Towards an e-Service Knowledge System for Improving the Quality and Adoption of e-Services

The purpose of this article is to highlight the limitations and drawbacks of existing knowledge about e-service quality and e-service user acceptance. To overcome these limitations we will propose some solutions. An extensive review of relevant literature has shown that a lot of research has already been conducted in this field. However, there is still a gap between the percentage of existing e-services and the percentage of those that are actually being used. We believe that existing knowledge could be better used by e-service researchers and especially by e-service providers, if they would have a knowledge system that would be capable of synthesizing the existing knowledge and presenting it in a more people-friendly format. The practical outcome of this article is a proposal for an e-service knowledge system, which could be used to improve the quality and user acceptance of e-services

Understanding the everyday designer in organisations

This paper builds upon the existing concept of an everyday designer as a non-expert designer who carries out design activities using available resources in a given environment. It does so by examining the design activities undertaken by non-expert, informal, designers in organisations who make use of the formal and informal technology already in use in organisations while designing to direct, influence, change or transform the practices of people in the organisation. These people represent a cohort of designers who are given little attention in the literature on information systems, despite their central role in the formation of practice and enactment of technology in organisations. The paper describes the experiences of 18 everyday designers in an academic setting using three concepts: everyday designer in an organisation, empathy through design and experiencing an awareness gap. These concepts were constructed through the analysis of in-depth interviews with the participants. The paper concludes with a call for tool support for everyday designers in organisations to enable them to better understand the audience for whom they are designing and the role technology plays in the organisation

Technology Acceptance Model y mayores: ¿la educación y la actividad laboral desarrollada son variables moderadoras?

ResumenEl objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la influencia, como variables moderadoras, del nivel educativo y la actividad laboral desarrollada por los mayores de 50 años en su proceso de aceptación de Internet, dentro del marco del modelo TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). Proponemos un modelo basado en TAM, testado mediante PLS y multi-grupo para comprobar el cumplimiento de las hipótesis de moderación propuestas. Los resultados apoyan la idoneidad del modelo aunque el poder moderador de la actividad laboral no es significativo mientras que el nivel educativo tiene mayor capacidad explicativa en el caso de los mayores sin estudios universitarios. A su vez el TAM se muestra como una herramienta apropiada para explicar la heterogeneidad de los mayores con respecto a Internet.AbstractOur aim in this work is to analyze the impact, as moderator variables, of the level of education and the profession on the Internet acceptance level in people older than 50 years old. We propose a model based on a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We contrast the moderator hypotheses proposed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and multi-group analysis. The results support the suitability of the model showing a non-significant moderator effect of the profession, whereas the education level presents a higher explanatory power for older adults with no university degree. In addition, TAM appears to be an appropriatetool to explain the heterogeneity of this segment as regards the Internet

Understanding consumer adoption of mobile payment in India: Extending Meta-UTAUT model with personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal

YesMobile payments are the future as we move towards a cashless society. In some markets, cash is already being replaced by digital transactions, but consumers of many developing countries are slower in transition towards digital payments. This study aims to identify major determinants of consumer mobile payment adoption in India the country with second largest mobile subscribers in the world. Existing mobile payments adoption studies have predominantly utilised Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was primarily developed in organisational context and criticised for having deterministic approach without much consideration for users’ individual characteristics. Therefore, this study adapted meta-UTAUT model with individual difference variable attitude as core construct and extended the model with consumer related constructs such as personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal. Empirical examination of the model among 491 Indian consumers revealed performance expectancy, intention to use, and grievance redressal as significant positive predictor of consumer use behaviour towards mobile payment. Moreover, intention to use was significantly influenced by attitude, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The major contribution of this study includes re-affirming the central role of attitude in consumer adoption studies and examining usage behaviour in contrast to most existing studies, which examine only behavioural intention

