An algorithm learning tool was developed for an introductory computer science class in a specialized science and technology high school in Japan. The tool presents lessons and simple visualizations that aim to facilitate teaching and learning of fundamental algorithms. Written tests and an evaluation questionnaire were designed and implemented along with the learning tool among the participants. The tool’s effect on the learning performance of the students was examined. The differences of the two types of visualizations offered by the tool, one with more input and control options and the other with fewer options, were analyzed. Based on the evaluation questionnaire, the scales with which the tool can be assessed according to its usability and pedagogical effectiveness were identified. After using the algorithm learning tool there was an increase in the posttest scores of the students, and those who used the visualization with more input and control options had higher scores compared to those who used the one with limited options. The learning objectives used to evaluate the tool correlated with the test performance of the students. Properties comprised of learning objectives, algorithm visualization characteristics, and interface assessment are proposed to be incorporated in evaluating an algorithm learning tool for novice learners.

The number of online resources available for teaching and learning in higher education has been growing enormously during the last decade. A recent development is the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and of Open Educational Resources (OER). The result is a huge number of videos that are available on line. Can these videos enrich learning? As a pilot study we added sixteen videos to an existing introductory course in Human-Computer Interaction. This course is mandatory in the Bachelor programs Computer Science and Information Science (second year). Watching the videos was optional for the students. The videos originated for the most part from the MOOC Human-Computer Interaction, produced by Stanford University. We offered this course to a pilot group of eight students. The educational context was problem-based learning in distance education. The videos were welcomed by all of the students and were found to be useful in their learning process. The students watched the videos intensively and appreciated them very well. A main reason for the students to be positive about the videos was that they liked to alternate reading texts and watching videos.

This paper presents a validation research of seven Digital Learning Domains (DLDs) and sixty-five performance statements (PSs) as perceived by students with experience in learning via ICT. The preliminary findings suggest a statistical firmness of the inventory. The seven DLDs identified are Social Responsibility, Team-based Learning, Information Research and Retrieval, Information Management, Information Validation, Processing and Presentation of Information, and Digital Integrity. The 65 PSs will enable a teacher to identify the level of competency the learner has in each DLD, thus identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses that must be addressed in order to facilitate learning in the current era. As can be concluded from the findings, most of the participants evaluate themselves as digitally literate with regard to the basic information research and retrieval skills, validation and information management. But when it comes to PSs that require complex decision making or higher order thinking strategies, it seems that a large number of participants lack these skills. Also, social responsibility and digital integrity domains are perceived as known by the participants but not very well taken in terms of pro-active action to enforce appropriate digital behavior, or avoiding illegally obtained music or movies.

This longitudinal, quasi-experimental study investigated students’ cognitive personality type using the Myers-Briggs personality Type Indicator (MBTI) in Internet-based Online and Face-to-Face (F2F) modalities. A total of 1154 students enrolled in 28 Online and 32 F2F sections taught concurrently over a period of fourteen years. The study measured whether the sample is similar to the national average percentage frequency of all 16 different personality types; whether specific personality type students preferred a specific modality of instructions and if this preference changed over time; whether learning occurred in both class modalities; and whether specific personality type students learned more from a specific modality. Data was analyzed using regression, t-test, frequency, and Chi-Squared. The study concluded that data used in the study was similar to the national statistics; that no major differences in preference occurred over time; and that learning did occur in all modalities, with more statistically significant learning found in the Online modality versus F2F for Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving types. Finally, Sensing and Thinking (ST) and Sensing and Perceiving (SP) group types learned significantly more in Online modality versus F2F.

Aim/Purpose : Share research finding about ransomware, depict the ransomware work in a format that commonly used by researchers and practitioners and illustrate personal case experience in dealing with ransomware. Background: Author was hit with Ransomware, suffered a lot from it, and did a lot of research about this topic. Author wants to share findings in his research and his experience in dealing with the aftermath of being hit with ransomware. Methodology: Case study. Applying the literature review for a personal case study. Contribution: More knowledge and awareness about ransomware, how it attacks peoples’ computers, and how well informed users can be hit with this malware. Findings: Even advanced computer users can be hit and suffer from Ransomware attacks. Awareness is very helpful. In addition, this study drew in chart format what is termed “The Ransomware Process”, depicting in chart format the steps that ransomware hits users and collects ransom. Recommendations for Practitioners : Study reiterates other recommendations made for dealing with ransomware attacks but puts them in personal context for more effective awareness about this malware. Recommendation for Researchers: This study lays the foundation for additional research to find solutions to the ransomware problem. IT researchers are aware of chart representations to depict cycles (like SDLC). This paper puts the problem in similar representation to show the work of ransomware. Impact on Society: Society will be better informed about ransomware. Through combining research, illustrating personal experience, and graphically representing the work of ransomware, society at large will be better informed about the risk of this malware. Future Research: Research into solutions for this problem and how to apply them to personal cases.

Aim/Purpose: Although cassava is one of the crops that can be grown during the dry season in Northeastern Thailand, most farmers in the region do not know whether the crop can grow in their specific areas because the available agriculture planning guideline provides only a generic list of dry-season crops that can be grown in the whole region. The purpose of this research is to develop a predictive model that can be used to predict suitable areas for growing cassava in Northeastern Thailand during the dry season. Background: This paper develops a decision support system that can be used by farmers to assist them determine if cassava can be successfully grown in their specific areas. Methodology: This study uses satellite imagery and data on land characteristics to develop a machine learning model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava in Thailand’s Nakhon-Phanom province. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a novel model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava. Findings: This study identified elevation and Ferric Acrisols (Af) soil as the two most important features for predicting the best-suited areas for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand. The two-class boosted decision tree algorithm performs best when compared with other algorithms. The model achieved an accuracy of .886, and .746 F1-score. Recommendations for Practitioners: Farmers and agricultural extension agents will use the decision support system developed in this study to identify specific areas that are suitable for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand Recommendation for Researchers: To improve the predictive accuracy of the model developed in this study, more land and crop characteristics data should be incorporated during model development. The ground truth data for areas growing cassava should also be collected for a longer period to provide a more accurate sample of the areas that are suitable for cassava growing. Impact on Society: The use of machine learning for the development of new farming systems will enable farmers to produce more food throughout the year to feed the world’s growing population. Future Research: Further studies should be carried out to map other suitable areas for growing dry-season crops and to develop decision support systems for those crops.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether grit was a contributing factor to student persistence and success at minority serving institutions. Background: A number of studies conducted in the past fifteen years have concluded that grit is a positive predictor of achievement across many domains. But, is grit really the ultimate panacea for student success? This longitudinal study sought to answer that question by specifically focusing on business students attending a mid-Atlantic minority-serving institution that primarily serves low-income and first generation learners. Methodology: The research study under consideration used quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. It was initiated in the Fall of 2014 with the administration of the standard 12-item Grit assessment to all freshmen students enrolled in a university business department. Students were then followed longitudinally over a five year period with GPA and persistence to graduation documented. During the analyses, grit score was compared to participant first year GPA’s as well as retention and persistence to graduation via comparison tables and ANOVAs. Contribution: A lack of substantive studies conducted at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions poses a major gap in the existing literature available on grit. A number of authors have put forth a call to action for faculty at minority serving institutions to conduct meaningful studies focused on grit and student persistence in order to better inform the HBCU community. This study is specifically purposed to help fill some of the gaps in the available literature. The results of the research presented in this paper hopefully shed light on the need to explore non-cognitive factors that may affect student performance. In particular, research should explore factors that may, or may not, contribute to the success of under prepared college students in particular those who are from low income, first generation, and minority groups. This form of exploration is part of a commitment to positive student outcomes. Findings: According to the findings, there is a significant positive correlation between higher grit scores and both GPA and persistence to graduation. First year GPA, however, was not found to be a reliable predictor of academic success. Recommendations for Practitioners: As part of a commitment to positive student outcomes, faculty and administrators in higher education must be constantly exploring factors that may, or may not, impact student success. Recommendation for Researchers: The results of this research help to shed light on the need to explore elements that may help to contribute to the success of under prepared college students in particular those who are from low income, first generation, and minority groups Future Research: The authors conclude that while building the grittiness of freshmen students may lead to positive student outcomes, grit alone might not be enough. In fact, they postulate that grittiness without clarity of purpose, positive self-efficacy, and growth mindset may mean that students who may be gritty may not be exerting their energies appropriately. During the next phase, a model that is currently under development will be used as part of a mindset intervention to edify students about grit, growth mindset, locus of control/self-efficacy, and clarity of purpose. A complimentary research study examining student performance and perceptions will also be conducted.

