The impact of switching costs on the decision to retain or replace IT outsourcing vendors

While the IT outsourcing market is growing, outsourcing vendors are being replaced more frequently by firms. Since replacing vendors can affect the stability and quality of the IT services a firm receives, it is important to understand the drivers behind the decision to replace/retain vendors. This paper examines the impact of switching costs on this decision. We classify the various examples of switching costs into three categories (relational, financial and procedural) and develop a model to explain their role in the decision to replace or retain a vendor. The model also includes possible moderators of the relationship between switching costs and the vendor replacement decision. This model will be evaluated through a series of case studies of firms who have made this decision, and the refined model will be tested with a survey of IT outsourcing managers.<br /

La relación especies-área para aves especialistas versus oportunistas de los pastizales de la Pampa depende de la matriz de paisaje circundante

Agriculture and urban development have been the main drivers of loss and fragmentation of grasslands worldwide. The Argentine Pampas has been highly transformed by human activities. However how birds respond to the size of grassland patches and landscape matrices is unknown. We studied the effects of these on the abundance and richness of both specialist and opportunist grassland birds. In addition, we evaluated the patch size effect in contrast with unfragmented grasslands. We surveyed birds in small and large patches of Cortaderia selloana grasslands embedded within agricultural, planted forest, dune and urban landscape matrices and, specifically in spring, in unfragmented grasslands. The abundance and richness of specialist grassland birds in small patches were lower than in large patches, but richness depended on the type of matrix and was lowest in patches surrounded by a forest matrix. Extensive grasslands are a key habitat for grassland specialists during the breeding season. In contrast, the abundance and richness of opportunist grassland birds were higher in patches than in unfragmented grasslands, and showed a negative effect of dune matrix in winter. Our results enable prediction of how bird species with different habitat requirements may vary in abundance and richness depending on the size of grassland patches and the type of land use following grassland replacement.El desarrollo agrícola y urbano han sido las principales causas de pérdida y fragmentación de los pastizales en todo el mundo. La región Pampeana de Argentina ha sido enormemente transformada por las actividades humanas; sin embargo se desconoce cómo las aves responden al tamaño de los parches de pastizal remanentes y a las matrices de paisaje. Estudiamos ambos efectos sobre la abundancia y riqueza de aves especialistas y oportunistas de pastizal. Además, evaluamos el efecto del tamaño del parche contrastándolo con pastizales sin fragmentar. Muestreamos aves en parches pequeños y grandes de Cortaderia selloana inmersos en matrices agrícolas, forestales, de dunas y urbanas, y específicamente en primavera, en pastizales sin fragmentar. La abundancia y riqueza de aves especialistas en parches pequeños fueron menores que en parches grandes, pero la riqueza dependió del tipo de matriz, y la menor ocurrió en parches rodeados de matriz forestal. Los extensos pastizales son un hábitat clave para las aves especialistas durante la estación reproductiva. Por el contrario, la abundancia y riqueza de aves oportunistas fueron mayores en parches que en pastizales sin fragmentar, y mostraron un efecto negativo de la matriz de dunas durante el invierno. registramos un efecto del tamaño del parche sobre aves especialistas; sin embargo, este efecto estuvo modulado por el uso del suelo que domina el paisaje alrededor de los parches. Nuestros resultados permiten predecir cómo las aves, con diferentes requerimientos de hábitat, pueden variar en abundancia y riqueza dependiendo del tamaño del parche de pastizal y del uso de la tierra derivado de su reemplazo.Fil: Pretelli, Matías Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Isacch, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Cardoni, Daniel Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentin

Will I or Will I Not? Explaining the Willingness to Disclose Personal Self-Tracking Data to a Health Insurance Company

Users of digital self-tracking devices increasingly benefit from multiple services related to their self-tracking data. Vice versa, new digital as well as “offline” service providers, such as health insurance companies, depend on the users’ willingness to disclose personal data to be able to offer new services. Whereas previous research mostly investigated the willingness to disclose data in the context of social media, e-commerce and smartphone apps, the aim of our research is to analyze the influence of the privacy calculus of personal risks and benefits on the willingness to disclose highly personal and confidential self-tracking data to health insurance companies. To do so, we develop a conceptual model based on the privacy calculus concept and validate it with a sample of 103 respondents in a scenario-based experiment using structural equation modeling. Our results reveal that privacy risks always have a negative impact on the willingness to disclose personal data, while positive effects of privacy benefits are partly depending on the data sensitivity

THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL CULTURE ON BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE MATURITY MODELS

Maturity level modeling has been a well-established and important stream of IS research. Maturity models have played a significant role in guiding organizational process improvements in many areas. It is therefore surprising that maturity model design and development methodologies have not yet been scrutinized from cross-cultural and international perspectives. In this research, we have prescribed a rigorous approach to identifying, validating and calibrating maturity models constructs for cross-cultural application. We have employed this new methodology in the context of widely accepted business intelligence maturity model that has been initially developed in Germany. Our current effort involves following our proposed methodology to target and calibrate those nationally specific model components that need modification and calibration for application in the US. We report on our progress, and we discuss implications in terms of both findings relevant to culture in IS research, maturity model methodology research and BI maturity model research

Evolving the Modular Layered Architecture in Digital Innovation: The Case of the Car’s Instrument Cluster

