Negative Reputation Rate as the Signal of Risk in Online Consumer-to-Consumer Transactions

Previous online reputation research has been focused on the effects of positive and negative reputations on trust formation, trading price, and probability of sale. We propose that negative feedback rate (NFR) is the most important indicator of the risk of buying from a seller online. This proposition has been supported by an empirical study based on data collected from eBay.com. We found that the 6-month NFR in the current period predicts much better the future risk measured by the NFR in the next 6-month period than did net reputation score and negative reputation score. A seller’s life-long negative score in fact was not significant in predicting the future risk. In addition, a seller’s age in the market was found to have similar predicting power on risk as did net reputation score

An Empirical Investigation of Build-or-Buy Decisions in Software Development

When an organization seeks to apply a computerbased application to its business processes, the decision of whether to build or buy software must typically be made. Much previous research has bypassed the build-or-buy decision stage. Even the limited studies focusing on the build-or-buy decision have tended to focus on checklists or guidelines for decision criteria and decision procedures. Thus, the build-or-buy decision process has not been explored fully from the behavioral perspective. The present research provides new insights into decision makers’ actual behavior when making build-or-buy decisions. Based on the belief processing model of Smith, Benson, and Curley (1991), a model is developed to describe the actual cognitive processes involved in the build-or-buy decision. Two hypotheses based on the theoretical background are proposed and will be investigated in an empirical study. We then describe the research methods for the empirical study in some detail. We conclude with a short discussion

Linking Information Technology and Competitive Strategy: Evidence from China’s Third-Party Logistics Industry

This study examined how information technology (IT) influences competitive strategies of third- party logistics (3PL) providers in mainland China. First, we examined the influences of IT on the firm’s IT advantage over its competitors. Second, the relationship between IT and competitive strategy was examined. The results show that IT has a significant influence on a firm’s IT advantage and its competitive strategy

Antecendents and Consequences of Modularization in BPO - Based on Transaction Cost Theory and Knowledge-based Theory

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is expected to be “the next big wave” in the development of information technology services. However, managing the tacit knowledge underlying the interfaces is costly and complicated. Modularization of the outsourced business process can mitigate such complexity and the risk of knowledge misappropriation. This research-in-progress paper introduces the concept of modularization of outsourced business process (MOBP), which is viewed as the operational concept of “modular global sourcing” proposed by Infosys, a leading Indian outsourcing provider. Standing the position of the client firm, we examine the antecedents and consequents of MOBP based on transaction cost economics theory and knowledge-based theory. We explore the impacts of process human asset specificity, environmental uncertainty, behavioral uncertainty, small-number trading, strategic criticality of process knowledge, and process knowledge ambiguity on the extent of MOBP and also the impacts of MOBP on cost reduction and knowledge spillover. This paper also describes the research plan to test the research hypotheses. Contributions to research and practice are highlighted

Understanding Individual Adoption of Instant Messaging: An Empirical Investigation

The wide diffusion of Instant Messaging (IM) in a voluntary social context calls for studies to examine the value of computer-mediated communication technologies in developing interpersonal relationships. By integrating three interpersonal factors into a model of motivation from the technology acceptance literature, we develop and test a research model to explain an individual\u27s continuous use of IM in keeping and sustaining interpersonal relationships. We find that the behavioral intention to continue using IM was predicated by perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and perceived critical mass. Attachment motivation, relationship commitment, and perceived critical mass were all positively associated with perceived enjoyment. Perceived enjoyment and perceived critical mass had significant effects on perceived usefulness. The results imply that IM is a useful and fun tool for fulfilling one\u27s need for attachment and commitment and for gathering online with one\u27s friends, family members, and others. In addition, perceived enjoyment is the dominant factor explaining grassroots adoption of communication technologies. Finally, it is important to integrate utility factors (usefulness and enjoyment) with social factors in studying communication technologies