Ecommerce in Colombia: exploding opportunities?

RESUMENEl comercio electrónico en Colombia ha experimentado un reciente y atípicocrecimiento comparado con la tendencia latinoamericana de las últimas décadas. Colombia puede ser vista como un competidor tardío en términos de crecimiento de su conectividad y sus transacciones. Sin embargo, su mercado ha venido evolucionando rápidamente a través de políticas gubernamentales, bancarización y esfuerzos individuales enfocados en la creación de confianza en el sector del comercio electrónico. Con un mercado prometedor, Colombia puede llegar a superar el ritmo de desarrollo de otros países latinoamericanos pioneros en este sector, tal como Brasil. Esta base es usada para proponer recomendaciones de tipo empresarial para actores que se desempeñan en el sector del eCommerce.Recibido: 22/07/2015   Aceptado: 04/11/2015 ABSTRACTeCommerce in Colombia has recently experienced an atypical growth incomparison to a common trend observed in Latin America in recent years. Colombia can be seen as a late starter in terms of transactional and connectivity growth. However, its market has been evolving rapidly due to government policy, banking penetration and individual efforts to create trust in the eCommerce sector. With a promising market, Colombia may be set to outpace the development of pioneering Latin American countries such as Brazil. This analysis is then used to provide a set of entrepreneurial recommendations for actors involved in the eCommerce sector.Received: 22/07/2015  Accepted: 04/11/201

Ecommerce in Colombia: exploding opportunities?

RESUMENEl comercio electrónico en Colombia ha experimentado un reciente y atípicocrecimiento comparado con la tendencia latinoamericana de las últimas décadas. Colombia puede ser vista como un competidor tardío en términos de crecimiento de su conectividad y sus transacciones. Sin embargo, su mercado ha venido evolucionando rápidamente a través de políticas gubernamentales, bancarización y esfuerzos individuales enfocados en la creación de confianza en el sector del comercio electrónico. Con un mercado prometedor, Colombia puede llegar a superar el ritmo de desarrollo de otros países latinoamericanos pioneros en este sector, tal como Brasil. Esta base es usada para proponer recomendaciones de tipo empresarial para actores que se desempeñan en el sector del eCommerce.Recibido: 22/07/2015   Aceptado: 04/11/2015 ABSTRACTeCommerce in Colombia has recently experienced an atypical growth incomparison to a common trend observed in Latin America in recent years. Colombia can be seen as a late starter in terms of transactional and connectivity growth. However, its market has been evolving rapidly due to government policy, banking penetration and individual efforts to create trust in the eCommerce sector. With a promising market, Colombia may be set to outpace the development of pioneering Latin American countries such as Brazil. This analysis is then used to provide a set of entrepreneurial recommendations for actors involved in the eCommerce sector.Received: 22/07/2015  Accepted: 04/11/201

Study on the antecedents of information technology adoption in the Nigerian small and medium scale enterprises

This thesis determines the mediating effects of Organizational commitment and the moderating roles of Demographic variables on the relationship between Information Technology (IT) Characteristics and Adoption in the Nigerian SMEs. The objectives of the study are to assess how IT characteristics relate to “Adoption” directly and indirectly through Organizational commitment and also how the relationships between IT characteristics and adoption are moderated by Age, Gender and Experience. This research considers complexity, compatibility, usefulness and ease of use from Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) respectively. It takes Age, Gender and Experience from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and, Commitment from Allen and Meyer Theory. For the purpose of, survey two-hundred and fifty (250) questionnaires were distributed and 183 valid ones were analyzed using SPSS software embedded with Hayes PROCESS command. The quantitative outcome from the SPSS/PROCESS command reveals that organizational commitment is a mediator of the relationship between complexity and adoption, as well as compatibility and adoption. However, there was no evidence to show that it mediates usefulness and ease of use. The research also found that age gender and experience only moderate compatibility and ease of use. Among the major contributions of this research are the extension of UTAUT2 to include DOI constructs and the use f a different sample to further the generalizability of UTAUT2 in a different context. The framework(s) proposed in this study could be used by business managers and government when taking some core-decisions relating to IT. This implies that the outcome could be used as a competitive tool to overcome stiff competitions by priotizing the appropriate areas that have the tendency of yielding fruitful outcome. Considering how the research instrumentation was conducted, likelihood of bias can not be cancelled out completely though, the researcher made efforts to ensure a random distribution of questionnaires

