How Mentorship Improves Reverse Transfer of Tacit Knowledge in Chinese Multinational Companies (MNCs)

Knowledge transfer has long been a major focus of research in the literature on MNCs in developed countries. However, reverse knowledge transfer in MNCs in developing countries (e.g., China) have received limited attention. By integrating mentorship , social capital and international adjustment theories, this study developed a theoretical framework to demonstrate when and how mentoring improves reverse transfer of tacit knowledge in Chinese MNCs. In particular, we propose that (1) mentoring functions (i.e., vocational support, psychological support and role modeling) have positive effects on three dimensions of social capital (i.e., tie strength; trust; shared language and vision), which in turn, improve reverse transfer of tacit knowledge between mentors and mentees. (2) International adjustment of mentors (i.e., work adjustment, interaction adjustment and general adjustment) moderates the relationships of mentoring with tie strength, trust, shared language and vision . A survey should be conducted to test the theoretical model. This research should provide theoretical and practical implications for mentoring and knowledge management of MNCs scholars and practitioners

Participative Analysis of Systems Integration Opportunities

In an effort to increase information sharing while simultaneously decreasing costs, many organizations are moving to integrated data and systems. However, researchers caution thatthe costs and benefits of integration must be carefully evaluated. This paper presents a participative integration analysis methodology for determining not only what can be integrated, but also what should be integrated. Results of the initial case study show that a small group can effectively decide what should be integrated and develop a proposed integration strategy. The results also highlighted that participants intuitively used business scenarios to identify integration opportunities and analyzethe business impacts of integration. Therefore, the participative integration analysis methodology was updated to incorporate scenarios as the central evaluative construct. This methodology will result in recommendations for integrated systems and business processe

An Exploratory Study of Personalization and Learning Systems Continuance

Learning systems are widely adopted by institutions worldwide in the new millennium. The challenge on utilization of learning systems is switched from users’ pre-acceptance behaviours (whether they are likely to adopt learning systems) to post-acceptance behaviours (whether they will continue to use the learning systems). It is commonly expected that successfully adopted learning systems that have, at one time, been perceived as being useful and easy to use would likely achieve a high rate of user continuance. However, reality can be different as user continuance is often not as high as expected. The continuance of learning systems draws our attention because the investment in institutionalizing a learning system is huge. There is also a theoretical gap between technology acceptance and system continuance for which continuance behaviour cannot be explained by traditional technology acceptance models. This study extends a post-adoption model on habit and IS continuance to investigate the effect of personalization (which includes personal content management, personal time management and privacy control) on learning system continuance. Empirical results suggest that personalization has a positive influence on perceived usefulness and habit, but does not directly influence continuance intention

Cross-Cultural Group Process Losses in Computer-Mediated Communication

A cross-cultural GSS study between the U.S. and Mexico was undertaken to study the presence of process losses during group idea brainstorming and consensus exercises. Six group process losses were analyzed across three study treatments (GSS-Anonymous, GSS-Identified and Manual-Identified) for each national culture. Results suggest that within U.S. groups, differences in sidetracking among treatments were found, with GSS-Identified groups generating the highest levels of sidetracking. Within the Mexican groups, GSS- Anonymous groups perceived the lowest levels of evaluation apprehension and perceived domination. A comparison study between cultures indicated that Mexican GSS groups perceived higher levels of dominance, lower levels of sidetracking, less information overload, less production blocking, and less forgetting than U.S. GSS groups

Mobile Phone Communication Innovation in Multiple Time and Space Zones: The Case of Hong Kong Culture

Hong Kong is probably one of the very few places in the world where it is generally acceptable to answer incoming mobile phone calls in public places or even in the middle of a business or social meeting. In many other parts of the world, this kind of behaviour would be considered impolite or even rude because it interrupts conversations or activities. There has been considerable research carried out on mobile phones and interruption, as well as mobile phones and culture. However, there is little evidence of research on the impact of culture on the specific notion of interruption caused by mobile phones. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper presents an ethnographic study about how the Hong Kong cultural features of fast pace, deal-making and sense of urgency result in a positive perception towards mobile phone interruption. The findings indicate that Hong Kong people have innovative mobile phone communication strategies, characteristically juggling multiple identities in their stressful work pace, virtually racing with time. Comparison with other contexts is made

Virtual Community Informatics: A Review and Research Agenda

Divergent opinions exist on the basic understanding of the concept, virtual community. This study offers a working definition by examining different definitions, and proposes adoption of virtual community classifications. It also includes a summary of research conducted in the field. The research categorizes the different stages in virtual community growth to show the transition of research in this area. The results illustrate a paucity of technology development studies. We also investigate the extent of the adoption of informatics in these communities using a survey 200 virtual communities. The results indicate that discussion forum is the most popular tool adopted in virtual communities. The integration of the research review and tool adoption survey contributes to the generation of an agenda to direct future virtual community research

Understanding Dynamic Collaboration in Teleconsultation

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been widely deployed in the provision of health care for decades. Teleconsultation, one of these new telemedicine solutions, has been prevalently implemented in numerous countries with its tremendous potential to improve healthcare. However, the clinical utility has remained at a disappointing level. Unlike prior research that focuses on the pre-adoption or implementation stages, our research explores not only the understanding the antecedences of actual usage in post-adoption of teleconsultation service, but also the reasons for low actual usage in clinical practice. We identify specific theoretical attributes that are relevant to our research question, and extend TOE into an integrative theoretical framework. Initial propositions are generated based on theoretical perspectives in each dimension of the framework. Finally, we design a comparative case study as our research methodology, and conduct deductive analysis to test our propositions using data from multiple sources. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research, are outlined