Aim/purpose The purpose of this article is to discuss the psychosocial and emotional outcomes of an introductory health science workshop designed to support and assist incoming health science students before starting their university study.   Background For the past two decades, a South Australian university offered an on-campus face to face workshop titled ‘Preparation for Health Sciences’ to incoming first-year students from eleven allied health programs such as Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medical Imaging. While many were locals, a good number came from regional and rural areas, and many were international students also. They consisted of both on-campus and off-campus students.   The workshop was created as a new learning environment that was available for students of diverse age groups, educational and cultural backgrounds to prepare them to study sciences. The content of the four-day workshop was developed in consultation with the program directors of the allied health programs. The objectives were to: introduce the assumed foundational science knowledge to undertake health sciences degree; gain confidence in approaching science subjects; experience lectures and laboratory activities; and become familiar with the University campus and its facilities. The workshop was delivered a week before the orientation week, before first-year formal teaching weeks. The topics covered were enhancing study skills, medical and anatomical terminology, body systems, basic chemistry and physics, laboratory activities, and assessment of learning.   Methodology In order to determine the outcomes of the workshop, a survey was used requiring participants to agree or disagree about statements concerning the preparatory course and answer open-ended questions relating to the most important information learned and the best aspects of the workshop. Several students piloted this questionnaire before use in order to ascertain the clarity of instructions, terminology and statements. The result of the 2015-2018 pre- and post-evaluation showed that the workshop raised confidence and enthusiasm in commencing university and that the majority considered the workshop useful overall. The findings of the survey are drawn upon to examine the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on participants. Using secondary qualitative analysis, the researchers identified the themes relating to the psychosocial and emotional issues conveyed by the participants.   Contribution The contributions of the article are in the areas of improving students’ confidence to complete their university degrees and increasing the likelihood of academic success. Findings Of the 285 students who participated in the workshops from 2015 to 2018, 166 completed the survey conducted at the conclusion of the initiative, representing a 58% response rate. The workshops achieved the objectives outlined at the outset. While there were many findings reported (Thalluri, 2016), the results highlighted in this paper relate to the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on students. Three themes emerged, and these were Increased preparedness and confidence; Networking and friendships that enhanced support, and Reduced anxiety to study sciences. Some drawbacks were also reported including the cost, time and travel involved. Recommendations for practitioners Students found the introductory workshop to be psychosocially and emotionally beneficial. It is recommended that the same approach be applied for teaching other challenging fields such as mathematics and physics within the university and in other contexts and institutions. Recommendations for researchers Improving and extending the workshop to provide greater accessibility and autonomy is recommended. A longitudinal study to follow up the durability of the workshop is also proposed. Impact on society The impacts in the broader community include: higher academic success for students; improved mental health due to social networking and friendship groups and reduced anxiety and fear; reduced dropout rate in their first year; greater potential to complete educational degrees; reduced wastage in human and financial resources; and increased human capital. Future research Addressing the limitations of cost, time and travel involved, and following-up with the participants’ academic and workplace performance are future directions for research.

Aim/Purpose: Bring your own device (BYOD) provides opportunities for both the organization and employees, but the adoption of BYOD also introduces risks. This case study of an organization’s BYOD program identifies key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Background: The consumerization of IT introduced the BYOD phenomenon into the enterprise environment. As mobile and Internet technologies improve employees are opting to use their personal devices to access organizational systems to perform their work tasks. Such devices include smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. Methodology: This research uses a case study approach to investigate how business priorities drive the adoption of BYOD and how resulting benefits and risks are realized and managed by the organization. Primary empirical data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 senior employees from a large South African financial services organization. Policy documents from the organization were analyzed as secondary data. Contribution: Thematic analysis of the data revealed six major themes: improving employee mobility; improving client service and experience; creating a competitive industry advantage; improving business processes; information security risks; and management best practices. Findings: The themes were analyzed using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, showing the key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Recommendations for Practitioners: Organizations need to clearly understand the reasons they want to introduce BYOD in their organizations. The conceptual framework can be applied by practitioners in their organizations to achieve their BYOD business objectives. Recommendations for Researchers: BYOD remains an important innovation for organizations with several aspects worthy of further study. The TOE framework presents a suitable lens for analysis, but other models should also be considered. Impact on Society: The findings show that organizations can use BYOD to improve client service, gain competitive advantage, and improve their processes using their digital devices and backend systems. The BYOD trend is thus not likely to go away anytime soon. Future Research: The applicability of findings should be validated across additional contexts. Additional models should also be used.

Aim/Purpose: Our research goal was to examine the factors that motivate women to enroll in Computer Science (CS) courses in order to better understand the small number of women in the field of CS. Background: This work is in line with the growing interest in better understanding the problem of the underrepresentation of women in the field of CS. Methodology: We focused on a college that differs in its high numbers of female CS students. The student population there consists mostly of religious Jews; some of them are Haredi, who, because of their unique lifestyle, are expected to be the breadwinners in their family. Following group interviews with 18 students, a questionnaire was administered to all the female students and 449 of them responded. We analyzed it statistically. We compared the responses of the Haredi and non-Haredi students. Contribution: The main contribution of this work lies in the idea that studying the factors underlying women’s presence in a CS program in unique communities and cultures, where women are equally represented in the field, might shed light on the nature of this phenomenon, especially whether it is universal or confined to the surrounding culture. Findings: There were significant differences between the Haredi and non-Haredi women regarding the importance they attributed to different factors. Haredi women resemble, regarding some social and economic variables, women in developing countries, but differ in others. The non-Haredi women are more akin to Western women, yet they did not completely overlap. Both groups value their family and career as the most important factors in their lives. These factors unify women in the West and in developing countries, though with different outcomes. In the West, it deters women from studying CS, whereas in Israel and in Malaysia, other factors can overcome this barrier. Both groups attributed low importance to the masculine image of CS, found important in the West. Hence, our findings support the hypothesis that women’s participation in the field of CS is culturally dependent. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important to learn about the culture within which women operate in order to attract more women to CS. Recommendations for Researchers: Future work is required to examine other loci where women are underrepre-sented in CS, as well as how the insights obtained in this study can be utilized to decrease women’s underrepresentation in other loci. Impact on Society: Women's underrepresentation in CS is an important topic for both economic and social justice reasons. It raises questions regarding fairness and equality. In the CS field the gender pay gaps are smaller than in other professional areas. Thus, resolving the underrepresentation of women in CS will serve as a means to decrease the social gender gap in other areas.

Aim/Purpose: Drone technology has been increasingly used in education. This paper reports a study of assessing teachers’ readiness and training needs for using drone technology in their teaching. Background: New technology promotes new ways of practices. With the sophisticated design and the affordance to explore our world from a bird’s eye perspective, a drone has been increasingly used to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. However, it also brings challenges to teachers to integrate drone technology in their teaching. It is therefore important to obtain a better understanding of various aspects of integrating drone technology in education. Methodology: A group of pre-service teachers was engaged in a case study conducted using a designed-based approach. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups. They were required to develop lesson plans with the application of drone technology in teaching. The lesson plans were subsequently analyzed using the TPCK framework to identify teachers’ readiness and training needs. Findings: The participants, to a large extent, have sufficient competence to master the skills and knowledge of drone technology and to integrate it into their teaching. However, they were required to strengthen the pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge in order to maximize the potential benefits of drone technology in education. Contribution: This paper reports the level of readiness and training needs of teachers regarding the use of drone technology in their teaching. Recommendations for Practitioners: To conduct teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education, a particular focus should be put on enhancing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may further explore the strategies to integrate drone technology in teaching. Impact on Society: This paper suggests the area of teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education. The teaching and learning effectiveness could be improved. Future Research: Future research may study the safety issue and ethical issue of using a drone in education.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this project was to explore a method to enable an updated under-standing of digital literacy to be implemented in curricula in an environment of an existing, but outdated, understanding of digital literacy. . Background: The changing healthcare environment increasingly emphasizes the importance of digital literacy skills; therefore academics in the optometry discipline at Deakin University sought to better understand where digital literacy skills were taught in their program, and whether delivery was implicit or explicit. Methodology: This case study describes a systematic review of the optometric curriculum to first identify where and what digital literacy skills are currently being addressed in the curriculum, identify the gaps, and develop a strategy to address the gaps. Contribution: The main outcome of this work is the development of a spiraling curriculum to support the development of digital literacy skills required in later units of the program and for clinical practice post-graduation. Findings: Although the definition of digital literacy may be outdated, the digital literacy capabilities being addressed in the curriculum had grown as digital technology use by staff and students had expanded. This, together with the realization that students were not as digitally capable as expected, indicated that teaching digital literacy skills needed to be made overt throughout the curriculum. Recommendations for Practitioners: The process developed through this case study provides a strong foundation for course teams, curriculum developers and educational designers to efficiently analyze digital literacy expectations in existing, accredited health-related curricula and improve the curricula by more overtly embedding digital literacy teaching into it. Impact on Society: Graduates of the amended program of study are expected to be better prepared to undertake their future careers in a digitally enhanced and disrupted environment. Future Research: The framework will be used to explore digital literacy teaching practices in other disciplines. A systematic evaluation will be undertaken to identify the benefits and short comings of using the framework. The elements that make up the new definition of digital literacy need to be better articulated to allow curriculum developers to be better informed as to how to interpret the framework in their context.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the learning that happens in assuming a supervisee’s role during the postgraduate study. Background: The facilitators and barriers students encountered while pursuing postgraduate studies, strategies to achieve success in postgraduate studies, and how to decrease attrition rates of students, have been sufficiently explored in literature. However, there is little written about the personal and professional impact on students when they are being supervised to complete their postgraduate studies. Methodology: Autoethnographic method of deep reflection was used to examine the learning that transpired from the supervisee’s perspective. Two lecturers (a Senior Lecturer in Nursing and an Aboriginal Tutor) focused on their postgraduate journeys as supervisees, respectively, with over 30 years of study experience between them, in Australia and abroad. Contribution: Future postgraduate students, researchers, would-be supervisors and experienced supervisors could learn from the reflections of the authors’ postgraduate experiences. Findings: Four themes surfaced, and these were Eureka moments, Critical friend(s), Supervisory relationship, and Transformative learning. The authors highlighted the significance of a supervisory relationship which is key to negotiating the journey with the supervisor. Essential for these students also were insights on finding the path as well as the destination and the transformative aspects that happened as a necessary part of the journey. Conclusion. The postgraduate journey has taught them many lessons, the most profound of which was the change in perspective and attitude in the process of being and becoming. Personal and professional transformative learning did occur. At its deepest level, the authors’ reflections resulted in self-actualization and a rediscovery of their more authentic selves. Recommendations for Practitioners: This article highlights the importance of the supervisory relationship that must be negotiated to ensure the success of the candidate. Reflections of the transformation are recommended to support the students further. Recommendation for Researchers: Quality supervision can make a significant influence on the progress of students. Further research on the supervisory relationship is recommended. Impact on Society: The support in terms of supervision to ensure postgraduate students’ success is essential. Postgraduate students contribute to the human, social, professional, intellectual, and economic capital of universities and nations globally. Future Research: Further reflections of the transformative learning will advance the understanding of the personal and professional changes that occur with postgraduate supervision.

