A Structurational View of E-Commerce in SMES in Least Developing Countries

E-Commerce studies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) have been labelled as being obscure and characterised by a list of challenges which if, not remedied, will continue to plague these countries. Many LCD studies employ research methodologies that are quantitative and techno-centric in nature. However, although E-Commerce is a technology, it is embedded within a given context – that of a least developing country that is characterised by specific contextual challenges different from both developing and developed countries. Against this background, investigation of E-Commerce in SMEs in LDCs requires initial understanding of structural properties inherent in the specific context and thereafter in the technology. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for examining the interaction of structural properties of ECommerce in SMEs in LDCs. The framework integrates the structuration theory concepts with factors drawn from E-Commerce studies in SMEs in LDC

Combining Website Search Engine Optimization with Advanced Web Log Analysis

This paper provides a clear guideline to the development of an online decision-making tool. The importance of ranking for an organizations virtual presence through search engines is also discussed. The system described illustrates the complexity of the competition between organizations to be highly ranked by leading search engines. The system not only reports the rankings of the owners but compares an organization with its competitors and enables it to decisively formulate an online development strategy in improving its ranking and therefore increasing its audience or critical mass. The system (Googalyser) utilizes Web logs and content analysis to provide decisive information to Web developers in order to improve the cases ranking through for example www.Google.com

Organizational factors for successful entering to e-marketplace: Case of large organizations in Slovenia

The appeal of doing business on the Web is clear. By bringing together large numbers of buyers and sellers and by automating transactions, e-marketplaces expand the choices available to buyers, give sellers access to new customers (buyers), and reduce transaction costs for all participants. Entering the e-marketplace is related to the business process of reengineering, connecting of information systems, gaining new knowledge with training and learning, and making investments in new information technologies and software. Such organization must take very careful steps to prepare itself for a successful entrance on the e-marketplace. Only this kind of approach will enable the organization the full use of the available opportunities and will bring expected business results. The paper presents the different types of e-marketplaces and the use of e-marketplaces for business. Furthermore, the results of the research that was done among 250 large organizations in Slovenia are presented. The current status of the use e-commerce and e-marketplaces in large organizations in Slovenia is introduced. In addition, organizational factors found by large organizations to be important for a successful entrance to the e-marketplaces are presented. We conclude the paper with recommendations for the organizations that intend to enter e-marketplace

Organizational factors for successful entering to e-marketplace: Case of large organizations in Slovenia

The appeal of doing business on the Web is clear. By bringing together large numbers of buyers and sellers and by automating transactions, e-marketplaces expand the choices available to buyers, give sellers access to new customers (buyers), and reduce transaction costs for all participants. Entering the e-marketplace is related to the business process of reengineering, connecting of information systems, gaining new knowledge with training and learning, and making investments in new information technologies and software. Such organization must take very careful steps to prepare itself for a successful entrance on the e-marketplace. Only this kind of approach will enable the organization the full use of the available opportunities and will bring expected business results. The paper presents the different types of e-marketplaces and the use of e-marketplaces for business. Furthermore, the results of the research that was done among 250 large organizations in Slovenia are presented. The current status of the use e-commerce and e-marketplaces in large organizations in Slovenia is introduced. In addition, organizational factors found by large organizations to be important for a successful entrance to the e-marketplaces are presented. We conclude the paper with recommendations for the organizations that intend to enter e-marketplace

Beyond Knowledge Management -- Introducing a Framework for Learning Management Systems

In the knowledge economy, a firm’s intellectual capital represents the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. Intellectual capital manifests itself, predominantly, in the individual and collective competencies of employees in organizations. Hence, the ability to learn and to manage learning becomes critical to the success of organizations. Firm’s adopting knowledge management initiatives seek to facilitate the sharing and integration of knowledge. This approach has had limited success, primarily because of its focus on ‘knowledge as a resource’ rather than on ‘learning as a people process’. A strategic ‘people-oriented’ approach to the management of learning is now emerging in many organizations and a new breed of information system (IS), the ‘Learning Management System’ (LMS), is being used to manage organizational learning. As with previous IS innovations, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, industry practitioners and IT vendors, are addressing the ‘Learning Management’ challenge; consequently, there is a paucity of empirical research on LMS in the IS field. It is well-accepted that with little researched or understood phenomena, a research framework is required to identify fundamental constructs and variables so that such phenomena can be rigorously studied. Based on an exhaustive analysis of previous research and an extensive case study of an LMS implementation, this paper proposes a conceptual model and framework that delineates a role for LMS with respect to theories that deal with knowledge and learning management and IS which are argued to support learning and knowledge management in organizations. In so doing, this study highlights the roles that LMS can play in the support and management of learning within knowledge-intensive business enterprises

COMPETENCE-BASED MODEL FOR SECURING THE IN-TERNET OF THINGS IN ORGANIZATIONS

The next generation in computing transcends the paradigm of traditional desktop and client-server ar-chitectures. IT products and solutions of the third platform, specifically in the scope of the Internet of Things (IoT) raise new security threats and vulnerabilities, suggesting that a set of competences is needed for any IoT product or service, regarding information security. The knowledge of that set of skills allows top managers to properly assess current organizational competences against future re-quirements, allowing proper business realignment. The paper at hand aims to contribute to the topic state of the art both at academic and practical level by developing a Competence-based Model for Securing the Internet of Things. The construction of the Model aims to define and develop organizational competence, specifically in the context of organiza-tions that are IoT service providers. The model, to be developed and empirically tested using the Design Science Paradigm, will be based on an existing model that defines competence from a strategic management perspective using Resource Based View theory, strategic management theory and the concept of collective mind as heedful interre-lating

Demonstrating Critically Reflexive ICT4D Project Conduct and ICT Training in Rural South Africa

The problem with many ICT4D projects and policy designed for African developmental contexts is that there is a tendency towards deterministic assumptions in that arguments and implementation guidelines are often presented a-contextually. The reality is, however, that ICT4D discourses and practice in the African context often imply cross-cultural working and worldview collisions. Therefore, simply adopting Western values and advice wholesale without deep and adequate reflection, may lead to a design reality gap, disruptive and oppressive ICT transfer, and ultimately failure. In addition, identifying, understanding, and representing cultural context and local development realities may present challenges, because it is interwoven with the assumptions and prejudices of those identifying and representing context or distorted with ethnocentric assumptions about ICT and its developmental role. This paper contributes by offering a case of how a particular ICT4D implementation framework with a developmental agenda was appropriated respectfully and ethically for the development realities of a traditional Afrocentric community in South Africa. The author reflects on a number of issues related to cross-cultural dynamics and power relations as it evolved during a particular case of ICT training and project introduction. Narrative examples, representing both method and phenomena, are used to demonstrate a number of interrelated reflexive themes for ICT4D project conduct and context understanding

Data stakeholders interacting with patient data

How data stakeholders interact with data is considered in this paper by incorporating a sociotechnical perspective. A data interaction enactment model is proposed to better understand how a logical structure is enacted when data stakeholders interact with data. The proposed model expands a technologies-in-practice view to also provide for the embodied structures of data objects. This extended technology-in-practice view provides designers with an approach that focuses on the interaction between data stakeholders and data objects. Although the proposed model is a generic model it is applied in the healthcare context for this study. An interpretive approach was used for a private healthcare centre as the case to investigate how healthcare professionals interact with patient records. The findings indicate the design of patient records based on the perceived anticipated use may not sufficiently provide for their actual use where different stakeholders need to interact with the patient records. An understanding of the relationships between designers, data stakeholders, the patient record structure enacted during interaction and its physical components is important. This may be one of the reasons why patient records are still mostly paper-based in spite of efforts to develop and adopt electronic patient record systems

Towards Self-Emancipation in ICT for Development Research: Narratives about Respect, Traditional Leadership and Building Networks of Friendships in Rural South Africa

In this paper, the author contends that if the outsider-researcher involved in Information and Communication Technology for Development really wants to make a difference and honestly address the emancipatory interests of the developing community, social transformation will have to occur on both sides of the “development divide.” This statement implies both an understanding of the researcher’s own ethnocentrism, prejudice, assumptions and inabilities as well as local concerns, needs, expectations and realities. Using critical social theory as a position of inquiry and learning from the enculturation phases of critical ethnographic fieldwork in a deep rural part of South Africa, the paper presents three confessional narratives where the author reflects on how he confronted his own need for emancipation. Research results include lessons learned on building networks of friendships, traditional leadership and respect and the typical people-orientatedness of deep rural South African communities

Hubung kait antara amalan perancangan strategik sistem maklumat (PSSM) dan prestasi agensi kerajaan di Malaysia: Kesan penyederhana konteks PSSM dan pendekatan PSSM

Strategic information system planning (SISP) as a management practice and process helps organizations to identify as well as selecting suitable computer- based systems for improving their organizational performance. Although, as an area of study, SISP has gained much attention among academics and practitioners, research that focuses on SISP in government agencies has not been emphasized. Given the limited number of studies on SISP in government agencies, this study initiated an attempt to investigate SISP among government agencies in Malaysia. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between SISP practices and performance of government agencies as well as to determine whether SISP contexts and SISP approaches moderate the relationship between SISP practices and performance of government agencies. More specifically, the study adopted the contingency framework to examine the moderating effects of SISP contexts and SISP approaches on the relationship between SISP practices and performance of government agencies in Malaysia. Questionnaires were sent to 254 government agencies that were registered with the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). Descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple and hierarchical regressions were used to analyze the data. Based on the analyses of the data obtained from the respondents, the results of the study indicated positive relationships between SISP practices and performance of the government agencies. Furthermore, the results also showed that SISP contexts and SISP approaches moderate the relationship between SISP practices and performance of the government agencies. The findings of this study appear to support the notion that SISP practices are related to the performance of government agencies. The association between SISP practices and the performance of government agencies as well as the moderating effects of SISP contexts and SISP approaches further suggests implications to practitioners, policy - makers and government agencie