Public Participation and Citizen-Centred Local Government: Lessons from the Best Value and Better Government for Older People Pilot Programmes

This article examines the contribution that public participation can make to the development of 'citizen-centred government'. It draws upon the evidence of two major initiatives established by central and local government to develop and test out new approaches to service delivery (the Best Value and the Better Government for Older People pilot programmes). Evaluation of these two sets of pilots suggests that the notion of 'citizen-centred government' and the forms of participation that are required to achieve it are liable to a range of different interpretations. In particular there is an important distinction between approaches which seek to promote community planning and user-focused services, and those that envisage a much more active role for local people in designing and delivering local services.     

Relationship building in the financial services marketplace: The importance of personal selling

Radical changes have resulted in heightened consumer mobility and intense competition in the financial services industry. In order to create and maintain a competitive edge, today’s financial service firms must establish and maintain a highly integrative, customer-oriented sales culture based on building trust and relationship enhancement. Importantly, in the twenty-first century, financial service firms have to utilize technology effectively so as to provide easily understandable and usable employee and customer information. In this article, we suggest that traditional and non-traditional financial services firms will benefit from adopting technological methods from the direct selling industry. To this end, we offer managerial implications for successful implementation of technologically astute personal selling processes in the financial services marketplace.     

Using the extended innovation attributes framework and consumer personal characteristics as predictors of internet banking adoption

The presumed dominant role of usability attributes (ie usefulness and ease of use) in predicting consumer adoption of a technologically based innovation (eg internet banking — IB) is reexamined, by using an extended framework, which, apart from usability, incorporates the social and psychological aspects of the adoption process. Furthermore, given that IB has been around for almost a decade, it is high time to update the profile of the potential adopters. Results, underscore the role of social factors as predictors of potential IB adopters, whereas the demographic profile of future IB adopters displays important differences compared to that of those already using IB. Possible explanations are discussed, along with implication for practitioners and suggestions for future research.     

Imagining futures: A collaborative policy/device design for wearable computing

The rapidly expanding market for wearable computing devices (wearables), driven by advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), wireless access, and public acceptance of a design aesthetic, is indicative of the near limitless potential for changing the relationship of users to information context(s). As the adoption of wearable devices spreads, there are cultural and social impacts that represent both barriers and opportunities, with subsequent policy ramifications. All too often designers, technologists, and policymakers operate independently developing products that are out of sync, lack interoperability, or are hindered by well meaning, but obstructive policy. This paper proposes a futures-based, iterative policy-informed design framework for developing wearable devices that guides interdisciplinary collaborators early in the process of designing a research & development plan. This approach allows for the development of “images of the future” through which various potential implications and effects of device design in social, technological, and regulatory contexts can be explored.     

Sites and Services--and Subsidies: The Economics of Low-Cost Housing in Developing Countries

Sites and services projects represent a major innovation inshelter policy in developing countries and have been sponsoredby international aid agencies for somewhat more than a decade.Such government projects deliver a package of shelter-relatedservices, the standards of which depend on the ability and willingnessto pay of intended beneficiaries. Typically, such projects representa sharp break with preexisting government shelter policies inthat they attempt, in principle, to focus directly on lower-incomegroups and to deliver shelter and services with small or nosubsidies. This article describes the background of the sitesand services concept; reviews recent evaluations of sites andservices projects; presents an analytical model of the sitesand services paradigm (which is used to examine how major projectoutcomes are influenced by project design); summarizes recentresearch on housing demand in developing countries (which isrelevant to designing appropriate sites and services projects);reviews planning assumptions used in World Bank sites and servicesprojects; compares these assumptions with empirical evidenceon willingness to pay for housing; and examines project experiencein light of contrasts between actual planning assumptions andempirical research on demand for shelter. The article concludeswith suggestions for ways to improve the project design processand reform housing sector policies to increase the efficacyof the sites and services paradigm.     

Bridging the Gaps: Credits,Adoption, and Inequality

We examine here the role of credits on technology adoption and inequality from the perspective of developing countries. Utilizing a model of exogenous growth, with heterogeneous labor and technical progress embodied in physical capital, we find that credits can contribute to a faster adoption and to reducing income inequality. Thus, a virtuous cycle of credits, a shorter technological gap, less inequality, and economic growth is feasible to be created when there is full liquidity in the market. When credits are constrained, the cycle loses virtuosity, where the economy can lose up to two points in growth due to credit constraints.     

