15,413 research outputs found

    The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions

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    The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed, including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture. Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions, and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users, scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution

    Success factors in IT Outsourcing

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    Abstract. To survive and respond to the everchanging business world companies are seeking new ways to concentrate and improve core competencies, as well as improve their competitive status against the market. Companies are exploring how to exploit the core competencies of other companies. The goals of the partnership might differ depending on the scope of the partnership. The goal might be one or many of the following: cost reduction, access to higher quality service, access to technology and/or know-how. Even if the first IT outsourcing was done around 30 years ago by Eastman Kodak and General Dynamics and the area has been studied quite heavily, the topic seems to be still difficult for companies to grasp the wanted benefits. As the IT outsourcing is widely used option in the business world and the results are not firm, I feel the topic is still relevant to study. The research question for the study is: “What factors affect the success of IT outsourcing relationship?” The research question is answered through the literature review. From the literature review eleven high level success factors can be identified. In some cases, some factors are combined. The success factors are Cost and Quality, Trust, Alignment to business strategy, Culture, Communication, Contracts, Strategic Partnership, Governance, Management support, Infrastructure, and Know-how. How important each individual factors are in outsourcing engagement in question depends on the sort of the partnership. The theoretical implications are very limited, but the practical implications regarding communication, trust and governance should be considered when companies enter IT outsourcing partnerships. Putting an emphasis on setting up proper governance functions and people who are good at communicating with the other party will pay the efforts back in success of the relationship

    Key Determinants of Job Satisfaction Among University Lecturers

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    Creating job satisfaction for employees can help organizations maintain their employees and save more costs from searching for new ones. Therefore, a primary goal of this research was to investigate how work-family conflict, workload and job stress influenced university lecturers’ work satisfaction. To accomplish the current aim, researchers invited 450 respondents who were currently having positions as lecturers at any university in Thailand. Next, a structural equation model was employed to analyze 387 valid data. In gender statistics, 45.2% were male respondents, while 54.8 % were female. Moreover, gender obtained mean scores of 1.54 with standard deviation scores of 0.49. Based on age statistics, most of the respondents who joined this research were between 20-30 years (41.3%), followed by 31-41 years (24.5%), 41-50 years (19.9%) and above 50 years (14.2%). Meanwhile, its mean score (is 2.07 with a standard deviation of 1.09. According to the results of this research, increasing work-family conflict and workload caused lecturers to receive more stress from their work. Moreover, the lecturers were happy once certain degrees of stress and work-family conflict, except workload, diminished. Meanwhile, stress among university lecturers significantly mediated their workloads and work satisfaction. This result highlighted a side effect of a certain number of workloads influencing lecturers’ stress levels, which increased the significant role of job stress in further influencing lecturers’ work satisfaction

    HR Analytics: Concept, Application, and Impact on Talent Management, Branding, and Challenges

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    Purpose: Making wiser decisions about employees to improve performance at the individual and/or organizational levels is the process of HR analytics. HR analytics is a method for determining the correlation between HR practices and organizational performance outcomes such as sales volume or customer satisfaction. Human Resource Analytics was established in 1978 by Jac Fitz-Enz, the pioneer of human capital strategic analysis and performance benchmarking. In this paper, the researcher wants to discuss the concept of HR analytics, its application, impact on talent management, branding, and challenges in its application.Design/methodology/approach: The researcher examines secondary data and conducts a thorough literature review to understand the concept and its application across industries and nations, as well as to identify any challenges encountered during deployment and any benefits perceived by various industry professionals. Findings: The study's findings indicate that using HR analytics can help businesses build their brand and gain a competitive edge in today's fiercely competitive business environment while also enhancing workforce and employee productivity.Originality/value: This study has significant implications for both literature and HR analytics. Researchers will know more about the factors that contribute to and the mechanisms by which HR analytics improve organisational performance. The author's second claim is that having access to HR technology both facilitates and precedes HR analytics. Finally, concrete data from the literature demonstrates its influence on branding and organisational success. Keywords: Human resource (HR) analytics, People analytics, Branding, Talent Management, Organizational performance. Paper type: Research paper JEL Code: M12, M15 & M51 DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-8-06 Publication date: April 30th 202

    Corporate Social Responsibility: the institutionalization of ESG

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    Understanding the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on firm performance as it relates to industries reliant on technological innovation is a complex and perpetually evolving challenge. To thoroughly investigate this topic, this dissertation will adopt an economics-based structure to address three primary hypotheses. This structure allows for each hypothesis to essentially be a standalone empirical paper, unified by an overall analysis of the nature of impact that ESG has on firm performance. The first hypothesis explores the evolution of CSR to the modern quantified iteration of ESG has led to the institutionalization and standardization of the CSR concept. The second hypothesis fills gaps in existing literature testing the relationship between firm performance and ESG by finding that the relationship is significantly positive in long-term, strategic metrics (ROA and ROIC) and that there is no correlation in short-term metrics (ROE and ROS). Finally, the third hypothesis states that if a firm has a long-term strategic ESG plan, as proxied by the publication of CSR reports, then it is more resilience to damage from controversies. This is supported by the finding that pro-ESG firms consistently fared better than their counterparts in both financial and ESG performance, even in the event of a controversy. However, firms with consistent reporting are also held to a higher standard than their nonreporting peers, suggesting a higher risk and higher reward dynamic. These findings support the theory of good management, in that long-term strategic planning is both immediately economically beneficial and serves as a means of risk management and social impact mitigation. Overall, this contributes to the literature by fillings gaps in the nature of impact that ESG has on firm performance, particularly from a management perspective

    A Descriptive Qualitative Study Exploring Middle-School Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Development on Technology Integration

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    Today’s teachers are being encouraged to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Technology integration became a worldwide focus for schools after remote learning was necessary to continue instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, research shows that technology-infused lessons improve student achievement and increase student engagement. Despite efforts to support teachers throughout the technology integration process, concerns have developed. Preparing highly qualified teachers ready to incorporate technology into their teaching repertoire has developed additional stress factors. In this descriptive qualitative study, the researcher wanted to address the problem of teacher attrition, possibly related to stress factors associated with technology integration. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of professional development opportunities that possibly improve the technology integration process. Additionally, the researcher wanted to identify stress factors associated with technology adoption and how professional development may help to reduce stress factors associated with technology integration in one middle school in New York. The researcher chose a qualitative descriptive study using Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory and Bandura’s social learning theory on self-efficacy as the theoretical framework. The researcher included an exposition of the literature sources, synthesized the research findings, and provided recommendations for practice and future research. The data collection process consisted of semistructured open-ended questions that were developed with the support of a panel of experts. There were 10 participants chosen using a snowball sampling strategy. This study’s findings were that professional development should be hands-on, continuous, and targeted to increase teachers’ personal level of engagement. Also, creating opportunities for colleague support systems reduced stress factors associated with technology integration. These peer support systems reduced the time required to research the most effective resources, digital tools, and applications as participants shared the resources with one another. Recommendations for practice included providing adequate professional development, offering appropriate infrastructure, and hands-on, targeted, continuous training for teachers to feel more comfortable developing technology-infused lessons. Recommendations for research include providing additional insight into teachers’ perceived benefits and motivation for technology integration and how stress factors associated with the technology adoption process possibly increase teacher attrition

    The ageing Caribbean: 20 years of the Madrid Plan of Action

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    This report assess the situation of older persons and reviews the actions taken in Caribbean countries and territories, particularly over the past five years, to implement the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and related regional agreements. It contributes to the global and regional reviews of the Plan of Action, 20 years on from its adoption in 2002, and includes recommendations to further address population ageing and the rights of older persons in the Caribbean.Abstract .-- Introduction .-- I. Ageing, economic security and public policy .-- II. Ageing, health and care .-- III. Enabling and supportive environments .-- IV. Conclusions and key recommendations

    Examining the Cyber Skills Gap: An Analysis of Cybersecurity Positions by Sub-Field

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    While demand for cybersecurity professionals is high, the field is currently facing a workforce shortage and a skills gap. Thus, an examination of current cybersecurity position hiring requirements may be advantageous for helping to close the skills gap. This work examines the education, professional experience, industry certification, security clearance, and programming skill requirements of 935 cybersecurity positions categorized by sub-field. The nine sub-fields are: architecture, auditing, education, GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), management, operations, penetration testing, software security, and threat intelligence / research. Prior work experience and higher education degrees in technical fields were found to be frequently required across all sub-fields. Over 48% of positions listed an industry cybersecurity certification, while 19% of positions required a security clearance. In addition, 25% of positions listed knowledge of a programming language as a requirement for employment. There were notable differences in certain position requirements between sub-fields. On average, management positions required three years of additional work experience than positions in the auditing, operations, and penetration testing sub-fields. Security clearance requirements were relatively similar across all other sub-fields, with the GRC sub-field having the highest percentage of positions requiring a security clearance. Programming skills were desired most prevalently in positions within the architecture, software security, and penetration testing sub-fields. Demand for industry certifications varied by sub-field, although the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification was the most frequently desired certification. Cybersecurity education programs should consider the diverse nature of the cybersecurity field and develop pathways to prepare future cybersecurity professionals for success in any sub-field

    Building data management capabilities to address data protection regulations: Learnings from EU-GDPR

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    The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR) has initiated a paradigm shift in data protection toward greater choice and sovereignty for individuals and more accountability for organizations. Its strict rules have inspired data protection regulations in other parts of the world. However, many organizations are facing difficulty complying with the EU-GDPR: these new types of data protection regulations cannot be addressed by an adaptation of contractual frameworks, but require a fundamental reconceptualization of how companies store and process personal data on an enterprise-wide level. In this paper, we introduce the resource-based view as a theoretical lens to explain the lengthy trajectories towards compliance and argue that these regulations require companies to build dedicated, enterprise-wide data management capabilities. Following a design science research approach, we propose a theoretically and empirically grounded capability model for the EU-GDPR that integrates the interpretation of legal texts, findings from EU-GDPR-related publications, and practical insights from focus groups with experts from 22 companies and four EU-GDPR projects. Our study advances interdisciplinary research at the intersection between IS and law: First, the proposed capability model adds to the regulatory compliance management literature by connecting abstract compliance requirements to three groups of capabilities and the resources required for their implementation, and second, it provides an enterprise-wide perspective that integrates and extends the fragmented body of research on EU-GDPR. Practitioners may use the capability model to assess their current status and set up systematic approaches toward compliance with an increasing number of data protection regulations
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