A Framework for Managing Flexibility in the Information Systems Function

Competitive pressures are forcing organizations to be agile and flexible. Response to changing environmental conditions is an important factor in determining corporate performance. Organizational flexibility is in turn closely related to the management of information systems. Organizations with flexible IS functions are in a position to be more responsive and take advantage of changes in both their internal and external environments. Conversely, inflexibility in IS can inhibit organizational growth and put a company in a competitive disadvantage. This paper argues that IS flexibility is a multidimensional concept. Grounded theory methodology is used to empirically derive a taxonomy of several types of flexibility and flexibility management strategies

Reflections of Culture in Global Corporate Web Sites

Hofstede (1980) found that national cultures differ along several dimensions. He believed that national cultural values and differences have existed for a long period of time and are stable. Subsequent research has both confirmed and challenged the validity of Hofstede’s conclusions for the long term. With the advent of the Internet and related networking and communication technologies, many have speculated that the ubiquitous nature of these technologies has a homogenizing effect and contributes to cultural convergence. The main objective of this study is to determine if differences in national culture are evident in the web sites of global corporations or if national cultures, as reflected through these web sites, have converged as a result of Internet usage

The Subsidy and Social Welfare Implications of E-Commerce Sales Tax

There is importance and timeliness in the issue of Internet taxation. Internet commerce is growing exponentially. With this growth comes the potential for tremendous tax revenue, as well as criticism for receiving an unfair tax advantage. One of the benefits of the Internet is its lack of national and geographical boundaries. However, this lack of boundaries makes taxation and regulation of the Internet difficult, as historically geographical boundaries have helped to determine policies. One of the needs of a taxation policy for e-commerce is that it is consistent with established taxation policies both domestically and internationally. The tax policy chosen for internet commerce in the U.S. will, as a result, affect not only the internet commerce in the U.S., but also other forms of commerce within and outside of the U.S. This paper will address the implications of the current tax exemption on efficiency and social welfare

HCI Requirements for eBusiness Computing

This paper provides an examination and categorization of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) requirements for the support of Electronic Business (eBusiness) and Electronic Commerce (eCommerce) in the context of intranets, extranets, and the Internet. The relationship of these HCI requirements to eBusiness is explored. Several methods are used to develop the requirements, including the application of grounded theory. The requirements uncovered are included in a framework to better enable the understanding of eBusiness requirements for the computer desktop

Blowing the Whistle on Unethical Information Techmology Practices: The Role of Machiavellianism, Gender and Computer Liteacy

Although organizations can derive competitive advantages from developing and implementing information systems, they are confronted with a rising number of unethical information practices. Because end-users and computer experts are the conduit of an ethical organizational environment, their intention to report unethical IT-related practices plays a critical role in protecting intellectual property and privacy rights. Using the survey methodology, this paper investigates the relationship between willingness to report intellectual property and privacy violations and Machiavellianism, gender and computer literacy in the form of programming experience. We found that gender and computer literacy interact with Machiavellianism to influence individuals’ intention of reporting unethical IT practices. This study helps to improve our understanding of the emergent ethical issues existing in the IT-enabled decision environment

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for top squark production in fully hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for production of the supersymmetric partners of the top quark, top squarks, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision events containing multiple jets, no leptons, and large transverse momentum imbalance. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). The targeted signal production scenarios are direct and gluino-mediated top squark production, including scenarios in which the top squark and neutralino masses are nearly degenerate. The search utilizes novel algorithms based on deep neural networks that identify hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons, which are expected in many of the targeted signal models. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model, and limits on the top squark production cross section are obtained in the context of simplified supersymmetric models for various production and decay modes. Exclusion limits as high as 1310 GeVare established at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the top squark for direct top squark production models, and as high as 2260 GeV on the mass of the gluino for gluino-mediated top squark production models. These results represent a significant improvement over the results of previous searches for supersymmetry by CMS in the same final state.Peer reviewe

Search for long-lived particles decaying to jets with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 Te V

A search is presented for long-lived particles produced in pairs in proton-proton collisions at the LHC operating at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the period from 2015 through 2018, and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1). This search targets pairs of long-lived particles with mean proper decay lengths between 0.1 and 100 mm, each of which decays into at least two quarks that hadronize to jets, resulting in a final state with two displaced vertices. No significant excess of events with two displaced vertices is observed. In the context of R-parity violating supersymmetry models, the pair production of long-lived neutralinos, gluinos, and top squarks is excluded at 95% confidence level for cross sections larger than 0.08 fb, masses between 800 and 3000 GeV, and mean proper decay lengths between 1 and 25 mm.Peer reviewe