Barriers to Mission-Critical Open Source Software Adoption by Organizations: A Provider Perspective

While open source has long been increasing in the infrastructure software domain, few organizations have adopted open source for mission-critical software application. We use the Delphi method to investigate barriers to mission-critical OSS adoption as perceived by two panels of experienced providers in France (n= 18) and in Canada (Quebec) (n= 11). On average, panelists have 15 years of experience in the software industry including 9 years with open source software. By comparing the barriers selected by each group, zones of concordance and discordance are identified. We complement the open source adoption literature by adding new insights to the existing body of knowledge dominated by client perspective alone. We also anchor our findings in the extant literature by comparing our results with those of previous studies

Cyberidentities

This innovative study explores diverse aspects of Canadian and European identity on the information highway and reaches beyond technical issues to confront and explore communication, culture and the culture of communication

A Conceptual Framework for Research at Canadian Colleges

With the advent of the post-industrial 21st century knowledge-based economy and the demands of global competitiveness, Canada\u27s community colleges are extending their historical mandates (of career-related education and regional economic development) by incorporating research into their traditional programs. However, the recent dramatic growth of research cultures at colleges is occurring in an unsystematic and uncoordinated manner. The purpose of this thesis is to address this issue by proposing a comprehensive, integrated conceptual framework that provides clarity, focus, and direction for building this research culture. A conceptual analysis of research models in higher education is conducted, leading to a working model that is used to analyze the implications of building a research culture at Canadian colleges. The six attributes of the working model (purpose, forms, governance, personnel, funding, outputs) are revised accordingly, and a conceptual model is proposed that reflects and accommodates the unique circumstances in which research is evolving at Canadian colleges. In this proposed Conceptual Framework for Research at Canadian Colleges, the primary research purpose is to enhance and extend the core college mission by enriching the student experience and the quality of college graduates, keeping faculty current and engaged, and contributing to the social and economic well being of the communities that colleges serve. Research forms such as applied research and the scholarship of teaching and learning embody new opportunities that resonate with core missions. Research governance is manifest at colleges in the establishment and implementation of policies and procedures related to ethics, integrity, academic freedom, and conflict of interest, but requires further consideration of faculty participation and intellectual property rights. With respect to research personnel, the lack of faculty release time presents the single greatest barrier to building a sustainable research culture. While colleges are at a severe disadvantage in accessing traditional sources of research funding, Québec\u27s model of College Centres for Technology Transfer provides a robust example of cooperative arrangements involving a spectrum of funding sources. As for research outputs, colleges are currently developing metrics and models appropriate to their purposes. Consequently, this proposed framework provides a conceptual map to chart more clearly the evolution of research cultures at Canadian colleges

E-commerce technology adoption: A Malaysian grocery SME retail sector study

This is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: S. Kurnia, et al., “E-commerce technology adoption: A Malaysian grocery SME retail sector study”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 68(9): 1906-1918, September 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neo.2016.09.002 This manuscript version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License CC BY NC-ND 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.Electronic commerce (EC) has substantial potential to foster the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developed and developing countries alike. However, EC adoption by SMEs in developing countries has faced many challenges that have not been adequately addressed due to the complex nature of EC adoption in such countries. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the influence of organizational, industry, and national readiness and environmental pressure on the adoption of diverse EC technologies by SMEs in developing countries. A quantitative survey was conducted with retail SMEs within the Malaysian grocery sector to validate the proposed multi-level model. Findings indicate significant influence of environmental pressure on the adoption of various EC technologies. Organizational and national readiness have different influences across diverse EC technologies, while the influence of industry readiness is shown to be insignificant. This study extends the current understanding of the influence of micro-, meso- and macro-level factors and has important implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Well-Being Throughout the Senior Years: An Issues Paper on Key Events and Transitions in Later Life

Social Development Canada’s mission is “to strengthen Canada’s social foundations by supporting the well-being of individuals, families and communities and their participation through citizen focused policies, programs and services” (Social Development Canada 2005a). Well-being is a concept that goes beyond good health to encompass physical and mental fitness as well as social fitness (being able to perform one’s social roles and the demands of everyday living adequately). As people age, they experience a number of transitions in their lives. They may retire, change residence, loose a spouse, become a caregiver, and/or develop a health problem or disability. These transitions, especially when they occur around the same time, may impact on their well-being and independence and prevent them from being contributing members of society. This paper summarizes the research on what we currently know about the key events and transitions experienced by seniors, their impacts, and the resources seniors have or need to successfully cope with these events throughout the senior years. It will also review what we know about opportunities, gaps or barriers in accessing social support programs and service delivery designed to assist seniors in coping successfully with adverse events and life transitions. Issues to be considered include availability, access and costs of community support and home health care services. Finally, the paper will attempt to provide potential policy research directions to address current knowledge gaps. This is an extensive literature, and we have limited the scope by focusing on the last 10 years of Canadian research published in Journals and by Statistics Canada. We have favored research based on national studies in this review, though there are many excellent case studies and qualitative studies that add texture to our knowledge. Recognizing that the senior population is a very heterogeneous group, this review will examine (where the research permits) differences by senior life-course stages, and other target groups such as women, the disabled, visible minority, immigrants, Aboriginal peoples, sub-regions, low income, and persons living alone. This review of the literature has shown that while we have basic information about many of the transitions in seniors’ lives, there is very little information about the various life course stages or about various sub groups of society.health and well-being, retirement, marital transitions, care-giving, homecare

