Impact of Prior Usage Experience on the Intention to Adopt 3G Mobile Service for the Youth in Hong Kong

Third generation (3G) mobile service has been launched for several years and yet the information systems (IS) community has not yet gained a full understanding of how various technological and social factors affect the intention to adopt this technology. This study probes into this issue using the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) (Rogers, 1995) along with two other constructs, i.e., subjective norms and perceived security on 3G mobile service. Using survey data collected from the youth of Hong Kong, the author notices that observability and complexity are IDT factors that affect the intention to adopt 3G mobile service by experienced users, i.e., who are current users of 2G or 2.5G mobile service. Plus subjective norms and perceived security are factors considered by both experienced and inexperienced users. Recommendations are provided to mobile service operators and developers in developing their rollout strategy in the mobile service market.

Service Quality Dimensions Within Technology-Based Banking Services

Technology-based banking services (TBBS) are quickly expanding and provide cost reductions per transaction, given increasing labor costs. However, TBBS can be very costly if not introduced correctly. It is critical to have a clear understanding regarding how to best implement, manage, and promote TBBS for success. The purpose of this quantitative correlational descriptive research study is to determine if a set of technology-based banking service quality dimensions have an association with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions toward TBBS in Yemen. Findings revealed evidence that seven service quality dimensions—functionality, enjoyment, security, assurance, design, convenience, and customization—suggested by Lin and Hsieh (2006) were significantly associated with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions toward TBBS in Yemen. The findings contain descriptive and inferential statistical analysis to describe service quality dimensions and predict customer perceptions of TBBS. The study includes a recommendation that bank leaders focus on service enjoyment and customization to enhance customers’ experience using TBBS. Additional research venues are discussed to improve self-service technologies within the banking industry in Yemen.

Creativity Enhancement

Since the dawn of humanity, creativity has been critical to surmounting the challenges of life. Innovation is particularly essential to survival on every level from an individual solving his/her problems to a world dependent on adaptive approaches to cope with rapidly expanding populations and enormous international tensions. Currently, information systems programs are not fostering the creativity needed to sustain the innovation required to compete in the 21st century marketplace. Educators and researchers need to better understand the effects of creativity training on creative performance to best design programs that meet the needs of information systems personnel and their employers. The results of this study provide evidence that it would be valuable for organizations to experiment with creativity tutorials and recommend that future research be conducted using larger samples of individuals with low levels of creativity. Because the costs of informing people about creativity are low and creativity tutorials can be designed to be easily administered and completed, the authors recommend that a low-cost tutorial would be a cost effective and beneficial strategy for organizations to employ with information systems personnel, especially those who assess themselves as low in creativity.

Representation Type Preferences in Operational Business Process Redesign

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental field study in which business process redesign groups in four different US organizations used two different business process representation types. One of the representation types emphasized an activity flow (or workflow) view of business processes, which appears to currently be the most prevalent in actual operational-level business process redesign projects; the other emphasized a communication flow view. The study suggests that, contrary to assumptions likely underlying most of the current business process redesign practice, communication flow-oriented representations of business processes are perceived by those involved in their redesign as significantly more useful in the following aspects than activity flow-oriented representations: identification of opportunities for process improvement, application of process redesign guidelines, visualization of process changes, and development of generic information technology solutions to implement new business processes. Important implications for managers and researchers stemming from these results are discussed.

Citizen Journalism

Recent national and international developments are demonstrating the power of technology to transform communication channels, media sources, events, and the fundamental nature of journalism. Technological advances now allow citizens to record and instantly publicize information and images for immediate distribution on ubiquitous communication networks using social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. These technologies are enabling non-journalists to become “citizen reporters” (also known as “citizen journalists”), who record and report information over informal networks or via traditional mass media channels. Against the background of media repression in Nigeria, the article reports on a study that examined the impacts of technology on the journalism business as a way of understanding how citizen-reporters impact the journalism business in Nigeria. Specifically, the focus of the study was on Nigerian citizen-reporters (bloggers, social media, online news, and online discussion groups), their roles, and the impacts on Nigeria’s political struggle, free press, and free speech.

Redefining the Information Technology in the 21st Century

As one of the most influential and beneficial developments today, Information Technology (IT) is quickly transforming business infrastructures and reshaping the way how people are affected in context to how they work and live. In order to meet the fast and changing trends in the 21st century, Information Technology should be redefined in five major areas, i.e., Power of Computing, Internet-working and Telecommunications, New Features with Emerging Trends, Security and Disaster Recovery, and Green IT.

Use of Technology in the Household

Since the 1980s, personal computer ownership has become ubiquitous, and people are increasingly using household technologies for a wide variety of purposes. Extensive IS research has resulted in useful models to explain workplace technology acceptance and household technology adoption. Studies have also found the determinants underlying technology acceptance in the workplace and household adoption are very different from the determinants of household use. Thus, while a great deal is known about workplace acceptance and household adoption, less is known about household technology use. As home computer use becomes prevalent, fewer households are left to adopt and it becomes increasingly important to understand household use. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of 202 users of household personal computers to test a new model derived from the Model of Acceptance of Technology in the Household (MATH) and another behavior model based on a Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior.

A Nearly One-to-One Method to Convert Analog Signals into a Small Volume of Data

This article is an extension for 2-D analogue signals (and more) of the methods presented in “A nearly One-to-One Method to Convert Analog Signals into a Small Volume of Data” which was published in an earlier issue. This new conversion method may save the storage space, the bandwidth of the transmitting channels and the necessary energy for transmission. It may be particularly interesting for the space communications and/or information storage but also for TV transmissions to save spectrum, especially for the coming 3-D TV. Once a successful realization of a dedicated software and hardware able to realize the conversion in “real time”, new standard with a better quality and low data volumes may be considered for the 2-D and also for the 3-D signals transmission and/or storage. This conversion method may be considered also as a “public key encryption” and may insure a good (or even very good) security of information. Due to the high sensitivity of parameters of this coding/decoding procedure, especially for higher compression factors, and to the big number of the used parameters, this method may be also considered as a strategic information technology.

Process and Structural Implications for IT-Enabled Outsourcing

Recent research examined the non-traditional, but increasingly common case of the use of IT to facilitate theoretically inconsistent outsourcing decisions involving (strategic) core firm resources and asset-specific capabilities. It further illustrated how IT can enable such outsourcing decisions and how performance advantages may ensue. However, the process and structural implications of such practices remain unexamined. This paper extends this area of research by proposing three distinct approaches to IT-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO). The authors differentiate these approaches by the timing of when the outsourcing vendor takes ownership of the activity, and when and where any transformation of the activity takes place. The authors label these processes by the order of the initial activities that lead the outsourcing process, (e.g., transformation, transition, or a transfer of an organizational activity). The authors illustrate and discuss the implications of the propositions through several real-world case examples.

Social Media Intelligence in the Exploration of National Cultural Dimensions for Online Social Communities

Companies are increasingly embracing the use of social media in global online communities as an important part of their business strategies. Use of social media enables organizations to extend their reach and engage with customers in a shared community. These provide forums for interacting with customers and collecting information so that companies can better make informed decisions that directly relate to customer needs. However, effective use of social media requires matching both organizational and user requirements with the features of the social media. To support the development of successful social communities, this research uses Hofstede’s dimensions to examine the impact of user’s national culture on social media feature preference in a global international scuba diving online community. Specifically, this paper focuses on the Hofstede’s Individualism and Collectivism (IC) dimension which the study found is a significant determinant of feature preferences.