The First 25 Years of the Bled eConference: Themes and Impacts

The Bled eConference is the longest-running themed conference associated with the Information Systems discipline. The focus throughout its first quarter-century has been the application of electronic tools, migrating progressively from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) via Inter-Organisational Systems (IOS) and eCommerce to encompass all aspects of the use of networking facilities in industry and government, and more recently by individuals, groups and society as a whole. This paper reports on an examination of the conference titles and of the titles and abstracts of the 773 refereed papers published in the Proceedings since 1995. This identified a long and strong focus on categories of electronic business and corporate perspectives, which has broadened in recent years to encompass the democratic, the social and the personal. The conference\u27s extend well beyond the papers and their thousands of citations and tens of thousands of downloads. Other impacts have included innovative forms of support for the development of large numbers of graduate students, and the many international research collaborations that have been conceived and developed in a beautiful lake-side setting in Slovenia

The art of online arbitrage: essential practices for third-party sellers

The topic of arbitrage is an essential concept in the financial world. It involves taking advantage of price discrepancies for an asset or security across different markets. The emerging third-party retail and online e-commerce arbitrage sellers industry is growing and becoming a popular income source for many individuals. While there is various research on arbitrage and its impact on the economy, there is scant literature on third-party retail e-commerce arbitrage selling. The goal of this research is to build upon existing scholarly work by examining optimal methods, tactics, and obstacles encountered by e-commerce arbitrage sellers who operate through third-party retail platforms. A phenomenological methodology was employed to capture the firsthand experiences of seasoned professionals in the field. Twelve third-party e-commerce sellers who met inclusion criteria were interviewed and asked 11 interview questions designed to elicit detailed and nuanced answers. Thematic analysis was employed to code and categorize the interview data. Forty-nine overarching themes were identified and condensed to create the ACES Framework, which can be used as a guide for success in third-party retail e-commerce arbitrage selling

Term-driven E-Commerce

Die Arbeit nimmt sich der textuellen Dimension des E-Commerce an. Grundlegende Hypothese ist die textuelle Gebundenheit von Information und Transaktion im Bereich des elektronischen Handels. Überall dort, wo Produkte und Dienstleistungen angeboten, nachgefragt, wahrgenommen und bewertet werden, kommen natürlichsprachige Ausdrücke zum Einsatz. Daraus resultiert ist zum einen, wie bedeutsam es ist, die Varianz textueller Beschreibungen im E-Commerce zu erfassen, zum anderen können die umfangreichen textuellen Ressourcen, die bei E-Commerce-Interaktionen anfallen, im Hinblick auf ein besseres Verständnis natürlicher Sprache herangezogen werden

Information technology, contract and knowledge in the networked economy: a biography of packaged software for contract management

In this research I investigate the intersection of information and communication technology (ICT), contract and knowledge in the networked economy as illuminated by the “life” of contract management software (CMS). The failure of CMS to fulfill market expectations provides the motivating question for this study. Based on interview, survey and archival data, I construct a “biography” of CMS from a market perspective informed by the theory of commoditization as well as studies of markets from economic sociology. From the latter, I draw upon the theory of performativity in markets to identify in the failure of CMS a series of breakdowns in performative assumptions and operations normally at work in the making of a packaged software market, ranging from a failure in classification performativity to a detachment of marketized criteria, in the form of analyst ratings, from the underlying software product and vendors. This catalog of breakdown indicates that packaged software production implicates multiple levels of commoditization, including financialized meta-commodities and marketized criteria, in a dynamic I theorize as substitution of performance. I explore the implications of my findings for packaged software and for process commodities more generally, suggesting, inter alia, that process commoditization may revolve around contract and information exchange rather than product definition. I go on to propose an open theorization of contract as a technology of connectedness, in a relationship of potential convergence, complementarity and substitution with ICT, interpenetrating and performative. My contributions are to information systems and organizations research on the topics of packaged software and the relationship of ICT, contract and organizational knowledge; and to economic sociology on the topics of performativity in markets and product qualification in process commoditization

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Annual Report of the University, 1992-1993, Volumes 1-4

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS Preparation, approval by President Peck, delivery to NMCHE of UNM\u27s response to House Memorials 38 and 25 (on minorities and women). Development and packaging of a presentation on minorities at UNM to Hispanic community people and organizations. Renewal of faculty instructional workload report and other information for use by President Peck and others in the President\u27s Council in testimony to the legislature on accountability by faculty. Significant workload and contributions to WICHE\u27s Diversity Project: - responses to long questionnaire - projected demographics - substitution for O. Forbes on planning for diversity Reprogramming of obsolete computer program of the University of Southern California\u27s Faculty Planning Model. Work remains incomplete. Support and staff work for University Planning Council, Faculty Senate Long Range Planning Committee, Senate President, Senate Budget Committee, Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, Admissions and Registration Committee, Staff Council; Graduate Petition and grade Review Subcommittee Service to NMCHE\u27s Outcomes Assessment Advisory Group; NMCHE\u27s review group on diversity plans Service on Albuquerque Business/Education Compact Conducted several special data analyses to provide user outcome information for the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS). Wrote reports to summarize analyses. Served in an advisory capacity to VP Zuniga Forbes for the two surveys (Campus Climate for Diversity, ACT Student Opinion Survey) and helped to draw the sample for the ACT survey. Conducted secondary analyses and prepared report of all analyses of the Freshman Survey (CIRP) for VP Zuniga Forbes. Gave presentation of CIRP findings to the Regents Subcommittee on Student Affairs. Conducted secondary analyses and prepared report of all analyses of the Campus Climate for Diversity Survey for VP Zuniga Forbes

