Rationalizing Online Romance Fraud: In the Eyes of the Offender

This study seeks to understand romance scam from the offenders\u27 perspective and how they rationalize their motivations, opportunities and abilities towards the commission of the crime. To this end, we adopt the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability framework and the Rationalization dimension of the Fraud Triangle Theory. The study employed a qualitative methodological approach to analyze the opportunities presented by emerging technologies to cyber fraudsters amid socio-economic drivers. One is the interplay of various socio-economic factors being a major driving force behind the commission of cybercrime. These include peer recruitment and training, poverty, unemployment, low level of education and low income. The uniqueness of this study stems from the fact that it deviates from previous studies to investigate cybercrime from the perspective of the perpetrators. Again, this study is arguably one of the first to put all three dimensions of the MOA framework and the rationalization dimension of the Fraud Triangle to study romance scammers\u27 behaviors

Big Data Evaluation Scorecard

This study seeks to examine the evolution of issues that have been espoused by both junior and senior scholars to aggregate out of literature, a criterion that can guide firms in evaluating their Big data analytic (BDA) projects. The systematic review approach took stock of varied socio-technical understanding, requirements, and capabilities used in addressing Big data issues and synthesized these issues for value accruals. The study strongly argues that Big data benefits accrue to firms whose economic activities require distributed collaborative effort, operational visibilities, cost, and time-sensitive decisions who adopt and implement the concept in their strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Though the trend shows steady growth in scholars’ interests and expectations in BDA, a significant percentage of the reviewed studies were not informed by any theory. The study contributes to BDA literature by affording scholars issue gaps and for practitioners, an analytical competency and evaluation scorecard that links strategic business goals to operational outcomes

Who is marginalized in energy justice? Amplifying community leader perspectives of energy transitions in Ghana

There is a divide in energy access studies, between technologically-focused modeling papers in engineering and economics, and energy justice frameworks and principles grounded in social sciences. Quantitative computational models are necessary when analyzing energy, and more specifically electricity, systems, as they are technologically-complex systems that can diverge from intuitive patterns. To assure energy justice, these models must be reflective of, and informative to, a wide range of stakeholders, including households and communities alongside utilities, governments, and others. Yet, moving from a qualitative understanding of preferences to quantitative modeling is challenging. In this perspective piece, we pilot the use of the value-focused thinking framework to inform stakeholder engagement. The result is a strategic objective hierarchy that highlights the tradeoffs and the social, economic and technological factors that need to be measured in models. We apply the process in Ghana, using a survey, stakeholder workshops, and follow-up interviews to uncover key tradeoffs and stakeholder-derived objectives. We discuss three key areas that have been rarely, if ever, well-represented in energy models: (1) the relationship between the dynamics of electricity end-use and the technology and economic structure of the system; (2) explicit tradeoffs between electricity access, cost, and reliability as defined by stakeholders; and (3) the definition of new objectives, such as minimizing hazards related to theft. We conclude that this model of engagement provides an opportunity to tie together rigorous qualitative analysis and stakeholder engagement with crucial quantitative models of the electricity system

Open Government Data in Africa: A preference elicitation analysis of media practitioners

Open Government Data (OGD) continues to receive considerable traction around the world. In particular, there have been a growing number of OGD establishments in the developed world, sparking expectations of similar trends in growing democracies. To understand the readiness of OGD stakeholders in Africa especially the media, this paper (1) reviews current infrastructure at OGD web portals in Africa and (2) conducts a preference elicitation analysis among media practitioners in 5 out of the 7 OGD country centers in Africa regarding desired structure of OGD in developing countries. The analysis gives a view of the relative importance media practitioners ascribe to a selected set of OGD attributes in anticipation of a more functional OGD in their respective countries. Using conjoint analysis, the result indicates that media practitioners put premium on ‘metadata’ and ‘data format’ respectively in order of importance. Results from the review also reveal that features of current OGD web portals in Africa are not consistent with the desired preferences of users. Overall, the study provides a general insight into media expectations of OGD in Africa, and also serves as a foundational knowledge for authorities and practitioners to manage expectations of the media in connection with OGD in Africa. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089, ERDF, European Regional Development Fund; GACR P103/15/06700S, GACR, Grantová Agentura České Republiky; MSMT-7778/2014, MŠMT, Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a TělovýchovyGrant Agency of the Czech Republic - GACR [P103/15/06700S]; research project NPU I by Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic [MSMT-7778/2014]; European Regional Development Fund under Project CEBIA-Tech [CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089]; Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University [IGA/CebiaTech/2016/007

A decision making model for selecting start-up businesses in a government venture capital scheme

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an intuitionistic fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) multi-criteria decision making method for the selection of start-up businesses in a government venture capital (GVC) scheme. Most GVC funded start-ups fail or underperform compared to those funded by private VCs due to a number of reasons including lack of transparency and unfairness in the selection process. By its design, the proposed method is able to increase transparency and reduce the influence of bias in GVC start-up selection processes. The proposed method also models uncertainty in the selection criteria using fuzzy set theory that mirrors the natural human decision-making process. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed method first presents a set of criteria relevant to the selection of early stage but high-potential start-ups in a GVC financing scheme. These criteria are then analyzed using the TOPSIS method in an intuitionistic fuzzy environment. The intuitionistic fuzzy weighted averaging Operator is used to aggregate ratings of decision makers. A numerical example of how the proposed method could be used in GVC start-up candidate selection in a highly competitive GVC scheme is provided. Findings – The methodology adopted increases fairness and transparency in the selection of start-up businesses for fund support in a government-run VC scheme. The criteria set proposed is ideal for selecting start-up businesses in a government controlled VC scheme. The decision-making framework demonstrates how uncertainty in the selection criteria are efficiently modelled with the TOPSIS method. Practical implications – As GVC schemes increase around the world, and concerns about failure and underperformance of GVC funded start-ups increase, the proposed method could help bring formalism and ensure the selection of start-ups with high potential for success. Originality/value – The framework designs relevant sets of criteria for a selection problem, demonstrates the use of extended TOPSIS method in intuitionistic fuzzy sets and apply the proposed method in an area that has not been considered before. Additionally, it demonstrates how intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS could be carried out in a real decision-making application setting. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [GACR P103/15/06700S]; project NPU I Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic [MSMT-7778/2014]; European Regional Development Fund under the Project CEBIA-Tech [CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089]; Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University [IGA/FAI/2015/054

A TOPSIS extension framework for re-conceptualizing sustainability measurement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a sustainability measurement and scoring system for assessing the efforts of organizations at meeting sustainability targets. Using technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) as the basic framework, the proposed method incorporates all three sustainability dimensions – economic, environmental and social – to establish a threshold below which an organization is considered to have failed a sustainability test. In Addition, an introduction of a time-independent threshold enables a clearer comparison of performance of organizations over time. The proposed method includes plots for visualizing the sustainability performance of organizations under review. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed method first assigns target values to a hypothetical organization. TOPSIS is then used to generate composite scores in which the score of the hypothetical organization is set as the threshold below which organizations are deemed to have failed a sustainability test. Using the square of the closeness coefficient of TOPSIS, the final composite score is decomposed into three components to reflect the contribution of the three dimensions of sustainability to serve as a guide to determining which dimension to focus on for improvement. A relative comparison score is then proposed to track the performance of organizations over time. Findings – The proposed method with its ability to set a threshold is able to determine organizations that have passed a sustainability test from those that have failed. The tracking of organizational performance over time also serves to highlight progress being made by organizations to meet an agreed sustainability target. Results from the application of the proposed method for evaluating sustainability of banks under the three dimensions of sustainability highlight its practical applicability. The proposed method can also be applied to a wide range of comparison problems including make-or-by decisions and award selection. Practical implications – As most industries and organizations become conscious of the pressure to adopt sustainable practices, the proposed measuring system would help identify those that are meeting sustainability targets as well as to track their progress over time. Originality/value – Most sustainability measurement indicators rarely have thresholds to determine whether an organization has met or failed to meet a sustainability test other than ranking them from top to bottom. The proposed method provides a threshold as well as a procedure for tracking the sustainability performance of organizations over time. © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [GACR P103/15/06700S]; research project NPU I by Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic [MSMT-7778/2014]; European Regional Development Fund under the Project CEBIA-Tech [CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089]; Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University [IGA/FAI/2015/054

Could cost sharing sustain the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme?

This paper estimates the effect of cost sharing on the sustainability of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) from the point of view of enrollment, utilization, and financing. We use data from a nationwide survey to estimate the retention of subscribers and propensity to utilize the scheme's benefit package under a cost sharing policy. The estimates from the survey are used together with data on the Ghana NHIS, to estimate the patronage, and financial status of the Ghana NHIS had cost sharing been introduced. The result indicates that a 5% cost sharing rate would have kept the scheme in surplus between 2007 and 2015. In addition, the 5% cost sharing rate would have led to virtually no change in enrollment and would have reduced utilization rate by about 15%. It is also found that women have higher enrollment and utilization of health insurance than men under cost sharing. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Assessing commercial viability of technology start-up businesses in a government venture capital under intuitionistic fuzzy environment

Governments around the world are increasingly showing keen interests in venture capital investments in technology start-up businesses. However, determining the commercial potential of a new Technology start-up business is generally seen as a complex exercise especially in a government-controlled setting where selection of candidates can be clouded by several peripheral considerations. To generate more interests in decision-making models aimed at assessing the commercial viability of candidate start-up businesses in a government-run venture capital, this study (1) provides a modified form of the Strategic Technology Evaluation Program (STEP) called G-STEP as a new selection criteria for a government-controlled venture capital scheme (2) adopts a comprehensive intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS framework with a sensitivity analysis component for the assessment of early stage but high potential tech start-up firms and (3) demonstrates its applicability with a numerical example assessing the commercial potential of start-up businesses in a Government technology venture capital program. The proposed decision-making framework could be useful in the assessment and selection problems in other government priority areas. © 2016, Taiwan Fuzzy Systems Association and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Tech CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089, ERDF, European Regional Development FundGrant Agency of the Czech Republic-GACR [P103/15/06700S]; NPU I [MSMT-7778/2014]; Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic; European Regional Development Fund under the Project CEBIA-Tech [CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0089]; Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University [IGA/FAI/2015/054, IGA/FaME/2014/007, IGA/FaME/2015/023

Measuring progress of the millennium development goals: A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation approach

The United Nations' target date to achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations is 2015. As the date approaches, several attempts have been made to evaluate the performance of the set goals, targets, and indicators. Although the methodology used to measure the performance of member countries has been questioned by many, the fiercest criticism so far has been the apparent lack of data with which to measure progress. The subjectivity of the MDGs further increases the complexity of the evaluation systems, but an effective measurability of each MDG is key to the overall success. This study applies a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method (FCEM) in evaluating the performance of individual member countries with regard to the MDGs. The result shows how, in the absence of data, the FCEM can be used to evaluate performance of member countries involved in the MDG project. Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC