An Exploratory Look at Attributes of Internet Use and Adoption by Franchisees

2011 ◽  
pp. 93-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelley O’Reilly ◽  
Zsolt Ugray
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
New Technology ◽  
End User ◽  
Business Leadership ◽  
Project Costs ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
The Voice

This case study explores the attitudes and perceptions of franchise owner-operators in regard to their acceptance of advanced Internet innovation and technologies. Because these franchisees serve a dual role as both the decision maker and the end user of new technology and innovation, they provide a dichotomy of perspectives that yield insights into many aspects of business leadership, customer service, and operational proficiency. Findings suggest five key attributes of Internet use and adoption by franchisees. The data in this exploratory case study also reveals three areas of disparity regarding franchisee behavior worthy of consideration by practitioners and academics: (1) The inward focus of franchisees, (2) project costs are considered superficially, and (3) the micro SME as change agent. This research is significant and accretive by capturing the voice of franchisees in regard to Internet acceptance and by providing a strategic look at how the franchise micro SME is significantly different than non-franchised and larger SMEs.

scholarly journals Eavesmining: A Critical Audit of the Amazon Echo and Alexa Conditions of Use

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Neville
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sound Studies ◽  
Smart Environments ◽  
End User ◽  
Digital Infrastructure ◽  
Acoustic Space ◽  
Personal Assistants ◽  
The Voice

The emergence of smart speakers and voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) calls for updated scrutiny and theorization of auditory surveillance. This paper introduces the neologism and concept of “eavesmining” (eavesdropping + data mining) to characterize a mode of surveillance that operates on the edge of acoustic space and digital infrastructure. In contributing to a sonic epistemology of surveillance, I explain how eavesmining platforms and processes burrow the voice as a medium between sound and data and articulate the acoustic excavation of smart environments. The paper discusses eavesmining in relation to theories of dataveillance, the sensor society, and surveillance capitalism before outlining the potential contributions offered by a theoretical alignment with sound studies literature. The paper centers on an empirical case study of the Amazon Echo and Alexa conditions of use. By conducting a discourse analysis of Amazon’s End User Agreements (EUAs), I provide evidence in support of growing privacy and surveillance concerns produced by Amazon’s eavesmining platform that are obfuscated by the illegibility of the documents.

Implementation of a Network Print Management System

2011 ◽  
pp. 311-329
Author(s):  
George Kelley ◽  
Elizabeth A. Regan ◽  
C. Steven Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
New Technology ◽  
End User ◽  
Regional University ◽  
Computer Classrooms ◽  
Analysis Design ◽  
Student Fees ◽  
Computer Labs

To manage the rapidly growing demands and costs of providing campus print services, a regional university of about 9,000 students turned to a well-known outsourcing vendor. The new Network Print Management System (NPMS) replaced 35 networked printers in the library, open-access computer labs, and computer classrooms in more than 10 different buildings. The initiative had several key objectives: to increase student access to printers, to improve the quality of print services, to decrease printing costs and environmental impact, and to avoid increasing student fees. The project also sought to reduce departmental printing costs, fund technology upgrades, and reduce the burden of printer maintenance on university technology staff. This case study tells the story of the planning, analysis, design, implementation, and realization of the new system, which proved more complex than anticipated. It offers an interesting mix of perspectives, sometimes conflicting, on outsourcing implementation of new technology in a complex end-user environment.

Blockchain in Supply Chain: Case Study of Lottemart Ciputat

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. K. Handoyo ◽  
M. R. Mashudi ◽  
H. P. Ipung
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Production Processes

Current supply chain methods are having difficulties in resolving problems arising from the lack of trust in supply chains. The root reason lies in two challenges brought to the traditional mechanism: self-interests of supply chain members and information asymmetry in production processes. Blockchain is a promising technology to address these problems. The key objective of this paper is to present qualitative analysis for blockchain in supply chain as the decision-making framework to implement this new technology. The analysis method used Val IT business case framework, validated by the expert judgements. The further study needs to be elaborated by either the existing organization that use blockchain or assessment by the organization that will use blockchain to improve their supply chain management.

Possessing the Iconic Book

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 309-329
Author(s):  
Claudia V. Camp
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iconic Status ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Woman Wisdom ◽  
Martin Marty

I propose that the notion of possession adds an important ideological nuance to the analyses of iconic books set forth by Martin Marty (1980) and, more recently, by James Watts (2006). Using the early second century BCE book of Sirach as a case study, I tease out some of the symbolic dynamics through which the Bible achieved iconic status in the first place, that is, the conditions in which significance was attached to its material, finite shape. For Ben Sira, this symbolism was deeply tied to his honor-shame ethos in which women posed a threat to the honor of his eternal name, a threat resolved through his possession of Torah figured as the Woman Wisdom. What my analysis suggests is that the conflicted perceptions of gender in Ben Sira’s text is fundamental to his appropriation of, and attempt to produce, authoritative religious literature, and thus essential for understanding his relationship to this emerging canon. Torah, conceived as female, was the core of this canon, but Ben Sira adds his own literary production to this female “body” (or feminized corpus, if you will), becoming the voice of both through the experience of perfect possession.