Development of a livestock management database system towards sustainable smallholder farming systems in South Africa

Thesis (PhDAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The commercialisation of smallholder farmers has taken the lead on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, the majority of smallholder livestock producers are less productive than commercial producers and lag in commercialisation. Apart from the multifaceted challenges that smallholder farmers face, limited access to appropriate information and extension services constrains their sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design and develop a Livestock Management Database System (LMDS) for improving the sustainability of commercially oriented smallholder cattle producers in the North West Province of South Africa. The system promotes the efficiency of delivering agricultural extension services and the upscaling of smallholder livestock production through improved access to tailored information and services. The study was guided by the pragmatic paradigm, which accommodates positivism (quantitative) and normative (qualitative) perspectives. A partially mixed sequential explanatory design with a dominant quantitative method was adopted. A structured questionnaire was administered to 101 commercially oriented beneficiaries of the Nguni cattle project in North West Province, South Africa, to collect quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with farmers and extension officers, respectively. A double-bounded contingent evaluation method was used to estimate the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for rangeland conservation and regeneration. A binary logistic regression model was used to evaluate the determinants of farmers’ WTP. The results show that most farmers (>80%) were willing to pay the initial bid price of ZAR165.00, with the estimated mean WTP being ZAR244.00 ha -1 year -1 for improving rangelands. The logistic regression findings show that the farmers' WTP responses were influenced by education (p = 0.012), most important breed (p = 0.039), farming experience (p = 0.026), goat ownership (p = 0.022), ecoregion (p = 0.079), and income from cattle sales (p = 0.048). The high WTP results highlight the potential of involving the smallholder cattle farmers in implementing payment-based programs designed to improve the ecological sustainability of rangeland ecosystems and even introduce new interventions such as the LMDS. However, one of the complex challenges of driving the growth of commercially oriented smallholder farmers is ensuring that farmers understand and use new technologies. Thus, explaining their behavioural intentions before technology development is one of the most effective ways to increase adoption and identify potential design issues. Therefore, the study investigated the farmers’ experiences of using ICTs and their perceptions of the usefulness of the LMDS in livestock production. Results revealed that over 75% of the farmers had smartphones and smartphone operating skills, and nearly two-thirds were using the internet to search for agricultural information. About 80% had a strong positive perception of the usefulness of the proposed LMDS towards their livestock production. FGDS and KII results also observed higher positive perceptions towards the innovation. The Chi-square statistic was used to test the association between farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and perceptions of the usefulness of the LMDS. The results show that education level, smartphone ownership, farming experience, cattle herd size and gender influenced farmers’ perceptions of the LMDS. Poor mobile network connectivity (44%) and lack of digital skills (20%) were the limitations perceived to hamper the adoption of the innovation. The deeper insights from study findings on the perceived usefulness of mobile technology can be beneficial to policymakers, researchers, and development agents and institutions when developing interventions for adoption by farmers. The LMDS development process involved a human-centred design thinking process in which development activities were based on the farmers and extension officers’ needs and expectations. Development of the LMDS has reached the prototyping phase, which involves software development and validation in the actual operational environment.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kommersialisering van kleinboere het die voortou geneem op die ontwikkelingsagenda van baie ontwikkelende lande. Die meerderheid kleinveeprodusente is sonder uitsondering minder produktief as kommersiële produsente en is agter in kommersialisering. Afgesien van die veelsydige uitdagings waarmee kleinboere te doen het, beperk toegang tot toepaslike inligting en voorligtingsdienste hul volhoubaarheid. Daarom was die doel van hierdie studie om 'n Lewendehawebestuurdatabasisstelsel (LMDS) te ontwerp en te ontwikkel vir die verbetering van die volhoubaarheid van kommersieel georiënteerde kleinboerbeesprodusente in die Noordwes Provinsie van Suid-Afrika. Die stelsel bevorder die doeltreffendheid van die lewering van landbouvoorligtingsdienste en die uitbreiding van veeproduksie deur verbeterde toegang tot pasgemaakte inligting en dienste. Die studie is gelei deur die pragmatiese paradigma, wat positivisme (kwantitatiewe) en normatiewe (kwalitatiewe) perspektiewe akkommodeer. 'n Gedeeltelik gemengde opeenvolgende verklarende ontwerp met 'n dominante kwantitatiewe metode is aangeneem. ’n Gestruktureerde vraelys is aan 101 kommersieel georiënteerde begunstigdes van die Nguni-beesprojek in Noordwes Provinsie, Suid-Afrika, geadministreer om kwantitatiewe data in te samel. Kwalitatiewe data is ingesamel deur middel van fokusgroepbesprekings (FGD'e) en sleutelinformant-onderhoude (KII's) met onderskeidelik boere en voorligtingsbeamptes. ’n Dubbelbegrensde voorwaardelike evalueringsmetode is gebruik om die boere se bereidwilligheid om te betaal (WTP) vir weiveldbewaring en -herlewing te skat. ’n Binêre logistiese regressiemodel is gebruik om die determinante van boere se WTP te evalueer. Die resultate toon dat die meeste boere (>80%) bereid was om die aanvanklike bodprys van ZAR165.00 te betaal, met die geskatte gemiddelde WTP wat ZAR244.00 ha-1 jaar-1 was vir die verbetering van weiveld. Die logistiese regressiebevindinge toon dat die boere se WTP-reaksies beïnvloed is deur opvoeding (p = 0,012), belangrikste ras (p = 0,039), boerdery-ervaring (p = 0,026), bokeienaarskap (p = 0,022), ekostreek (p = 0,079), en inkomste uit beesverkope (p = 0,048). Die hoë WTP-resultate beklemtoon die potensiaal om die kleinboerbeesboere te betrek by die implementering van betalingsgebaseerde programme wat ontwerp is om die ekologiese volhoubaarheid van weiveld-ekosisteme te verbeter en selfs nuwe intervensies soos die LMDS in te stel. Een van die komplekse uitdagings om die groei van kommersieel georiënteerde kleinboere aan te dryf, is egter om te verseker dat boere nuwe tegnologieë verstaan en gebruik. Die verduideliking van hul gedragsvoornemens voor tegnologie-ontwikkeling is dus een van die doeltreffendste maniere om aanvaarding te verhoog en potensiële ontwerpkwessies te identifiseer. Daarom het die studie die boere se ervarings van die gebruik van IKT en hul persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS in veeproduksie ondersoek. Resultate het aan die lig gebring dat meer as 75% van die boere slimfone en slimfoonbedryfsvaardighede gehad het, en byna twee derdes het die internet gebruik om na landbou- inligting te soek. Ongeveer 80% het 'n sterk positiewe persepsie gehad van die bruikbaarheid van die voorgestelde LMDS vir hul veeproduksie. FGDS- en KII-resultate het ook hoër positiewe persepsies teenoor die innovasie waargeneem. Die Chi-kwadraat-statistiek is gebruik om die verband tussen boere se sosio-ekonomiese eienskappe en persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS te toets. Die resultate toon dat onderwysvlak, slimfooneienaarskap, boerdery-ervaring, beeskuddegrootte en geslag boere se persepsies van die LMDS beïnvloed het. Swak mobiele netwerkkonnektiwiteit (44%) en gebrek aan digitale vaardighede (20%) was die beperkinge wat beskou word om die aanvaarding van die innovasie te belemmer. Die dieper insigte uit studiebevindinge oor die waargenome bruikbaarheid van mobiele tegnologie kan voordelig wees vir beleidmakers, navorsers en ontwikkelingsagente en -instellings wanneer intervensies vir aanvaarding deur boere ontwikkel word. Die LMDS-ontwikkelingsproses het 'n mensgesentreerde ontwerpdenkproses behels waarin ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite gebaseer is op die boere en voorligtingsbeamptes se behoeftes en verwagtinge. Ontwikkeling van die LMDS het die prototiperingsfase bereik, wat sagteware-ontwikkeling en validering in die werklike bedryfsomgewing getoets moet word.Doctora

An inquiry into the economics and ethics of residential integration

This thesis is an inquiry into the economics and ethics of residential integration. Efforts to integrate otherwise segregated black and white households in the United States over the last 40 years has been met with legitimate skepticism. Primarily, there is an absence of evidence as it relates to whether neighborhoods cause disadvantage (neighborhood effects) in addition to a lack of evidence related to whether “mixing” actually produces adequate social benefits for those being moved or for society as a whole. I intend to move the conversation forward by presenting two additional considerations. First, in the economic paradigm, it is useful to explore the issue of segregation through what has been described as adverse impacts occurring in the wake of a market failure (“subprime financial crisis”). Second, there are ethical considerations relevant to the integration discussion that offer new norms by which to engage and advance our approach to residential integration and endeavors to mix. This thesis makes a contribution to knowledge by explicating these two points and ultimately providing a more morally capacious evaluative framework by which to appraise this complex social issue

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”