Consumerization of Information Technology: Drivers, Benefits and Challenges for New Zealand Corporates

<p>Consumerization of Information Technology (IT) is a trend where people bring in personal technologies to work. This research reports on the state of this trend in corporate New Zealand (NZ) and concentrates on three areas, its drivers, benefits and challenges. In a qualitative approach, data was collected through interviews and a focus group discussion. The responses reveal that the corporate challenges of consumerization exceed the benefits, and not many complete and affordable solutions for the businesses are available. Most important risks identified are around protecting sensitive corporate information and meeting legal obligations. Recent economic downturn is a further contributory factor affecting the budgetary and resource decisions at the workplace. The research observed the trade and market-research journals, exhibitions, and seminars, are supporting and influencing IT decision makers on their constant lookout for latest developments in this area. As the responses were not bound by set questionnaires, a large number of unique viewpoints were elicited through the research, which does not appear in existing publications. The study also finds consumerization in NZ is at an early stage, and little research has been done on it.</p>

Consumerization of Information Technology: Drivers, Benefits and Challenges for New Zealand Corporates

<p>Consumerization of Information Technology (IT) is a trend where people bring in personal technologies to work. This research reports on the state of this trend in corporate New Zealand (NZ) and concentrates on three areas, its drivers, benefits and challenges. In a qualitative approach, data was collected through interviews and a focus group discussion. The responses reveal that the corporate challenges of consumerization exceed the benefits, and not many complete and affordable solutions for the businesses are available. Most important risks identified are around protecting sensitive corporate information and meeting legal obligations. Recent economic downturn is a further contributory factor affecting the budgetary and resource decisions at the workplace. The research observed the trade and market-research journals, exhibitions, and seminars, are supporting and influencing IT decision makers on their constant lookout for latest developments in this area. As the responses were not bound by set questionnaires, a large number of unique viewpoints were elicited through the research, which does not appear in existing publications. The study also finds consumerization in NZ is at an early stage, and little research has been done on it.</p>

Simulation of ecohydrological processes influencing water supplies in the Tuul River watershed of Mongolia

Achieving sufficient water supplies for multiple uses in the watershed is a major public policy issue. Understanding the current ecohydrologic processes is essential to assess potential impacts on hydrologic regimes. The Tuul River (TR) watershed faces a cold, continental climate with water supply variability. This study aims to simulate watershed processes in the TR watershed and subbasins and analyze the influences of those processes on water resources. Watershed hydrologic processes and their impact on the water resources are modeled using the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Calibration and validation were conducted using R2, PBIAS, RSR, and NSE to assess the effectiveness of the SWAT model to replicate annual, monthly streamflow values. The spatial and temporal variations in watershed processes are critical for water resource decisions. With increasing uncertainty and scarcity in water resources, simulation modeling is a valuable tool in watershed management in regions with water scarcity.

EXPRESS: Unbundling the Effects of Internationalization on Firm Performance in Emerging Economies: The Moderating Effects of Strategic Resource Decisions

We investigate how strategic resource decisions—concerning slack resources and strategic marketing ambidexterity—influence the relationship between internationalization and firm performance of emerging market firms. Based upon the resource-based view, we synthesize two dominant, yet divergent, perspectives that explain the respective resource slack advantages and liabilities in the internationalization literature: the flexible capacity and the efficient capacity perspectives. We also explore the moderating role of strategic marketing ambidexterity which comprises a bundle of marketing activities covering both exploitation-dominant actions and exploration-dominant actions. We empirically examine our hypothesized relationships with data from a sample of 1,683 firm-year observations for the period between 2005 and 2018 and find that distinct forms of resource slacks have contrasting effects on the relationship between internationalization and performance. Our results provide strong evidence for positive moderation effect of unabsorbed slack resources and a negative moderation effect of absorbed slack resources on the internationalization-performance relationship. We also indicate nonsignificant moderating effect of strategic marketing ambidexterity, demonstrating that internationalization attains higher firm performance regardless of its exploration-dominant or exploitation-dominant strategic emphasis in emerging economies.

Upward Ingratiation Outside the Workplace and Supervisor’s Human Resource Decisions: Moderating Effect of Zhongyong Thinking

Ingratiation is a common strategy for subordinates to deal with their supervisors in eastern and western societies. Based on the theory of impression management, this study focuses on the impact of upward ingratiation outside the workplace on supervisor’s human resource (HR) decisions in the Chinese context and the mechanism behind this impact. The data were collected from 252 supervisor-subordinate dyads in four manufacturing firms. The results demonstrate the following: first, supervisors hold a more favorable view of upward ingratiation outside the workplace; second, upward ingratiation outside the workplace has a positive effect on the supervisor’s chance of promotion and bonus allocation decisions, and leader-member exchange (LMX) plays a mediation role in this influence; third, Zhongyong thinking (ZYT) moderates the relationship between LMX and supervisor’s chance of promotion and bonus allocation decisions; and finally, ZYT moderates the indirect effect of ingratiation behavior outside the workplace on supervisor’s chance of promotion and bonus allocation decisions through LMX, and the mediated relationship is weakened when a supervisor has a higher level of ZYT. This is one of the first empirical studies, which examines the validity of subordinate’s upward ingratiation outside the workplace from the perspective of supervisor’s ZYT. This study plays an important role in highlighting the effect of ZYT on the ingratiation behavior.

Resource Allocation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Contributions to an Ethical Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic worldwide consequences affecting social, economic and healthcare systems. Considering that the number of infected patients requiring admission to intensive care units far exceeded the available resources, healthcare professionals have had to face challenging decisions concerning who should benefit from the limited resources and who should not. In this context, after a careful ethical reflection, we propose some principles to be adopted when dealing with allocation resource decisions, based on core ethical values. Ideally, these strategies should be established and integrated into institutional policies before a crisis scenario, in order to anticipate a potential new public health emergency and prevent possible tragic consequences.

Species-specific thermal classification schemes can improve climate related marine resource decisions

Global climate change increasingly contributes to large changes in ecosystem structure. Timely management of rapidly changing marine ecosystems must be matched with methods to rapidly quantify and assess climate driven impacts to ecological communities. Here we create a species-specific, classification system for fish thermal affinities, using three quantifiable datasets and expert opinion. Multiple sources of information limit potential data bias and avoid misclassification. Using a temperate kelp forest fish community in California, USA as a test case for this new methodology, we found the majority of species had high classification agreement across all four data sources (n = 78) but also a number of low agreement species (2 sources disagree from the others, n = 47). For species with low agreement, use of just one dataset to classify species, as is commonly done, would lead to high risk of misclassification. Differences in species classification between individual datasets and our composite classification were apparent. Applying different thermal classifications, lead to different conclusions when quantifying ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ species density responses to a marine heatwave. Managers can use this classification approach as a tool to generate accurate, timely and simple information for resource management.

Institutional Variation, Professionalization, and State Implementation Choices: An Examination of Investment in Water Quality Across the 50 States

The question of the effect of administrative arrangements on program administration and program outcomes is a central question for those interested in policy implementation. In the implementation of federal programs, the specific state-level administrative arrangements can have a significant impact not only on resource distribution patterns, but also on the ability of involved agencies to secure adequate state resources for the program. This paper addresses this question through the lens of the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund program designed to fund water quality infrastructure. Employing a dataset covering nearly thirty years of state-level data, we find that measures of administrative structure and state capability are more powerful explanators of state resource decisions than are more standard explanations of politics, needs, and ideology.

Solar Energy in Utility Integrated Resource Plans: Factors That Can Impact Customer Clean Energy Goals

Many electric utilities utilize Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) to develop and communicate a long-term vision for their resource development. As such, IRPs play a significant role in solar development and in how customers achieve their clean energy goals. For large-scale energy customers, including corporations and local governments, understanding how IRP processes impact resource decisions—and how this relates to achieving their clean energy targets—can influence their engagement with utilities and regulators. A range of barriers can limit solar energy in IRPs, including outdated or unfounded solar technology assumptions and modeling practices that do not enable solar to compete fairly with other resources in the process. These barriers can reduce the amount of solar in the grid mix or available to customers through utility programs, impacting the ability of customers to meet their clean energy targets. This working paper aims to raise awareness among large-scale customers, utilities, and regulators of some of the current barriers that limit solar energy in utility IRPs.

Solar Energy in Utility Integrated Resource Plans: Factors That Can Impact Customer Clean Energy Goals

Many electric utilities utilize Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) to develop and communicate a long-term vision for their resource development. As such, IRPs play a significant role in solar development and in how customers achieve their clean energy goals. For large-scale energy customers, including corporations and local governments, understanding how IRP processes impact resource decisions—and how this relates to achieving their clean energy targets—can influence their engagement with utilities and regulators. A range of barriers can limit solar energy in IRPs, including outdated or unfounded solar technology assumptions and modeling practices that do not enable solar to compete fairly with other resources in the process. These barriers can reduce the amount of solar in the grid mix or available to customers through utility programs, impacting the ability of customers to meet their clean energy targets. This working paper aims to raise awareness among large-scale customers, utilities, and regulators of some of the current barriers that limit solar energy in utility IRPs.