UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF ICTS IN PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION: THE CASE OF SYRIAN REFUGEES IN GERMANY

With a number of refugees around the world reaching disastrous proportions, there is a growing pressure to understand which measures are effective in promoting social inclusion of refugees in their new homes. Considering an exemplary IT-savviness of the current refugee wave, there is a growing hope in the power of Social Media and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in supporting integration processes. Contributing to this discourse, in this study we build on the qualitative analysis of fifteen interviews with Syrian refugees in Germany. Based on the capability approach, our findings reveal dependencies between properties of ICTs and their use, ICT-enabled capabilities relevant for refugees, and the corresponding contribution of ICTs to the processes of social inclusion. On the theoretical level, our findings extend current understanding of the ICT effects on the processes of social inclusion in the refugee context. From the practical standpoint, our findings provide actionable recommendations for policy-makers in their efforts to achieve integration

Behind the Curtains of Privacy Calculus on Social Networking Sites: The Study of Germany and the USA

As social networking sites (SNSs) become increasingly global, the issues of cultural differences in participation patterns become acute. However, current research offers only limited insights into the role of culture behind SNS usage. Aiming to fill this gap, this study adopts a ‘privacy calculus’ perspective to study the differences between German and American SNS users. Results of structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis reveal distinct variability in the cognitive patterns of American and German subjects. We contribute to the theory by rejecting the universal nature of privacy-calculus processes. From a practical standpoint, our results signal that SNS providers cannot rely on the “proven” means in ensuring user participation when crossing geographic boundaries. When financial means are limited, SNS providers should direct their investments into enhancing platform enjoyment and granting users with more control and, paradoxically, lobbying for more legalistic safeguards of user privacy

Drivers of RFID Adoption in the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is confronted with increasing competition, leading to higher cost pressures and the demand to optimize production processes and value chains. Here the RFID technology promises to improve a range of processes in logistics and manufacturing. Despite its promising potential in the automotive industry, RFID has not yet made a decisive step from pilots to real-life implementations in the supply chain. Building on existing models of technology adoption, we analyze RFID adoption dynamics in the automotive industry. Building on existing IOS adoption models tailored to RFID specifics and based on ten semi-structured interviews with OEMs and suppliers, we evaluate main drivers of RFID adoption in the automotive industry. Our key findings are that the use of a coercive approach by the OEM could be redundant because of the market-driven RFID adoption among many suppliers. Furthermore, suppliers implementing RFID can now gain an early mover competitive advantage by developing higher trust in their relationship with the OEM as well as accumulating unique expertise in this area

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF READABILITY OF PRIVACY POLICIES ON USERS’ TRUST

Empirical studies have repeatedly pointed out that the readability of a privacy policy is a potential source of trust of online users. Nevertheless, many online companies still keep the readability of their privacy policies at a low level. This could possibly coincide with a low compliance of their privacy policies with the guidelines of fair information practices and thus with users’ privacy expectations. Against this background, this study seeks to clarify the role of perceived and actual readability of us-er-friendly and -unfriendly privacy policies in shaping user’s trust in a mobile service provider. Tested for two different mobile service scenarios that differ in the sensitivity of user data (educational enter-tainment app vs. health app), our hypotheses are verified based on the responses of 539 online users. Our findings reveal that in the case of a user-unfriendly data-handling policy, the effect of actual readability of a privacy policy outweighs the effect of its perceived readability in forming users’ trust. At the same time, for a user-friendly privacy policy, only perceived readability plays a significant role in promoting users’ trust in the provider of an educational entertainment app. In a sensitive healthcare context, however, perceived and actual readability of privacy policies are almost equally important

Antecedents for Cyberloafing – A Literature Review

The private use of the Internet via desktop and smartphones during working time, also known as cyberloafing, has become a common practice at many workplaces. While critical voices expect performance losses through such behavior, their opponents perceive of the interruptions created by cyberloafing as an opportunity to recover and continue working with increased productivity afterwards. Given the growing body of research on Internet-related employees’ opportunism, this paper presents a systematic literature review of 69 studies to identify the factors behind cyberloafing. The classification includes personality traits as well as antecedents related to the job, organization and personal life. The paper concludes with a clear picture of the kind of circumstances which tend to increase cyberloafing and which factors statistically do not seem to have any impact on the abuse of Internet during working time

It Won\u27t Happen To Me! : Self-Disclosure in Online Social Networks

Despite the considerable amount of self-disclosure in Online Social Networks (OSN), the motivation behind this phenomenon is still little understood. Building on the Privacy Calculus theory, this study fills this gap by taking a closer look at the factors behind individual self-disclosure decisions. In a Structural Equation Model with 237 subjects we find Perceived Enjoyment and Privacy Concerns to be significant determinants of information revelation. We confirm that the privacy concerns of OSN users are primarily determined by the perceived likelihood of a privacy violation and much less by the expected damage. These insights provide a solid basis for OSN providers and policy-makers in their effort to ensure healthy disclosure levels that are based on objective rationale rather than subjective misconceptions

Perceived Usefulness of RFID-enabled Information Services - A Systematic Approach

Even though RFID technology is currently gaining importance mainly in logistics, usage areas, such as shopping or after-sales enhancements beyond the supply chain are envisioned. Yet, while RFID hits the street it is questioned if it may undermine one’s privacy while providing few customer benefits. Meeting this criticism this paper investigates RFID-enabled information services and the drivers of their usefulness for consumers. The article claims that the more risk one associates with a product the more benefit from RFID-enabled information services is perceived. We show empirically that the nature of product risk provides a useful framework to decide on the types of RFID information services a marketer should offer to create RFID usefulness perceptions and increase technology acceptance

Investigating the Value of Privacy in Online Social Networks: Conjoint Analysis

Popularity of Online Social Networks has been recently overshadowed by the privacy problems they pose. Users are getting increasingly vigilant concerning information they disclose and are strongly opposing the use of their information for commercial purposes. Nevertheless, as long as the network is offered to users for free, providers have little choice but to generate revenue through personalized advertising to remain financially viable. Our study empirically investigates the ways out of this deadlock. Using conjoint analysis we find that privacy is indeed important for users. We identify three groups of users with different utility patterns: Unconcerned Socializers, Control-conscious Socializers and Privacy-concerned. Our results provide relevant insights into how network providers can capitalize on different user preferences by specifically addressing the needs of distinct groups in the form of various premium accounts. Overall, our study is the first attempt to assess the value of privacy in monetary terms in this context