Reconciling Culture and Digital Literacy in the United Arab Emirates

For a number of years, there has been a concerted effort by the United Arab Emirates to take a prominent role in introducing e-business initiatives throughout the Gulf region, and this effort has translated into widespread access of internet technology for its own citizens. The country, in setting out to become a hub for foreign and domestic companies, realized that to achieve these goals it must provide appropriate e-business frameworks and infrastructures, which it has successfully done. Although, while not the only means of acquiring digital literacy, regular exposure to the internet does contribute to gaining these necessary 21st century skills. It might be expected that with such widespread access to the internet the population would contribute to becoming digitally competent. Using an ethnographic case study methodology, this paper investigates issues contributing to what might be a new form of digital divide; cultural issues which limit the acquisition of such digital skills

The marketing implications of value chain governance strategies of wine products using geographical indications (GIs) in Italy and UK

Value chain governance (VCG) strategies have important marketing implications for specific wine and agri-food products that used GIs in Italy and UK. There are many challenges surrounding the prevailing trend or movement towards the adoption of exclusive quality standards and distinctions in the global supply chains of agri-food products, including wines to support the conception of traceability and safety assurances. This article aimed to reviewing previous research that could be relevant to the analysis of governance mechanisms in supply chains related to GIs for these products. The study analyzed how other researchers coped with these research issues. The survey was qualitative in nature, and recapped selected case studies from Italy and UK, regarding the VCG of wine and food products GIs. Therefore, the findings were limited only to the impact of VCG, wine and food production in these areas and could not be generalized beyond them. The article contributes in advancing knowledge and transferring it from existing situations in developed countries or markets to the developing ones

How Smart Operations Help Better Planning and Replenishment?

This chapter discusses various roles of smart information in Supply Chains (SC) of digital age and tries to answer an important question - What types of collaborative arrangements facilitate smart operations to improve planning, production and timely replenishment? We have conducted longitudinal case studies with firms practicing SC collaborations and also using smart information for operations. Based on the case analysis, the companies are further classified as 'smart planning' and 'traditional planning'. Research findings show the importance of aligning SC partnerships based on smart information requirements. These findings are based on case studies of Indian firms with global SC collaboration. We also discuss the role of Big Data for the companies using smart planning

The Economic Impact of Globalization and Internationalization on Minority Immigrant Graduates

Globalization facilitates organizational expansion overseas and global workforce challenges. The key may be to understand which labor force characteristics increase economic efficiency. In turn, higher education institutions may need to incorporate industry’s need for international interaction into strategic visions. Evidence-based research was conducted using Queens College, the City University of New York, as a case study to understand how internationalization of higher education enhanced economic success of minority immigrant graduates in the United States who were employed across industries. Primary sources included a survey of 524 alumni and group discussions with diverse undergraduates. The results discovered that the employment status and wage, of minority immigrant graduates, were positively impacted when they were exposed to globalized curriculums. This indicates that specific pre-labor market attributes increase economic success of this community and produce international scholars who transfer experiences into career skills that positively impact multinational businesses

Motivation, engagement and learning through digital games

Digital games can be powerful learning environments because they encourage active learning and participation within “affinity groups” (Gee, 2004). However, the use of games in formal educational environments is not always successful (O’Neil et al., 2005). There is a need to update existing theories of motivation and engagement in order to take recent game-related developments into account. Understanding the links between why people play games, what keeps them engaged in this process, and what they learn as a result could have a significant impact on how people value and use games for learning. This paper examines key research that relates to motivation, engagement, and informal learning through digital games, in order to highlight the need for empirical studies which examine the activities that occur in and around everyday gaming practice

Factors influencing the use of e-commerce by small enterprises in Nigeria

The aim of this paper is to assess the factors influencing the use of e-commerce by small enterprises in Nigeria. The study adopts a qualitative methodology which involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews and direct observation in order to derive answers to such questions as ‘why’ the system is adopted and ‘how’ the Nigeria economic conditions influence the system. The study suggests that the main factors which motivate the adoption of e-commerce by small businesses in Nigeria are market expansion and reduced market costs. The findings also indicate that increasing access to the Internet and changing lifestyle enable the success of e-commerce in Nigeria. The implications of the study are discussed

Using Mobile Devices to Facilitate Student Questioning in a Large Undergraduate Science Class

Asking scientific questions is the first practice of science and engineering listed in the Next Generation Science Standards. However, getting students to ask unsolicited questions in a large class can be difficult. In this qualitative study, undergraduate students sent SMS text messages to the instructor who received them on his mobile phone and via Google Glass. Using observations, coding of texts, and interviews, the researchers investigated the types and level of questions students asked and the perceptions of the instructor and TAs on how the messages were received. From the findings of this study, it is evident that students asked a wide variety of question types and levels. It would appear that important distinctions between voice and text questions are that: (a) a shy or insecure questioner can remain anonymous; (b) questions can be asked in an interactive, but not interruptive manner; (c) there is no time limit to answering questions; and (d) the record of questions on the instructor\u27s phone can be used to guide revision of lecture notes for future semesters

Factors contributing to organizational change success or failure: a qualitative meta-analysis of 200 reflective case studies

Change, and changing, exercise the minds of most managers most of the time. In consequence, leadership development and change management tend to be top priorities for many human resource development (HRD) professionals today. Despite this, much academic and practitioner literature suggests that 70% of all change programs fail. Through analyzing 200 organizational change case studies, this chapter examines this high failure rate, investigates leadership styles and their relationship to change, and explores the key factors that either enable or hinder successful change. The key findings of this examination were that the majority of the 200 studied change initiatives were considered successful and that using Kotter’s change model, which has been long established, does not necessarily mean success; nor does the use of a democratic/participative leadership style. The most significant hindering factors and the key critical success factors are also acknowledged

Implementing Blended Learning in Classrooms: Educators\u27 Perspectives

Blended learning is one of the modalities used to enhance students\u27 learning experiences in the 21st century. South African educators who migrate to countries overseas have mixed feelings about their teaching using technology in schools. This chapter presents findings on implementation of blended learning in mathematics classrooms from the perspectives of two South African educators working in an international school in Saudi Arabia. The study was done using a qualitative case study within an interpretivist paradigm and it was guided by the technology acceptance model. Two South African educators teaching at an international school in Saudi Arabia were purposively selected to participate in the study. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. A significant contribution of the study was the development of a model which shows that perspectives of the educators on blended learning hinges on two entities: technology acceptance and educators\u27 self-efficacy

The impact of salient cultural practices on the outcome of IS implementation

This paper appears in Journal of Global Information Management. Copyright 2017, IGI Global, www.igi-global.com. Posted by permission of the publisher.A number of information system (IS) studies have adopted organisational culture (OC) theory to investigate IS implementations. The studies highlight that members will reach consensus or agreement in the use of an IS but also experience inevitable tensions and ambiguities in the use of the IS. However, literature related to IS implementation/OC has rarely examined the influence that the saliency of specific cultural practices may have on the success or failure of IS implementations. Using a case study approach, we adopted the “soft positivism” research philosophy to collect data, underpinned by Martin’s (1992) integration and differentiation perspectives of OC to study the organisational implementation of an IS. These perspectives served as interpretive lenses through which to explain how members’ salient behaviours towards an IS evolved during the implementation process. Our study augments the IS implementation/OC literature by demonstrating how salient cultural practices influence the outcome of IS implementation