Aim/Purpose: In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks the disease activity using data collected from medical practice's on a weekly basis. Collection of data by CDC from medical practices on a weekly basis leads to a lag time of approximately 2 weeks before any viable action can be planned. The 2-week delay problem was addressed in the study by creating machine learning models to predict flu outbreak. Background: The 2-week delay problem was addressed in the study by correlation of the flu trends identified from Twitter data and official flu data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in combination with creating a machine learning model using both data sources to predict flu outbreak. Methodology: A quantitative correlational study was performed using a quasi-experimental design. Flu trends from the CDC portal and tweets with mention of flu and influenza from the state of Georgia were used over a period of 22 weeks from December 29, 2019 to May 30, 2020 for this study. Contribution: This research contributed to the body of knowledge by using a simple bag-of-word method for sentiment analysis followed by the combination of CDC and Twitter data to generate a flu prediction model with higher accuracy than using CDC data only. Findings: The study found that (a) there is no correlation between official flu data from CDC and tweets with mention of flu and (b) there is an improvement in the performance of a flu forecasting model based on a machine learning algorithm using both official flu data from CDC and tweets with mention of flu. Recommendations for Practitioners: In this study, it was found that there was no correlation between the official flu data from the CDC and the count of tweets with mention of flu, which is why tweets alone should be used with caution to predict a flu out-break. Based on the findings of this study, social media data can be used as an additional variable to improve the accuracy of flu prediction models. It is also found that fourth order polynomial and support vector regression models offered the best accuracy of flu prediction models. Recommendations for Researchers: Open-source data, such as Twitter feed, can be mined for useful intelligence benefiting society. Machine learning-based prediction models can be improved by adding open-source data to the primary data set. Impact on Society: Key implication of this study for practitioners in the field were to use social media postings to identify neighborhoods and geographic locations affected by seasonal outbreak, such as influenza, which would help reduce the spread of the disease and ultimately lead to containment. Based on the findings of this study, social media data will help health authorities in detecting seasonal outbreaks earlier than just using official CDC channels of disease and illness reporting from physicians and labs thus, empowering health officials to plan their responses swiftly and allocate their resources optimally for the most affected areas. Future Research: A future researcher could use more complex deep learning algorithms, such as Artificial Neural Networks and Recurrent Neural Networks, to evaluate the accuracy of flu outbreak prediction models as compared to the regression models used in this study. A future researcher could apply other sentiment analysis techniques, such as natural language processing and deep learning techniques, to identify context-sensitive emotion, concept extraction, and sarcasm detection for the identification of self-reporting flu tweets. A future researcher could expand the scope by continuously collecting tweets on a public cloud and applying big data applications, such as Hadoop and MapReduce, to perform predictions using several months of historical data or even years for a larger geographical area.

Aim/Purpose. The problem statement in the proposed study focuses on that, despite the growing recognition that teenagers need to undergo security awareness training, little is known about the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security awareness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behavior of students in Texas. Background. This study was guided by the research question: What are the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security aware-ness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behaviors of students in Texas? The study gathers opinions from experts on the impacts of security awareness training on students. Methodology. Our research used semi-structured interviews with twelve experts chosen through the use of purposive sampling. The population for the study consisted of experts in the fields of security awareness training for and teaching middle school-aged children. Candidates were recruited through the Cyber-Texas Foundation and snowball sampling techniques. Contribution. The research contributed to the body of knowledge by using interviews to explore the impacts of security awareness training on middle school students based on the opinions and views of the teachers and instructors who work with middle school students. Findings. The findings of this study demonstrate that middle school is an ideal time to provide cybersecurity training and will impact student behaviors by making them more conscious of cyber threats and preparing them to be more tech-savvy professionals. The research also showed that well-designed cybersecurity games with real-world application combined with traditional teaching techniques can help students develop positive habits. The research also suggests that teachers possess the skills to teach cybersecurity classes and the classes can be integrated into the current school day without the need for any significant changes to existing daily schedules. Recommendations for Practitioners. A well-design gamification-based curriculum implemented in Texas Middle Schools, combined with traditional teaching techniques and repeated over an extended time period, will impact students’ behaviors by making them more able to recognize and respond to cyber risks and will transform them into more secure and tech-savvy members of society. Recommendations for Researchers. The research shows middle school instructors and technology experts believe the implementation of a security awareness training program in middle schools is both possible and practical, while also beneficial to the students. The recommendation is to encourage researchers to explore ways to build curricula and games capable of appealing to students and implementing the instruction into school programs. Impact on Society. Demonstrating that training provided in middle school will make lasting impacts and improvements to student behaviors benefits children and their families in the short-term and workplaces in the long-term. The development of a more security-conscious workforce can reduce the significant number of data breaches and cyber attacks resulting from the poor security habits of companies’ users. Future Research. Future research that will add significant value to the body of knowledge includes testing the effectiveness of habit-shaping games to determine whether existing long-term games maintain student interest. Qualitative studies could interview parents of teenagers using habit-shaping games to determine the effectiveness of the applications. Another qualitative study could interview teachers to determine how teachers’ ages affect their comfort level teaching technology classes. Both studies could provide valuable insights into how to implement security awareness training in schools.

Aim/Purpose. Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges are a popular form of cybersecurity education where students solve hands-on tasks in a game-like setting. These exercises provide learning experiences with various specific technologies and subjects, as well as a broader understanding of cybersecurity topics. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills that are applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Background. The Information Search Process (ISP) is a framework developed to under-stand the process by which an individual goes about studying a topic, identifying emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes. As the individual goes through the problem-solving process, there is a clear flow from uncertainty to clarity; the individual’s feelings, thoughts, and actions are all interconnected. This study aims to investigate the learning of cybersecurity concepts within the framework of the ISP, specifically in the context of CTF competitions. Methodology. A comprehensive research methodology designed to incorporate quantitative and qualitative analyses to draw the parallels between the participants’ emotional experiences and the affective dimensions of learning will be implemented to measure the three primary goals. Contribution. This study contributes significantly to the broader landscape of cybersecurity education and cognitive-emotional experiences in problem-solving. Findings. The study has three primary goals. First, we seek to enhance our under-standing of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving, as demonstrated by the ISP approach. Second, we aim to gain in-sights into how the presentation of CTF challenges influences the learning experience of participants. Lastly, we strive to contribute to the improvement of cybersecurity education by identifying actionable steps for more effective teaching of technical skills and approaches. Recommendations for Practitioners. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Recommendations for Researchers. The Information Search Process (ISP) framework may enhance our understanding of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving as we study the emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes as the individual goes through the problem-solving process. Impact on Society. Our pursuit of advancing our understanding of cybersecurity education will better equip future generations with the skills and knowledge needed to ad-dress the evolving challenges of the digital landscape. This will better pre-pare them for real-world challenges. Future Research. Future studies would include the development of a cybersecurity curriculum on vulnerability exploitation and defense. It would include practice exploiting practical web and binary vulnerabilities, reverse engineering, system hardening, security operations, and understanding how they can be chained together.

