M-Business: Economy Driver or a Mess?

Reports about mobile wireless technology in the media may be confusing. While we know that the telecommunication industry is in distress, we also observe a phenomenal, indeed unprecedented explosion of the use of mobile wireless devices and services all over the globe. This paper presents a balanced introduction to wireless technology including devices, mobile operating systems, and communication protocols. It discusses standardization efforts, technology evolution paths, and several new and potentially disruptive technologies, some still in the research stage. The paper lists leading global wireless service providers in terms of the number of domestic subscribers and presents an analysis of the six U.S. national operators including their strengths and weaknesses. Only four of them are profitable now. Although the consumer market currently dictates technology evolution, several examples of successful business applications of wireless mobile technology are presented. Finally, the question presented in the title is addressed

Electronic Commerce: A Half-Empty Glass?

This article introduces an electronic commerce paradox by observing that while electronic commerce grows rapidly it is, at the same time, based on unsettled foundations. It describes how 22 constraints for global electronic commerce were identified, and analyzes them in depth. The constraints fall into four themes: 1. Building trust for users and consumers 2. Establishing ground rules for the digital marketplace 3. Enhancing information infrastructure 4. Maximizing benefits. Each of these themes contains a number of critical issues. The first theme--building trust for users and consumers--involves privacy protection, security, consumer protection, authentication and confidentiality, and access blocking. The second theme includes legal framework, acceptance of electronic transactions, taxation, tariffs, intellectual property protection, commercial policy, and payment systems. Enhancing information infrastructure covers the needed infrastructure enhancements and includes Internet infrastructure and governance, interconnectivity and technical convergence, technical standards, bandwidth and accessibility, and the question of how to further the competition. The last theme is about maximizing the benefits of electronic commerce and includes the understanding of digital economy, its measurement, seamless globalization, and involvement of small businesses. At the time that this paper was written (February 2000) none of these 22 issues had been resolved. Yet, they need to be worked out if electronic commerce is to be successful in both the developed and the underdeveloped world

The Unbearable Easiness of City Renewal

Ovaj tekst se bavi problemima produkcije društvene okoline i odlučivanja o upotrebi prostora, te određenjima fenomena »urbanosti« kod raznih autora (Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Park itd). Centralna tema rada je sama problematika obnove gradskih središta koja se obrađuje prezentiranjem različitih pristupa obnovi, njihovih prednosti i nedostataka. Autorica ukazuje kako monopol i dominacija, rast, razvoj, interes i moć utječu na pristup obnovi gradskih središta. Po autoričinom mišljenju u Jugoslaviji ne prevladavaju ni tržišne potrebe koje zahtjevaju poslovni karakter gradskih središta niti zahtjevi stanovništva za podizanje kvalitete življenja u gradskim središtima već prevladava »privatizacija« kao izraz političkog monopola što kao posljedicu ima da je glavno obilježje gradskih središta mnogih jugoslavenskih gradova prostorna jednodimenzionalnost i monofunkcionalizam.This text deals with the problems of social environment production and decision-making concerning space-usage and with defining the phenomenon of »urbanity« in the works of different authors (Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Park, etc.) The principal theme in this paper is the issue of city-centre restoration which is elaborated by presenting different approaches to restoration, their advantages and disadvantages. The authoress indicates that monopoly and domination, growth, development, interests and power all influence the approach to city-centre restoration. In her opinion, in Yugoslavia, neither market-economy demands requiring city-centres of a business-like character, nor the demands of the city dwellers for improving the quality of living in city-centres are prevalent. What dominates is »privatization« as an expression of political monopoly which produces spatial one-dimensionality and monofunctionalism making them the main characteristics of city-centres in many Yugoslav cities

Contradictions of Urban Cities\u27 Renewals

Članak predstavlja pokušaj evaluacije postojećih teorijskih stanovišta o razvoju gradova i gradskih centara. Usporedba slovenskih i Zapadnih iskustava se na prvi pogled čini neprimjerenom zbog razlika u stupnju razvoja, društvenih uvjeta, kao i nepostojanja odgovarajuće literature u Sloveniji. Usprkos tome moguće je ustanoviti neke sličnosti u strukturi procesa obnove gradskih jezgara, pa i sličnost interesa društvenih grupa koji se ostvaruju tokom obnove. Samo u okviru takve analize interesa i rezultata njihovih utjecaja moguće je praviti usporedbe, bez obzira na specifičnosti problema različitih gradova, kao i razlike u organizaciji odlučivanja koju definira osobenost društvenog sistema. Dosadašnja iskustva alternativnih razvojnih oblika gradskih centara upozoravaju na slabosti pri rješavanju socijalnih problema i istovremeno usmjeravaju pažnju na socijalna i ekonomska pitanja.The study represents an attempt of evaluation of existing theoretical views on the city development. The comparison between Slovenian and western experiences is particularly delicate, since there is a gap in the level of development in social circumstances and written materials available. But it is possible to notice some similarities in the structure of the renewal process and similar interests of social groups which are taking part in urban renewal actions. It is only within such a social interest analysis that we are able to make comparisons, neglecting the differences and particularities of each urban case and possible differentiation of the decision making process — defined by different social organization of the system

Introduction to Programming Using dBASE

An introduction to information technology and information systems is normally a component in business school curricula. Students are often required to write a few simple programs, mostly using programming language BASIC. However, dBASE is a good alternative to BASIC in fulfilling this function; indeed, in many respects it is a superior option. The choice of the language is based on many factors. Reasons such as dBASE\u27s excellent debugging facility, students\u27 previous (and possibly frustrating) experience with programming in BASIC, and a perception that dBASE will more likely be used after graduation than BASIC may support the substitution of BASIC with dBASE. The problem with using dBASE at this elementary level is that it offers much too extensive a set of commands and functions, which could easily overwhelm beginning students. However, a small subset of dBASE programming language, provides sufficient functionality to reach the above goals. This minimal subset should support variables, data input and output, database file creation, loading, listing, updating and sequential processing, program editing, saving, execution and debugging, and structured program constructs sequence, iteration (or repetition) and decision (or selection). This paper presents a functional subset of dBASE commands and the order of coverage which have been successfully used on many occasions. The paper can also be useful to prepare handout materials for students