Development of a voice recognition based system to help physically disabled people use the facebook

Social network sites (SNSs) have become so popular that the number of people joining and actively participating on such sites is increasing on a daily basis. Although there are several SNSs, Facebook is currently the most popular and most commonly used. SNSs have primarily been developed with able-bodied people in mind and as a result of this, people with disabilities find it difficult to join and participate on these sites. Furthermore, this topic has received little attention by researchers around the world. Facebook pages usually consist of text, graphics, and sound where the users navigate through the pages using a mouse. As a step towards addressing this need and finding a possible elegant solution, the authors have developed a voice-activated PC-based system (called NEU-FACE) in the form of an interface to Facebook. With the aid of this system, a person with a physical disability can join and participate in Facebook by giving voice commands to manage the typical Facebook activities.

     

Recollections of My Career

Teuku Mohamad Daud, a pioneer Indonesian entrepreneur, was born in Perlak, Aceh, in 1920. Educated in Aceh and Jakarta, he joined the fledgling Indonesian National Army (TNI) at the proclamation of independence in 1945. Charged with procuring military equipment for the TNI Sumatra Command based at Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Mr Daud was forced to finance the procurement by smuggling agricultural commodities, with the help of his uncle, Teuku Abdul Hamid Azwar. In 1947, at the suggestion of Vice President Hatta, Mr Daud and his uncle established Indonesia's first state-owned general trading company, the Central Trading Corporation (CTC, renamed PN Tri Bhakti in 1961, and later PN Panca Niaga), based in Bukittinggi. Mr Daud became a director of CTC while remaining on the TNI staff, and was later President Director until his resignation in 1966. He and several colleagues then established a group of private companies, engaged mainly in construction work.

On 1 October 1996 and again in June 1997, Mr Daud talked with Howard Dick and Thee Kian Wie of the BIES Editorial Board about his experiences in running CTC, both during Indonesia's revolutionary struggle and in the early period of independence, and about his views on the role of government in commerce. References to current government policy relate to the Soeharto administration.     

Conceptualising consumers’ word-of-mouth behaviour intention: evidence from a university education services in Malaysia

The aim of this study is to propose a theoretical model to examine consumer word-of-mouth (WOM) behavioural intention in Malaysian education services. The results from a survey of 247 respondents indicate that servicescape, service recovery, service quality and satisfaction significantly affect consumers’ intention to engage in WOM behaviour. The results support majority of the hypothesized relationships, suggesting that servicescape and service recovery function as antecedents, directly affecting consumer perceptions of education service quality. The analytical results also demonstrate that perceived service quality positively affects satisfaction, which subsequently induces consumers’ behavioural intentions. Consistent with previous empirical studies, our findings suggest that satisfaction is a super-ordinate construct with a positive relation to behavioural intention, and significantly mediates the effect of service quality on the intention to engage in WOM behaviour. The insignificant direct effect from service quality to WOM further suggests the role of satisfaction as a complete mediator in the university education service setting. Implications for future research are discussed and limitations noted.     

What drives global B2B e-commerce usage: an analysis of the effect of the complexity of trading system and competition pressure

The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions in which B2B e-commerce is most likely to diffuse widely at the country level. This paper examines the role of trading system complexity and pressure of competition on B2B EC diffusion by controlling Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. Our sample comprises a pool of country-year dataset from 143 countries over a three-year period (2014–2016). The data were collected from Network Readiness Index Report and Global Competitiveness Report. The findings provide evidence that greater the complexity of trading relationships with the global economy and high level of pressure from the competition are the main forces for B2B use across countries. Consequently, the authors suggest that having a strong trade relationship with developed countries with matured B2B e-commerce practice is helpful in sustaining B2B e-commerce use across countries.     

The impact of external environmental on business process management and organizational performance

The external business environment as a variable for explaining the impact of business process management (BPM) on organization performance is investigated. The developed model is tested using partial least squares, using a survey on human resource/information technology managers in Malaysia. Statistical results show that dynamism and hostility influence the degree of implementation of BPM. The extent of BPM also has an impact on organization performance. The model can be used by organizations to assess their level of BPM success depending on specific environmental characteristics. This research also contributes to understanding an environment–BPM–performance interface in a developing economy, not previously examined.     

Contents of Volume 44

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 44     

An economic production and remanufacturing model with learning effects

Managing inventory in reverse logistics has been receiving much attention in recent years. One inventory problem that has been of interest to researchers is the production and remanufacturing model, where used items are collected and remanufactured to satisfy customer demand. The available models in the literature do not discuss the learning effects in production and remanufacturing processes. This may not be true in industries where labour costs and learning costs are expensive. By modelling these learning effects, management may use established learning models to better utilize capacity, manage inventories, and coordinate production and distribution throughout the chain.This paper extends the production, remanufacture, and waste disposal model by assuming learning to occur in both production and remanufacturing processes. However, this paper also assumes that improvements due to learning require capital investment. Mathematical models are developed, numerical examples are provided, and results are discussed.     

Return home and start new businesses: internal migration in China

Internal migration patterns in China are characterised by rapid urbanisation and cross‐regional movement and more recently by the return of migrants to their native counties. This study investigates the drivers of migrants' permanent return and their likelihood of starting new businesses in their counties of origin. The results suggest that migrants are discouraged from permanent resettlement in urban areas because of family ties and the aspiration to start businesses in their villages of origin. The study also provides evidence that the probability of starting a business upon return is affected by the migrants' accumulation of work experience, business experience, the savings earned while away, financial stability, and the social capital they have in their home counties. The results provide important insights for emerging countries in overcoming rapid urbanisation and imbalanced regional economic growth.