Cyberidentities

This innovative study explores diverse aspects of Canadian and European identity on the information highway and reaches beyond technical issues to confront and explore communication, culture and the culture of communication

Organizational dynamics of supported employment programs for people with severe mental illness

La présente étude qualitative visait à mieux comprendre l'influence des dynamiques organisationnelles sur l'implantation des programmes de soutien à l'emploi (SE) pour personnes atteintes de problèmes de santé mentale graves au Québec. Les résultats démontrent la présence de deux coalitions en lien avec ces programmes, soit une reliée au secteur de la santé et une reliée au secteur de l'emploi. La vision qui chapeaute les services des acteurs de la santé en est une de rétablissement et leurs services adhèrent ·généralement aux principes du modèle ±Individual Placement and Support¿. Comme ces acteurs, les acteurs de la coalition d'emploi visent aussi l'intégration de leurs clients en emplois compétitifs. Par contre, leurs valeurs et croyances différentes et la nature de leurs partenariats influencent ces derniers à organiser leurs services différemment des acteurs de la santé. Ensemble, les deux formes de SE semblent répondre aux besoins variés des utilisateurs de services vocationnels

Factors Influencing Willingness To Adopt Advanced Analytics In Small Businesses

Business analytics (BA) continues to be one of the top technology trends in recent years as well as one of the top priorities for CIO’s in many large enterprises. Business analytic tools can significantly help small businesses in quickly responding to changing market conditions and improving their organizational performance. However, prior studies report that the adoption rate of business analytics in small businesses is extremely low such that only 32 percent small businesses have adopted Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions till now (SMB Group, 2018). As small businesses constitute a major force in the US economy, a slow rate of adoption of significant technological innovations, such as BA, may be a critical concern that can affect the economy in the longer run. Despite this, the extant small business literature as well as the information systems literature fails to provide an understanding of why small businesses are not receptive to current BA trends. Therefore, drawing upon the theoretical underpinnings of organizing vision theory, strategic orientation literature, and theory of upper echelon, this study investigates the willingness of small businesses to adopt newer innovations in BA. More specifically, this study investigates the impact of the reception of organizing vision of BA by owner managers, learning orientation of small businesses, analytics orientation of small businesses, and personal characteristics of owner-mangers on small businesses’ willingness to adopt BA. By drawing its motivation from prior strategic orientation and v BA literature, this study is also among the first one to propose, formally develop, and validate the measurement construct of analytics orientation

Driving and Inhibiting Factors in the Adoption of Open Source Software in Organisations

The aim of this research is to investigate the extent to which Open Source Software (OSS) adoption behaviour can empirically be shown to be governed by a set of self-reported (driving and inhibiting) salient beliefs of key informants in a sample of organisations. Traditional IS adoption/usage theory, methodology and practice are drawn on. These are then augmented with theoretical constructs derived from IT governance and organisational diagnostics to propose an artefact that aids the understanding of organisational OSS adoption behaviour, stimulates debate and aids operational management interventions. For this research, a combination of quantitative methods (via Fisher’s Exact Test) and complimentary qualitative method (via Content Analysis) were used using self-selection sampling techniques. In addition, a combination of data and methods were used to establish a set of mixed-methods results (or meta-inferences). From a dataset of 32 completed questionnaires in the pilot study, and 45 in the main study, a relatively parsimonious set of statistically significant driving and inhibiting factors were successfully established (ranging from 95% to 99.5% confidence levels) for a variety for organisational OSS adoption behaviours (i.e. by year, by software category and by stage of adoption). In addition, in terms of mixed-methods, combined quantitative and qualitative data yielded a number of factors limited to a relatively small number of organisational OSS adoption behaviour. The findings of this research are that a relatively small set of driving and inhibiting salient beliefs (e.g. Security, Perpetuity, Unsustainable Business Model, Second Best Perception, Colleagues in IT Dept., Ease of Implementation and Organisation is an Active User) have proven very accurate in predicting certain organisational OSS adoption behaviour (e.g. self-reported Intention to Adopt OSS in 2014) via Binomial Logistic Regression Analysis