The japanese technology system

L'obiettivo del seminario è stato quello di approfondire un tema di grande attualità quale è quello dei percorsi di sviluppo tecnologico seguiti dal sistema industriale giapponese; percorsi che hanno consentito a questo Paese di raggiungere in pochi lustri la leadership mondiale in termini di qualità e costi per molte produzioni/servizi

The Social Media Machines: An Investigation of the Effect of Trust Moderated by Disinformation on Users’ Decision-Making Process

Social media networking sites (SMNS) have become a popular communications medium where users share information, knowledge, and persuasion. In less than two decades, social media\u27s (SM) dominance as a communication medium can\u27t be disputed, for good or evil. Combined with the newly found immediacy and pervasiveness, these SM applications\u27 persuasive power are useful weapons for organizations, angry customers, employees, actors, and activists bent on attacking or hacking other individuals, institutions, or systems. Consequently, SM has become the preferred default mechanism of news sources; however, users are unsure if the information gathered is true or false. According to the literature, SMNS generates large amounts of fake news or disinformation. The rapid proliferation of disinformation, information disseminated with the intent to harm, through SMNS has dramatically influenced and reduced people\u27s trust in the story and hints at hand. Disinformation has caused data breaches and many injured individuals and organizations, resulting in a lack of confidence in SMNS. While irrefutable that SMNS has become the new news outlet, trust remains the foundation of all communication. Since SM has changed the communication process, it is perceived as the most dangerous information dissemination vehicle known to society. Unfortunately, no one is safe from its lethality. Users must approach their usage with extreme care by understanding the technical capabilities and increasing their competence in detecting disinformation campaigns\u27 powerful influence. The continuous spread of disinformation has caused the credibility and trust of behemoths like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to be significantly affected. Since trust is an essential factor in SMNS, mistrust hinders users\u27 abilities to make informed decisions. Research suggests that people make decisions based on the available information; therefore, it can be deduced that the decision-making process of SMNS users has been forever altered. Consequently, monitoring the spread of disinformation has become a front-burner priority for the government and society. By examining the effect of trust moderated by disinformation, this study aimed to investigate the factors that affect SMNS users\u27 decision-making behaviors. Factors influencing trust were also examined using the Conformity Group Norm Theory (CGNT) and Self Concept Theory (SCT). A theoretical model was created, and there were seven constructs; decision-making (DM), trust (TR), and the trust influencing factors: identification (ID), compliance (CP), internalization (IN), agency (AG), and community (CM). The theoretical model tested was based on the linear directional relationship of trust and decision making moderated by disinformation. This research tested three social media networking sites, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with disinformation empirically. This quantitative study employed a role-play scenario web survey methodology and adopted a two-step Pearson r correlation coefficient procedure for data analysis. Before collecting data, an expert panel reviewed, and pilot tested the survey. The expert review recommended changes to the wording, length, and formatting of the instrument, allowing the pilot test to be easily tested by participants. The web-based scenario survey was designed with a 5- point Likert scale and distributed to SMNS users through Qualtrics XM to gather data on their decision-making process. The data analysis results revealed the moderating effect of disinformation between trust and the decision-making process of SMNS users. The data supported the conformity group norm theory (CGNT) and self-concept theory (SCT) factors. The results indicated that identification (ID), compliance (CP), internalization (IN), agency (AG), and community (CM) influence trust. Since the spread of disinformation through SMNS has much broader implications for democracy and society as a whole, this research\u27s results contribute to the knowledge of SM users\u27 behavior and decision-making processes. This study also contributes to the IS body of knowledge on social cybersecurity and has implications for practitioners and academics. This study offers a model by integrating behavioral and cognitive theories better to understand the directional relationship of trust and decision-making when exposed to disinformation. The model also identifies essential elements that influence SMNS users\u27 trust and engage them in risky cybersecurity behaviors. Furthermore, this study provides evidence of the need for future US social media governance

The Japanese Business System: Key Features and Prospects for Change

This paper argues that the Japanese business system cannot be adequately understood without extending the focus of analysis beyond the individual firm to the vertical keiretsu, or business group. The vertical group or keiretsu structure was first identified and studied in the auto and electronics industries, where it is most strongly marked, but it characterizes virtually all sectors, service industries as well as manufacturing. Large industrial vertical keiretsu are composed of subsidiaries engaged in three distinct types of activities (manufacturing, marketing, and quasirelated business). The coordination and control systems are built on the flows of products, financial resources, information and technology, and people across formal company boundaries, with the parent firm controlling the key flows. The paper examines the prevailing explanations first for the emergence and then for the persistence of the vertical group structure, and looks at the current pressures for change and adaptation in the system

Barbarians' Gate: Inside the Business of Mixed Martial Arts

The business of mixed martial arts has grown over the last decade as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the foremost MMA organization, has flourished. This master's thesis examines four aspects of the sport's boom. The first article explores the effort by the UFC and its allies to overturn New York's 1997 MMA ban and conflicts between the UFC and local MMA supporters. The second article describes the business of MMA in North Carolina since the 2008 legalization of the sport, including the experiences of Walter Smith, an amateur heavyweight fighter. The third article evaluates the UFC's ambition to outstrip the NFL by comparing the popularity of each with Las Vegas sports bettors during the 2012 Super Bowl weekend, when UFC 143, one of the promotion's pay-per-view events, took place in the city. The fourth article, a sidebar to the third, compares boxing and MMA in sports betting terms.Master of Art

Metalinguistic Knowledge and Language Ability in University-Level L2 Learners

Existing research indicates that instructed learners' L2 proficiency and their metalinguistic knowledge are moderately correlated. However, the operationalization of the construct of metalinguistic knowledge has varied somewhat across studies. Metalinguistic knowledge has typically been operationalized as learners' ability to correct, describe, and explain L2 errors. More recently, this operationalization has been extended to additionally include learners' L1 language-analytic ability as measured by tests traditionally used to assess components of language learning aptitude. This article reports on a study which employed a narrowly focused measure of L2 proficiency and incorporated L2 language-analytic ability into a measure of metalinguistic knowledge. It was found that the linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge of advanced university-level L1 English learners of L2 German correlated strongly. Moreover, the outcome of a principal components analysis suggests that learners' ability to correct, describe, and explain highlighted L2 errors and their L2 language-analytic ability may constitute components of the same construct. The theoretical implications of these findings for the concept of metalinguistic knowledge in L2 learning are considered. © Oxford University Press 2007

Learning from the world? Horizontal knowledge flows and geopolitics in international consulting firms

This paper examines the nature of the contemporary multinational corporation (MNC) through a study of the use of knowledge management systems (KMS) in four major international consulting firms. In particular, we explore whether and how such systems facilitate horizontal (inter-subsidiary) flows of knowledge, as described in the network view of the MNC. Our analysis reveals the presence of horizontal flows within the four firms, but flows that are contextually constrained and partly shaped by geopolitical power relations. Thus, our study gives some support to the image of the MNC as a network whilst highlighting the contextual limits of horizontal knowledge transfer and, importantly, the geopolitical conditions under which such knowledge transfer takes place. At the same time, it challenges the claim that consulting firms are model organizations in the area of knowledge management as well as the more negative view that questions the ability of KMS to facilitate knowledge transfer

Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking

Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects