A Study of Competences and Indicators for Electronic Commerce Professional Managers

The objective of this research is to investigate the managerial competences for Electronic Commerce professional managers. Three research approaches have been adopted here: Focus Group, Fuzzy Delphi Method. The results indicated that professional skills and leadership competence are more important than other competences such as administrative skills and motivation. Comparing the competences of traditional managers and EC managers shows that the main difference is the emphasis on EC managers’ professional skills

Acceptance of Technology with Network Externalities: An Empirical Study of Internet Instant Messaging Services

Many researchers have examined the technology acceptance model (TAM) that Davis (1986) created to predict the voluntary use of information systems. However, TAM\u27s primary focus is on how ease of use and usefulness influence acceptance, without looking at the effects of network externalities. In this study, we examined adoption behavior involving Internet-based instant messaging services (IMS). A questionnaire was used to collect data on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived number of users for external network utility, and technology utility. The results indicate an acceptable goodness-of-fit statistic for our proposed TAM model, which combines the original TAM concept and network externality theory. The results also support the importance of network externalities in considering IT acceptance

Classification and selection of tenants in residential real estate: a constructivist approach

Choosing a tenant is a key issue in the housing rental market. Knowing, a priori, whether a tenant will pay the rent on time, be able to hold a good relationship with the neighbors or take care of the property (i.e. whether s/he will be a “good” tenant) is not a simple endeavor. It is crucial, however, as it can help save time, money and conflicts that can end up in court. This study aims to address this issue, through the integrated use of cognitive maps and the Decision EXpert (DEX) technique. Grounded on a constructivist logic, the study brought together a panel of experts with experience and knowledge in the residential rental market, in order to identify and articulate the criteria to be taken into account in the classification and selection of tenants. The results achieved show that the integration of these two methodologies (i.e. cognitive maps and DEX) can help increase our understanding of the decision problem at hand, and lead to more informed and potentially better tenant choices. Advantages and limitations of the framework are also discussed

Heaping in Reported Earnings: Evidence from Monthly Financial Reports of Taiwanese Firms

Heaping is a phenomenon in which reported numbers tend to appear in increments that are important for cultural or other reasons. This study reports that heaping is present in monthly earnings reports for publicly listed companies in Taiwan. We find that Taiwanese firms tend to report monthly earnings in increments of 5 in the first two places (digits) of the earnings numbers. Furthermore, we observe predominantly more zeros in the third through fifth places of monthly earnings numbers, suggesting that monthly earnings tend to be reported in increments of 10 in the first three, first four, and first five places. Reporting of monthly earnings in Taiwan is discretionary, and our findings suggest that managers of Taiwanese firms are susceptible to heuristic bias when reporting monthly earnings. These findings complement studies on heaping in U.S. financial markets documenting that managers and financial analysts tend to make earnings per share estimates that heap in increments of nickels.Benford's law, cognitive bias, heaping, voluntary disclosure,

A Bifunctional Electroactive Ti4O7-Based Membrane System for Highly Efficient Ammonia Decontamination

Herein, an electroactive filtration system, consisting of a Ti4O7 anode and a Pd-Cu co-modified nickel foam cathode, was developed and applied for the decontamination of ammonia from water. When assisted with an external electrical field, ClO• was generated on the surface of the Ti4O7 anode, which then reacted selectively with ammonia to generate N2. The anodic byproduct, NO3−, could also be reduced efficiently at the functional cathode to produce N2 as well. Electron paramagnetic resonance technique and radical scavenging tests synergistically verified the essential role of ClO• during the highly efficient ammonia conversion process. Relative to conventional batch systems, the developed flow-through design demonstrated enhanced ammonia conversion kinetics, thanks to the convection-enhanced mass transport. The proposed technology also showed desirable stability across a wide environmental matrix. This work provides new insights for the development of advanced and affordable continuous-flow systems towards effective decontamination of ammonia

The Tuning of Optical Properties of Nanoscale MOFs-Based Thin Film through Post-Modification

Optical properties, which determine the application of optical devices in different fields, are the most significant properties of optical thin films. In recent years, Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based optical thin films have attracted increasing attention because of their novel optical properties and important potential applications in optical and photoelectric devices, especially optical thin films with tunable optical properties. This study reports the first example of tuning the optical properties of a MOF-based optical thin film via post-modification. The MOF-based optical thin film was composed of NH2-MIL-53(Al) nanorods (NRs) (MIL: Materials from Institute Lavoisier), and was constructed via a spin-coating method. Three aldehydes with different lengths of carbon chains were chosen to modify the MOF optical thin film to tune their optical properties. After post-modification, the structural color of the NH2-MIL-53(Al) thin film showed an obvious change from purple to bluish violet and cyan. The reflection spectrum and the reflectivity also altered in different degrees. The effective refractive index (neff) of MOFs thin film can also be tuned from 1.292 to 1.424 at a wavelength of 750 nm. The success of tuning of the optical properties of MOFs thin films through post-modification will make MOFs optical thin films meet different needs of optical properties in various optical and optoelectronic devices