Power differences affect implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in a way that creates differences in ICT use. Involuntary non-use of new ICT at work occurs when employees want to use the new technology, but are unable to due to factors beyond their control. Findings from an in-depth qualitative study show how involuntary non-use of new ICT can be attributed to power differences between occupational groups in the same organization. The findings suggest that experience is a moderating variable and that closeness to formal power holders as well as closeness to the new technology increases the probability for expert control of the ICT-organization processes. These power differences favor ICT experts over ICT novices and result in a high-quality learning environment for the ICT experts characterized by autonomy, inclusion, and adequate work processes and technological solutions. The ICT novices try to navigate in a learning-hostile work environment characterized by marginalization through expert control, isolation, and inadequate work processes and technological solutions. This led to involuntary non-use by the ICT novices, while the experts became more proficient in ICT use. These findings give managers facing a technological organizational change tools to understand important mechanisms for implementing the change in their own organization, and help them take the right actions to integrate new technology and new organization of work.

The purpose of this paper was to explore the current and potential use of Facebook for learning purposes by Jordanian university students. The paper attempted to compare such use with other uses of Facebook. Further, the paper investigated Jordanian university students’ attitudes towards using Facebook as a formal academic tool, through the use of course-specific Facebook groups. To that end, quantitative data were collected from a sample of 451 students from three Jordanian public universities. Findings indicated that the vast majority of Jordanian students had Facebook accounts, which echoes its popularity amongst Jordanian youth compared to other types of online social networking sites. While both “social activities” and “entertainment” were the primary motivators for Jordanian students to create and use Facebook accounts, a growing number of them were using Facebook for academic purposes too. Further, Jordanian students had a positive attitude toward the use of “Facebook groups” as an educational tool for specific courses, and under specific conditions. Based on its findings, the paper provides suggestions for Jordanian higher institutions to invest in the application of Facebook as a formal academic tool.

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.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between the knowledge management (KM) process and the performance of construction companies. The ultimate goal is to promote better efficiency and competitive advantage in the construction industry by making the best use of knowledge. Background: While attention to KM is currently on the rise, as shown by the number of studies conducted, research on KM in the construction industry of Indonesia is still very rare. However, organizational learning as the implementation of KM provides an opportunity to improve the construction industry, and thus there is an urgency to conduct research on this topic. Methodology: This study lasted for three months and used the survey method, with 100 questionnaires distributed to contractors of grade 6 and 7 on the islands of Java and Borneo in Indonesia. A total of 54 returned questionnaires were deemed complete and eligible for further analysis. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling method with partial least squares (SEM PLS). Contribution: This study helps to measure the relationship value of the KM process and company performance. Findings: The results of this study indicate that the process of KM has a significant and positive influence on company performance, and there is a positive interaction in the process of KM and company performance as well. Recommendations for Practitioners: Construction companies need to perceive that activities undertaken in a construction project should always be assumed to be a KM process in order to make strategic and effective decisions that can result in improvements to customers, finance, internal business, learning, and growth. Recommendation for Researchers: Research on the KM process and information technology needs to be developed more, so that construction companies can apply this knowledge to explore problems and create solutions, resulting in methods to facilitate efficiency and effectiveness. Impact on Society: This paper helps to understand that KM activities provide initial benefits and guidance for companies that want to apply KM. Future Research: Innovative and new ideas to cultivate the KM process in the construction industry need to be explored and developed to improve the implementation.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims at (1) extending an existing theoretical framework to gain a deeper understanding of the technology acceptance process, notably of the Facebook social network in an unexplored Middle East context, (2) investigating the influence of social support theory on Facebook adoption outside the work context, (3) validating the effectiveness of the proposed research model for enhancing Facebook adoption, and (4) determining the effect of individual differences (gender, age, experience, and educational level) amongst Facebook users on the associated path between the proposed model constructs. Background: Social networking sites (SNSs) are widely adopted to facilitate social interaction in the Web-based medium. As such, this present work contends that there is a gap in the existing literature, particularly in the Middle East context, as regards an empirical investigation of the relationship between the social, psychological, individual, and cognitive constructs potentially affecting users’ intention to accept SNSs. The present research, therefore, attempts to address this deficit. The relevance of this work is also considered in light of the scarcity of empirical evidence and lack of detailed research on the effect of social support theory with regard to SNS adoption in a non-work context. Methodology: A quantitative research approach was adopted for this study. The corresponding analysis was carried out based on structural equation modelling (SEM), more specifically, partial least squares (PLS), using SmartPLS software. Earlier research recommended the PLS approach for exploratory studies when extending an existing model or developing a new theory. PLS is also a superior method of complex causal modelling. Moreover, a multi-group analysis technique was adopted to investigate the moderating influence of individual differences. This method divides the dataset into two groups and then computes the cause and effect relationships between the research model variables for each set. The analysis of an in-person survey with a sample of Facebook users (N=369) subsequently suggested four significant predictors of continuous Facebook use. Contribution: This study contributes to the body of knowledge relating to SNSs by providing empirical evidence of constructs that influence Facebook acceptance in the case of a developing country. It raises awareness of antecedents of Facebook acceptance at a time when SNSs are widely used in Arab nations and worldwide. It also contributes to previous literature on the effectiveness of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in different cultural contexts. Another significant contribution of this study is that it has reported on the relevance of social support theory to Facebook adoption, with this theory demonstrating a significant and direct ability to predict Facebook acceptance. Finally, the present research identified the significant moderating effect of individual differences on the associated path between the proposed model constructs. This means that regardless of technological development, individual gaps still appeared to exist among users. Findings: The findings suggested four significant predictors of continuous Facebook use, namely, (a) performance expectancy, (b) peer support, (c) family support, and (d) perceived playfulness. Furthermore, behavioral intention and facilitating conditions were found to be significant determinants of actual Facebook use, while individual differences were shown to moderate the path strength between several variables in the proposed research model. Recommendations for Practitioners: The results of the present study make practical contributions to SNS organizations. For example, this research revealed that users do not adopt Facebook because of its usefulness alone; instead, users’ acceptance is developed through a sequence of variables such as individual differences, psychological factors, and social and organizational beliefs. Accordingly, social media organizations should not consider only strategies that apply to just one context, but also to other contexts characterized by different beliefs, perceptions, and cultures. Moreover, the evidence provided here is that social support theory has a significant influence on SNSs acceptance. This suggests that social media organizations should provide services to support this concept. Furthermore, the significant positive effect of perceived playfulness on the intention to use SNSs implied that designers and organizations should pay further attention to the entertainment services provided by social networks. Recommendation for Researchers: To validate the proposed conceptual framework, researchers from different countries and cultures are invited to apply the model. Moreover, a longitudinal research design could be implemented to gather data over a longer period, in order to investigate whether users have changed their attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and intention by the end of the study period. Other constructs, such as individual experience, compatibility, and quality of working life could be included to improve the power of the proposed model. Impact on Society: Middle Eastern Facebook users regard the network as an important tool for interacting with others. The increasing number of Facebook users renders it a tool of universal communication and enjoyment, as well as a marketing network. However, knowledge of the constructs affecting the application of SNSs is valuable for ensuring that such sites have the various functions required to suit different types of user. Future Research: It is hoped that our future research will build on the results of this work and attempt to provide further explanation of why users accept SNSs. In this future research, the proposed research model could be adopted to explore SNSs acceptance in other developing countries. Researchers might also include other factors of potential influence on SNSs acceptance. The constructs influencing acceptance of other social networks could then be compared to the present research findings and thus, the differences and similarities would be highlighted.

Aim/Purpose: This study is carried out to determine the factors influencing the implementation of IT governance in public sector. Background: IT governance in organizations plays strategic roles in deciding whether IT strategies and investments of both private and public organizations could be efficient, consistent, and transparent. IT governance has the potential to be the best practice that could improve organizational performance and competency. Methodology: The study involves qualitative and quantitative approaches, where data were collected through questionnaire, observation, interview, and document study through a sample of 367 respondents. The collected data were analyzed using Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) for validating the model and testing the hypotheses. Besides, semi-structured interview, observation, and document study were also carried out to obtain the management’s feedback on the implementation of IT governance and its activities. Contribution: The results of this study contribute to knowledge regarding good IT governance. Practically, this study can be used as a guideline for the future development and good IT governance. Findings: The findings reveal that policy has a significant direct influence on system planning, the management of IT investment, system realization, operation and maintenance, and organizational culture. The existence of IT governance policies, the success of the IT process can work well. Monitoring and evaluation processes also significantly affect system plan-ning, management of IT investment, system realization, operation and maintenance, and organizational culture. It indicates the process of monitoring and evaluation required for indications of financial efficiency, infrastructure, resources, risk and organizational success. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important for organizational management to pay more attention to the organization’s internal controls in order to create good IT governance. Recommendation for Researchers: A comparative study between Indonesia and developing countries on the implementation of IT governance is needed to capture the differences be-tween those countries. Impact on Society: Knowledge of the factors influencing the implementation of IT governance as an effort to implement and improve the quality of IT governance. Future Research: Future studies should look further at the policy and IT governance models, specifically in public organizations, besides other influencing factors. Moreover, the outcome of this study could be generated as a guideline for the advanced development of IT governance and as a point of improvement as a way to generate a better good IT governance. It is essential because such evidence is lacking in current literature.

