Convergence in information and communication technology (ICT) using patent analysis

Since the 1990s, information and communication technology (ICT) has been perceived as the critical technology for economic development, and the ICT industry itself has been growing exceptionally fast. Moreover, technology convergence in ICT has received particular attention. ICT innovations diffuse into existing products and thus come to form a new integral part of the goods. This is an exploratory research to examine technology convergence of the supply side as a firm level in the ICT sector using International Patent Classification (IPC) of 43,636 sample patents from 1995 to 2008. This study finds a degree of merger and relationships between different technology domains through the association rule mining of patent co-classification. This type of analysis helps companies to take strategies under the environment of technological trajectory change

The effects of internet shoppers' trust on their purchasing intention in China

Owing to the rapid development of the Internet and information technology in China, the growth of consumers' purchasing activities in Internet shopping malls has been truly phenomenal in recent years. Taobao.com, Ebay.com.cn, and Paipai.com have 67,360,000 customer to customer (C2C) users and 99% of the market share in China's C2C market (www.163.com). Dangdang.com and Joyo.com have occupied 87% of the business to customer (B2C) market with 58,360,000 users (www.sohu.com). Because of these significant numbers of users, it is important to understand what affects Chinese consumers' decisions to purchase in Internet shopping malls. Based on past studies, trust is considered a key factor affecting a Chinese consumer's purchasing intention. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Chinese shoppers' trust on their purchasing intention in Internet shopping malls. In order to accomplish the purpose of this study, we developed a research model. This model suggests that there exists a significant relationship between trust and purchasing intention. According to this model, on purchasing intention, trust also mediates effects of other independent variables such as e-commerce knowledge, perceived reputation, perceived risk, and perceived ease of use. The results of this study show that the relationships between these variables are all significant except that between trust and perceived reputation. This research confirms the significant effects of Chinese shoppers' trust on purchasing intention. Implications of these findings are discussed for researchers and practitioners

The Flipside of Ubiquitous Connectivity by Smartphone-based Social Networking Service (SNS): Social Presence and Privacy Concern

The spread of smartphones triggers the universal use of smartphone-based social networking services (SNS) from younger generations in their teens and twenties to older ones in their fifties and sixties. SNS would no longer be the preserve of younger generations. Smartphone-based SNS can be enjoyed by everyone irrespective of age or gender. Under the circumstances, this study attempts to shed light on the sources of enjoyment, which has been argued as a key determinant of hedonic IS use, assuming that ubiquitous connectivity is a foundation of using smartphone-based SNS. This is because the main reason that people use smartphone-based SNS is to maintain seamless connection with others such as family, friends and acquaintances. Furthermore, the study examines factors related to enjoyment considering both sides of ubiquitous connectivity due to smartphone-based SNS use (i.e., social presence and privacy concern) and also verifies the effects of these variables on SNS continuance intention. Our results show that first, ubiquitous connectivity increases social presence and privacy concern. Second, enjoyment comes from not only ubiquitous connectivity but also social presence and privacy concern. Finally, smartphone-based SNS continuance intention is determined by enjoyment, social presence and privacy concern. Discussion and implications on the results are presented

Evaluating the service quality of third- party logistics service providers using the analytic hierarchy process

In this study we apply the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to evaluate the service quality of third-party logistics (3PL) service providers. We first conceptualize five dimensions of 3PL service quality (i.e. tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy). We then apply the AHP method to determine the relative weights of the five service quality dimensions and eventually select the best 3PL service provider. To implement this idea in practice, we conduct an empirical case study on four companies providing 3PL services in Korea. The results indicate that Responsiveness out of the five service quality dimensions is the most important factor in the perception of 3PL customers

Convergence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Using Patent Analysis

Since the 1990s, information and communication technology (ICT) has been perceived as the critical technology for economic development, and the ICT industry itself has been growing exceptionally fast. Moreover, technology convergence in ICT has received particular attention. ICT innovations diffuse into existing products and thus come to form a new integral part of the goods. This is an exploratory research to examine technology convergence of the supply side as a firm level in the ICT sector using International Patent Classification (IPC) of 43,636 sample patents from 1995 to 2008. This study finds a degree of merger and relationships between different technology domains through the association rule mining of patent co-classification. This type of analysis helps companies to take strategies under the environment of technological trajectory change

LEVERAGING CUSTOMER KNOWLEDGE AND IT RESOURCES TO ENHANCE SERVICE EXPERTISE AND SERVICE QUALITY

This study examines determinants of the service expertise and service quality of customer service representatives (CSRs) working for call centers which have become a firm’s typical service encounter. More specifically, as such determinants, the study proposes customer knowledge accumulated in electronic knowledge repositories (EKRs) as a digital knowledge source along with expertise location as a human knowledge source. Moreover, the study considers technological IT resources (TIR) as another determinant of CSRs’ service expertise and service quality. Finally, the study examines the relationship of service expertise and service quality. A total of 292 responses were collected from CSRs working at call centers and were used for the analysis. The key findings are as follows: first, customer knowledge in EKRs, expert location and TIR considerably increased CSRs’ service expertise. Second, customer knowledge in EKRs and expert location were positively associated with service quality, but TIR had no significant effect on service quality. Finally, CSRs’ service expertise greatly enhanced service quality. The results imply that CSRs’ service expertise and service quality depend on knowledge sources and IT resources provided by the call center

Evaluating the service quality of third- party logistics service providers using the analytic hierarchy process

In this study we apply the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to evaluate the service quality of third-party logistics (3PL) service providers. We first conceptualize five dimensions of 3PL service quality (i.e. tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy). We then apply the AHP method to determine the relative weights of the five service quality dimensions and eventually select the best 3PL service provider. To implement this idea in practice, we conduct an empirical case study on four companies providing 3PL services in Korea. The results indicate that Responsiveness out of the five service quality dimensions is the most important factor in the perception of 3PL customers