It's Not Just a Job Anymore: The Influence of Cultural Change on Student Services Staff in a Community College

NASPA Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary G. Locke ◽  
Lucy M. Guglielmino
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Student Services ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Planned Change ◽  
Change Initiative ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Today’s colleges and universities operate in a complex environment characterized by rapid and unrelenting change, and nowhere do the challenges inherent in change more directly impact students than in the delivery of student services. The need to integrate new models of service delivery, data-driven approaches to enrollment management, greater accountability for student success, stronger emphasis on customer service, and provision of “anytime, anyplace” services through technology are readily evident. Yet, many institutions are finding that their internal cultures are unreceptive, even hostile, toward adopting needed changes. This qualitative case study focusing on a 4- year purposeful change initiative at a community college was conducted to provide higher educational leaders with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the influence of cultural change on student services staff. The results of this study indicated that student services staff constituted a distinct subculture that perceived, experienced, responded to, and influenced planned change differently from other subcultural groups. Specifically, student services staff more demonstrably supported the purpose of the change initiative; identified empowerment, inclusion and involvement in college decision-making, and improved lines of communication as the most important impacts of the change process; and expressed strong confidence regarding the sustainability of the changes that had occurred. Student services staff also indicated that they found greater meaning and developed stronger commitment to their work as a result of the change process. As a result of these findings, implications and strategies that may be helpful in designing and implementing a successful planned change initiative involving student services personnel are presented.

scholarly journals Continuous Based Direct Ink Write for Tubular Cardiovascular Medical Devices

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Enric Casanova-Batlle ◽  
Antonio J. Guerra ◽  
Joaquim Ciurana
Keyword(s):  
Medical Devices ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Vascular Grafts ◽  
Mechanical Resistance ◽  
Medical Applications ◽  
End User ◽  
Cardiovascular Stents ◽  
Direct Ink Writing ◽  
Late Restenosis ◽  
Printing Parameters

Bioresorbable cardiovascular applications are increasing in demand as fixed medical devices cause episodes of late restenosis. The autologous treatment is, so far, the gold standard for vascular grafts due to the similarities to the replaced tissue. Thus, the possibility of customizing each application to its end user is ideal for treating pathologies within a dynamic system that receives constant stimuli, such as the cardiovascular system. Direct Ink Writing (DIW) is increasingly utilized for biomedical purposes because it can create composite bioinks by combining polymers and materials from other domains to create DIW-printable materials that provide characteristics of interest, such as anticoagulation, mechanical resistance, or radiopacity. In addition, bioinks can be tailored to encounter the optimal rheological properties for the DIW purpose. This review delves into a novel emerging field of cardiovascular medical applications, where this technology is applied in the tubular 3D printing approach. Cardiovascular stents and vascular grafts manufactured with this new technology are reviewed. The advantages and limitations of blending inks with cells, composite materials, or drugs are highlighted. Furthermore, the printing parameters and the different possibilities of designing these medical applications have been explored.

Feelings of Quarantine: Allegories for the Lockdown

2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110040
Author(s):  
Linus Paul Frederic Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Subjective Meaning ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Creative Self ◽  
Life Script ◽  
The Voice

This case study shows how allegories are a means to express the inexpressible and how Allegory Analysis can be a method to reveal it and bring out the subjective meaning making, life script ideology, and capability to deal with the ambivalent in critical life situations. From a cultural psychological perspective, the research is based on feelings during the quasi-quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study tries to understand the coping strategies with which people deal with a psychological crisis in general concerning for the COVID-19 lockdown. It discusses further ways to deal with the ambivalences and subjective meaning making arousing through such a crisis. The case study analysis of Miss K. not only showed her meaning making processes and attitude of life but also showed how to deal with the uncertainty during the critical lockdown period. Through her allegories, she utters her current life script ideology that living nowadays means to function like a machine while being creative, self-reflective at the same time. Her meaning making process counterbalanced between the voice of being delivered to withdrawal or depression versus the voice of being able to learn, connect, and relax. Her coping strategy was bearing the ambivalence in a psychological crisis with faith.

scholarly journals Using Design Thinking Principles to Improve Outpatients’ Experiences in Hospital Pharmacies: A Case Study of Two Hospitals in Asir Region, Saudi Arabia

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 854
Author(s):  
Dalia Almaghaslah ◽  
Abdulrhman Alsayari ◽  
Saleh Ali Alyahya ◽  
Rana Alshehri ◽  
Khawlah Alqadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Management System ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Queue Management ◽  
End User ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Hospital Pharmacies ◽  
Asir Region

Introduction: Design thinking, an innovative problem-solving approach, has gained wide popularity in healthcare disciplines. The aim of this work is to improve outpatients’ experiences in hospital pharmacies in two hospitals in Asir region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: The design thinking approach, adopted from Stanford University’s D-School, was used in this study. Results: Several problems were identified: lack of comfortable environment in the pharmacies’ waiting area, lack of a queue management system, and workflow inefficiencies related to ordering and supplies of medicines. A prototype was proposed to overcome these challenges. Discussion and Conclusion: The design thinking approach helped in identifying end-user (patients visiting outpatient pharmacies) values and desires and provided an understanding of their struggles. It also proposed tailored solutions that could improve patients’ experiences while using the services of the outpatient pharmacies.

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