Caroline Howard

Social Media Intelligence in the Exploration of National Cultural Dimensions for Online Social Communities

Companies are increasingly embracing the use of social media in global online communities as an important part of their business strategies. Use of social media enables organizations to extend their reach and engage with customers in a shared community. These provide forums for interacting with customers and collecting information so that companies can better make informed decisions that directly relate to customer needs. However, effective use of social media requires matching both organizational and user requirements with the features of the social media. To support the development of successful social communities, this research uses Hofstedes dimensions to examine the impact of users national culture on social media feature preference in a global international scuba diving online community. Specifically, this paper focuses on the Hofstedes Individualism and Collectivism IC dimension which the study found is a significant determinant of feature preferences.

Use of Technology in the Household: An Exploratory Study

Since the 1980s, personal computer ownership has become ubiquitous, and people are increasingly using household technologies for a wide variety of purposes. Extensive IS research has resulted in useful models to explain workplace technology acceptance and household technology adoption. Studies have also found the determinants underlying technology acceptance in the workplace and household adoption are very different from the determinants of household use. Thus, while a great deal is known about workplace acceptance and household adoption, less is known about household technology use. As home computer use becomes prevalent, fewer households are left to adopt and it becomes increasingly important to understand household use. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of 202 users of household personal computers to test a new model derived from the Model of Acceptance of Technology in the Household MATH and another behavior model based on a Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior.

The power of unstructured data: A study of the impact of tacit knowledge on business performance

Thisstudyexaminedtheincorporationoftacitknowledgeintocorporatebusinessintelligenceandits impactonbusinessperformance,specificallyanalyzingindividualproductivity.Businessproductivity inrelationtotheuseofknowledgehasbeeninvestigatedbutusingmacro-dimensionsnotspecifically oriented to individualworkers’productivity.Thisstudywasbasedonexternalization,oneof the modesinthetheoryoforganizationalknowledgecreation(thatis,convertingtacitknowledgeinto explicitknowledge).Thefindingsontheliteraturestatedthatknowledgeisthemostimportantpiece ofbusinesscompetitiveadvantageandthattacitknowledgeisakeypartofthatknowledge.This researchfoundthattacitknowledgedidnotinfluenceindividualengineers’productivityandassuch didnotaffectbusinessperformance.Additionally,itfoundthattacitknowledgewasnotafactorthat couldbeusedtopredictindividualproductivity.Thisresearchwasthefirstattempttoinvestigate individualproductivityinrelationtotacitknowledge. KeywoRDS Artificial Intelligence, Explicit Knowledge, Semantic Web, Social Networks, Tacit Knowledge

Evidence versus Pragmatism: Unresolved Conflict between Two Construction Management Paradigms for Contingency Project Environments

This study explores two construction execution and management models for construction and infrastructure development in a new era of fiscal austerity in the face of unplanned, yet devastating natural or man-made disasters. One model explores the role and application of evidence-based construction management, while the other studies the role of the pragmatic approach to construction management in the context of existing cultures and emergent, or dynamic project circumstances. Responses from subject matter experts from two representative dynamic construction and infrastructure development areas (Nigeria and Afghanistan) are evaluated for insights. This research combined expert opinions with time-tested approaches for efficient infrastructure project, procurement, and execution in emergent circumstances of man-made or natural disaster management. While one of the two development strategies is based on performance criteria such as cost, quality and time efficiencies, the other is based on the utilitarian value of a pragmatic juxtaposition of driving social, political and environmental factors. The study is underscored by the notion that while numbers do not lie, they are by their very nature incapable of offering the whole truth.

Electronic Payment Systems Evaluation: A Case Study to Examine System Selection Criteria and Impacts

As e-commerce is increasingly critical to organizational survival in the 21st century global marketplace, business organizations are challenged with selecting the best payment alternatives to meet both their requirements and the needs of their customers. This paper develops and validates a performance-based tool, the Electronic Payment Efficacy Quotient EPEQ, designed to assist merchants in selecting the appropriate EPS and measuring effectiveness. The research aims at addressing the need for EPS research to aid merchant selection and use of EPS. The paper presents the case study of a single source Internet Service Provider ISP, which was analyzed to determine merchants needs regarding EPS and develop measures. Historical data was then used to determine and test the validity of the most effective alternative measures. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research to assist in optimizing merchant use of EPS.

Exploring Variables that Affect Moral Development of Working Professionals

The increase of unethical behavior in the workplace has encouraged contemporary researchers to focus their research efforts on exploring moral development of employees in the business sector. It is thought that moral development may be a crucial driver of ethical decision making, while morality may be affected by a range of variables. In this study, the impact of higher education, ethical education, and work experience on moral development of licensed real-estate agents is examined. Moreover, the impact of higher education on an individuals moral development to a higher level of Kohlbergs theory of moral development is evaluated. The results of the study suggest that the variables of higher education, ethical education, and work experience showed no significant impact or increase of moral development of real-estate agents. The findings imply that the level of moral reasoning of real-estate agents service their occupations ethical requirements.

Information Systems Security Policy Compliance: An Analysis of Management Employee Interpersonal Relationship and the Impact on Deterrence

The article describes research conducted to assess and address some key security issues surrounding the use of information technology from employee behavioral standpoint. The aim of the study was to determine additional security measures to reduce security incidents and maximize effective use of information systems. The research is an extension of several recent empirical studies in information systems security policy behavioral compliance, which have generally found people to be a weak link in information security. A mix of theoretical frameworks resulted in a model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior TPB, which was used to test the impact that management and employee relationship has on deterrence. Results indicate that management has a significant stake in influencing the behavior of their employees, and that the issue of employee disgruntlement nevertheless is not paramount of top managements Information systems security challenges.

Antecedents of Customer Satisfaction Affecting Broadband Loyalty: An Implementation of Servqual and NPS®

Many customer satisfaction studies in the service industry use SERVQUAL, an instrument developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1998. Similarly, many studies on customer loyalty use the Net Promoter SystemTM NPS® developed by. Even though researchers acknowledge a relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, there is currently no empirical evidence demonstrating such relationship using SERVQUAL and NPS. In that regard, this study analyzed the antecedents of satisfaction measured by SERVQUAL that influence loyalty as measured by NPS in the context of the residential broadband service industry. To that effect, 208 broadband customers in the U.S. Midwest region were surveyed online. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the latent structure of collected data, validating the use of the five SERVQUAL factors as predictors. An ordinal logistic regression OLR model built on the collected data confirmed the existence of a statistically significant relationship between Empathy one of the factors and customer loyalty, suggesting that increasing empathy by one point increased the odds of becoming a promoter by 11.73%. The final model was validated using the Akaike information criterion AIC, a single sample cross-validation model.

Exploring Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Entry Behaviors for Participation in an Online Peer Tutoring Learning Environment

Social cognitive theory is founded on the belief that learning is shared socially. Triadic reciprocal determinism explains the interrelationship and interaction between environmental cues, behavior, and biological determinants to shape and alter the perception of the self and how individuals assume agentic perspectives in social interactions to approach challenges and pursue goals. Knowing how learners perceived their likelihood to achieve success also provides for a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of a proposed learning solution. The purpose of this study was to explore the self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents as part of the analysis of the learners in the instructional design system (ISD) model in terms of entry behaviors for the design of a peer tutoring learning environment. The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) was used to interview participants, using the questions as open-ended questions. Observations of the social interactions between participants were collected during focus groups to discuss their responses to the GSE scale. The results of this study suggested that individuals with high self-efficacy not only assume a direct personal agentic perspective when acting alone but that they also assume and motivate others to engage in a collective agentic perspective. Individuals with low self-efficacy assume proxy or surrogate agentic perspectives in social interactions and require prompting to engage and participate. High self-efficacy indicates effective collaboration through the collective agency, which affects success positively in a peer tutoring learning environment. Low self-efficacy affects negatively success in peer tutoring, because individuals with low self-efficacy assume a proxy or surrogate agentic perspective detaching themselves from the interactions. However, individuals with low self-efficacy, through prompting and motivation from peers with high self-efficacy can improve their interactions and as goals are reached, improve self-efficacy.

Information Technology Process Improvement Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study from the Perspective of Process Owners and Process Manager

This article is derived from a qualitative multicase study with two settings that explored the way decisions are made in two IT organizations regarding process improvement initiatives by using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 20 IT process owners and managers. The two participating organizations are a healthcare insurance company and a manufacturer of electronic interconnects. The study sought to uncover a how IT process improvements are prioritized and how approvals are attained, b how senior leadership is involved in decision making, c how security and risk are considered, d if and how formal process improvement methodologies are used, e if and how estimated and actual cost benefit analysis are conducted associated with decisions, and f how alignment with organizational goals is attained. The topic of IT governance was narrowed to explore the perspective of IT process owners and process managers, and their approaches and methodologies used with IT process improvement initiatives. The study found that pre-decision stages take place in IT investment decision making, and that process owners and process managers, participants other than senior leadership, and executive level decision makers are involved in these pre-decision stages and may be involved in the final decision stages.