Aim/Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effect of marketing knowledge management (MKM) on bank performance via the mediating role of the Fintech innovation in Jordanian commercial banks. Background: An extensive number of studies found a significant relationship between Marketing knowledge management and bank performance (e.g., Akroush & Al-Mohammad, 2010; Hou & Chien 2010; Rezaee & Jafari, 2015; Veismoradi et al., 2013). However, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the relationship between marketing knowledge management (MKM) and bank performance (BP). Furthermore, the linkage between MKM and BP is not straightforward but, instead, includes a more complicated relationship. Therefore, it is argued that managing marketing knowledge management assets and capabilities can enhance performance via the role of financial innovation as a mediating factor on commercial banks; to date, however, there is no empirical evidence. Methodology: Based on a literature review, knowledge-based theory, and financial innovation theory, an integrated conceptual framework has been developed to guide the study. A quantitative approach was used, and the data was collected from 336 managers and employees in all 13 Jordanian commercial banks using online and in hand instruments. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze and verify the study variables. Contribution: This article contributes to theory by filling a gap in the literature regarding the role of marketing knowledge management assets and capabilities in commercial banks operating in a developing country like Jordan. It empirically examined and validated the role of Fintech innovation as mediators between marketing knowledge management and bank performance Findings: The main findings revealed that marketing knowledge management had a significant favorable influence on bank performance. Fintech innovation acted as partial mediators in this relationship. Recommendations for Practitioners: Commercial banks should be fully aware of the importance of knowledge management practices to enhance their financial innovation and bank performance. They should also consider promoting a culture of practicing knowledge management processes among their managers and employees by motivating and training to promote innovations. Recommendation for Researchers: The result endorsed Fintech innovation’s mediating effect on the relationship between the independent variable, marketing knowledge management (assets and capabilities), and the dependent variable bank performance, which was not addressed before; thus, it needs further validation. Future Research: The current designed research model can be applied and assessed further in other sectors, including banking and industrial sectors across developed and developing countries. It would also be of interest to introduce other variables in the study model that can act as consequences of MKM capabilities, such as financial and non-financial performance measures

Aim/Purpose: Based on business-IT alignment, this study addresses the understudied practice of DevOps. Background: Although organizations continue to implement DevOps practices, few studies explore connections with prior theory. This study contributes to this need by developing the DevOps strategic IT alignment model. Methodology: The sample included 57 firms from the current Forbes Global 2000 and the Fortune 500 lists. The authors employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the DevOps IT alignment model. Contribution: The proposed model builds a foundation for further investigation into the influence of theory on DevOps using quantitative research methods. It also contributes to a reliable and valid DevOps instrument for future exploration. Findings: Continuous integration of software and knowledge sharing increases the level of IT subunit alignment in large organizations that foster DevOps. Furthermore, practicing DevOps positively influences the level of business-IT alignment. Recommendations for Practitioners: Organizations that cultivate DevOps experience greater levels of business-IT alignment through stronger knowledge sharing and continuous integration of applications. Thus, managers should identify how to develop closer bonds between subunits with dissimilar skillsets in their organizations. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should explore how theories interact, help, and/or do not support blossoming practices like DevOps. Impact on Society: Stronger bonds increase knowledge sharing between interdepartmental colleagues. Lower hierarchical levels of an organization as well as higher managerial levels benefit from cross-domain IT knowledge. Future Research: It is important to explore how different types of knowledge in diverse disciplines requires unique cross-discipline bonds to form and whether these relationships have connections with the contingency theory and quality management.

Aim/Purpose: This paper examines the behavior of financial firm employees with regard to information security procedures instituted within their organization. Furthermore, the effect of information security awareness and its importance within a firm is explored. Background: The study focuses on employees’ attitude toward compliance with information security policies (ISP), combined with various norms and personal abilities. Methodology: A self-reported questionnaire was distributed among 202 employees of a large financial Corporation Contribution: As far as we know, this is the first paper to thoroughly explore employees’ awareness of information system procedures, among financial organizations in Israel, and also the first to develop operative recommendations for these organizations aimed at increasing ISP compliance behavior. The main contribution of this study is that it investigates compliance with information security practices among employees of a defined financial corporation operating under rigid regulatory governance, confidentiality and privacy of data, and stringent requirements for compliance with information security procedures. Findings: Our results indicate that employees’ attitudes, normative beliefs and personal capabilities to comply with firm’s ISP, have positive effects on the firm’s ISP compliance. Also, employees’ general awareness of IS, as well as awareness to ISP within the firm, positively affect employees’ ISP compliance. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study can help information security managers identify the motivating factors for employee behavior to maintain information security procedures, properly channel information security resources, and manage appropriate information security behavior. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can see that corporate rewards and sanctions have significant effects on employee security behavior, but other motivational factors also reinforce the ISP’s compliance behavior. Distinguishing between types of corporations and organizations is essential to understanding employee compliance with information security procedures. Impact on Society: This study offers another level of understanding of employee behavior with regard to information security in organizations and comprises a significant contribution to the growing knowledge in this area. The research results form an important basis for IS policymakers, culture designers, managers, and those directly responsible for IS in the organization. Future Research: Future work should sample employees from another type of corporation from other fields and should apply qualitative analysis to explore other aspects of behavioral patterns related to the subject matter.

Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a study of Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP) evaluation methods that aims to identify their current status and impact on knowledge sharing. The purposes of the study are as follows: (i) to identify trends and research gaps in VCoP evaluation methods; and, (ii) to assist researchers to position new research activities in this domain. Background: VCoP have become a popular knowledge sharing mechanism for both individuals and organizations. Their evaluation process is complex; however, it is recognized as an essential means to provide evidences of community effectiveness. Moreover, VCoP have introduced additional features to face to face Communities of Practice (CoP) that need to be taken into account in evaluation processes, such as geographical dispersion. The fact that VCoP rely on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to execute their practices as well as storing artifacts virtually makes more consistent data analysis possible; thus, the evaluation process can apply automatic data gathering and analysis. Methodology: A systematic mapping study, based on five research questions, was carried out in order to analyze existing studies about VCoP evaluation methods and frameworks. The mapping included searching five research databases resulting in the selection of 1,417 papers over which a formal analysis process was applied. This process led to the preliminary selection of 39 primary studies for complete reading. After reading them, we select 28 relevant primary studies from which data was extracted and synthesized to answer the proposed research questions. Contribution: The authors of the primary studies analyzed along this systematic mapping propose a set of methods and strategies for evaluating VCoP, such as frameworks, processes and maturity models. Our main contribution is the identification of some research gaps present in the body of studies, in order to stimulate projects that can improve VCoP evaluation methods and support its important role in social learning. Findings: The systematic mapping led to the conclusion that most of the approaches for VCoP evaluation do not consider the combination of data structured and unstructured metrics. In addition, there is a lack of guidelines to support community operators’ actions based on evaluation metrics.

