Diffusion of personalized e-government services among Dutch municipalities: An empirical investigation and explanation

This article describes the trend of personalization in electronic service delivery, with a special focus on municipal electronic service delivery in the Netherlands. Personalization of electronic services refers to the one-to-one citizen orientation using authentication, profiling and customization techniques. The percentage of Dutch municipalities offering services through personalized electronic counters has increased from 14% (2006) to 28% (2009). Using binary logistic regression analyses of 2008 survey data, it is concluded that personalization is positively associated with size of municipalities but not with e-government and policy innovation statements, nor with explicit political responsibility with respect to e-government development. Based on these findings, alternative explanations for the adoption and diffusion of personalized e-government services are suggested. Copyrigh

Case Study Method and Research Design: Flexibility or Availability for the Novice Researcher?

Case study is prominent in qualitative research literature, yet the methodologists do not have a full consensus on whether it is an approach, a method, a methodology or a design. Perhaps this flexibility contributes to ambiguity for the burgeoning researcher. The works of prominent methodologists, namely Robert Yin, Sharan Merriam, Robert Stake are explored as I attempt define case study and then explain how I have utilised ‘An Interactive Model of Research Design’ (Maxwell, 2009) as a ‘road map’ for engaging case study to investigate current practices in inclusivity and wellbeing. My contribution is to be a provocateur and explore the question: how do you surface deep knowledge in your interview participants? This chapter is designed to contribute knowledge to the field of research, specifically methodological information for the novice researcher considering using case study as a research method. Dually this chapter seeks to bring into focus examples of case study method applied to explore inclusion and wellbeing

Virtual reality in medical education

The aim of this research is to examine student acceptance and use of virtual reality technologies in medical education. Within the scope of the research, a questionnaire consisting of 4 sub-dimensions and 21 items was developed by the researchers. This questionnaire consists of sub-dimensions of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence. The study was conducted on 421 university students who participated in courses and activities related to the use of virtual reality applications in medical education. The findings of the research demonstrated that the students’ acceptance and use of virtual reality applications were high in medical education. Various suggestions were made for researchers and educators in accordance with the findings

The impact of cross-cultural factors on heavy engineering projects: Case Kenya and UK

Managing in today’s environment provides many challenges and project teams are frequently confronted with situations which challenge the traditional ways projects have been managed. Project success is dependent upon the effective management of people and at the heart of this process is client leadership. Terms such as responsive project manager, issue resolution and value criteria are increasing in popularity, however, dealing with the mutual inconsistency these three terms provides a challenge to most of today’s multinational construction organizations. In spite of recent extensive research, there has been little consideration given to how to classify success factors that influence cross-cultural project team performance. The reported research employed both in-depth interviews and postal questionnaires methodologies to capture the relevant experiences of senior managers in Kenya and the UK. The results were grouped under three major headings: (i) monitoring project team performance; (ii) achieving team goals; and (iii) maintaining team affiliations. The project leaders agreed that successful cross-cultural project team performance can be achieved by creating an effective integrated cross-cultural construction team. The findings accentuates a need for future research into project success factors to investigate the experiences of virtual project leaders and the difficulties faced in realizing effective project team performance

The Effects of National Culture on Social Commerce and Online Fashion Purchase Intention

This chapter investigates the effects of national culture on social commerce and in turn, online fashion purchase intention. Using a deductive approach, hypotheses were developed that sit within the context of shopping for fashion products online. A quantitative research instrument was developed to test for difference between Chinese and British online fashion consumers. Results show that national culture has a significant influence on social commerce engagement, with Chinese participants found to be greatly influenced by their social group when shopping online. The study also found that purchase intention is positively influenced by social commerce engagement across both cultures. As this study argues that global fashion consumers are not homogenous in their shopping habits, fashion brands are advised to acknowledge cultural difference across markets to ensure an optimal shopping experience. Investment in website localisation using local expertise should increase purchase intention in overseas markets