Effect of Digital Enablement of Business-to-Business Exchange on Customer Outcomes: The Role of Information Systems Quality and Relationship Characteristics

This study extends our understanding of how information systems impact business value creation by examining the effect of digital enablement of business-to-business exchange on customer outcomes. We shed light on the connection between information technology investment and firm performance by focusing on how information technology is used (Devaraj and Kohli 2003) in an industrial services context and by highlighting the importance of indirect effects (Mittal and Nault 2009). A conceptual model is developed that combines a customer centric perspective (Sheth et al. 2000) with elements from the information systems success framework (DeLone and McLean 1992, DeLone and McLean 2003). Mediating factors are identified in the chain of effects from information technology specific business-to-business service quality characteristics to customer outcomes. In addition, we consider two contextual factors, relationship duration and customer dependence, which are known to alter the nature of buyer-supplier relationships but which have received little attention in research on digital enablement of business-to-business exchange. An empirical test of hypothesized relationships was performed using subjective and objective archival data from business-to-business exchange relationships for a logistics services vendor. All expected main effects were confirmed. Customer satisfaction was found to be a significant mediator in the chain of effects from information technology specific business-to-business service quality characteristics to customer outcomes. In addition, logistics service quality was found to mediate the relationships between system quality and customer satisfaction and between information quality and customer satisfaction. The hypothesized moderating effects, however, were not found to be significant. Robustness of the findings was confirmed by testing model hypotheses using data from exchange relationships with customers in two different industries, manufacturing and wholesale trade. Differences in analysis results are consistent with industry differences. This study contributes to the literatures on interorganizational information systems (Rai et al. 2006) and information technology business value (Melville et al. 2004) by identifying mediating mechanisms in the chain of effects from digital enablement of exchange to customer outcomes. Explication of mediating mechanisms improves our understanding about the indirect nature of impacts from information technology. This study also contributes to the literature on information systems by extending DeLone and McLean\u27s (2003) model of information systems success to the context of business-to-business exchange relationships. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on services marketing (Zeithaml and Bitner 2003, Berry and Parasuraman 1993) by showing how system quality and information quality impact logistics service quality and customer satisfaction in a business-to-business exchange context

Project Management Courses in IS Graduate Programs: What is Being Taught?

The most recent model curriculum for graduate information systems programs includes a project management course, which contains a balance of technical and managerially related skills. Prior research has shown that adoption of this project management course among information systems graduate programs is not extensive. This study compares the topical coverage of the courses that are being offered against the Project Management lnstitute\u27s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Georgia State University\u27s Computer Information Systems graduate project management course in information technology. A web-based survey of 206 institutions with graduate information systems programs was conducted; 103 responded and 78 indicated that they had a project management course with 41 instructors completing the questionnaire (53% response rate). Data collected from the survey were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. With respect to the topics of project management found in the PMBOK, information systems programs are covering hard skills such as project scope and cost management to a large extent and giving less emphasis to soft skills such as human resource and project communications management. Also, procurement management is only covered to a very small extent. Similarly, information systems programs matched well with the benchmark course at Georgia State University in the extent of coverage for hard skills such as work breakdown, estimation, and project networks, but their coverage of areas such as project chartering and dealing with vendors and suppliers was considerably lower

Ripple compensation for a class-D amplifier

This paper presents the first detailed mathematical analysis of the ripple compensation technique for reducing audio distortion in a class-D amplifier with negative feedback. The amplifier converts a relatively low-frequency audio signal to a high-frequency train of rectangular pulses whose widths are slowly modulated according to the audio signal (pulse-width modulation, PWM). Distortion manifests itself through unwanted audio-frequency harmonics that arise in the output due to nonlinearities inherent in the design. In this paper, we first develop a small-signal model, which describes the fate of small-amplitude perturbations to a constant input, and demonstrate how this traditional engineering tool may be extended to allow one to infer the most significant contributions to the full output in response to a general audio input. We then compute the audio output of the amplifier through a perturbation expansion based on the ratio between audio and switching frequencies. Our results explicitly demonstrate how the ripple compensation technique significantly linearizes the output, thereby reducing the distortion

Task Structure and the Propensity to Collaborate vs. Cooperate

Researchers have long studied the group dynamics of teams with the goal of making teams more effective. This study looks at the task structure to determine if groups are more likely to collaborate or cooperate to successfully complete a project. Initial findings indicate that the higher the structure of a project the more likely teams will gravitate to cooperation while the less structured the project the more likely teams are to work collaboratively. Initial findings indicate that the determination of the “structuredness” of a project is a subjective rather than objective assessment

Medicinal plant cultivation for sustainable use and commercialisation of high-value crops

Many traditional healing systems are based on natural biological resources, and there is a general shift in most parts of the world towards natural medicine, with direct implications on the demand and supply of medicinal plants. This review highlights the economic importance of medicinal plants, their contribution to healthcare systems, and potential opportunities for rural economic development through cultivation.  A systematic literature review with specific search terms related to medicinal plants was used to collect scientific and non-scientific information from peer-reviewed literature and grey literature databases. The findings indicate that trade in medicinal plants is increasing, and although they are considered minor crops compared to major food crops, their value is among the highest in the list of traded plants globally. The trade also serves as a revenue source for many rural livelihoods, with women playing a significant role. Medicinal plants contribute to primary health care in many developing countries, and they are also an essential source of modern drug discovery. Cultivation of medicinal plants offers emerging rural farmers an opportunity to grow these plants as new and alternative crops, thus reducing unsustainable wild harvesting and competition with established commercial farmers who mostly focus on food crops. Furthermore, medicinal plant cultivation should be promoted as one of the options for local economic development and sustainability through job creation, the revival of the rural economy, and income generation for small businesses, such as the transport businesses, involved in the value chain. Land accessibility, financial resources, and direct market access for rural communities can elevate their contribution to the industry. Formalisation of the lower levels of the medicinal plant trade is also recommended. Significance:• Cultivation is a viable option for biodiversity conservation of medicinal plants and ensuring a goodquality supply of plant materials.• Cultivation of medicinal plants – a source of natural products used in product development – can contribute to job creation, income generation, and rural economies in developing countries.• This review underlines the importance of medicinal plants in product development, the contribution of the industry to economies of different countries, and the potential for cultivation

Efficacy and Safety of Alirocumab as Add-on Therapy in High–Cardiovascular-Risk Patients With Hypercholesterolemia Not Adequately Controlled With Atorvastatin (20 or 40 mg) or Rosuvastatin (10 or 20 mg)::Design and Rationale of the ODYSSEY OPTIONS Studies

The phase 3 ODYSSEY OPTIONS studies (OPTIONS I, NCT01730040; OPTIONS II, NCT01730053) are multicenter, multinational, randomized, double-blind, active-comparator, 24-week studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of alirocumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, as add-on therapy in ∼ 650 high-cardiovascular (CV)-risk patients whose low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are ≥100 mg/dL or ≥70 mg/dL according to the CV-risk category, high and very high CV risk, respectively, with atorvastatin (20–40 mg/d) or rosuvastatin (10–20 mg/d). Patients are randomized to receive alirocumab 75 mg via a single, subcutaneous, 1-mL injection by prefilled pen every 2 weeks (Q2W) as add-on therapy to atorvastatin (20–40 mg) or rosuvastatin (10–20 mg); or to receive ezetimibe 10 mg/d as add-on therapy to statin; or to receive statin up-titration; or to switch from atorvastatin to rosuvastatin (OPTIONS I only). At week 12, based on week 8 LDL-C levels, the alirocumab dose may be increased from 75 mg to 150 mg Q2W if LDL-C levels remain ≥100 mg/dL or ≥70 mg/dL in patients with high or very high CV risk, respectively. The primary efficacy endpoint in both studies is difference in percent change in calculated LDL-C from baseline to week 24 in the alirocumab vs control arms. The studies may provide guidance to inform clinical decision-making when patients with CV risk require additional lipid-lowering therapy to further reduce LDL-C levels. The flexibility of the alirocumab dosing regimen allows for individualized therapy based on the degree of LDL-C reduction required to achieve the desired LDL-C level

Cervical and Vulvar Cancer Risk in Relation to the Joint Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Genetic Variation in Interleukin 2.

Cigarette smoking is an established cofactor to human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of cervical and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and may influence risk through an immunosuppressive pathway. Genetic variation in interleukin 2 (IL2), associated in some studies with the inhibition of HPV-targeted immunity, may modify the effect of smoking on the risk of HPV-related anogenital cancers. We conducted a population-based case-only study to measure the departure from a multiplicative joint effect of cigarette smoking and IL2 variation on cervical and vulvar SCC. Genotyping of the four IL2 tagSNPs (rs2069762, rs2069763, rs2069777, and rs2069778) was done in 399 cervical and 486 vulvar SCC cases who had been interviewed regarding their smoking history. Compared with cases carrying the rs2069762 TT genotype, we observed significant departures from multiplicativity for smoking and carriership of the TG or GG genotypes in vulvar SCC risk [interaction odds ratio (IOR), 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-2.41]. Carriership of one of three diplotypes, together with cigarette smoking, was associated with either a supramultiplicative (TGCT/GGCC; IOR, 2.09; 95% CI, 0.98-4.46) or submultiplicative (TTCC/TGTC; IOR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16-0.85 or TGCT/TGCC; IOR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15-0.87) joint effect in vulvar cancer risk. For cervical SCC, departure from multiplicativity was observed for smokers homozygous for the rs2069763 variant allele (TT versus GG or GT genotypes; IOR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.00-3.48), and for carriership of the TTCC/TTCC diplotype (IOR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.01-4.30). These results suggest that cervical and vulvar SCC risk among cigarette smokers is modified by genetic variation in IL2. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(7):1790-9)

Study protocol; thyroid hormone replacement for untreated older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism - a randomised placebo controlled trial (TRUST)

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a common condition in elderly people, defined as elevated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with normal circulating free thyroxine (fT4). Evidence is lacking about the effect of thyroid hormone treatment. We describe the protocol of a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) of Levothyroxine treatment for SCH. Methods: Participants are community-dwelling subjects aged ≥65 years with SCH, diagnosed by elevated TSH levels (≥4.6 and ≤19.9 mU/L) on a minimum of two measures ≥ three months apart, with fT4 levels within laboratory reference range. The study is a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled parallel group trial, starting with levothyroxine 50 micrograms daily (25 micrograms in subjects <50Kg body weight or known coronary heart disease) with titration of dose in the active treatment group according to TSH level, and a mock titration in the placebo group. The primary outcomes are changes in two domains (hypothyroid symptoms and fatigue / vitality) on the thyroid-related quality of life questionnaire (ThyPRO) at one year. The study has 80% power (at p = 0.025, 2-tailed) to detect a change with levothyroxine treatment of 3.0% on the hypothyroid scale and 4.1% on the fatigue / vitality scale with a total target sample size of 750 patients. Secondary outcomes include general health-related quality of life (EuroQol), fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, handgrip strength, executive cognitive function (Letter Digit Coding Test), basic and instrumental activities of daily living, haemoglobin, blood pressure, weight, body mass index and waist circumference. Patients are monitored for specific adverse events of interest including incident atrial fibrillation, heart failure and bone fracture. Discussion: This large multicentre RCT of levothyroxine treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism is powered to detect clinically relevant change in symptoms / quality of life and is likely to be highly influential in guiding treatment of this common condition. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01660126; registered 8th June 2012

Squared visibility estimator. Calibrating biases to reach very high dynamic range

In the near infrared where detectors are limited by read-out noise, most interferometers have been operated in wide band in order to benefit from larger photon rates. We analyze in this paper the biases caused by instrumental and turbulent effects to $V^2$ estimators for both narrow and wide band cases. Visibilities are estimated from samples of the interferogram using two different estimators, $V^{2}_1$ which is the classical sum of the squared modulus of Fourier components and a new estimator $V^{2}_2$ for which complex Fourier components are summed prior to taking the square. We present an approach for systematically evaluating the performance and limits of each estimator, and to optimizing observing parameters for each. We include the effects of spectral bandwidth, chromatic dispersion, scan length, and differential piston. We also establish the expression of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio of the two estimators with respect to detector and photon noise. The $V^{2}_1$ estimator is insensitive to dispersion and is always more sensitive than the $V^{2}_2$ estimator. However, the latter allows to reach better accuracies when detection is differential piston noise limited. Biases and noise directly impact the dynamic range of reconstructed images. Very high dynamic ranges are required for direct exoplanet detection by interferometric techniques thus requiring estimators to be bias-free or biases to be accurately calibrated. We discuss which estimator and which conditions are optimum for astronomical applications especially when high accuracy visibilities are required. We show that there is no theoretical limit to measuring visibilities with accuracies as good as $10^{-5}$ which is important in the prospect of detecting faint exoplanets with interferometers.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap