A Comparison of Information Technology Mediated Customer Services Between the U.S. and China

Information technology mediated customer service is a reality of the 21st century. More and more companies have moved their customer services from in store and in person to online through computer or mobile devices. Using 442 responses collected from one USA university (234 responses) and two Chinese universities (208 responses), the study investigates customer preferences over two service delivery models (either in store or online) on five types of purchasing (retail, eating-out, banking, travel and entertainment) and their perception difference in customer service quality between those two delivery models in the U.S. and China. The results show that the majority of the U.S. and Chinese students prefer in-store and in person for eating out and prefer computer/mobile devices for ordering tickets for travel and entertainment. In addition, more than half of the U.S. students prefer in person services for retail and banking, and this number reduces to 40% for Chinese students. In most customer service quality measurements, the results also show that Chinese students give higher ratings for ordering through a computer/mobile device than ordering in store, indicating ordering through computer/mobile devices has become more acceptable in China and has been perceived as having better customer services quality than in-store ordering

The global graduate: developing the global careers service

Graduate employability is an international issue. Students seek a higher education experience with added value in terms of employability and an international perspective. How do careers services meet the expectations that accompany these aspirations? The University of Nottingham, an established global university with campuses in Malaysia and China, attracts students from across the world. These students have diverse and culturally-specific career development needs, requiring skilled practitioners with knowledge of the global graduate opportunity structure. This article explores ways in which the Careers and Employability Services are being developed to meet a global market through support for staff and internationalised employer engagement

Worship & sightseeing: building a partnership approach to a ministry of welcome

This paper explores diverse opportunities for partnerships between the sacred and secular at religious sites. It identifies ways in which tourism suppliers can work collaboratively with sacred sites to enable sites to meet the demands of contemporary secular and sacred stakeholders. In the review of contemporary literature we consider supply and demand issues, site management, key components of partnership, ecumenical co-creation resources, cost-benefit and marketing needs. The paper is predicated on the provision of information and interpretation services for guidance, and development of all of these services. Methodologically, a participant observation approach was employed to confirm that tourism fits the strategic intent of religious leaders. We consider that partnership at a national, diocesan and parish level is an important part in effective tourism development. Elements of community involvement; capacity building and in-community development through engaging stakeholders are discussed. The balance achieved between stakeholders is important, and in our context the balance between local government and the tourism industry, and between active partners and the passive policy community, reflects the aims of the sacred and the private sector key partners, and the wider social capacity building aspects of community development agendas and government

Informatics Research Institute (IRIS) June 2001 newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of the Information Systems Institute's Research Newsletter. This Newsletter will be published four times a year (March, June, September and December), and will be published on the ISI research web page. The aim of the Newsletter is to facilitate the exchange of information related to research activities in ISI. Submissions are welcome from staff and research students

Office Vacancy - data, evidence and opportunity

This article interrogates the Government's (DCLG, 2013) announcemen,of permitted development rights for office to residential conversion and reviews the availability and reliability of data to quantify and identify the extent of office vacancy in England and Wales. It argues that the announcement can be positive in certain circumstances, although this is contested and currently difficult to evidence, while available vacant property data resources are variable in quality and often difficult to access

Computational entrepreneurship: from economic complexities to interdisciplinary research

The development of technology is unbelievably rapid. From limited local networks to high speed Internet, from crude computing machines to powerful semi-conductors, the world had changed drastically compared to just a few decades ago. In the constantly renewing process of adapting to such an unnaturally high-entropy setting, innovations as well as entirely new concepts, were often born. In the business world, one such phenomenon was the creation of a new type of entrepreneurship. This paper proposes a new academic discipline of computational entrepreneurship, which centers on: (i) an exponentially growing (and less expensive) computing power, to the extent that almost everybody in a modern society can own and use that; (ii) omnipresent high-speed Internet connectivity, wired or wireless, representing our modern day’s economic connectomics; (iii) growing concern of exploiting “serendipity” for a strategic commercial advantage; and (iv) growing capabilities of lay people in performing calculations for their informed decisions in taking fast-moving entrepreneurial opportunities. Computational entrepreneurship has slowly become a new mode of operation for business ventures and will likely bring the academic discipline of entrepreneurship back to mainstream economics

The ISCIP Analyst, Volume IV, Issue 1

This repository item contains a single issue of The ISCIP Analyst, an analytical review journal published from 1996 to 2010 by the Boston University Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy

The impact of corporate political activity over strategic management

At this present rate of supersaturation of the markets, the interaction between economic actors and political officials gains a momentum without precedent. Difficulties faced by corporations generate lobby activities intended for soliciting financial support, public-private partnerships are sought, witch provide income and safety during crisis, and governments are also inclined to dialogize with the business. There is also an increased risk of occurrence of negative externalities, such as corruption, especially in emerging economies. All this, along with the natural tendency of the corporations to pursue at all levels achieving their interests, increasing profits, creating competitive advantage, lead to an intense corporate political activity. We propose to structure the article in two parts, first part includes an overview of business strategies and corporate policy, as they appear in the literature and the second - a comparative analysis on this type of action in various parts of the world, referring in particular to the U.S., Russia and China, and finally, to Romania, as part of the European Union. In concluding this first part of the article, introductive to the corporate political activity, we'll build a glossary of keywords, which, by its very nature, will create an overview of the issues discussedcompetitive advantage; political capabilities; corporate political activity; stakeholders; Public Choice.

Examining the issues & challenges of email & e-communications. 2nd Northumbria Witness Seminar Conference, 24-25 Oct 2007 Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne.

These proceedings capture the content of the second Witness Seminar hosted by Northumbria University’s School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences. It followed the success of the first witness seminar in terms of its format and style but differed in that it focused on one topic - managing email and other electronic communications technologies from a records perspective. As before the witnesses were invited to share their views and opinions on a specific aspect taking as their starting point a pertinent published article(s). Three seminars explored the business, people and technology perspectives of email and e-communications, asking the following questions: What are the records management implications and challenges of doing business electronically? Are people the problem and the solution? Is technology the problem or panacea? The final seminar, 'Futurewatch', focused on moving forward, exploring new ways of working, potential new technologies and what records professionals and others need to keep on their radar screens