An adoption model of cloud enterprise resources planning for Malaysian small and medium enterprises

The Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system offers promising benefits for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It helps to address many of the challenges faced by SMEs and significantly promotes them in terms of business operations and use of resource. Despite its benefits, the research on cloud ERP adoption among SMEs in developing countries has not been fully explored, leading to a low rate of cloud ERP adoption among SMEs. Furthermore, the factors which influence SMEs to adopt the cloud ERP system are still unclear. In an attempt to tackle the aforementioned situation, this research investigated the influencing factors that have determined and enhanced cloud ERP adoption rates. To identify factors and develop the model used in this research, the researcher conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The model was proposed based on three integrated Information System (IS) predominant theories, namely, Technology- Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and Fit-Viability Model (FVM) with extension of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory to scrutinize the influential factors leading towards Cloud ERP Adoption. Thirteen hypotheses were developed to test and validate the model based on the decision to adopt cloud ERP. A positivism paradigm with quantitative approach was applied to conduct this research. Purposive sampling technique and a survey method were applied and data were collected from SMEs who have already adopted cloud ERP that provided 174 usable responses. The analysis was conducted by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique through Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS 3.2.7) software to determine the significant relationships of the independent factors to Cloud ERP Adoption. The results showed that Task- Technology Fit, Task Interdependence, Relative Advantage, Compatibility, System Trust, Security, Top Management Support, Employee Cloud ERP Knowledge, Cost Saving, and Competitive Pressure were significantly related to Cloud ERP Adoption. On the other hand, Security was found to have no relationship (p > 0.05) with Task- Technology Fit. Similarly, Government Support and Vendor Support were found to have no relationship (p > 0.05) with Cloud ERP Adoption. In line with this, the research model can be explained as 65.2% of variance from all the independent variables. This implies that the model has substantial predictive power to explain cloud ERP adoption. Finally, this model can be used to guide cloud ERP ecosystems to enhance their knowledge so as to successfully evaluate and adopt the cloud ERP system

The development of IT identity due to social media use : antecedents and impact on computer-based office work during COVID-19 pandemic

IT identity is a relatively new concept in the area of Management Information Systems (MIS). Its importance has become increasingly pronounced as identity is one of the predictors of human behavior. At the same time, understanding the behavior of individuals when using information technology (IT) in the workplace represents the link between technology investments and increased performance through IT. In this respect, one of the most used communication technologies recently, social media, allows individuals to extensively experience different facets of their identities. The overall objective of this thesis is to understand the development of IT identity due to social media use and assess its impact on computer-based office work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three specific objectives were defined for this purpose. Thus, the thesis is structured in three papers that sought to respond to each of the specific objectives, which are: (i) identify the possible antecedents of the development of IT identity due to social media use, (ii) the connection between them and the three reflective dimensions that constitute the identity of IT and, finally, (iii) the impact of IT identity due to the use of social media in the organizational scope. The first paper is a theoretical study and proposes the adaptation and expansion of Carter's original theoretical model (2012) from the theoretical instances related to this technology and that can influence the development of IT identity due to social media use. As a result, a conceptual model was developed. Ten propositions related to the concepts derived from the literature and inserted in three main instances of IT identity development were presented due to the use of social media. The empirical investigation of the relationship between the antecedents of the model proposed in the first paper and the three dimensions of IT identity began in the second article of the thesis. For this purpose, a netnography was proposed and executed between 2019 and 2021. One of the paper's findings indicated that the frequency of use of WhatsApp can lead to precipitation of the most strongly polarized behavior and that one of the reflective dimensions of IT identity, relatedness with WhatsApp, can play a preponderant role in the precipitation of such behavior. From this result, in paper 3, a quantitative and exploratory study, based on duality theory, sought to develop and test hypotheses about how IT identity concerning social media can benefit, but at the same time bring negative consequences for computer-based office workers in the current period of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this, a model was proposed showing the relationship between the dimensions of IT identity and four facets of the so-called New Ways of Working. Among the study's findings, it was verified that IT identity in relation to social media platforms could be a positive factor in preserving the cohesion of employees professional identity since feelings of affinity and emotional energy in relation to these technologies favored access to organizational knowledge and colleagues when working remotely. This thesis can contribute to expanding Carter's (2012) model to contemplate a class of IT as social media is constituted (paper 1). In turn, the expansion of the original model can potentially contribute to broadening the understanding of this technology's role in fostering polarized behavior in the use of WhatsApp, one of the most used social media these times(paper 2). Finally, in the third paper, the indication that the frequency of WhatsApp use may be associated with a strong IT identity about this technology (verified in paper 2) led to the proposition of a model to empirically test how the three dimensions of IT Identity in relation to the use of social media, directly and indirectly, influence the aspects of new ways of working for workers using computer devices to perform their duties. Emotional energy in relation to social media (i.e., prolonged feelings of confidence, enthusiasm, and energy toward social media) is positively related to superior performance when individuals direct it to their work use, allowing them to better handle the work-life conflict. The thesis presents limitations regarding its ability to inferences that were addressed in each of the papers. Similarly, suggestions for future research were presented in each paper. Finally, the conclusion chapter presents the integration of the thesis papers to form the complete study, the overview of research objectives, the main results, contributions to academia and practice, its limitations, and suggestions for future research.A identidade de TI é um conceito relativamente novo na área de Gestão de Sistemas de Informação (GSI). A sua importância tem se tornado cada vez mais acentuada na medida que a identidade é um dos preditores do comportamento humano. Paralelamente, a compreensão do