Aim/Purpose: Based on the social exchange theory, this study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions between organizational socialization and knowledge sharing. Background: With the advent of the era of the knowledge economy, knowledge has been replacing traditional resources such as capital, labor, and land to become the critical resources of enterprises. The competitiveness of an organization depends much on the effectiveness of its knowledge management; the success of its knowledge management largely relies upon employees’ motivation and willingness to engage in knowledge sharing. Methodology: This study is a longitudinal analysis of data collected from 281 newcomers in Chinese enterprises at two-time points with a one-month interval. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test hypotheses by calculating standardized path coefficients and their significance levels. Contribution: The study examined models linking organizational socialization and knowledge sharing that included organizational links and sacrifice as mediators and trust as a moderator. Findings: Results show that the influences of organizational socialization on knowledge sharing change regularly over time. In the role management stage, coworker support and prospects for the future impact the practices of knowledge sharing through links and sacrifice. Moreover, the findings show that trust moderates the effect of links and sacrifice on employees’ knowledge sharing. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study can help enterprises develop targeted human resource management strategies, improve the degree of job embeddedness within the organization, and thus encourage more knowledge sharing among employees. Recommendation for Researchers: First, researchers could pay attention to more underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions in the relationship between organizational socialization and knowledge sharing. Second, focusing on specific cultural context and dimension of concepts may provide a new insight for the future study and help add greater theoretical precision to knowledge sharing. Impact on Society: First, this study suggests that coworker support and prospects for the future improve knowledge sharing within the organization. Second, understanding how job embeddedness (organizational links and organizational sacrifice) acts as a mediator enhancing knowledge sharing, managers should consider raising their attachment relationship to organizations from two aspects: links and sacrifice. Third, knowledge sharing takes place in a team-oriented context, where the success of the team requires high-quality relationships among individual team members within the team as a whole. Future Research: Researchers in the future should employ experimental research design or utilize longitudinal data to ensure that the findings reveal causation. In addition, future research can investigate how the initial level and later changes of organizational socialization are associated with knowledge sharing beyond the observational scope of traditional cross-sectional and lagged research designs.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of the front/back-office structure affecting new service development (NSD) performance and examine the role of knowledge transfer in the relationship between front/back-office structure and NSD. Background: The separation of front and back-office has become the prevailing trend of the organizational transformation of modern service enterprises in the digital era. Yet, the influence of front and back-office separation dealing with new service development has not been widely researched. Methodology: Building on the internal social capital perspective, a multivariate regression analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of front/back-office structure on the NSD performance through knowledge transfer as an intermediate variable. The data was collected through a survey questionnaire from 198 project-level officers in the commercial banking industry of China. Contribution: This study advances the understanding of front/back-office structure’s influence mechanism on new service development activity. It reveals that knowledge transfer plays a critical role in bridging the impact of front and back-office separation to NSD performance under the trend of digitalization of service organizations. Findings: This study verified the positive effects of front/back-office social capital on NSD performance. Moreover, knowledge transfer predicted the variation in NSD performance and fully mediated the effect of front/back-office social capital on NSD performance. Recommendations for Practitioners: Service organizations should optimize knowledge transfer by promoting the social capital between front and back-office to overcome the negative effect organizational separation brings to NSD. Service and other organizations could explore developing an internal social network management platform, by which the internal social network could be visualized and dynamically managed. Recommendation for Researchers: The introduction of information and communications technology not only divides the organization into front and back-office, but also reduces the face-to-face customer contact. The impacts of new forms of customer contact to new service development and knowledge transfer between customer and service organizations call for further research. Along with the digital servitization, some manufacturing organizations also separate front and back-offices. The current model can be applied and assessed further in manufacturing and other service sectors. Impact on Society: The conclusion of this study guides us to pay attention to the construction of social capital inside organizations with front/back-office structure and implicates introducing and developing sociotechnical theory in front/back-office issue undergoing technological revolution. Future Research: As this study is based on the retail banking industry, similar studies are called upon in other service sectors to identify differences and draw more general conclusions. In addition, as the front and back-offices are being replaced increasingly by information technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), it is necessary to advance the research on front/back-office research with a new theoretical perspective, such as sociotechnical theory.

Aim/Purpose: This paper reports a case study of organizational transition from a non-competitive selection method to a novel bidding method for the selection of consultants in the Architectural and Engineering (A/E) industry. Background: Public procurement agencies are increasingly relying on external consultants for the design of construction projects. Consultant selection can be based on either competitive bidding, or quality-based criteria, or some combination between these two approaches. Methodology: Different sources of information were reviewed: internal documents, and quantitative data from the enterprise software platform (ERP). In addition, informal and unstructured interviews were conducted with relevant officials. Contribution: As there are mixed opinions in the scientific literature regarding the use of competitive bidding for the selection of consultants in the A/E industry, this paper contributes a detailed review of a transition to a competitive selection method and provides a financial and qualitative comparison between the two methods. In addition, the method implemented is novel, as it delegates most of the responsibility of hiring and managing consultants to one main contractor. Findings: While the new selection method was intended to reduce bureaucratic overload, it has unexpectedly also succeeded to reduce costs as well. Recommendations for Practitioners: It may be more efficient and profitable to adopt the selection method described in this study. Recommendation for Researchers: Similar methods can be applied to other industries successfully. Impact on Society: Our method was applied in a public organization and resulted in a better outcome, both financial and managerial. Adopting this approach can benefit public budgets. Future Research: The selection, data storage, and analysis methods are interrelated components. Future analysis of these components can help better shape the consultant selection process.

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.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the variables which affect the intention to use Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled smart wearables (e.g., smartwatches, rings, wristbands) payments. Background: Despite the enormous potential of wearable payments, studies investigating the adoption of this technology are scarce. Methodology: This study extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with four additional variables (Perceived Security, Trust, Perceived Cost, and Attractiveness of Alternatives) to investigate behavioral intentions to adopt wearable payments. The moderating role of gender was also examined. Data collected from 311 Kuwaiti respondents were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and multi-group analysis (MGA). Contribution: The research model provided in this study may be useful for academics and scholars conducting further research into m-payments adoption, specifically in the case of wearable payments where studies are scarce and still in the nascent stage; hence, addressing the gap in existing literature. Further, this study is the first to have specifically investigated wearable payments in the State of Kuwait; therefore, enriching Kuwaiti context literature. Findings: This study empirically demonstrated that behavioral intention to adopt wearable payments is mainly predicted by attractiveness of alternatives, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived security and trust, while the role of perceived cost was found to be insignificant. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study draws attention to the importance of cognitive factors, such as perceived usefulness and ease of use, in inducing users’ behavioral intention to adopt wearable payments. As such, in the case of perceived usefulness, smart wearable devices manufacturers and banks enhance the functionalities and features of these devices, expand on the financial services provided through them, and maintain the availability, performance, effectiveness, and efficiency of these tools. In relation to ease of use, smart wearable devices should be designed with an easy to use, high quality and customizable user interface. The findings of this study demonstrated the influence of trust and perceived security in motivating users to adopt wearable payments, Hence, banks are advised to focus on a relationship based on trust, especially during the early stages of acceptance and adoption of wearable payments. Recommendation for Researchers: The current study validated the role of attractiveness of alternatives, which was never examined in the context of wearable payments. This, in turn, provides a new dimension about a determinant factor considered by customers in predicting their behavioral intention to adopt wearable payments. Impact on Society: This study could be used in other countries to compare and verify the results. Additionally, the research model of this study could also be used to investigate other m-payments methods, such as m-wallets and P2P payments. Future Research: Future studies should investigate the proposed model in a cross-country and cross-cultural perspective with additional economic, environmental, and technological factors. Also, future research may conduct a longitudinal study to explain how temporal changes and usage experience affect users’ behavioral intentions to adopt wearable payments. Finally, while this study included both influencing factors and inhibiting factors, other factors such as social influence, perceived compatibility, personal innovativeness, mobility, and customization could be considered in future research.

Aim/Purpose: 5G and IoT are two path-breaking technologies, and they are like wall and climbers, where IoT as a climber is growing tremendously, taking the support of 5G as a wall. The main challenge that emerges here is to secure the ecosystem created by the collaboration of 5G and IoT, which consists of a network, users, endpoints, devices, and data. Other than underlying and hereditary security issues, they bring many Zero-day vulnerabilities, which always pose a risk. This paper proposes a security solution using network slicing, where each slice serves customers with different problems. Background: 5G and IoT are a combination of technology that will enhance the user experience and add many security issues to existing ones like DDoS, DoS. This paper aims to solve some of these problems by using network slicing and implementing an Intrusion Detection System to identify and isolate the compromised resources. Methodology: This paper proposes a 5G-IoT architecture using network slicing. Research here is an advancement to our previous implementation, a Python-based software divided into five different modules. This paper’s amplification includes induction of security using pattern matching intrusion detection methods and conducting tests in five different scenarios, with 1000 up to 5000 devices in different security modes. This enhancement in security helps differentiate and isolate attacks on IoT endpoints, base stations, and slices. Contribution: Network slicing is a known security technique; we have used it as a platform and developed a solution to host IoT devices with peculiar requirements and enhance their security by identifying intruders. This paper gives a different solution for implementing security while using slicing technology. Findings: The study entails and simulates how the IoT ecosystem can be variedly deployed on 5G networks using network slicing for different types of IoT devices and users. Simulation done in this research proves that the suggested architecture can be successfully implemented on IoT users with peculiar requirements in a network slicing environment. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners can implement this solution in any live or production IoT environment to enhance security. This solution helps them get a cost-effective method for deploying IoT devices on a 5G network, which would otherwise have been an expensive technology to implement. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can enhance the simulations by amplifying the different types of IoT devices on varied hardware. They can even perform the simulation on a real network to unearth the actual impact. Impact on Society: This research provides an affordable and modest solution for securing the IoT ecosystem on a 5G network using network slicing technology, which will eventually benefit society as an end-user. This research can be of great assistance to all those working towards implementing security in IoT ecosystems. Future Research: All the configuration and slicing resources allocation done in this research was performed manually; it can be automated to improve accuracy and results. Our future direction will include machine learning techniques to make this application and intrusion detection more intelligent and advanced. This simulation can be combined and performed with smart network devices to obtain more varied results. A proof-of-concept system can be implemented on a real 5G network to amplify the concept further.

