A Resource-Based Model of IT Usage in Shanghai Higher Education Institutions

On the basis of resource-based view, this paper analyzes the impacts of IT resource on different levels of IT usage in Shanghai higher education institutions. By analyzing the survey data from 40 Shanghai institutions, the study contributes several insights to China-context IT usage research and practice in higher education system. First of all, this study sheds lights on the impacts of IT resource on deep IT usage in Shanghai higher education system. Second, the findings suggest that organizational support has significant positive impact on higher education institutions’ managerial IT usage. The study is the first few attempts to explore the process model of IT usage in China higher education institutions

Building the Glasgow Digital Library and its components

Describes the co-operative project to build a digital library by for and about the city of Glasgow. The library is built round a number of smaller projects which allowed participants to gain experience in building and managing digital collection

In Search of a New Model: Library Resource Sharing in China - A Comparative Study

This paper reviews the framework of library resource sharing (LRS) in China and examines, from a comparative perspective, cases of recent development, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Highlights include: (1) historical review of LRS in the U.S. and China, particularly in the areas of print union catalogs and union lists, online bibliographic utilities, and interlibrary loan; (2) literature review of Chinese publications, and LRS issues and challenges in China; (3) Analysis of three LRS models to provide a contextual grasp of a paradigm shift taking place in China; and (4) comparative analysis of LRS objectives, structure, and governance, etc., in the U.S. and China. The study also underscores the imperative for building a national digital library system in China to gain a competitive edge in resource sharing and to support the country’s rapid social and economic growth. At this stage of development, the success of China Academic Library & Information System provides a convincing argument for a national digital library system with its methods of governing, financing, and development

Development of MBA education in China: opportunities and challenges for western universities

China’s embrace of the market economy has created a growing demand for business education, in particular for MBA programs. This paper first reviews development of MBA education in China as a basis for then discussing problems with current Chinese MBA teaching. Next, suggestions of how to solve these problems are presented. Finally, opportunities and challenges for Western universities to participate in China’s MBA education are addressed

Environmental sustainability and financial performance of SMEs

This paper focuses on the relationship between environmental sustainability and the financial performance of SMEs in terms of profit development and revenue development. The analysis uses a unique dataset of 337 Dutch and Chinese firms. The results suggest a significant positive association between environmental sustainability and firm performance. It appears, however, that different indicators of environmental sustainability display a distinct relationship with the two performance measures. When firms have a policy on the re-usage of materials they perform significantly better in terms of profit development and when firms have a policy on the reduction of pollution they perform significantly better in terms of revenue development. Furthermore, we also find that firms that communicate to their employees about their sustainability efforts perform better in terms of profit development. Finally, weak support is found for a moderating effect of communication to employees on the positive relationship between sustainability and profit development.

China’s Local Government Debt and Economic Growth

This paper explores the impact of China’s local government debt on economic growth. This analysis, based on a panel of 31 provinces over 14 years, takes into account a broad range of economic growth determinants as well as various estimation issues including heteroskedascity and omitted variable. The empirical results suggest an inverse relationship between China’s local government debt and economic growth, controlling for other determinants of growth: on average, a 10 percentage point increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio is associated with a slowdown in annual real per capita GDP growth of around 0.27 percentage points per year

Roots Reloaded. Culture, Identity and Social Development in the Digital Age

This edited volume is designed to explore different perspectives of culture, identity and social development using the impact of the digital age as a common thread, aiming at interdisciplinary audiences. Cases of communities and individuals using new technology as a tool to preserve and explore their cultural heritage alongside new media as a source for social orientation ranging from language acquisition to health-related issues will be covered. Therefore, aspects such as Art and Cultural Studies, Media and Communication, Behavioral Science, Psychology, Philosophy and innovative approaches used by creative individuals are included. From the Aboriginal tribes of Australia, to the Maoris of New Zealand, to the mystical teachings of Sufi brotherhoods, the significance of the oral and written traditions and their current relation to online activities shall be discussed in the opening article. The book continues with a closer look at obesity awareness support groups and their impact on social media, Facebook usage in language learning context, smartphone addiction and internet dependency, as well as online media reporting of controversial ethical issues. The Digital progress has already left its dominating mark as the world entered the 21st century. Without a doubt, as technology continues its ascent, society will be faced with new and altering values in an effort to catch-up with this extraordinary Digitization, adapt satisfactorily in order to utilize these strong developments in everyday life

Moderating Effects of Environmental Factors on E-Government, E-Business, and Environmental Sustainability

Utilizing the resource complementarity perspective of the resource based view (RBV) of a firm, and the literature on information technology (IT) and environmental sustainability as the guiding theoretical lenses, we posit that the relationships of electronic-government (e-government) development and electronic-business (e-business) development in a country with its environmental sustainability are contingent on national environmental factors (i.e., complementary assets): (1) human capital; (2) public institutions; (3) macro-economic stability; and (4) gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Based on publicly available archival data from 122 countries, results showed that both e-government development and e-business development had no direct effect on environmental sustainability. However, e-government development and e-business development interacted with other variables to affect environmental sustainability. Specifically, while human capital and public institutions positively moderated the relationship of e-government development with environmental sustainability, the relationship of e-business development with environmental sustainability was contingent on them in the negative direction. Also, while macro-economic stability positively moderated the relationship of e-government development with environmental sustainability, the relationship of e-business development with environmental sustainability was not contingent on it. Finally, the relationships of e-government development and e-business development with environmental sustainability were contingent on GDP per capita in the negative direction. Our findings contribute to the theoretical discourse on the resource complementarity perspective by identifying the roles of national complementary assets and provide indications to practice on improvements in environmental sustainability by effectively managing those assets