Legal protection for children and children\u27s rights in hospital

Otrokove pravice so tudi človekove pravice, zrelosti in starosti primerne. Uresničevanje in spoštovanje pravic otrok in mladostnikov, posebej v času bolezni in hospitalizacije ni le obveza zaradi zakonov in predpisov, temveč zavest vsakega zdravstvenega delavca in sodelavca, da dela vedno v korist otroka, ne glede na okoliščine. Otroci niso pomanjšani odrasli, zato jih je potrebno upoštevati in sprejemati kot subjekt. Bolni otroci in mladostniki si v bolnišnici zaslužijo popolno varnost, skrb in zdravstveno obravnavo. Pravice so enako pomembne za vse otroke. Raziskovalna metodologija. V raziskavi je bila uporabljena kvantitativna metodologija. Podatke smo dobili z delno strukturiranim vprašalnikom o spoštovanju otrokovih pravic v bolnišnici. Raziskovalni vzorec je zajemal 59 zdravstvenih delavcev in sodelavcev, zaposlenih najmanj dve leti na otroških oddelkih dvanajstih slovenskih bolnišnic. Rezultati. Rezultati raziskave kažejo, da se pravica do najvišje dosegljive ravni zdravstvenega varstva, pravica do informiranja in sodelovanja otrok, mladostnikov in staršev pri vseh odločitvah povezanih z zdravstveno obravnavo, pravica do varovanja otrok in mladostnikov pred vsemi oblikami nasilja, v času pred, med in po hospitalizaciji, v slovenskih bolnišnicah na otroških oddelkih, uresničujejo in spoštujejo bistveno bolj kot v preteklosti. Odkrito spregovorijo tudi o pomanjkljivostih in predlagajo vrsto izboljšav v prid hospitaliziranih otrok, mladostnikov in njihovih staršev. Prepoznajo pomanjkljivosti na področju komunikacije z otroci, mladostniki in njihovimi starši. Sklep. Zdravstveni delavci in sodelavci v slovenskih bolnišnicah spoštujejo in uresničujejo pravice hospitaliziranih otrok, podobno kot v državah v Evropi in v svetu. Zavedajo se, da le z dobrim teoretičnim znanjem in praktičnimi izkušnjami lahko uresničijo in spoštujejo pravice hospitaliziranih otrok in mladostnikov ter staršev, kar je dobra popotnica na poti do popolnega spoštovanja pravic, posebej v času otrokove bolezni in hospitalizacije.The children\u27s rights are also the human rights, appropriate to age and maturity. The exercise and respect of children’s and adolescents’ rights, especially during illness and hospitalization, is not only an obligation by virtue of laws and regulations, but also the conscious of each medical and allied professional, always to act in favour of a child, no matter what circumstances are. Children are not diminished adults, therefore we have to pay regard to them and accept them as persons, not as objects. Sick children and adolescents deserve the total safety, care and medical treatment while they are in hospital. All rights are equally important for all children. Research methodology. In the research the quantitative methodology was applied. The data had been gained by the partly structured questionnaire on the respect of children’s rights in hospital. The research sample comprised 59 medical and allied professionals, working at least two years on the paediatric wards of twelve Slovenian hospitals. Results. The results of this research show that the right to the highest attainable level of health care, the right of children, adolescents and their parents to be informed and take part in all decisions regarding the medical treatment, the right of children and adolescents to be protected from all forms of violence before, during and after the hospitalization, that all these rights are exercised and respected on the paediatric wards of Slovenian hospitals much more than in the past. The medical professionals speak straightforward about deficiencies, suggesting number of improvements in favour of the hospitalized children and adolescents. They also recognize the lacks in communication with children, adolescents and their parents. Conclusion. Medical and allied professionals in Slovenian hospitals respect and exercise the rights of hospitalized children, similarly as in individual European countries and worldwide. They realize that only by good theoretical knowledge and practical experience it is possible to exercise and respect the rights of hospitalized children/adolescents and their parents, which is a good provision on the way to the total respect of rights, particularly during the child’s illness and hospitalization

Calculation of net present value and internal rate of return for investments in the production of tomatoes in the greenhouse