Aim/Purpose: This study identifies the elements that influence intentions to purchase from the most popular Arabic online classifieds platform, OpenSooq.com. Background: Online purchasing has become popular among consumers in the past two decades, with perceived risk and trust playing key roles in consumers’ intention to purchase online. Methodology: A questionnaire survey was conducted of Internet users from three Jordanian districts to investigate how they used the OpenSooq platform in their e-commerce activities. In total, 202 usable responses were collected, and the data were analyzed with PLS-SEM for hypothesis testing and model validation. Contribution: Though online trading is increasingly popular, the factors that impact the behavior of consumers when purchasing high-value products have not been adequately investigated. Therefore, this study examined the factors affecting perceived risk, and the potential impact of privacy concerns on the perceived risk of online smartphone buyers. The study framework can help explore online behavior in various situations to ascertain similarities and differences and probe other aspects of online buying. Findings: Perceived risk negatively correlates with online purchasing behavior and trust. However, privacy concern and perceived risk, transaction security and trust, and trust and online purchasing behavior exhibited positive correlations. Recommendations for Practitioners: Customers can complete and retain online purchases in a range of settings illuminated in this study’s methods and procedures. Moreover, businesses can manage their IT arrangements to make Internet shopping more convenient and build processes for online shopping that allow for engagement, training, and ease of use, thus improving their customers’ online purchasing behavior. Recommendation for Researchers: Given the insight into the understanding and integration of variables including perceived risk, privacy issues, trust, transaction security, and online purchasing behavior, academics can build on the groundwork of this research paradigm to investigate underdeveloped countries, particularly Jordan, further. Impact on Society: Understanding the characteristics that influence online purchasing behavior can help countries realize the full potential of online shopping, particularly the benefits of safe, fast, and low-cost financial transactions without the need for an intermediary. Future Research: Future research can examine the link between online purchase intent, perceived risk, privacy concerns, trust, and transaction security to see if the findings of this study in Jordan can be applied to a broader context in other countries.

Aim/Purpose: This research aims to analyze the effect of human resource management on humanitarian operations performance, using humanitarian organizations in Malaysia as a case. Background: Humanitarian organizations need to develop and continue effective on-the-job human resource management, such as training and development and managing employee performance to enhance the performance of their humanitarian operations. Methodology: The sampling technique that was conducted is probability sampling. In particular, the technique is called stratified sampling. This technique is chosen because it is involving the division of a population into a smaller group, called “strata”. The questionnaire survey was distributed to humanitarian organizations in Malaysia to collect research data, and PLS-SEM analysis was conducted to validate the conceptual model. Contribution: This research focuses on the effect of human resource management on humanitarian operations performance in humanitarian organizations with consistent training to ensure successful humanitarian operations. Findings: The results of PLS-SEM analysis confirmed that Training and Employee Development, Recruitment and Employee Selection, and Communicative Management Style are significantly correlated with humanitarian operations performance, giving 75.7% variations which means that these human resource management are critical factors for increasing humanitarian operations performance in Malaysian humanitarian organizations. Recommendations for Practitioners: This research will enhance humanitarian operations performance for humanitarian organizations, in-line policies outlined under the Malaysia National Security Council Directive No. 20, and benefit the field of disaster management. Recommendation for Researchers: This research can be used by the authorized individual involved in humanitarian operations to satisfy the needs of the victims, which ultimately contributes to the performance of these humanitarian organizations. Impact on Society: This research highlighted the human resource management that is vital for humanitarian organizations, which will increase humanitarian operations performance in an organization. Future Research: This study is conducted in the context of humanitarian organizations in Malaysia. It is unclear whether the key findings of this study can be generalized. Therefore, it is suggested that, in future research, the current research model should be extended to include different countries for validation.

Aim/Purpose: This paper identified and explored the factors influencing Bitcoin adoption and use in South Africa. Background: Since its introduction in 2008, the value and popularity of Bitcoin has risen exponentially. Captivating the eyes of the world, from regulators to economists, Bitcoin promises to revolutionize the digital currency space. Despite being over 10 years old, the concept of cryptocurrency is fairly new in South Africa, a developing country. South African’s interest in Bitcoin continues to grow with the country constantly ranking within the top 10 in online searches for “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” on Google. The primary objective of this research was to identify adoption factors amongst South African citizens, an area that has not received much research focus in the past. In addition to this, the study aimed to identify how Bitcoin is primarily used in South Africa. Methodology: A survey-based questionnaire was utilized to obtain responses from adopters of Bitcoin in South Africa. The quantitative survey was completed by 204 respondents. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge relating to Bitcoin adoption, specifically from a developing country. Adoption factors are identified that can be utilized by businesses that intend to adopt cryptocurrency, to strategically prepare for the potential risks or opportunities brought about by Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. Findings: The findings of this study indicate that while perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norms, and facilitating conditions positively influence intention to adopt Bitcoin, trust was the only construct that is statistically significant and hence is the greatest driver of adoption in South Africa. In terms of its primary use in South Africa, the study revealed that Bitcoin is used as a speculative instrument for short-term trading in South Africa followed by being used as a long-term investment in the crypto-asset class. No respondent indicated that they utilize Bitcoin as a payment method in South Africa. Recommendations for Practitioners: When developing crypto-based investment products, custodians of assets must ensure that a minimum-security protocol is followed to safeguard these assets. This will enhance the trust that potential investors and customers have in their systems and products. Recommendation for Researchers: This study focused on adoption factors for South African citizens. Future studies should be conducted to identify adoption factors by businesses in South Africa. Impact on Society: Bitcoin offers an alternate trading instrument and investment option, with the possibility of large gains over a relatively short period. Bitcoin also presents the possibility of cross-border transactions at a significantly lower cost compared to traditional cross-border transfers of funds. Future Research: Studies should be conducted to explore the factors influencing the adoption of altcoins to determine if the technological differences influence the adoption of one currency over the other. Research should also be conducted comparing the taxation of cryptocurrency in various countries around the world.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the influences of KM-centred strategies on innovation capability among Malaysian R&D firms. It also deepens understanding of the pathways and conditions to improve the innovation capability by assessing the mediating role of both KM practices, i.e., knowledge exploration practices, and knowledge exploitation practices. Background: Knowledge is the main organisational resource that is able to generate a competitive advantage through innovation. It is a critical success driver for both knowledge exploration and exploitation for firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. Methodology: A total of 320 questionnaires were disseminated to Malaysian R&D firms and the response rate was 47 percent. The paper utilised structural equation modelling and cross-sectional design to test hypotheses in the proposed research model. Contribution: This paper provides useful information and valuable initiatives in exploring the mediating role of knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation in influencing innovation in Malaysian R&D firms. It helps R&D firms to frame their KM activities to drive the capability of creating and retaining a greater value onto their core business competencies. Findings: The findings indicate that all three KM-centred strategies (leadership, HR practices, and culture) have a direct effect on innovation. In addition, KM exploration practices mediate HR practices on innovation while KM exploitation mediates both leadership and HR practices on innovation. Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper serves as a guide for R&D managers to determine the gaps and appropriate actions to collectively achieve the desired R&D results and national innovation. It helps R&D firms frame their KM activities to enhance the capability of creating and retaining a greater value to their core business competencies. Recommendation for Researchers: This paper contributes significantly to knowledge management and innovation research by establishing new associations among KM-centred strategies, i.e., leadership, HR practices, and culture, both KM practices (knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation), and innovation. Impact on Society: This paper highlights the important role of knowledge leaders and the practice of effective HR practices to help R&D firms to create a positive environment that facilitates both knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation in enhancing innovation capabilities. Future Research: Further research could use a longitudinal sample to examine relationships of causality, offering a more comprehensive view of the effect of KM factors on innovation over the long term. Future research should also try to incorporate information from new external sources, such as customers or suppliers.

Aim/Purpose: The understanding of disease spread dynamics in the context of air travel is crucial for effective disease detection and epidemic intelligence. The Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered-Hospitalized-Critical-Deaths (SEIR-HCD) model proposed in this research work is identified as a valuable tool for capturing the complex dynamics of disease transmission, healthcare demands, and mortality rates during epidemics. Background: The spread of viral diseases is a major problem for public health services all over the world. Understanding how diseases spread is important in order to take the right steps to stop them. In epidemiology, the SIS, SIR, and SEIR models have been used to mimic and study how diseases spread in groups of people. Methodology: This research focuses on the integration of air traffic network data into the SEIR-HCD model to enhance the understanding of disease spread in air travel settings. By incorporating air traffic data, the model considers the role of travel patterns and connectivity in disease dissemination, enabling the identification of high-risk routes, airports, and regions. Contribution: This research contributes to the field of epidemiology by enhancing our understanding of disease spread dynamics through the application of the SIS, SIR, and SEIR-HCD models. The findings provide insights into the factors influencing disease transmission, allowing for the development of effective strategies for disease control and prevention. Findings: The interplay between local outbreaks and global disease dissemination through air travel is empirically explored. The model can be further used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of surveillance and early detection measures at airports and transportation hubs. The proposed research contributes to proactive and evidence-based strategies for disease prevention and control, offering insights into the impact of air travel on disease transmission and supporting public health interventions in air traffic networks. Recommendations for Practitioners: Government intervention can be studied during difficult times which plays as a moderating variable that can enhance or hinder the efficacy of epidemic intelligence efforts within air traffic networks. Expert collaboration from various fields, including epidemiology, aviation, data science, and public health with an interdisciplinary approach can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the disease spread dynamics in air traffic networks. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can collaborate with international health organizations and authorities to share their research findings and contribute to a global understanding of disease spread in air traffic networks. Impact on Society: This research has significant implications for society. By providing a deeper understanding of disease spread dynamics, it enables policymakers, public health officials, and practitioners to make informed decisions to mitigate disease outbreaks. The recommendations derived from this research can aid in the development of effective strategies to control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, ultimately leading to improved public health outcomes and reduced societal disruptions. Future Research: Practitioners of the research can contribute more effectively to disease outbreaks within the context of air traffic networks, ultimately helping to protect public health and global travel. By considering air traffic patterns, the SEIR-HCD model contributes to more accurate modeling and prediction of disease outbreaks, aiding in the development of proactive and evidence-based strategies to manage and mitigate the impact of infectious diseases in the context of air travel.

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between dual network embedding, dual entrepreneurial bricolage, and knowledge-creation performance. Background: The importance of new ventures for innovation and economic growth has been fully endorsed. Establishing incubation organizations to help new startups overcome constraints and dilemmas has become the consensus of various countries. In particular, the number of Chinese makerspaces has rapidly increased. Startups in the makerspaces form a loosely coupled dual network to cooperate and share resources, especially knowledge. Methodology: By convenience sampling, 400 startups in the makerspaces in Fujian Province, China were selected for the questionnaire survey study. In total, 307 valid responses were collected, yielding a response rate of 76.8%. The survey data were analyzed for hypothesis testing, using the PL-SEM technique with the AMOS20.0 software. Contribution: At the theoretical level, this research supplements the exploration of the influencing factors of the entrepreneurial bricolage of startups at the network level. It deepens the research on the internal mechanism of the dual network embeddedness affecting the knowledge-creation performance. In practice, it provides a theoretical basis and management inspiration for startups in makerspaces to overcome the inherent disadvantage of being too small and weak to explore innovative paths. Findings: First, relational embedding of startups in makerspaces directly affects knowledge-creation performance. Second, dual entrepreneurial bricolage plays a mediating role in diversity. Selective entrepreneurial bricolage plays a partial mediating role between relationship embedding and knowledge-creation performance. Parallel entrepreneurial bricolage plays a complete intermediary role between structural embedding and knowledge-creation performance. Dual entrepreneurial bricolage plays a complete intermediary role between knowledge embedding and knowledge-creation performance. Recommendations for Practitioners: Enterprises in the makerspaces should make dynamic adjustments to the network embedded state and dual entrepreneurial bricolage to improve knowledge-creation performance. When startups conduct selective entrepreneurship bricolage, they should strengthen relational and knowledge embeddedness to improve their relationship strength and tacit knowledge acquisition. When startups conduct parallel entrepreneurship bricolage, structural and knowledge embedding should be strengthened to improve the position of enterprises in the network to acquire diversified knowledge to explore and discover new business opportunities and project resources. Recommendation for Researchers: The heterogeneity of industries and regions may impact the dual network embedding mechanism of startups. Researchers can choose a wider range of regions and industries for sampling. Impact on Society: This study provides a theoretical basis and management inspiration for startups to overcome the inherent disadvantage of being too small and weak to explore innovative paths. It provides a basis to support startups in unleashing innovation vitality and achieving healthy growth. Future Research: Previous studies have shown that network relationships and bricolage behavior have a certain relationship with the enterprise life cycle. Future research can adopt a longitudinal research design across time points, which will increase the explanatory power of research conclusions.

Aim/Purpose: This research study aimed to explore ecommerce fraud practitioners’ experiences and develop a grounded theory framework to help define an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and types of incidents. Background: With a surge in global ecommerce, online transactions have become increasingly fraudulent, complex, and borderless. There are undefined ecommerce fraud roles, responsibilities, processes, and systems that limit and hinder cyber incident response to fraudulent activities. Methodology: A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to investigate and develop a theoretical foundation of ecommerce fraud incident response based on fraud practitioners’ experiences and job descriptions. The study sample consisted of 8 interviews with ecommerce fraud experts. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by helping define a novel framework that outlines an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and incident types. Findings: An ecommerce fraud incident response framework was developed from fraud experts’ perspectives. The framework helps define processes, roles, responsibilities, systems, incidents, and stakeholders. The first finding defined the ecommerce fraud incident response process. The process includes planning, identification, analysis, response, and improvement. The second finding was that the fraud incident response model did not include the containment phase. The next finding was that common roles and responsibilities included fraud prevention analysis, tool development, reporting, leadership, and collaboration. The fourth finding described practitioners utilizing hybrid tools and systems for fraud prevention and detection. The fifth finding was the identification of internal and external stakeholders for communication, collaboration, and information sharing. The sixth finding is that research participants experienced different organizational alignments. The seventh key finding was stakeholders do not have a holistic view of the data and information to make some connections about fraudulent behavior. The last finding was participants experienced complex fraud incidents. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended to adopt the ecommerce fraud response framework to help ecommerce fraud and security professionals develop an awareness of cyber fraud activities and/or help mitigate cyber fraud activities. Future Research: Future research could entail conducting a quantitative analysis by surveying the industry on the different components such as processes, systems, and responsibilities of the ecommerce fraud incident response framework. Other areas to explore and evaluate are maturity models and organizational alignment, collaboration, information sharing, and stakeholders. Lastly, further research can be pursued on the nuances of ecommerce fraud incidents using frameworks such as attack graph generation, crime scripts, and attack trees to develop ecommerce fraud response playbooks, plans, and metrics.

Aim/Purpose: Social commerce is an emergent topic widely used for product and service sourcing. It helps companies to have frequent interaction with their customers and strive to achieve a competitive advantage. Yet there is only little empirical evidence focusing on social commerce and its adoption in SMEs to date. This study investigates the key factors affecting social commerce adoption in SMEs. This research designed a theoretical model using the Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) Model Background: Despite its rapid growth and usage, social commerce is still in its evolution phase and its current conception is vague and restricted. Therefore, considering the benefits of social commerce for consumers and businesses, it is important to explore the concept of social commerce. Methodology: The research floated a self-administered questionnaire and surveyed 218 Jordanian SME businesses. The data was analyzed using smart PLS and the results were drawn that covers the detail of the characteristics of respondents, study descriptive, results of regressions assumptions, e.g., data normality, reliability, validity, common method biases, and description of the measurement model, followed by the findings of hypothesis analysis. Contribution: This study has many significant contributions to the existing studies on firms’ adoption of social commerce. It indicates that organizational readiness from the organizational perspective and consumer pressure from the environmental dimension of the TOE model are significant influential elements in the adoption of social commerce in business, followed by high-level management support and trading partner pressure, respectively. This shows that organizational readiness to adopt social commerce and consumer pressure has a vital role in Jordanian SMEs’ adopting social commerce. Findings: The results were drawn from a survey of 218 Jordanian SMEs, indicating that organizational readiness from an organizational dimension and consumer pressure environmental perspective, followed by top management’s support and trading partner pressure, significantly predicts the adoption intentions of social commerce. However, perceived usefulness and security concerns from a technological context do not significantly impact behavioral intentions to utilize social commerce. Recommendations for Practitioners: Lack of awareness about new technology and its potential benefits are not well diffused in the Jordanian context. In short, both organizational and environmental dimensions of the TOE framework significantly influence the behavioral intentions for social commerce adoption in the Jordanian context whereas the third-dimension technological factors do not affect the behavioral intentions of SMEs to adopt social commerce. In the technological context, SMEs need to invest in technology and must spread awareness among Jordanian consumers about the potential benefits of technology and must encourage them to use social commerce platforms to interact because of the high significance of social commerce for businesses as it facilitates the quick completion of tasks, enhances the productivity, and improves the chances of high profitability. Recommendation for Researchers: First, the study is limited in scope as it discusses the direct links between the TOE framework, behavioral intentions to use social commerce, and the actual usage of social commerce in the Jordanian context rather than testing the mediation, and moderation. Future research may examine the mediators and moderators in the conceptual model. Second, the research examined the behavioral intentions of SMEs rather than consumers to adopt social commerce. Further research might consider the consumer perspective on social commerce. Impact on Society: This research aims to identify the key factor that impact the behavioral intentions of SME businesses to practice social commerce. The theoretical underpinning of the study lies in the TOE model, as using its basic assumptions the conceptual grounds and hypothesis of the study are developed. Future Research: The study findings are not generalizable in different contexts as it was specifically conducted by gathering data from the Jordanian population. However future studies may consider different contexts, sectors, cultures, or countries to examine the model. Lastly, the research collected data using convenience sampling from 218 SMEs in Jordan, which may create difficulty in the generalizability of the research, so needs to examine a larger sample in future studies.