Social media adoption by microbusinesses

The social media implementation process (initiation, adoption, adaptation, acceptance, use and incorporation) is examined in correlation with the five factors (individual, organisational, technological, environmental and performance). Numerous existing theories from the innovation, technology adoption and performance measurement literature are used to derive probable relation between the implementation process and the five factors. Such expansive scope and comprehensive theory development has been articulated but never attempted. To manage the large scope, microbusinesses are selected purposefully due to their limited business processes. The research design reflects the need for relevance by using Lewin’s action research (traditional social change model) as the primary method augmented by participant observation (physical and online). Data collection uses a mix of unstructured, semi-structured and structured interviews assisted by structured observation. Data analysis uses a set of routines, such as tabulation, categorisation, abstraction and verification, involving prediction and testing. The research finds that a collaborative process to address concerns, along with quick start and self-training, helped to adopt social media. Participants needed to focus on concrete experience, work-place learning and personal knowledge for learning to use social media. Usefulness arising from improved communication, fitness and medium richness was the dominant indicator for acceptance and use. Continued use relied on satisfaction and habit of the user. Individual characteristics and personality factors both seemed to be a poor indicator of adoption with weak links towards extroversion. Microbusinesses suffered primarily from context and mental mode related challenges for social media use. Type of business, such as service shops, had a greater probability of success. Social media positively affected relationship marketing in terms of service quality. Business activity associated with specialisation seemed to perform poorly with social media. Finally, performance measurement techniques included finding the capability of social media to meet survival objectives, improve capacity utilisation and business resale value

Architecture of participation : the realization of the Semantic Web, and Internet OS

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68).The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) is becoming an integral part of our daily life and touching every part of the society around the world including both well-developed and developing countries. The simple technology and genuine intention of the original WWW, which is to help researchers share and exchange information and data across incompatible platforms and systems, have evolved into something larger and beyond what one could conceive. While WWW has reached the critical mass, many limitations are uncovered. To address the limitations, the development of its extension, the Semantic Web, has been underway for more than five years by the inventor of WWW, Tim Berners-Lee, and the technical community. Yet, no significant impact has been made. Its awareness by the public is surprisingly and unfortunately low. This thesis will review the development effort of the Semantic Web, examine its progress which appears lagging compared to WWW, and propose a promising business model to accelerate its adoption path.by Shelley Lau.S.M

Vivafit: a women-only fitness concept analysis of the internationalization process

Globalization is a recent phenomenon that is pushing markets’ interdependency exponentially. To keep up with this trend, businesses are forced to expand operations due to diverse reasons. However, internationalization is a challenging step for the life of a business and this, many times, is retained by not knowing where to start. Although the research in international business has been growing along the globalization process, I found a lack of practical information that can help companies with little knowledge on the topic to take their companies abroad. As an attempt to provide this practical information to other Portuguese companies, I started by identifying one that currently has operations abroad and therefore analysed it. For this analysis, I conducted two interviews and researched articles about the company in order to obtain all the necessary information, as well as collected several theories and models developed by academics considered in international business studies. After connecting theoretical approaches to this real case, I was able to identify the stronger and weaker points of the internationalization process carried out by the company. Therefore, as a result, I used this information as a basis to create a practical framework that may help Portuguese companies to expand their businessesA globalização é um fenómeno recente que está a impulsionar exponencialmente a interdependência de mercados. Para acompanhar esta tendência, as empresas são obrigadas a expandir as operações pelas mais diversas razões. No entanto, a internacionalização é um passo desafiante na vida de uma empresa, sendo muitas vezes adiado por não se saber por onde começar. Embora a pesquisa em negócios internacionais tenha crescido ao longo da tendência da globalização, existe falta de informações práticas que possam ajudar empresas Portuguesas com menos conhecimento na área a levar o seu negócio para o exterior. De forma a tentar providenciar essas informações práticas, comecei por selecionar uma empresa portuguesa que tenha atualmente operações no exterior e, posteriormente, analiseia. Assim, para essa análise, realizei duas entrevistas e pesquisei artigos sobre a empresa de modo a obter todas as informações necessárias, incluindo várias teorias e modelos desenvolvidos por académicos abordadas na temática da internacionalização de empresas. Após relacionar as abordagens teóricas com o caso real da Vivafit, identifiquei os pontos mais fortes e mais fracos do processo de internacionalização da mesma. Por fim, utilizei essa informação como base para criar um modelo prático que possa ajudar as empresas portuguesas a expandir seus negócios da forma mais eficaz e eficiente

Connecting Mobile Game Advertising with Local Stores

With the growth of mobile market, mobile advertising and mobile game advertising are becoming more and more important. On one hand, mobile advertising is able to deliver relevant ads to targeted users based on their locations and behaviors. On the other hand, as the number of mobile game players and free-to-play mobile games are increasing, mobile game advertising forms one important way of monetization. It is important to increase the advertising effectiveness while producing friendly user experience. Local stores find themselves difficult to keep up with the pace of the Internet. The research on mixed reality merges communications between the real and virtual worlds, which could create a friendly user experience. The author has tried to use mobile game advertising to help local shops to increase their sales and brand awareness by merging the game play with the real items in local stores. This thesis presents a solution to connecting mobile game advertising with local stores. It uses virtual assets of games as incentives to encourage players to view ads and to have purchase behaviors in local stores. Furthermore, a prototype as a proof of concept has been implemented, using QR codes as a portal for players to claim rewards from local stores. In addition, the author interviewed two owners of local shops, and received positive feedback on the prototype

The Contemporary Face of Transnational Criminal Organizations and the Threat they Pose to U.S. National Interest: A Global Perspective.

Traditional organized crime groups have consistently posed issues for la w enforcement; however, the contemporary TCOs present an even greater security risk and threat. TCOs thrive in countries with a weak rule of law and present a great threat to regional security in many parts of the world. Bribery and corruption employed by these groups further serve to destabilize already weak governments. These TCOs also present a major threat to U.S. and world financial systems by exploiting legitimate commerce, and in some cases creating parallel markets (“Transnational Organized,” 2011) . Finally, one of the most significant threats posed by contemporary TCOs is their alliances and willingness to work with terrorist and extremist organizations. This paper will focus on contemporary TCOs by giving a brief overview of the most common criminal enterprises associated with these groups, the nexus between various TCOs, the nexus between TCOs and terrorist and extremist groups, case studies highlighting the nexus, and the threats they pose to U.S. national interests