Groupware adoption in a distributed organization: transporting and transforming technology through social worlds

In this paper, we draw on theory from social worlds to analyze how different organizational contexts affect groupware adoption. We report on a study of the adoption of data conferencing in a large distributed organization. Our data show that the diffusion process, which was driven by the users, was a result of communication and transformation of the technology across different social worlds. We also discovered that membership in multiple social worlds in an organization creates a tension for the potential adopter who is in a distributed team. To function effectively, team members must uniformly adopt the technology, yet some may face resistance from other social worlds to which they belong. Our study showed that adoption was affected by organizational sites having conflicting views of the value of collaboration, different amounts and needs for resources, and different acceptance of technology standards. Potential technology adopters on distributed teams are faced with conflicting loyalties, constraints, and requirements between their distributed collaborations and organizational homes.     

The challenge of CAD/CAM: some experiences of British and Canadian engineering companies

This article considers factors which influence the readiness of management to associate organisational with technological change. Outcomes are related to the socio-political environment of firms and the position of engineers in the two countries.     

Time-varying risk The case of the American computer industry

A bivariate GARCH-in-mean model for individual stock returns and the market portfolio is designed to model volatility and to test the conditional Capital Asset Pricing Model versus the conditional Residual Risk Model. We find that a univariate model of volatility for individual stock returns is misspecified. A joint modelling of the market return and the individual stock return shows that a major force driving the conditional variances of individual stocks is the history contained in the market return variance. We find that a conditional residual risk model, where the variance of the individual stock return is used to explain expected returns, is preferred to a conditional CAPM. We propose a partial ordering of securities according to their market risk using first and second order dominance criteria.     

Customer satisfaction and service domains: a further development of PROSERV

Quality & Quantity - This paper aims to represent that levels of customer satisfaction of tourist accommodation are an important prerequisite when the goal is building a loyal relationship with...     

Beyond Technology Adoption: An Embeddedness Approach to Reduce Medication Errors

Medication errors are causing harm, and even death, to hospital inpatients. These preventable errors occur at the hands of the same individuals who are charged to protect and provide care to patients—health care professionals. While decision support technologies are available to assist health care providers, patients continue to experience incorrect medications, inaccurate doses/rates of medication, duplicate doses, medication interactions, and other medication errors. This article investigates the reasons that health care professionals in hospital environments underutilize medication administration technologies and argues that a fusion view can provide guidance to increase their use. A Fusion Model is developed using the concept of embeddedness, the Technology Acceptance Model, the Task-Technology-Fit Model, and drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a modern hospital in the United States. The most important findings of this research are: (1) the concept of embeddedness can be used to study and frame fusion of technology in an environment; (2) four constructs (i.e., task characteristics, technology characteristics, individual use behavior, environmental characteristics) are identified and used to describe system characteristics needed to support medication decisions; and (3) guidance is provided for design and evaluation of decision support technologies for medication administration in hospitals.     

Comparative evaluation of a teaching innovation in accounting education: intensive learning in a seminar format

This paper reports a teaching innovation involving intensive learning and the evaluation of that innovation. A review of the literature reveals a lack of research about how effective intensive programmes are in enhancing student learning. In this study the performance of students studying accounting during an intensive summer-school in seminar format was compared with those studying during the regular semester in a lecture and tutorial format. Performance was compared by reference to students' grades and the understanding and retention of a key concept in the subject. Student study habits and the experiences of staff and students who participated in the summer-school were also evaluated. This study concluded that summer-school students' performance was better than regular semester students in the accounting subject studied. Their performance was equivalent or better than the regular semester students in the three other subjects studied in first semester. Summer-school students demonstrated a more complete understanding of a key concept than did the students in the regular semester, with this difference sustained after two years. There was a positive response to the summer-school by those staff and students who participated.     

A strategic analysis of surging Chinese manufacturers: The case of Galanz

Recent years have witnessed the surging of Chinese manufacturers, as China has become the world’s factory floor. This paper presents a case study of one of the most successful manufacturers in China, the Galanz Group, now the world’s largest microwave manufacturer. Based on theories of multinational corporations from emerging economies, the paper examines the process of Galanz’s integration into the global market. The company has developed unique competitive strategies that have made it a great success within China and in overseas markets. The Galanz model suggests strong strategic implications for both Chinese firms and incumbent multinational corporations.

The roles of service encounters, service value, and job satisfaction in achieving customer satisfaction in business relationships

Along with variables like the service process, perceived service value and customer satisfaction, job satisfaction of service employees plays a vital role in customer evaluation of service result. However, there has been little in-depth research into the nature of this relation, in particular in the context of B2B relations. In the sphere of an organization providing financial intermediation services to the banking sector and on the basis of a literature review, hypotheses are developed which establish the mediator role of service value and the moderator role of job satisfaction of service employees when delimiting customer satisfaction. Reliability and validity analysis give satisfactory results and our conclusions establish firstly that service encounter directly and significantly affects perceived service value which is the final antecedent to customer satisfaction and secondly, that the level of employment satisfaction moderates its effect on service value.