The application of information systems in marketing: a study of empowerment in electronic commerce

This thesis describes post-positivist research in the field of Information Systems (IS), more specifically in Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce). Information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) both play a major role in improving productivity and competitive edge in e-commerce (Lin and Benjamin, 2000). The existence of IS does not depend on computers but it is the utilisation of computers and technology that produces a viable IS system (Davis and Olson, 1985). E-commerce is considered as a new type of information system and was defined by Poong (2006, p. 553) as “an information system that provides catalogues of products over the World Wide Web”. Despite the deep employment of technology in Information Systems (IS), they are regarded as social systems. Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce has been rapidly changing the competitive landscape of retailing and service industries. Despite its claimed benefits, this innovative mode of retailing has not yet been accepted by every buyer. For company managers, the delays in the adoption of information systems such as e-commerce systems, and the empowerment of e-commerce users are recognised as a dilemma. An interesting question is why some users accept the idea of online shopping more readily than others. This study aims at helping to improve information systems applications for e-commerce in the complex, technology-oriented marketing sector. This thesis innovates a model to empower e-commerce users based on key critical factors that affect this technology. The core factors in this model are e-commerce self efficacy, Personal Innovation in Information Technology (PIIT), system ease of use, system experience, and technology anxiety. The model was empirically tested in a field experimental setting, using a real retail website for the purchasing decisions. The participants in this study were students at the University of Wollongong in Australia, as they are normal users of e-commerce. The Amazon.com website was chosen for this study, as this website is usually used by university students to buy books and CDs. The results of the investigation were tested using factor analysis and partial least square (PLS). The empirical testing provides support for the proposed theoretical model by explaining seventy-eight percent (78%) of the variance in the users’ intention to use e-commerce systems. The implications of this study are both theoretical and practical. At the theoretical level, this study combined four models in one model. The first model, by Compeau et al. (1999)1, put social cognitive theory into practice for the IT area. The second model, by Thatcher and Perrewe (2002)2, applied personal innovation in information technology, trait anxiety, and computer anxiety to computer self-efficacy. Henry and Stone’s (1995)3 model is the third model used, as it employed ease of use and system experience in computer self-efficacy and outcome expectation. The final model was constructed by Kim and Kim (2005)4 and used specific self-efficacy (online trading self-efficacy) in customer trust, perceived risk, and buying intention. Therefore, it can be positively confirmed that this research model is a solid model, as it unites these four models into one to generate a clarification of users’ behaviour in the framework of e-commerce utilisation. At the practical level, the study shows that adoption of e-commerce systems is directly, significantly and positively affected by e-commerce self-efficacy, outcome expectation (perceived usefulness), system ease of use, and system experience. It is proposed that individuals with higher levels of e-commerce self-efficacy, outcome expectation, system experience, and perceived system ease of use are more likely to perform an online transaction than those experiencing lower levels of these concepts. The study makes significant contributions across all areas of IT adoption and usage research and practice. There is justification for claiming that the study model will empower the application of management information systems for e-commerce

Do Talent Management Practices Affect Organizational Culture?

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Immigrant entrepreneurship and gender dimensions: A systematic review

Purpose: This paper discusses whether the gender dimension of immigrants influences theirentrepreneurial activities in host societies. Human capital theory, social capital theory, and disadvantagetheory are used to explore immigrant entrepreneurship and its understanding as a migration researchfield worthy of more attention.Design/methodology:A systematic review of the literature is used, selecting articles from Scopus,Jstor, Elsevier, Research, Web of Science, Google Scholar databases, Taylor & Francis Online andGoogle’s search engine. The studies obtained between 2000 and 2021 were screened, and only thosemeasuring the entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants on the basis of gender were included in the final dataset. The revision of the selected paper provides deductive perspectives on a common trend in immigrantentrepreneurship from a gender perspective. Findings:Out of 200 studies, only 20 fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Throughout these 20studies, it was found that female immigrant entrepreneurs face many challenges in sustaining theirbusinesses based on human capital, social capital, and disadvantage perspectives, as well as obtainingfamily support for their business activities. In some host societies, immigrant women entrepreneurs facediscrimination not only because of gender but also because of discrimination on the basis of race. Thedominance of male migrants in the host societies continues.Social implications:Female immigrant entrepreneurs face more difficulties than male immigrants interms of human capital skills and possessing sufficient social capital skills to create an enterprise.Therefore, the study implies that destination countries(which are defined as those countries receivingimmigrants and offering them domocile) should have start-up visa programs, specialized businessincubator and accelerator programs, outreach and incentive programs, and other governmental strategiesused to draw high-potential immigrant entrepreneurs.Originality/value: In this study, we specifically consider female immigrant enterprises to be asimportant as male enterprises in supporting the social and economic integration of immigrants. On theother hand, this study also shows the disadvantages female immigrant entrepreneurs face before andafter establishing a business and starting their entrepreneurial activitiesPeer Reviewe

Open-air storage with and without composting as post-treatment methods to degrade pharmaceutical residues in anaerobically digested and dewatered sewage sludge

Over a period of 12 months, the fate of three hormones, 12 antibiotics and 30 pharmaceutically active substances (PhACs) was investigated during open-air storage without and with composting of anaerobically digested and dewatered sewage sludge. The effect of oxidation conditions during storage on degradation of hormones and PhACs in the sludge biomass was also examined. Under summer and winter conditions in Uppsala County, Sweden. two field-scale sludge windrows were constructed: open-air storage of sewage sludge windrow without composting (NO-COM)) and open-air storage windrow with composting (COM). NO-COM achieved effective removal of Sigma Hormones (85%) and Sigma Antibiotics (95%), but lower removal of Sigma PhACs (34%), during the study year. The top layers of the sludge pile had significantly lower concentrations of Sigma PhACs (3100-5100 ng/g ash) than deeper layers (8000-11,000 ng/g ash). After one year of composting, the degradation in the COM windrow resulted in concentrations of Sigma Hormones