As the PMI Turns: A Tool For the Supply Chain Manager

Supply chain managers use the PMI, an index of business activity and proxy for the general business cycle, to obtain valuable information important to strategic managerial planning. This research explores a methodology to provide managerial insight into the general business cycle by tracking and forecasting cycle turns in the PMI. A regression model is developed based on inherent cycles in the PMI between 12 and 65 months to forecast turning points for the index and anticipate changes in the business cycle, which is superior to the more commonly used Box-Jenkins forecasting technique. Strategic planning using this knowledge allows management to optimally adjust long-term levels of production, inventory, employment and orders as necessary

Going Through the “Emotions”: Identity Protective Responses

This study examines identity theft, specifically, the mechanisms through which individuals protect themselves using credit monitoring information. As an adaptive protective response against identity theft, we conceptualize credit monitoring information as an information product. By integrating protection motivation theory with the extended parallel process model, we seek to understand how individuals either take adaptive recommended actions or maladaptive ones. A research model, hypotheses, and an experiment are described

Organization Size, IT Capabilities, and EA Perceptions: Dark Clouds on the ERP Horizon?

The relationship between enterprise architecture (EA) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can be a synergistic one, leading to improved organizational and IT capabilities, practices, and mission success. However, in examining this relationship, organization size must be considered since it plays an important role in influencing the success of these enterprise initiatives. This paper analyzes the responses of IT professionals to the SIM Information Management Practices Survey and discusses the relationship of organization size to the EA and ERP relationship and to IT capabilities within organizations

Participation Willingness in Web Surveys: Exploring Effect of Sponsoring Corporation’s and Survey Provider’s Reputation

Prior research involving response rates in Web-based surveys has not adequately addressed the effect of the reputation of a sponsoring corporation that contracts with a survey provider. This study investigates the effect of two factors, namely, the reputation of a survey’s provider and the reputation of a survey’s sponsoring corporation, on the willingness of potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. Results of an experimental design with these two factors reveal that the sponsoring corporation’s and the survey provider’s strong reputations can induce potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. A sponsoring corporation’s reputation has a greater effect on the participation willingness of potential respondents of a Web survey than the reputation of the survey provider. A sponsoring corporation with a weak reputation who contracts with a survey provider having a strong reputation results in increased participation willingness from potential respondents if the identity of the sponsoring corporation is disguised in a survey. This study identifies the most effective strategy to increase participation willingness for a Web-based survey by considering both the reputations of the sponsoring corporation and survey provider and whether to reveal their identities

Information Quality of Commercial Web Site Home Pages: An Explorative Analysis

In the search for substantive relationships in the use of emerging technology, information quality is often difficult to assess. This research explores user perceptions of presentation, navigation, and quality of Web home pages for approximately 200 selected Fortune 500 companies across 10 industries. An instrument is developed to measure these constructs and is assessed for convergent and discriminant validity as well as reliability. Company Web home pages are clustered using 24 Web site features. Interpretations of the type of Web home page within a cluster are based on their characteristics. An explorative analysis is performed between types of Web home pages and user perceptions of these sites. This study provides empirical evidence of relationships between companies at different positions in the supply chain and the information quality of their Web home pages

Participation Willingness in Web Surveys: Exploring Effect of Sponsoring Corporation’s and Survey Provider’s Reputation

Prior research involving response rates in Web-based surveys has not adequately addressed the effect of the reputation of a sponsoring corporation that contracts with a survey provider. This study investigates the effect of two factors, namely, the reputation of a survey’s provider and the reputation of a survey’s sponsoring corporation, on the willingness of potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. Results of an experimental design with these two factors reveal that the sponsoring corporation’s and the survey provider’s strong reputations can induce potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. A sponsoring corporation’s reputation has a greater effect on the participation willingness of potential respondents of a Web survey than the reputation of the survey provider. A sponsoring corporation with a weak reputation who contracts with a survey provider having a strong reputation results in increased participation willingness from potential respondents if the identity of the sponsoring corporation is disguised in a survey. This study identifies the most effective strategy to increase participation willingness for a Web-based survey by considering both the reputations of the sponsoring corporation and survey provider and whether to reveal their identities

Understanding Challenges and Solutions with Systemigrams: Application to Electronic Medical Record Systems

The medical field is becoming bigger and more complex in the 21st century, diseases both emergent and re-emergent are on the rise and are costing lives around the world. Evolution of many diseases has made people find a reason to seek medical care in healthcare centers. This has led to increased development of health care facilities as peoples’ urge to get quality diagnosis and treatment rises. However, in the past patients ended up waiting a long time in their efforts to obtain these services. These wait times were due to the lack of proper documentation and recording of the personal information. Hospitals and health centers had to hire an increased numbers of health practitioners to handle the paper work as patient populations increased. Due to the massive amount of issues experienced and the patient agony, healthcare professionals were prompted to develop fast, reliable and efficient methods of handling large amounts of data within a short time. The rise of digital technologies enables the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to be utilized in the healthcare setting. This tool has revolutionized the whole spectrum of capturing and recording medical health data. Today, health care agencies and organizations can retrieve and store a patient’s personal health information where physicians can readily access this information from their offices. Therefore, EMR is the real time solution to the health information management problem and through it there will be an improved patient experience in terms of wait time, diagnosis, and treatment. However, there are some challenges that come with the system that should be addressed to ensure efficiency. After a systemic review of the literature, we have used a systemigram approach and modeled the current challenges of EMR implementation and the related solutions to EMR system adoption. The objective of this study is to provide a systems-thinking approach to better contextualize the role of EMR in the complex system of healthcare from a multi-stakeholder perspective

Role of Electronic Healthcare Record Adoption in Enhancing the Relationship between Quality Measures and Hospital Financial Performance

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are designed as a real-time digital record to streamline distinctive and valuable patient information across multiple stakeholders in the healthcare delivery channel. The stakeholders include hospitals, healthcare providers and patients, as well as a myriad of third-party providers (i.e., insurance companies, Medicare). Academicians, practitioners and public policy makers are grappling with uneven experiences and empirical findings regarding the relationship between technology-enabled information sharing and the ensuing quality of healthcare outcomes. The most significant government-mandated technology is the implementation and adoption of EHR. The present research examines EHR through the lens of Resource Advantage Theory –– to empirically assess how partial and comprehensive implementation levels of EHR adoption influence quality management and financial performance of hospitals. Based on archival data attained from 210 hospitals in the state of Texas, the results indicate positive relationships between EHR and the quality of care. While it is generally recognized that EHR and quality management affect a hospital’s performance, this research investigates the moderating effect that EHR has on quality management and a hospital’s performance. These findings provide hospital administrators, practitioners, and third-party payers with an integrative and parsimonious model to understand the impact of partial and comprehensive levels of EHR implementation on the relationship of healthcare quality and hospital performance