comportamento dos indivíduos ao utilizar a tecnologia da informação (TI) no ambiente de trabalho representa o elo entre os investimentos em tecnologia e o aumento do desempenho por meio da TI. Sob esse aspecto, uma das tecnologias de comunicação mais usadas em tempos atuais, as mídias sociais, permitem de forma extensiva que os indivíduos experimentem diferentes facetas das suas identidades. O objetivo geral dessa tese é compreender o desenvolvimento da identidade de TI devido ao uso de mídias sociais e avaliar o seu impacto para os trabalhadores de escritório que utilizam dispositivos computacionais para executar suas funções de trabalho durante o período da pandemia de COVID-19. Para isso foram definidos três objetivos específicos. Sendo assim, a tese está estruturada em três artigos que buscam responder a cada um dos objetivos específicos, quais são: (i) identificar os possíveis antecedentes do desenvolvimento da identidade de TI devido ao uso de mídias sociais, (ii) a conexão entre eles e as três dimensões reflexivas que constituem a identidade de TI e, por fim, (iii) o impacto da identidade de TI devido ao uso de mídias sociais no âmbito organizacional. O primeiro artigo, de natureza teórica, propõe a adaptação e expansão do modelo teórico original de Carter (2012) a partir das instâncias teóricas aderentes ao uso e que influenciam o desenvolvimento da identidade de TI pelo uso de mídias sociais. Como resultado, foi desenvolvido um modelo conceitual em que foram apresentadas dez proposições interrelacionando os conceitos derivados da literatura e inseridos em três instâncias principais de desenvolvimento da identidade de TI devido ao uso de mídias sociais. A investigação empírica da relação entre os antecedentes do modelo proposto no artigo 1 e as três dimensões da identidade de TI iniciou-se na sequência no segundo artigo da tese. Para isso foi proposta uma netnografia que foi executada entre 2019 e 2021. Um dos achados do artigo indicou que a frequência de uso do WhatsApp pode levar a precipitação do comportamento mais fortemente polarizado e que uma das dimensões reflexivas da identidade de TI, a afinidade com o WhatsApp, pode desempenhar um papel preponderante na precipitação de tal comportamento. A partir desse resultado, no artigo 3, de natureza quantitativa e exploratória, tendo como base a teoria da dualidade, buscou-se desenvolver e testar hipóteses sobre como a identidade de TI em relação às mídias sociais pode beneficiar, mas ao mesmo tempo trazer consequências negativas para os trabalhadores de escritório que usam principalmente dispositivos computacionais para cumprir suas tarefas no atual período da pandemia de COVID-19. Para isso, foi proposto um modelo apresentando a relação entre as dimensões da identidade de TI e quatro facetas das chamadas Novas Formas de Trabalho. Entre os achados deste estudo, foi verificado que a identidade de TI em relação às plataformas de mídias sociais pode ser um fator positivo na preservação da coesão da identidade profissional dos colaboradores, uma vez que sentimentos de afinidade e energia emocional em relação a essas tecnologias favoreceram o acesso ao conhecimento organizacional e aos colegas ao trabalhar remotamente. Destacam-se como contribuições dessa tese a expansão do modelo de Carter (2012) para contemplar uma classe de TIs como são constituídas as mídias sociais (artigo 1). Por sua vez, a expansão do modelo original contribuiu para ampliar a compreensão do papel dessa tecnologia em fomentar o comportamento polarizado no uso do WhatsApp, uma das mídias sociais mais utilizadas em tempos atuais (artigo 2). Finalmente, no terceiro artigo a indicação de que a frequência de uso no WhatsApp pode estar associada a uma forte identidade de TI em relação a essa tecnologia (verificada no artigo 2), levou a proposição de um modelo para testar empiricamente de que forma as três dimensões da IT Identity em relação ao uso de mídias sociais influenciam direta e indiretamente os aspectos das novas formas de trabalho para os trabalhadores que utilizam dispositivos computacionais para desempenhar suas funções. A energia emocional em relação às mídias sociais (ou seja, sentimentos prolongados de confiança, entusiasmo e energia em relação às mídias sociais) está positivamente relacionada a um desempenho superior quando os indivíduos a direcionam para o seu uso do trabalho, permitindo-lhes também lidar melhor com os conflitos entre a vida profissional e a vida profissional. A tese apresenta limitações quanto a sua capacidade de inferências que foram endereçadas em cada um dos artigos. Da mesma forma, sugestões de pesquisas futuras foram apresentadas em cada artigo. Por fim, o capítulo de conclusão apresenta a integração dos artigos da tese para a formação do estudo completa, a retomada dos objetivos de pesquisa, os principais resultados, contribuições para a academia e para a prática, suas limitações e sugestões para pesquisas futuras

