, organizations might mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on their workforce, explicitly concerning their safety, wellbeing, mobility, work-life balance, and self-efficiency. From this perceptive, this study examines the factors that influence employees’ behavioral intention to adopt telecommuting in the banking industry. Background: The study’s relevance stems from the fact that telecommuting and its benefits have been assumed rather than demonstrated in the banking sector. However, the pandemic has driven the implementation of remote working, thereby revealing possible advantages of working from home in the banking industry. The study investigated the effect of COVID-19 in driving organizations to shift from traditional working patterns toward telecommuting. Thereby, the study investigates the banking sector employees’ behavioral intention to adopt telecommuting. Methodology: The study employed a survey-based questionnaire, which entails gathering data from employees of twelve banks in Jordan, as the banking sector in Jordan was the first to transform from traditional working to telecommuting. The sample for this research was 675 respondents; convenience sampling was employed as a sampling technique. Subsequently, the data were analyzed with the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to statistically test the research model. Contribution: Firstly, this study provides a deep examination and understanding of facilitators of telecommuting in a single comprehensive model. Secondly, the study pro-vides a deeper insight into the factors affecting behavioral intention towards telecommuting from the employees’ perspective in the banking sector. Finally, this study is the first to examine telecommuting in the emerging market of Jordan. Thereby, this study provides critical recommendations for managers to facilitate the implementation of telecommuting. Findings: Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study highlights significant relationships between telecommuting systems, quality, organizational support, and the perceived usefulness and ease of use in telecommuting. Employees who perceive telecommuting systems to be easy and receive supervision and training for using these systems are likely to adopt this work scheme. The results present critical theoretical and managerial implications regarding employees’ behavioral intentions toward telecommuting. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study suggests the importance of work-life balance for employees when telecommuting. Working from home while managing household duties can create complications for employees, particularly parents. Therefore, flexibility in terms of working hours is needed to increase employees’ acceptance of telecommuting as they will have more control over their life. These increase employees’ perceived self-efficacy with telecommuting, which smooths the transition toward remote working in the future. In addition, training will allow employees to solve technical issues that can arise from using online systems. Recommendation for Researchers: This study focused on the context of the banking sector. The sensitivity of data and transactions in this sector may influence employers’ and employees’ willingness to work remotely. In addition, the job descriptions of employees in banks moderate specific factors outlined in this model, including work-life balance. For instance, executive managers may have a higher overload in banks in contrast to front-line employees. Thus, future studies should explore different contexts, including manufacturing and consultation, to understand the industry’s effect on remote working. Similarly, future research should concentrate on the influence of job descriptions on employees’ intentions toward telecommuting. Impact on Society: The COVID-19 pandemic created a sudden shift towards telecommuting, which made employees struggle to adopt new work schemes. Therefore, managers had to provide training for their employees to be well prepared and increase their acceptance of telecommuting. Furthermore, telecommuting has a positive effect on work-life balance, it provides employees with the flexibility to organize their daily schedule into more activities. Along the same line, the study highlighted the correlation between work-life balance and telecommuting. Such a relationship provides further evidence for the need to understand employees’ lifestyles in facilitating the adoption of telecommuting. Moreover, the study extends the stream of literature by outlining critical factors affecting employees’ acceptance of telecommuting. Future Research: Future studies should explore different contexts, including manufacturing and consultation, to understand the industry’s effect on remote working. Similarly, future research should concentrate on the influence of job descriptions on employees’ intentions toward telecommuting. Furthermore, the research team conducted the study by surveying 12 banks. Future research recommends surveying the whole banking industry to add more validation to the model.




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Dark Side of Mobile Phone Technology: Assessing the Impact of Self-Phubbing and Partner-Phubbing on Life Satisfaction

Aim/Purpose: The study aims to explore the attributes of self-phubbing and partner-phubbing, as well as their impact on marital relationship satisfaction and the quality of communication. Furthermore, it aims to comprehend how these characteristics could impact an individual’s total level of life satisfaction. Background: The study aims to establish a clear association between specific mobile phone usage behaviors and their subsequent impact on relationship satisfaction and the quality of communication. This study investigates the effects of two types of behaviors on interpersonal relationships: self-phubbing, which refers to an individual being deeply absorbed in their own mobile phone use, and partner-phubbing, which refers to witnessing one’s partner being deeply absorbed in a mobile device. Methodology: This study utilizes a quantitative approach. The poll involved 150 smartphone users in Malaysia who are in relationships, and they participated by completing a questionnaire. The data analysis was performed using the Partial Least Squares-based Structural Equation Modeling method. Contribution: This research addresses the gap and gives insight into the consequences of self and partner phubbing and its impact on the relationship and life satisfaction among partners by providing a research model that was validated with primary data. Findings: The results of this survey show that smartphone conflicts harm relationship satisfaction but not communication quality. It was revealed that communication quality does not directly bring a negative impact on life satisfaction, but it directly affects relationship satisfaction, which, in turn, harms life satisfaction. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings of this study can be used by practitioners to improve relationship counseling and therapy. Through the integration of the notion of phubbing and its impact on relationship happiness, couples can receive guidance on how to reduce the tension that arises from using smartphones. Recommendation for Researchers: Previous research was conducted exclusively on only an individual’s phubbing behavior, but limited work was done on the partner’s phubbing behavior. Future researchers can enhance this model by identifying more factors. Impact on Society: This study addresses broader societal ramifications in addition to the dynamics of particular relationships. This study promotes a more mindful use of smartphones by exposing the complex relationships between technology use, relationship happiness, and general life contentment. This will ultimately lead to healthier relationships and improved societal well-being. Future Research: In the future, we are going to implement an artificial neural network approach to test this data to predict the most important factors that influence phubbing.




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Determinants of Knowledge Transfer for Information Technology Project Managers: A Systematic Literature Review

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the key determinants hindering Knowledge Transfer (KT) practices for Information Technology Project Managers (ITPMs) Background: The failure rate of IT projects remains unacceptably high worldwide, and KT between project managers and team members has been recognized as a significant issue affecting project success. Therefore, this study tries to identify the determinants of KT within the context of IT projects for ITPMs. Methodology: A systematic review of the literature (SLR) was employed in the investigation. The SLR found 28 primary studies on KT for ITPMs that were published in Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2010 and 2023. Contribution: Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was used to build a theoretical framework where the determinants were categorized into Personal factors, Environmental (Project organizational) factors, and other factors, such as Technological factors influencing ITPMs (Behavioral factors), to implement in KT practices. Findings: The review identified 11 key determinants categorized into three broad categories: Personal factors (i.e., motivation, absorptive capability, trust, time urgency), Project Organizational factors (i.e., team structure, leadership style, reward system, organizational culture, communication), and Technological factors (i.e., project task collaboration tool and IT infrastructure and support) that influence implementing KT for ITPMs Recommendations for Practitioners: The proposed framework in this paper can be used by project managers as a guide to adopt KT practices within their project organization. Recommendation for Researchers: The review showed that some determinants, such as Technological factors, have not been adequately explored in the existing KT model in the IT projects context and can be integrated with other relevant theories to understand how a project manager’s knowledge can be transferred and retained in the organization using technology in future research. Impact on Society: This study emphasizes the role of individual actions and project organizational and technological matters in shaping the efficacy of KT within project organizations. It offers insight that could steer business owners or executives within project organizations to closely observe the behavior of project managers, thereby securing successful project outcomes. Future Research: The determinant list provided in this paper is acquired from extensive SLR and, therefore, further research should aim to expand and deepen the investigation by validating these determinants from experts in the field of IT and project management. Future studies can also add other external technological determinants to provide a more comprehensive KT implementation framework. Similarly, this research does not include determinants identified directly from the industry, as it relies solely on determinants found in the existing literature. Although a comprehensive attempt has been made to encompass all relevant papers, there remains a potential for overlooking some research in this process.




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The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Business Performance: The Moderation Influence of Blockchain Technology

Aim/Purpose: The major challenges for firms to initiate corporate social responsibility (CSR) arise from resource constraints, complexity, and uncertainty. Consuming considerable financial and human resources is the main difficulty for smaller firms or those operating in less profitable industries, and the lack of immediate outputs from CSR initiatives poses a challenge for firms in prioritizing and assessing their effectiveness. Background: To better integrate CSR management into overall business strategy and decision-making processes, Blockchain technology (BCT) could potentially offer a feasible and optimal alternative to CSR reports. Methodology: This study uses the fixed effects regression by way of the Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDV) approach in STATA to analyze the direct effect of CSR management on business performance and the moderating effect of BCT adoption on this relationship with a panel data set of 5810 observations collected from the 874 listed companies in 2015 in Taiwan Stock Exchange through 2021. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the organizational factors that influence BCT adoption. Findings: The findings show that firms with high levels of CSR management have better business performance. Additionally, the adoption of BCT strengthens the positive relationship between CSR management and business performance, but it cannot replace the fundamental principles of CSR. Finally, firm size does not significantly affect BCT adoption, indicating that companies of all sizes have an equal opportunity to adopt BCT, which can help to level the playing field in terms of resources available to different firms. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study suggests that firms managing CSR practices have better business performance, and the adoption of BCTs further enhances this positive relationship. However, BCT adoption does not have the same positive effect on business performance as CSR practices. Additionally, this research can help to inform public policy related to BCT adoption and diffusion. Recommendation for Researchers: By exploring the factors that influence BCT adoption, future researchers can provide insights into the key challenges and opportunities faced by organizations of different sizes and help to develop strategies for promoting the effective adoption of BCT. Impact on Society: Given the limitations of current CSR reporting, the understanding gained from BCT applications can provide companies with an alternative mechanism to foster progress in CSR implementation. Future Research: Firstly, while the fixed-effects model might have dampened the power of explanation because it only captures within-unit variation and ignores between-unit variation, the explanatory power is further limited due to only integrating two independent variables in this model. Because of limited data availability, this study only utilizes CSR_Report and firm_size as independent variables. Future studies can consider more key factors and may lead to different results. Additionally, panel data is collected from Taiwan and, therefore, may not be representative of the broader population. Future researchers integrating the Stock Exchange of different countries are recommended.




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Learning to (Co)Evolve: A Conceptual Review and Typology of Network Design in Global Health Virtual Communities of Practice

Aim/Purpose: This conceptual review analyzes the designs of global health virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) programming reported in the empirical literature and proposes a new typology of their functioning. The purpose of this review is to provide clarity on VCoP learning stages of (co)evolution and insight into VCoP (re)development efforts to best meet member, organization, and network needs against an ever-evolving landscape of complexity in global health. Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of global health has seen an uptick in the use of VCoPs to support continuous learning and improve health outcomes. However, evidence of how different combinations of programmatic designs impact opportunities for learning and development is lacking, and how VCoPs evolve as learning networks has yet to be explored. Methodology: Following an extensive search for literature in six databases, thematic analysis was conducted on 13 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. This led to the development and discussion of a new typology of VCoP phases of learning (co)evolution. Contribution: Knowledge gained from this review and the new categorization of VCoPs can support the functioning and evaluation of global health training programs. It can also provide a foundation for future research on how VCoPs influence the culture of learning organizations and networks. Findings: Synthesis of findings resulted in the categorization of global health VCoPs into five stages (slightly evolving, somewhat revolving, moderately revolving, highly revolving, and coevolving) across four design domains (network development, general member engagement before/after sessions, general member engagement during sessions, and session leadership). All global health VCoPs reviewed showed signs of adaptation and recommended future evolution. Recommendations for Practitioners: VCoP practitioners should pay close attention to how the structured flexibility of partnerships, design, and relationship development/accountability may promote or hinder VcoP’s continued evolution. Practitioners should shift perspective from short to mid- and long-term VCoP planning. Recommendation for Researchers: The new typology can stimulate further research to strengthen the clarity of language and findings related to VCoP functioning. Impact on Society: VCoPs are utilized by academic institutions, the private sector, non-profit organizations, the government, and other entities to fill gaps in adult learning at scale. The contextual implementation of findings from this study may impact VCoP design and drive improvements in opportunities for learning, global health, and well-being. Future Research: Moving forward, future research could explore how VCoP evaluations relate to different stages of learning, consider evaluation stages across the totality of VCoP programming design, and explore how best to capture VCoP (long-term) impact attributed to health outcomes and the culture of learning organizations and networks.




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Factors Influencing Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Jordan: The Perspective of Health Care Professionals

Aim/Purpose: This paper investigates the user acceptability of blockchain technology in the healthcare sector, with a specific focus on healthcare professionals in Jordan. Background: The study seeks to identify the factors that affect healthcare professionals’ use and acceptance of blockchain technology in Jordan. Methodology: The study’s research framework integrates factors from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). A questionnaire was distributed to collect data from 372 healthcare professionals in Jordan, and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling based on the Partial Least Square (PLS) technique. Contribution: While only a few previous studies have explored blockchain technology acceptance in the healthcare sector using either the TAM or the UTAUT, this study uniquely integrates elements from both models, offering a novel approach that provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the acceptance of blockchain technology among healthcare professionals in Jordan. The findings can assist decision-makers in developing strategies to enhance the adoption rate of blockchain technology in the Jordanian healthcare sector. Findings: The study revealed that usability, convenience, privacy and security, cost, and trust significantly impact the perceived usefulness of blockchain technology. The findings also suggest that healthcare professionals are more likely to have a positive attitude towards blockchain-based healthcare systems if they perceive them as useful and easy to use. Attitude, social influence, and facilitating conditions were found to significantly impact behavioral intention to use. Recommendations for Practitioners: Stakeholders should focus on developing blockchain-based healthcare systems that are easy to use, convenient, efficient, and effort-free. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers may compare the acceptance of blockchain technology in the healthcare sector with other industries to identify industry-specific factors that may influence adoption. This comparative analysis can contribute to a broader understanding of technology acceptance. Impact on Society: Successful adoption of blockchain technology in the healthcare sector can lead to improved efficiency, enhanced protection of healthcare data, and reduced administrative burdens. This, in turn, can positively impact patient care and lead to cost savings, which contributes to more sustainable and accessible healthcare services. Future Research: Future research may explore integrating blockchain technology with other emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and sidechain, to create more comprehensive and innovative healthcare solutions.




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Technology competition of human-AI collaboration on the film and animation creation

The proposed work aims to discover the international technology competition and development of human-artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration on content creation in the film and animation industries to support the strategic planning, decision-making of R&D, and soft innovation. The study demonstrates a hybrid approach that combines technology life cycle (TLC) and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modelling. We analyse 1,982 patents of AI collaborating on creating film and animation in the primary patent application countries (i.e., patents applied to the intellectual property offices of the USA, China, Korea, Japan, and European Patent Office, EPO) from 2010 to 2020. The TLC results show growing trends in the international technology competition. The major topic trends corresponding to TLC phases denote strong potential or future stagnation signals in different countries. The study provides the future R&D signals and suggests stimulating soft innovation with human-AI collaboration to face growing competition.




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Ethical pitfalls of technologies enabling disruption and fostering cyber ethical mindset in management curriculum

There is a need to emphasise and educate future business leaders on emerging technologies' disruptive and transformative impact on business processes. Allen (2020) suggests the need for a digital mindset and tech literacy in business management education. In our study, we define cyber literacy and cyber ethical mindset emphasising the importance of informing future leaders in business schools about the ethical dilemmas arising while using these emerging technologies. Additionally, we highlight various ethical pitfalls of using technologies enabling disruption (TED). Further, we contribute to the understanding of cyber literacy, cyber ethics and business ethics, how to incorporate cyber ethics into the management curriculum, and why there is a need to integrate cyber ethics into management education.




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International Journal of Services Technology and Management




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A Cognitive and Logic Based Model for Building Glass-Box Learning Objects




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The Present and Future of Standards for E-Learning Technologies




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An Engagement Model for Learning: Providing a Framework to Identify Technology Services




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Viability of the "Technology Acceptance Model" in Multimedia Learning Environments: A Comparative Study




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Ontology-Driven E-Learning System Based on Roles and Activities for Thai Learning Environment




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An Ontology to Automate Learning Scenarios? An Approach to its Knowledge Domain




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Ontology of Learning Objects Repository for Pedagogical Knowledge Sharing




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Assimilating Online Technologies into School Culture




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Course Coordinators’ Beliefs, Attitudes and Motivation and their Relation to Self-Reported Changes in Technology Integration at the Open University of Israel




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Open the Windows of Communication: Promoting Interpersonal and Group Interactions Using Blogs in Higher Education




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Applications of Semantic Web Technology to Support Learning Content Development




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Comparison of Online Learning Behaviors in School vs. at Home in Terms of Age and Gender Based on Log File Analysis




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"Islands of Innovation" or "Comprehensive Innovation." Assimilating Educational Technology in Teaching, Learning, and Management: A Case Study of School Networks in Israel




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Implementing Technological Change at Schools: The Impact of Online Communication with Families on Teacher Interactions through Learning Management System




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Challenges of Integrating Technologies for Learning: Introduction to the IJELLO Special Series of Chais Conference 2010 Best Papers




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A CSCL Approach to Blended Learning in the Integration of Technology in Teaching