Digital innovation entails the combining of digital and physical components to produce novel products. The materiality of digital artifacts, particularly the separation between their material and immaterial features, which is expressed through a layered architecture, lays the foundation for the generative potential of digital innovation. Gaining an understanding of the work involved in creating such a layered architecture and tracing the shifts in the material sub-stratum as physical products are digitalized provides insight into the organizational implications of digital innovation. To this end, we study the digitalization of the automobile by focusing on the evolution of a car manufacturer’s instrument cluster or Driver Information Module (DIM) from 2005 onwards. Based on laddering interviews with 20 people involved in the development of three increasingly digitized DIMs, this paper traces the progressive dissociation between the material and non-material aspects of digitalized artifacts and the organizational implications of evolving a modular layered architecture

A LONG-TERM INVESTIGATION OF THE FEDERALLY THREATENED DESERT TORTOISE (\u3cem\u3eGOPHERUS AGASSIZII\u3c/em\u3e) AT A WIND ENERGY FACILITY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

With the recent increase in utility-scale wind energy development and current climate variation in the desert southwest US, researchers have become increasingly concerned with the reaction of wildlife and critical habitat. Understanding the relationships among monitoring efforts, climate, industrial landscapes and wildlife is critical to effective management. Given the need for information available on how these potential stressors affect terrestrial wildlife, my objective was to determine how climate variation, wind energy facilities (WEF) and monitoring efforts by researchers influence behavior and survivorship in a population of the federally threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Data were collected via surveys, motion-sensor camera trapping and radio-telemetry during the span of two decades at a WEF in California. Using capture-mark-recapture survivorship analysis and generalized linear mixed-effects models, I acquired long-term estimates of survivorship, activity, and levels of stress response to researchers and climate. From this study I found that researchers as well as abiotic effects influence the probability of voiding, a possible stress induced behavior in desert tortoises. Additionally, we found that tortoise activity and survival is constrained by winter precipitation and habitat types. Further research is needed on proximate mechanisms of wind turbines (noise and vibration) and their effects on desert tortoise behavior

Desertification

IPCC SPECIAL REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND (SRCCL) Chapter 3: Climate Change and Land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystem

Wildfire spread simulation modeling for risk assessment and management in Mediterranean areas

Wildfires are a key problem in many terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in the Mediterranean Basin, and climate change will likely cause their increase in future years. Wildfire behavior simulator models are very useful to characterize wildfire risk, identify the valued resources more exposed to wildfires and to plan the best strategies to mitigate risk. In this work, we first carried out a review of wildfire spread and behavior modelling, and then focusing on FLAMMAP model. Then, we evaluated the effects of diverse strategies of fuel treatments on wildfire risk in an agro-pastoral area of the North-central Sardinia (Italy) that has been affected by the largest Sardinian wildfire of recent years (Bonorva wildfire, about 10,500 ha burned, on July 2009). Finally we analyzed the combined effects of fuel treatments and post-fire treatments with the aim to mitigate wildfire and erosion risk, linking the minimum travel time algorithm with the Ermit modeling approach in a study area located in Northern Sardinia (Italy), mostly classified as European Site of Community Importance. Overall, the results obtained showed that wildfire behavior simulator models can support forest fire management and planning and can provide key spatial information and data that can be helpful to policy makers and land managers

Assessment of Dengue and Chikungunya Infections among Febrile Patients Visiting Four Healthcare Centres in Yaoundé and Dizangué, Cameroon

Dengue and chikungunya are now widely distributed in Cameroon, but there is still not enough information on their prevalence in different epidemiological settings. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of dengue and chikungunya in both urban and rural settings in Cameroon using three diagnostic tools. From December 2019 to September 2021, willing febrile (temperature >38 °C) outpatients visiting four healthcare facilities in the cities of Yaoundé and Dizangué were screened for dengue, and chikungunya. Clinical features of patient were recorded in a form, and their blood samples were analysed using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rtRT-PCR), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assays (ELISA). Odds ratios were used to determine the level of association between socio-demographic factors, clinical features, and infection status. The Kappa coefficient permitted to assess the level of agreement between RDTs and ELISA. Overall, 301 febrile patients were recruited in the study: 198 in Yaoundé and 103 in Dizangué. The prevalence of infection varied with the diagnostic tool used. For dengue diagnostics, 110 patients were positive to rtRT-PCR: 90 (45.45%) in Yaoundé, and 20 (19.42%) in Dizangué. The prevalence of dengue IgM using ELISA varied from 22.3% in Dizangué to 30.8% in Yaoundé. Dengue IgM rate using RDTs was 7.6% in Yaoundé and 3.9% in Dizangué. For chikungunya, one (0.5%) patient (Yaoundé, suburb) was positive to rtRT-PCR. The prevalence of chikungunya IgM according to ELISA varied from 18.4% in Dizangué to 21.7% in Yaoundé, while it was 4.5% in Yaoundé and 12.6% in Dizangué with RDTs. Only abdominal and retro-orbital pains were significantly associated with acute dengue infection. All four dengue serotypes were recorded, with a predominance of DENV-3 (35.45%) and DENV-4 (25.45%). Rapid Diagnostic Tests for either chikungunya or dengue displayed very poor sensitivity. This study further confirms the high endemicity of both dengue and chikungunya in Yaoundé and Dizangué. These data stress the need for active surveillance and the implementation of vector control measures to prevent the occurrence of outbreaks across the country