The Importance on Self-Expression Through Clothing and Fashion: A view on Digital Identity and Digital Fashion

As a vast theme with a variety of studies in different scientific areas, like philosophy and sociology, Identity poses as a multi-disciplinary subject (Kawamura, 2005). This way, this investigation had in consideration both these fields of study, connecting them. It began by analysing the role that Fashion portraits in Identity and at what point do they influence each other, as well as the importance of self-expression through clothing. The investigation’s focus was the development and impact that the globalization phenomena and the digital era have, how they influence and mould users and their perception, and what potential Fashion has in constructing a personal Identity, in envoirnments such as Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse. Moreover, Digital Fashion is also introduced as to understand this relationship between Fashion and the virtual world and what it might bring into the universe of Identity, and more specifically Digital Identity. This research used types of method designs to pursue its goals. A qualitative method, the literature review, where studies and author’s work were revised, to explore the themes and form hypothesis, and a quantitative one, a public survey where those hypotheses were determined either true or untrue. The conclusions show that technology is at its peak with increasing usage and engagement, and although there isn’t clear information to deduct Digital Fashion will become a major success within the Fashion industry, it is possible that it could mean a lot to freedom of wear.Sendo um vasto tema com uma larga variedade em diferentes áreas de estudo, como a filosofia e sociologia, a Identidade apresenta-se como um tema multidisciplinar (Kawamura, 2005). Desta forma, esta investigação teve em consideração ambos estes campos de estudo, conectando-os. Começando por analisar o papel que a Moda tem na Identidade e até que ponto se influenciam mutuamente, bem como qual a importância da auto-expressão através do vestuário. O foco desta investigação foi o desenvolvimento e impacto que o fenómeno da globalização e a era digital têm, como influenciam e moldam os seus utilizadores e a sua perceção, e o potencial que a Moda pode vir a ter na construção de uma Identidade pessoal, em espaços como Mundos Virtuais e o Metaverso. Assim, a Moda Digital é também introduzida de forma a perceber esta relação entre Moda e o mundo virtual e o que poderá vir a trazer ao universo da Identidade, mais especificamente à Identidade digital. Este estudo utilizou duas formas distintas de design de método para atingir os seus objetivos. Um método qualitativo, a revisão de literatura, onde estudos e autores são revisados, de modo a explorar temas e formar hipóteses, e mais tarde um método quantitativo, um questionário público onde essas hipóteses serão determinadas verdadeiras ou falsas. As conclusões mostram que a tecnologia está no seu pico com utilização e engagement a crescer, e embora não tenha havido informação necessária para deduzir que a Moda Digital poderá ter um papel maior na indústria da Moda no futuro, é possível que possa significar mais liberdade de vestir

Dynamic process modelling for business engineering and information systems evaluation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This research is concerned with the pre-implementation evaluation of investments in Information Systems (IS). IS evaluation is important as organisations need to assess the financial justifiability of business change proposals that include (but usually are not limited to) the introduction of IS applications. More specifically, this research addresses the problem of benefits assessment within IS evaluation. We contend that benefits assessment should not be performed at the level of the IS application, as most extant evaluation methods advocate. Instead, to study the dynamics and the interactions of the IS applications with their surrounding environment, we propose to adopt the business process as the analytic lens of evaluation and to assess the impacts of IS on organisational, rather than on technical, performance indicators. Drawing on these propositions, this research investigates the potential of dynamic process modelling (via discrete-event simulation) as a facilitator of IS evaluation. We argue that, in order to be effective evaluation tools, business process models should be able to explicitly incorporate the effects of IS introduction on business performance, an issue that is found to be under-researched in previous literature. The above findings serve as the central theme for the development of a design theory of IS evaluation by simulation. The theory provides prescriptive elements that refer both to the design products of the evaluation and the design process by which these products can come into reality. The theory draws on a set of kernel theories from the business engineering domain and proposes a set of meta-requirements that should be satisfied by business process models, a meta-design structure that meets these requirements, and a design method that provides guidance in applying the theoretical propositions in practice. The design theory is developed and empirically tested by means of two real-life case studies. The first study is used to complement the findings of a literature review and to drive the development of the design theory's components, while the second study is employed to validate and further enhance the theory's propositions. The research results support the arguments for simulation-assisted IS evaluation and demonstrate the contribution of the design theory to the field

Understanding Customer Switching Behaviour in the Retail Banking Sector: The Case of Nigeria and the Gambia

This thesis examines customer switching behaviour in Nigeria and Gambia, focusing on the retail banking sector. The study’s key objective is to provide new knowledge on customer banking behaviour in the retail banking sector. The study is grounded in Bansal et al.’s (2005) push-pull-mooring model. A qualitative method was employed in the data collection, incorporating a triangulation approach, whereby direct observations were combined with thematic interviews and focus group discussions. The intention behind this method was to increase the validity of the research results. Ultimately, the study findings indicate significant factors and subfactors influencing customer switching behaviour in the retail banking sector. The results are categorised as push, pull, or mooring factors. It identifies seven push factors with thirteen subfactors, four pull factors with ten subfactors, and six mooring factors with three subfactors. The study’s significant contribution to existing knowledge of services marketing is the identification of new and emerging constructs, thus extending the existing knowledge in the literature. The study’s findings support numerous results of prior relevant research, while some findings disagree with those of previous research. Furthermore, the new constructs that emerge from this research are highly relevant to today’s consumers. For example, factors like banking products, perceived knowledge of banking products, perceived relative security of banking products, satisfaction with the current bank, emotions (e.g., regret or anger), liquidity challenges, bank staff career development prospects, and ethical banking issues are the study’s unique contributions to the push factors and subfactors. In addition, the emerging pull factors and subfactors include technological advancement, coronavirus pandemic-induced switching, a bank’s physical appearance, positive banking expectations, a bank’s relative proximity, expected switching benefits, perceived usefulness of a bank’s digital platforms, perceived ease of banking transactions, personalised banking offerings, and repositioning banking business models. Lastly, the new mooring factors and subfactors identified in this study are inertia, changes in customer needs or tastes, involuntary switching, and bank responsiveness. Consequently, the author has developed a framework/model based on the findings of this study. The new framework/model presented comprehensive results with practical implications and a valuable contribution to the current knowledge of customer switching behaviour

Contemporary Issues in Digital Marketing

Web-marketing;Customer services;International busines

Exploring Blockchain Governance

Blockchain systems continue to attract significant interest from both practitioners and researchers. What is more, blockchain systems come in various types, such as cryptocurrencies or as inter-organizational systems in business networks. As an example of a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one of the most prominent blockchain systems to date and born at the time of a major financial crisis, spearheaded the promise of relying on code and computation instead of a central governing entity. Proponents would argue that Bitcoin stood the test of time, as Bitcoin continues to operate to date for over a decade. However, these proponents overlook the never-ending, heated debates “behind the scenes” caused by diverging goals of central actors, which led to numerous alternative systems (forks) of Bitcoin. To accommodate these actors’ interests in the pursuit of their common goal is a tightrope act, and this is where this dissertation commences: blockchain governance. Based on the empirical examples of various types and application domains of blockchain systems, it is the goal of this dissertation to 1) uncover governance patterns by showing, how blockchain systems are governed, 2) derive governance challenges faced or caused by blockchain systems, and, consequently, to 3) contribute to a better understanding to what blockchain governance is. This dissertation includes four parts, each of these covering different thematical areas: In the first part, this dissertation focuses on obtaining a better understanding of blockchain governance’s context of reference by studying blockchain systems from various application domains and system types, for example, led by inter-organizational networks, states, or an independent group of actors. The second part, then, focuses on a blockchain as an inter-organizational system called “cardossier”, a project I was involved in, and its governance as a frame of reference. Hereupon, for one, I report on learnings from my project involvement in the form of managerial guidelines, and, for two, I report on structural problems within cardossier, and problems caused by membership growth and how they can be resolved. The third part focuses on a wider study of blockchains as inter-organizational systems, where I summarize findings of an analysis of 19 blockchain consortia. The findings, for one, answer the question of why blockchain consortia adopt blockchain technology, and, for two, show internal and external challenges these systems faced to derive managerial recommendations. The fourth and last part studies blockchain governance’s evolution and contributes an analysis of blockchain’s governance features and its contrast to established modes of governance. These four parts, altogether, have scientific value as they increase our understanding on blockchain governance. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on modes of governance, distributed system governance, and blockchain governance in general. I do so, by grounding the concept of blockchain governance in empirical detail, showing how these systems are governed on various application domains and system types, and by studying empirical challenges faced or caused by these systems. This approach is relevant and necessary, as blockchain systems in general, but particularly outside of cryptocurrencies, mostly still are in pursuit of a sustainable blockchain governance. As blockchains can be expected to continue to mature, the upcoming years offer very fruitful ground for empirical research along the empirical insights and theoretical lines shown in this dissertation

Open Innovation in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This book unveils the importance of micro, small, medium, and large firms for fostering open innovation, using methodological designs based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Several dimensions of the inbound and outbound open innovation strategies and practices are explored, in the scope of University–University, University–Industry, and University–Society relations

Corporate information risk : an information security governance framework

Information Security is currently viewed from a technical point of view only. Some authors believe that Information Security is a process that involves more than merely Risk Management at the department level, as it is also a strategic and potentially legal issue. Hence, there is a need to elevate the importance of Information Security to a governance level through Information Security Governance and propose a framework to help guide the Board of Directors in their Information Security Governance efforts. IT is a major facilitator of organizational business processes and these processes manipulate and transmit sensitive customer and financial information. IT, which involves major risks, may threaten the security if corporate information assets. Therefore, IT requires attention at board level to ensure that technology-related information risks are within an organization’s accepted risk appetite. However, IT issues are a neglected topic at board level and this could bring about enronesque disasters. Therefore, there is a need for the Board of Directors to direct and control IT-related risks effectively to reduce the potential for Information Security breaches and bring about a stronger system of internal control. The IT Oversight Committee is a proven means of achieving this, and this study further motivates the necessity for such a committee to solidify an organization’s Information Security posture among other IT-related issues

Regulating secure software development : analysing the potential regulatory solutions for the lack of security in software

The security of our informational infra­structure is still relatively poor. Huge investments have been made and even the regulators have taken information security seriously. Majority of current efforts both at the operational and the regulatory level, however, address only symptoms of an underlying problem: the insecurity of the software products - the salient components of most information and software systems. Secure software development has gained momentum during the past couple of years and improvements have been made. By analysing the incentives for secure software development, it is argued in this study that without appropriate regulatory intervention the level of security will not improve to meet the needs of the network society as a whole. Beside information security in general, secure software development has to be raised as an important public policy if we wish to achieve a more secure network society and to maintain trust for information products and systems in commerce. Efficacious regulatory measures are desperately needed to change the current practices. This study analyses two of the most attractive alternatives, software product liability and disclosure of vulnerability information, and makes suggestions for their improvement