V tem magistrskem delu smo proučili ekonomski in finančni vidik upravičenosti investicije. To delo je razdeljeno na tri dele, in sicer na pregled objav, na material in metode ter na rezultate z razpravo. Cilj le-tega je bil izračunati ključne parametre finančne analize in ugotoviti najdonosnejšo investicijo. Pri pregledu objav smo predstavili izsledke iz različne domače in tuje literature, virov ter člankov, in sicer glede investicijskega odločanja, vrednotenja-ocenjevanja investicijskih objektov, NSV, ISD ter primerjave NSV in ISD. Ugotovili smo, da sta metodi NSV ter ISD najbolj uveljavljeni tradicionalni metodi za ocenjevanje upravičenosti investicije. Na njuni podlagi smo opravili izračune glede ugotavljanja smotrnosti naše investicije v rastlinjak. V poglavju, v katerem smo opredelili material in metode dela, smo opisali investicijo, ocenili materiale, stroške in prihodke ter izračunali denarni tok. Izvedli smo dve oceni investicije, in sicer za 2 in 4,5 hektarja rastlinjaka, pri katerih smo uporabili različne scenarije, in sicer scenarij A, pri katerem sta cena (EUR) in pridelava (kg) konstanti, scenarij B, pri katerem je pridelava (kg) konstanta in cena (EUR) spremenljivka, ter scenarij C, pri katerem je cena (EUR) konstanta in pridelava (kg) spremenljivka. Za izračun upravičenosti investicije smo zajeli obdobje trinajstih let. Ugotovili smo, da bodo stroški materialov in ostali stroški pri obeh površinah pri scenariju A v drugem letu najvišji, nato pa bodo vsako leto padali. Pri scenariju B so prav tako stroški najvišji v drugem letu, nato pa bodo vsako leto nižji. Pri scenariju C so stroški prav tako najvišji v drugem letu, nato pa bodo padali. Stroški materiala in ostali stroški so v drugem letu najvišji zaradi vložka v investicijo. Pri izračunu predvidenih stroškov (scenarij A) smo pri obeh površinah ugotovili, da so prihodki vsako leto konstantni. Pri scenariju B in C smo ocenili, da prihodkov v prvem letu ne bomo imeli, nato pa bodo vsako leto naraščali. Denarni tok smo izračunali na podlagi predvidenih skupnih prihodkov in predvidenih skupnih stroškov, pri čemer v skupnih stroških nismo upoštevali amortizacije. Ugotovili smo, da je pri obeh površinah (scenarij A) denarni tok pozitiven, kar pomeni, da je investicija upravičena. Če primerjamo denarni tok po scenariju B, ugotovimo, da je investicija za 4,5 hektarja smotrnejša od investicije za 2 hektarja rastlinjaka, ker je denarni tok pozitiven že v petem letu, medtem ko je za manjšo površino šele v šestem letu. Po scenariju C je pri obeh površinah denarni tok v prvem letu negativen, kar pomeni, da sta v tem letu obe investiciji neupravičeni. Na podlagi izračuna NSV in ISD smo ugotovili, da je investicija smiselna na večji površini.In this master thesis, we studied the economic and financial aspect of the eligibility of the investment. This thesis is divided into three parts, namely the review of publications, material and methods, and the results with the discussion. The aim was to calculate key parameters of financial analysis and determine the most profitable investment. When reviewing the publications, we made summaries from a variety of domestic and foreign literature, resources and articles, in terms of investment decision-making, evaluation - evaluation of investment facilities, NPV, IRR, and NPV and IRR comparisons. We have found out that the methods of NPV and IRR are the most renowned traditional methods for assessing the eligibility of the investment. Based on which, we performed calculations of determining the performance of our investments in the greenhouse. In the chapter, where we have identified material and methods of work, we described the investment itself, evaluated materials, costs and revenues, and calculated the cash flow. We carried out two evaluations of the investment for 2 and 4.5 hectares of greenhouse, where we used different scenarios, namely a scenario A where the price (EUR) and production (kg) are constant, and scenario B, where production (kg) is a constant and price (EUR) is a variable, and scenario C, where the price (EUR) is constant and production (kg) is a variable. To calculate the viability of investment, we covered a period of thirteen years. We have found that the cost of materials and other costs will be the highest in both areas in scenario A in the second year and, then they will fall each year. In scenario B, the costs are the highest in the second year, and then they will get lower each year. In scenario C, the costs will also be higher in the second year, and then they will fall. The cost of material and other costs are the highest in the second year due to the investment input. In calculating the estimated costs (scenario A) we found out for both areas that revenues are constant each year. In scenario B and scenario C it was estimated that there will be no revenue in the first year, and then they will grow each year. Cash flow was calculated on the basis of the overall revenue and estimated total costs. The total costs did not take into account depreciation. We have found that for both areas (scenario A), the cash flow is positive, which means that the investment is justified. If we compare the cash flow under the scenario B, we find that it is better to invest for 4.5 hectares than 2 hectares of greenhouse, because the cash flow is already positive for the fifth year, while for the smaller area only in the sixth year. According to scenario C, for both areas the cash flow is negative in the first year, which means that, in this year both investments are ineligible. On the basis of the calculation of NPV and IRR, we found that the investment makes sense on a larger area

Intelligent user interfaces and their evaluation: a systematic mapping study

Intelligent user interfaces (IUI) are driven by the goal of improvement in human–computer interaction (HCI), mainly improving user interfaces’ user experience (UX) or usability with the help of artificial intelligence. The main goal of this study is to find, assess, and synthesize existing state-of-the-art work in the field of IUI with an additional focus on the evaluation of IUI. This study analyzed 211 studies published in the field between 2012 and 2022. Studies are most frequently tied to HCI and SE domains. Definitions of IUI were observed, showing that adaptation, representation, and intelligence are key characteristics associated with IUIs, whereas adaptation, reasoning, and representation are the most commonly used verbs in their description. Evaluation of IUI is mainly conducted with experiments and questionnaires, though usability and UX are not considered together in evaluations. Most evaluations (81% of studies) reported partial or complete improvement in usability or UX. A shortage of evaluation tools, methods, and metrics, tailored for IUI, is noticed. Most often, empirical data collection methods and data sources in IUI evaluation studies are experiment, prototype development, and questionnaire