Transactional risk-based decision making system in e-business interactions

The credit crunch and economic crisis have demonstrated the need to properly understand, characterize and assimilate risk in business activities. Failure to do this has resulted in serious consequences to the users involved. So the analysis and management of risk is one of the important pre-requisites to ensure a successful outcome in a business activity in any domain. In this paper we propose an approach by which an interaction initiating user in the domain of e-business ascertains beforehand the level of transactional risk in the successful completion of its business activity and utilizes it to determine on an interaction. The proposed model considers the different sub-categories and characteristics of transactional risk and ascertains in numeric and semantic terms the different levels and severities of its occurrence. It then utilizes the determined analysis of transactional risk to recommend on an informed interaction-based decision to the interaction initiating user

The Responsibility of Law Schools: Educating Lawyers as Counselors and Problem Solvers

American legal education is as strong as ever in doctrine and legal analysis; however, it is strikingly weak in teaching other foundational skills and knowledge that lawyers need as counselors, problem solvers and negotiators. Brest proposes a series of advanced courses that integrate the fundamental lawyering skills of counseling, problem solving and negotiation with insights from other disciplines

The influence of a collaborative procurement approach using integrated design in construction on project team performance

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to study the influence of procurement on the performance of integrated design teams. Design/methodology/approach – The research paradigm is based on Russian socio-constructivist approach to activity theory. Activity theory, as opposed to natural or social science, is a design science approach that focuses on the context aspect of project. A triangulation of qualitative research methods is used to investigate the dynamic of integrated teams in two different procurement contexts. Findings – The paper is conclusive regarding the influence of procurement on team efficiency. It demonstrates that traditional procurement processes reinforce socio-cognitive barriers that hinder team efficiency. It also illustrates how new procurement modes can transform the dynamic of relationships between the client and the members of the supply chain, and have a positive impact on teamperformance. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates first that problems with integrated design team efficiency are related to context and not process – they are not technical but socio-cognitive; second that fragmented transactional contracting increases socio-cognitive barriers that hinder integrated design team performance; third that new forms of relational contracting may help to mitigate socio-cognitive barriers and improve integrated design team performance, fourth that changing the context through procurement does not address the problem of obsolete design practices. Originality/value – The paper brings together theories of production in lean construction and social learning as a rival approach to traditional project management theory for demonstrating the importance of context on team performance

Assessment of access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats, Zambia: analysis report

Under the regional programme Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa: Investing in Sustainable Solutions, the WorldFish Center conducted this study on access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats floodplains in Zambia. This report outlines and analyses the particular vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats fishery and formulates recommendations to facilitate stakeholder uptake of strategic responses to tackle the drivers of the epidemic in fishing communities and improve the livelihoods of fisher folk and fish traders in the Kafue Flats and other fisheries in Zambia. (pdf contains 55 pages

Strategic views regarding the relationship marketing approach and the transactional marketing approach within the financial and banking segment

The study discusses the strategic aspects of relational marketing in the financial and banking sector, from the point of view of the influences the field is subject to, and based on the theoretical advances in the domain. The maintenance of the relationships with the present customers, as well as the future oriented attempts to gain new clients are critically examined, in the context of a field where “a banker’s word is a banker’s bond”.relationship marketing, financial and banking sector, strategic marketing.

The Responsibility of Law Schools: Educating Lawyers as Counselors and Problem Solvers

American legal education is as strong as ever in doctrine and legal analysis; however, it is strikingly weak in teaching other foundational skills and knowledge that lawyers need as counselors, problem solvers and negotiators. Brest proposes a series of advanced courses that integrate the fundamental lawyering skills of counseling, problem solving and negotiation with insights from other disciplines

Examining client perceptions of partnership quality and its dimensions in an IT outsourcing relationship

This paper reports on an empirical study of the multidimensionality of partnership quality in IT outsourcing arrangements and the relationships between these dimensions of partnership quality. A two-phase national survey was conducted to collect empirical data to confirm the dimensions of partnership quality in an IT outsourcing arrangement from the client organisation perspective and to identify the significant relationships between these dimensions using a second generation multivariate analysis technique—partial least squares (PLS). The findings from results of the data analyses show that inter-organisational trust, shared business understanding and to a lesser extent, functional and dysfunctional conflict between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor in an IT outsourcing relationship are the key determinants of partnership quality. The key outcome variable for high partnership quality between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor in an IT outsourcing relationship is mutual beneficial sharing of risks and benefits. Commitment in an IT outsourcing relationship is confirmed as a multidimensional construct of behaviour commitment and temporal/continuance commitment and was found to be influenced by the other dimensions of partnership quality. The key findings of this study provide support for the notion that trust and shared business understanding are key drivers in the IT outsourcing partnership style relationship ensuring that the sharing of risks and benefits are realised and conflict is minimised leading to a high quality and ultimately successful partnership between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor. Furthermore our findings indicate that behavioural commitment to the contractual obligations of an IT outsourcing relationship sustains an ongoing temporal commitment to the partnership between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor

Can procurement affect design performance?

There is an emerging view in the construction industry that better performance or better value for money can be achieved by integrating teamwork for planning, design and construction of building projects. There are though, two opposing perspectives regarding how changes in traditional design practices should occur. Advocates of sustainable construction in North America posit that it is a matter of evolving processes, moving from a sequential to an iterative approach to design, whereas the British government supports the view that a change in how projects are procured is required to transform the context that dictates relationships among the members of the team. The objective of the research is to study the influence of procurement on the performance of integrated design teams. It analyses, through case studies representing these two perspectives, the influence of procurement on the performance of integrated teams. The research is conclusive in that it is the context created by contractual relationship, and not the process set up for conducting integrated design, that most influence team efficiency. It demonstrates that traditional procurement processes reinforce socio-cognitive barriers that hinder team efficiency. It also illustrates how new procurement modes can transform the dynamics of relationships between the client and the members of the supply chain, and have a positive impact on team performance

Study on the Support Systems for Corporate Governance

The problems generated by the information asymmetry within the agency relationships at corporation level, governments and capital markets led to a higher necessity for corporate governance (CG). The information system of corporate governance is a very complex one, which involves a series of actors, decision-making and transactional processes, technologies, procedures and good practice codes. In order to ensure the efficiency and efficacy of corporate governance as a premise for increasing company’s performance and position consolidation for the company on the capital market, it is necessary to analyze the way information technology could contribute to this undertaking. The purpose of this study is to analyze the architecture of the corporate governance systems and to identify and classify the systems and technologies involved in ensuring CG support in order to underlie the basis for developing a conceptual model for a hybrid and collaborative support system for corporate governance.Corporate Governance, Support Systems, Information Technology, Decision-Making, Performance