Potensi Autourism di Taman Negara Johor Endau Rompin, Johor, Malaysia

Entomopelancongan bukan suatu yang baharu di Malaysia jika disandarkan kejayaan kupu-kupu dan kelip-kelip sebagai produk pelancongan alam semulajadi sebelum ini. Kajian-kajian terkini mendapati terdapat beberapa kumpulan serangga lain yang berpotensi untuk diketengahkan sebagai produk entomopelancongan seperti semut yang tinggi kehadirannya. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mempelbagai produk pelancongan dalam usaha mempertingkat industri pelancongan alam semulajadi di Taman Negara Johor Endau Rompin (TNJER). Fasa I kajian ini melibatkan pemerhatian kehadiran serangga dan juga persampelan spesimen semut. Hasil pemerhatian menunjukkan kumpulan serangga semut antara paling mudah dilihat di TNJER yang diikuti oleh anai-anai dan nyamuk. Fasa II pula telah dilakukan kajian soal selidik terhadap 117 orang pelancong TNJER untuk mengetahui pengetahuan ekologi semut yang dikehendaki. Responden telah memilih sistem komunikasi semut sebagai pengetahuan ekologi yang utama diikuti oleh morfologi semut, sistem pertahanan dan kaedah mencari makanan dan pemakanan. Hasil pada Fasa II telah digunakan dalam Fasa III kajian untuk mengkaji pelbagai aspek ekologi kumpulan serangga tertumpu melalui kajian lapangan dan maklumat sekunder. Akhir sekali, Fasa IV pula untuk memenuhi objektif terakhir kajian bagi menghasilkan satu buku kecil ANTourism di TNJER dan mengujinya. Berdasarkan percubaan penggunaan buku kecil oleh pelancong juga telah berjaya mendapatkan beberapa pandangan dan cadangan bemas bagi penambahbaikan kandungan buku kecil pada masa hadapan. Keseluruhannya, ANTourism diharapkan menjadi penyumbang kepada industri pelancongan selain mendidik masyarakat tentang kepentingan pemuliharan alam sekitar. Menghargai alam bermula dengan mengenali alam itu sendir

Sustainability, Digital Transformation and Fintech: The New Challenges of the Banking Industry

In the current competitive scenario, the banking industry must contend with multiple challenges tied to regulations, legacy systems, disruptive models/technologies, new competitors, and a restive customer base, while simultaneously pursuing new strategies for sustainable growth. Banking institutions that can address these emerging challenges and opportunities to effectively balance long-term goals with short-term performance pressures could be aptly rewarded. This book comprises a selection of papers addressing some of these relevant issues concerning the current challenges and opportunities for international banking institutions. Papers in this collection focus on the digital transformation of the banking industry and its effect on sustainability, the emergence of new competitors such as FinTech companies, the role of mobile banking in the industry, the connections between sustainability and financial performance, and other general sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) topics related to the banking industry. The book is a Special Issue of the MDPI journal Sustainability, which has been sponsored by the Santander Financial Institute (SANFI), a Spanish research and training institution created as a collaboration between Santander Bank and the University of Cantabria. SANFI works to identify, develop, support, and promote knowledge, study, talent, and innovation in the financial sector

Assessment of Socio-Economic Sustainability and Resilience after COVID-19

The pandemic period has caused severe socio-economic damage, but it is accompanied by environmental deterioration that can also affect economic opportunities and social equity. In the face of this double risk, future generations are ready to be resilient and make their contribution not only on the consumption side, but also through their inclusion in all companies by bringing green and circular principles with them. Policy makers can also favor this choice

‘Money and (dis)connection’: Income inequality and network disadvantage as barriers to sustainable technology adoption

Scholars have highlighted the role of income distribution as a fundamental factor to understand consumption, health, adoption of technologies, social cohesion, democratic stability, and long term economic performance, among other phenomena. Moreover, reducing income inequality was included in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. However, less attention has been put on the link between differences in household incomes and other pressing sustainability challenges, such as those that depend on massive adoption of new technologies within network industry sectors: telecommunications, waste management, transport, energy and water. Does existent income inequality translate into adoption gaps within these sectors? Is inequality an obstacle for advancing the vision of an inter-connected and more sustainable world? This research explores these questions through seven stand-alone papers, which focus on adoption of broadband internet, municipal recycling and railway passenger transport. Part I of the thesis includes four papers based on publicly available data from traditional mainstream sources. Chapter 1 provides a systematic map of the peer-reviewed literature on the link between income inequality and adoption of the three selected network technologies. Chapter 2 looks at country-level panel data from OECD countries. Chapter 3 analyses cross-sectional data in a broader world-wide sample. Chapter 4 compares borough-level recycling and income distribution in two European cities: London (United Kingdom) and Barcelona (Spain). Part II provides an in-depth analysis of two South American metropolitan areas: Santiago (Chile) and Medellín (Colombia). This part includes three papers (chapters 5, 6 and 7), each one focusing on a specific sector, that employ mixed-methods based on fieldwork conducted in both cities. The main contributions of the thesis are new evidence on the negative effect of income inequality on network technology adoption, and a discussion of the role of formal and informal institutions in this relationship.CONICYT PFCHA/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2016 ‐ 7217012