M-government Implementation: A Comparative Study between a Developed and a Developing Country

From the beginning of the 21st century, the development and proliferation of mobile technologies has seen the fastest uptake of a technological innovation in history, with more than 7 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide (ITU, 2015). It has multi-faceted advantages; such as low price, convenience, lower infrastructure requirements and near ubiquity; which make it suitable for all forms of business communication and services, as well as government services. However, m-government development worldwide has so far been uneven. While governments in the developed world are adopting m-services as an extension of their existing e-government and web based online services, some developing countries are experimenting with m-services by leapfrogging entire generations of technologies, such as those that are web based. As such, their adoption and implementation processes often follow quite different trajectories, and lessons from both developed and developing countries are not widely shared and understood. Consequently, many of these initiatives, particularly in developing countries, are failing to yield the expected positive outcomes or falling to ‘scale up’ (Kervenoael, Palmer, & Cakici, 2011; Ogunleye & Van Belle, 2014). Also, m-government being a relatively recent innovation with some unique characteristics, practical guidance emerging from sound theoretical underpinnings to guide the successful implementation of these services by governments are not documented in the literature. An extensive review of contemporary literature in the area presents some valuable insights about its trends, limitations, and opportunities, but provides little information about implementation processes. Also, the extant literature on IT-enabled innovation processes is predominantly based on empirical evidence gathered from developed countries, and as such does not address the contextual and other differences arising from the unique circumstances of developing nations. Against this backdrop, this thesis addresses two research questions: First, how an m-service is implemented in the public sector? Is there a difference between developed and developing countries? Second, what knowledge can be learned or exchanged between developed and developing countries in m-service implementation by governments? The conceptual framework for this study is drawn from Rogers’ (2003; p.138) innovation-development process framework and Van de Ven et al.’s, (1999; p.25) innovation process framework. Rogers’ (2003) framework is a simple step-wise model consisting of all decisions, activities and impacts arising from recognising a problem. This includes the production of ideas and concepts through research and development, production and marketing to diffuse the innovation, and studying adoption to see if the innovation has been taken up and has had an impact. Again, Van de Ven et al.’s framework (1999), a non-linear model developed by examining fourteen different technical and administrative innovations created in large to small organisations (Schroeder et al., 1986, 1989; Angle & Van de Ven, 1989), is found to be more reliable than a stage-based model (King, 1992). Five in-depth case studies of mobile-based innovation processes (m-government services) were examined from both a developed (Australia) and a developing country (Bangladesh) using a case study method (Yin, 2009). Primary data sources include the responses from 86 interviewees, field notes, and on-site observations, while secondary data consists of relevant organisational documents and gazettes. The findings show that the mobile based innovation process model based on Rogers’ (2003) and Van de van et al.’s (1999) work needs to be extended to accommodate two significant key elements: ‘anxiety’ and ‘IT governance’, the former of which is strongly evident in developing countries and the latter in developed countries. Across the innovation path of both the developed and the developing nations, the innovators were found to be ‘anxious’ due to unforeseen and uncontrolled activities and events. The issues within ‘IT governance,’ were evident in the developed country (Australia) cases throughout the innovation process due to a customer-centric focus that emphasises citizens’ interests, whereas this was not evident in the developing country’s (Bangladesh) case studies. Other observations on the need for a ‘business case’, ‘research’ and the ‘fluid’ nature of personnel flows focused attention on the innovators when implementing m-services. No formal ‘research’ was evident in four of the five examples studied. In Bangladesh, the employment nature of IT personnel was ‘stable’ during the innovation process, whereas the theory suggested the labour force would be more ‘fluid’ in nature, with people entering and leaving employment. The thesis offers an extended model of m-service innovation in the public sector, which is applicable to both developed and developing countries, based on empirical evidence derived from research in two different countries. Addressing the gap in existing knowledge, this research develops a comprehensive framework that identifies and analyses key issues within the innovation process. The theory is augmented by the inclusion of two significant issues, ‘anxiety’ and ‘IT governance’. The thesis provides some practical recommendations and guidelines for innovators and policy makers for m-service implementation, which may increase the likelihood of success

A Scalable Design Framework for Variability Management in Large-Scale Software Product Lines

Variability management is one of the major challenges in software product line adoption, since it needs to be efficiently managed at various levels of the software product line development process (e.g., requirement analysis, design, implementation, etc.). One of the main challenges within variability management is the handling and effective visualization of large-scale (industry-size) models, which in many projects, can reach the order of thousands, along with the dependency relationships that exist among them. These have raised many concerns regarding the scalability of current variability management tools and techniques and their lack of industrial adoption. To address the scalability issues, this work employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to identify the reasons behind the limited scalability of existing variability management tools and techniques. In addition to producing a comprehensive catalogue of existing tools, the outcome form this stage helped understand the major limitations of existing tools. Based on the findings, a novel approach was created for managing variability that employed two main principles for supporting scalability. First, the separation-of-concerns principle was employed by creating multiple views of variability models to alleviate information overload. Second, hyperbolic trees were used to visualise models (compared to Euclidian space trees traditionally used). The result was an approach that can represent models encompassing hundreds of variability points and complex relationships. These concepts were demonstrated by implementing them in an existing variability management tool and using it to model a real-life product line with over a thousand variability points. Finally, in order to assess the work, an evaluation framework was designed based on various established usability assessment best practices and standards. The framework was then used with several case studies to benchmark the performance of this work against other existing tools

Natural Language Processing: Emerging Neural Approaches and Applications

This Special Issue highlights the most recent research being carried out in the NLP field to discuss relative open issues, with a particular focus on both emerging approaches for language learning, understanding, production, and grounding interactively or autonomously from data in cognitive and neural systems, as well as on their potential or real applications in different domains

The context, content and process of green information system innovations

This thesis reports an investigation of information system innovations for environmental sustainability. The Information Systems (IS) sub-field concerned with addressing this challenge is known as Green IS and is just beginning to be understood. Green IS is positioned at the interconnection between the economical, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development and it has much to contribute to sustainable outcomes in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. Green information systems, in addition, refer to specific information system artefacts that organisations create and/or apply to achieve green goals such as to reduce emissions or to encourage pro-environmental behaviour. On the other hand, green information system innovation is an integrated and cooperating set of people, processes, software and information technologies to support individual, organisational, or societal goals and serve the purpose of environmental sustainability. Currently, there is limited research in applying a process perspective to explain the content of green information system innovation, the factors and forces that affect the innovation process, the intricate process of green information system creation and application, as well as the outcomes from the use of green information system innovation. The research therefore poses the following questions: what is green information system innovation and why do organisations create and/or apply green information system innovation, how does the innovation process take place and what are the outcomes from the green information system innovation? To address these questions, a literature review covering the domains of organisational innovation, IS innovation and green IS innovation was conducted. The review led us to adopt the process theory of innovation as well as Pettigrew‘s (1990) contextualist-processual theory of change with its focus on the ―what, why, and how” of organisational change. The investigation was undertaken in a single organisation setting named Telecom Acadia (anonymous), a large telecom operator in the South East Asia region with a focus on four green information system innovations, namely Energy Informatics, Unified Communications and Collaboration, Sustainable Knowledge Management and Sharing, and Fleet Management Information Systems. An interpretive approach and a qualitative research design were followed to carry out the research. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 44 participants, a descriptive survey of 150 participants, and a review of 30 sets of various types of organisational documents. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the four green information system innovations follow distinct innovation phases and stages through complex and dynamic interactions among the key people that champion and shape the organisation‘s quest towards environmental sustainability. The research contributes two new green information system innovation models, namely (1) the Green Information System in Practice Innovation Process Model; and (2) the Green Information System in Spirit Innovation Process Model; and a set of ten testable theoretical propositions for future research. In terms of practical contribution, this research demonstrates the best practices in using information systems for environmental sustainability. Furthermore, this thesis enhances practitioners‘ understanding by identifying the capabilities and success factors that organisations need to have in order to succeed in green information system innovation

Emotion and Stress Recognition Related Sensors and Machine Learning Technologies

This book includes impactful chapters which present scientific concepts, frameworks, architectures and ideas on sensing technologies and machine learning techniques. These are relevant in tackling the following challenges: (i) the field readiness and use of intrusive sensor systems and devices for capturing biosignals, including EEG sensor systems, ECG sensor systems and electrodermal activity sensor systems; (ii) the quality assessment and management of sensor data; (iii) data preprocessing, noise filtering and calibration concepts for biosignals; (iv) the field readiness and use of nonintrusive sensor technologies, including visual sensors, acoustic sensors, vibration sensors and piezoelectric sensors; (v) emotion recognition using mobile phones and smartwatches; (vi) body area sensor networks for emotion and stress studies; (vii) the use of experimental datasets in emotion recognition, including dataset generation principles and concepts, quality insurance and emotion elicitation material and concepts; (viii) machine learning techniques for robust emotion recognition, including graphical models, neural network methods, deep learning methods, statistical learning and multivariate empirical mode decomposition; (ix) subject-independent emotion and stress recognition concepts and systems, including facial expression-based systems, speech-based systems, EEG-based systems, ECG-based systems, electrodermal activity-based systems, multimodal recognition systems and sensor fusion concepts and (x) emotion and stress estimation and forecasting from a nonlinear dynamical system perspective