Explaining the (non-) adoption of advanced data analytics in auditing: A process theory

Audit firms are increasingly engaging with advanced data analytics to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of external audits through the automation of audit work and obtaining a better understanding of the client’s business risk and thus their own audit risk. This paper examines the process by which audit firms adopt advanced data analytics, which has been left unaddressed by previous research. We derive a process theory from expert interviews which describes the activities within the process and the organizational units involved. It further describes how the adoption process is affected by technological, organizational and environmental contextual factors. Our work contributes to the extent body of research on technology adoption in auditing by using a previously unused theoretical perspective, and contextualizing known factors of technology adoption. The findings presented in this paper emphasize the importance of technological capabilities of audit firms for the adoption of advanced data analytics; technological capabilities within audit teams can be leveraged to support both the ideation of possible use cases for advanced data analytics, as well as the diffusion of solutions into practice.     

Fertility, Contraceptive Choice, and Public Policy in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has invested massively in public infrastructure sinceindependence in 1980. The impact of these investments on demographicoutcomes is examined using household survey data matched withtwo community level surveys. A woman's education is a powerfulpredictor of both fertility and contraceptive use. These relationshipsare far from linear and have changed shape in recent years.After controlling for household resources, both the availabilityand quality of health and family planning services have an importantimpact on the adoption of modern contraceptives. In particular,outreach programs such as mobile family planning clinics andcommunity-based distributors (CBDs) have been especially successful.However, not all women are equally served by this infrastructure.For example, CBDs have a bigger impact on younger, better educatedwomen, while mobile family planning clinics appear to have moresuccess with older, less educated women.     

The adoption of total cost of ownership for sourcing decisions––a structural equations analysis

This study investigates the adoption of total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis to improve sourcing decisions. TCO can be seen as an application of activity based costing (ABC) that quantifies the costs that are involved in acquiring and using purchased goods or services. TCO supports purchasing decision-makers in focusing on total value received and not simply price, and it extends ABC concepts and tools to an inter-organizational context. Based on ABC-adoption literature and focus-group discussions with senior purchasing executives, a model is developed to explain relationships among eight constructs hypothesized to explain TCO adoption: competitive pressure in customer markets, strategic purchasing orientation, top management support, functional management commitment, value analysis experience, adequacy of TCO information, success of TCO initiatives, and use of TCO-based review and reward systems. We test this model using multi-sample structural equation modeling on survey data collected from purchasing managers and plant maintenance managers. We find support for most of our hypotheses and, further, that the posited relationships are largely invariant across purchasing manager and plant maintenance manager perspectives.     

A conceptual foundation of design and implementation research in accounting information systems

This structured literature review focuses on the design and implementation of systems in Accounting Information System (AIS) research. The review has two objectives: 1) To look in depth at AIS research regarding the design and implementation of information systems related to accounting in the last fifteen years; 2) To understand design and implementation issues in AIS. To do so, this research examines the current state of design and implementation research in the domain of AIS, using a structured review of abstracts in top-level Information Systems, Accounting, and AIS journals. Using a design science in IS theoretical framework, the review categorizes themes and trends in AIS literature. Some of the most relevant themes include audit/auditors, enterprise resource planning, monitoring and control, adoption, and decision making. The most relevant issues include training, commitment, investment, culture, and existing business processes. The research includes gaps, limitations, and opportunities for future research.     

Technological innovation and initial public offerings

This article shows how both technological and competitive risksaffect the timing of private and initial public offerings inan emerging industry. Early private financing occurs in industriesthat are perceived to be risky, with high development costsand low probability of being displaced by technologically superiorrivals. Early public financing occurs in industries perceivedto be viable, with low development costs and low probabilityof displacement. Due to feedback effects between financial andproduct markets, the value of investors' proprietary informationis greater in private than in initial public offerings. Thishas implications for underpricing.     

Medición de la intensidad en el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en Escandinavia

One characteristic of the processes related to technological innovation in the Scandinavian countries is the high participation level of public and private agents. The objective of this strategy is to assimilate knowledge and to spread it out in the best possible way. Thus, in this article we identify the profile of ICT users; we try to establish how important they are for these countries, their good use of these technologies and how they impact on their communication processes. The results derived from the research prove that: 1) Swedish and Danish homes are a reference when it comes to the utilization of ICTs, 2) Finnish companies lead the way in the adoption of ICTs, followed by Danish and Swedish companies; 3) When it comes to provision and implementation of public services on a technological platform, the leading countries are Denmark, Finland and Sweden; and 4) When it comes to the utilization of ICTs in infrastructures, the EU leadership is headed by Sweden and Denmark, far ahead from the other Member States.     

From vision to action: Framing the Leitbild concept in the context of landscape planning

Reviewing landscape developments in the last decades evidently shows that in the future most pressing changes can be expected for the land surface. This indispensably calls for strategic approaches based on visions and transdisciplinary creativity. Hence, this paper critically reviews the Leitbild concept, an idea on spatial planning which has been widely discussed in the German-speaking planning literature but which has received scant attention elsewhere. Although the term has been translated as a ‘vision’, this paper shows that the concept is far richer in its content than these casual translations suggest. The paper shows that it defines a particular paradigm for landscape planning that embodies a transdisciplinary approach in which lay-people and experts develop both goals and strategies for realising their joint visions. A systematic overview of the key characteristics that make up the Leitbild approach is provided and set in relation to already available approaches for decision makers. Although there are similarities between the Leitbild approach and other planning and decision-support tools, such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Impact Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA-sust), the paper shows that the particular combination of issues considered when developing a Leitbild makes it distinctive. Through an iterative process, the development of a Leitbild allows new approaches to spatial planning in which space and place can be considered as a social construct, and in which the values and understandings of local actors can be better represented.     

论技术创新驱动经济发展的加速效应——兼论发展中国家中等收入陷阱产生的原因

在技术创新驱动经济发展的过程中,技术进步不仅直接通过提升资本要素的生产率水平来提升经济增长速度,而且也间接提升了资本积累的速度,由此将进一步提升经济增长速度,导致技术进步对经济增长速度的弹性大于1,形成了技术创新驱动经济发展的加速效用.当发展中国家剩余劳动力的转移依赖于资本积累的速度时,技术进步的速度还可以通过提升资本积累速度和剩余劳动力的转移速度来进一步提升经济增长速度,因此,发展中国家技术创新驱动经济发展加速效应更加明显.也正因为这一机理,发展中国家可能因为技术创新的速度过低导致经济发展速度过低从而陷入中等收入陷阱.     

External auditors' perceptions of cloud computing adoption in Australia

Adopting a multi-theoretical approach, I examine external auditors' perceptions of the reasons why organizations do or do not adopt cloud computing. I interview forensic accountants and IT experts about the adoption, acceptance, institutional motives, and risks of cloud computing. Although the medium to large accounting firms where the external auditors worked almost exclusively used private clouds, both private and public cloud services were gaining a foothold among many of their clients. Despite the advantages of cloud computing, data confidentiality and the involvement of foreign jurisdictions remain a concern, particularly if the data are moved outside Australia. Additionally, some organizations seem to understand neither the technology itself nor their own requirements, which may lead to poorly negotiated contracts and service agreements. To minimize the risks associated with cloud computing, many organizations turn to hybrid solutions or private clouds that include national or dedicated data centers. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first empirical study that reports on cloud computing adoption from the perspectives of external auditors.     

Perceived Environmental Uncertainty in scenario planning

Scenario planning is a strategy tool with growing popularity in both academia and practical situations. Current practices of scenario planning are largely based on existing literature which utilises scenario planning to develop strategies for the future, primarily considering the assessment of perceived macro-external environmental uncertainties. However there is a body of literature hitherto ignored by scenario planning researchers, which suggests that Perceived Environmental Uncertainty (PEU) influences the micro-external as well as the internal environment of the organisation. This paper reviews the most dominant theories on scenario planning process and PEU, developing three propositions for the practice of scenario planning process. Furthermore, it shows how these propositions can be integrated in the scenario planning process in order to improve the development of strategy.     

Boundary work: Costing and caring in the social services

“Where does it stop on costs?”—this paper offers some responses to this question on the appropriate boundaries for costing expertise. The question was posed by a contracts officer within a social services department. The context for the question was an empirical research study in which front line welfare professionals were asked to comment, first, on costing information which could, possibly, assist in making “value for money” assessments and, second, on the contracting regime within which such costing information assumes a potentially highlighted significance. At the first stage of the study welfare professionals were found to be engaged in boundary-work to prevent the encroachment of costs on care activities. “Costing” and “caring” were being managed as “disengaged domains” through the boundary work of obfuscation, “reality-defining” and marginalization. Consequent upon the initial study the social services departments were re-visited two years later. By this time it was apparent that boundary-work had allowed some engagement between costing and caring. The paper argues that processes of alignment between costing and caring and the reconstitution of organizational tasks (including the creation of care “managers”) have allowed social work professionals to accept some costing work—work which had previously been defined as “the other”. The major themes of this paper are: the exploration of the responses of operational social services personnel to their new financial roles, and the interpretation of change in the social services context through the ideas of boundary-work. These themes are developed through a consideration of the ambiguous tasks of welfare-professionals and the consequent indeterminacy of resourcing decisions. The paper concludes that the limits of applicability of costing are yet to be set in the domain of the social services.     

Planning of strategic innovation aimed at environmental sustainability: actor-networks, scenario acceptance and backcasting analysis within a polymeric coating chain

This paper addresses a new way of influencing and stimulating technological innovations towards sustainability. Sustainability is operationalised as function fulfilment with a factor of 20 reduction on environmental burden over the entire lifecycle. The method, which is derived from the earlier developed sustainable technological development (STD) and SusHouse methods, includes future visioning together with stakeholder participation, followed by action planning. Future visioning has been carried out in workshops with all relevant stakeholders; action planning is also performed in workshops. As a case study a polymeric coatings chain in the Netherlands and in Portugal, has been chosen. Initially data has been gathered about production, environmental aspects, and technological innovations and applications; later interviews with stakeholders have been carried out followed by the visioning and action planning workshops. The paper shows that the methodology works in a situation in which innovative activity is already under way, identifying new and unexpected ways of making the polymeric coatings chain more sustainable. It discusses further implementation of new ideas of function fulfilment.     

Mobile banking innovators and early adopters: How they differ from other online users?

The rapid pace of technological development has created opportunities for financial service providers to offer their services via multiple electronic channels. The mobile phone is one of the most promising but so far marginally adopted channel for using financial services by consumers. Earlier literature on innovation adoption argued that those among the first to adopt new innovations possess unique characteristics compared to the majority of consumers. This paper aims to study how mobile banking innovators and early adopters differ from other users of online banking services. An internet survey was conducted among customers of a large Scandinavian bank in Finland yielding 2,675 responses. Logistic regression was used to identify variables differentiating between users of mobile banking and other online banking services. Somewhat contradictory to earlier findings the results indicate that only age (p<0.0005) and gender (p=0.010) differentiate these two groups of customers, while education (p=0.957), income (p=0.624), occupation (p=0.596) and size of the household (p=0.151) were found to be insignificant in differentiating the groups. The results offer service providers better knowledge of the typical mobile banking user thus adding value to their marketing actions in the field of electronic banking.     

Confronting the culture of progress in the 21st century

Disconnected from the social and historical roots of technological progress, technology transfer is embraced on a global level as a tangible solution to the third-world development ‘problem’. Left under-scrutinized is the dehumanizing potential of using technological progress as a gauge for civilizational advancement. The increasing globalization of the link between progress and technology is demonstrated in the case of China, which has accelerated its modernization efforts since the late 1970s. This article examines the ideological influence of progress on third-world development planning and implementation, questioning the validity of accelerating modernization in the context of long-term sustainability. On one hand, alternative models are required for envisioning social and environmental sustainability; on the other hand, strategies for intervention are needed to overcome deep-seated ideological beliefs about progress. Education represents a key site for producing and shaping ideological beliefs, and a potential ‘weak point’ for intervention is suggested.