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Modern Transdisciplinarity: Results of the Development of the Prime Cause and Initial Ideas

Aim/Purpose This paper focuses on systematizing and rethinking the conformity of modern transdisciplinarity with its prime cause and initial ideas. Background The difficulties of implementing transdisciplinarity into science and education are connected with the fact that its generally accepted definition, identification characteristics, and methodological features are still missing. In order to eliminate these disadvantages of transdisciplinarity, its prime cause and initial ideas had to be detected. It is also important to analyze the correspondence of the existing opinions about transdisciplinarity with the content of these cause and ideas. Methodology The qualitative analysis of the literature reviews on the subject of transdisciplinary was used in order to determine the correspondence of the opinions about the transdisciplinarity with the meaning of its prime cause and initial ideas. These opinions had to be generalized as well. Through this method, it was possible to detect and classify opinions into 11 groups including 39 stereotypes of transdisciplinarity. For substantiation of transdisciplinary approaches that are consistent with the approaches of contemporary science, C.F. Gauss random variables normal distribution was used. The “Gauss curve” helped to show the place of transdisciplinary and systems transdisciplinary approaches in the structure of academic and systems approaches. The “Gauss curve” also demonstrated the step-by-step “broadening of the scientific worldview horizon due to sequential intensification of synthesis, integration, unification, and generalization of the disciplinary knowledge.” Contribution After reconsideration of the results on qualitative analysis of the literature reviews, the generalized definition of transdisciplinarity could be formulated, including the definition for transdisciplinary and systems transdisciplinary approaches. It was proven that transdisciplinarity is a natural stage for the development of contemporary science and education, and the transdisciplinary approaches were able to suggest the methods and tools to solve the complex and poorly structured problems of science and the society. Findings Many existing stereotypes of transdisciplinarity do not meet its prime cause and initial ideas. Such stereotypes do not have deep philosophic and theoretical substantiation. They also do not suggest the transdisciplinary methods and tools. Thus, the authors of such stereotypes often claim them to be transdisciplinary or suggest perceiving them as transdisciplinarity. This circumstance is the reason why many disciplinary scientists, practitioners, and initiators of higher education view transdisciplinarity as a marginal direction of contemporary science. Based on the generalized definition of transdisciplinarity, as well as its prime cause and initial ideas, it was shown that transdisciplinarity is presented in contemporary science in the form of two different approaches, i.e., the transdisciplinary approach and systems transdisciplinary approach. The objective of the transdisciplinary approach is to ensure science development at the stage of synthesis and integration of disciplinary knowledge, while the objective of the systems transdisciplinary approach is to ensure that the problems of modern society are solved through unification and generalization of the disciplinary knowledge. Recommendation for Researchers The researchers should consider that within the limits of the transdisciplinary approach, the disciplinary specialists are managed. Within the limits of the systems transdisciplinary approach, the disciplinary knowledge is managed. Thus, the transdisciplinary approach is efficient for organization and research with participation of the scientists of the complementary disciplines. An example of such research can be a team of researchers of medical disciplines and complementary disciplines from chemistry, physics, and engineering. The systems transdisciplinary approach is efficient for organization and performance of research with participation of the scientists of non-complementary disciplines such as economics, physics, meteorology, chemistry, ecology, geology, and sociology. Future Research In terms of the main initial idea, transdisciplinarity is formed as a global approach. The global approach should have a traditional institutional form: it should be a science discipline (meta-discipline) and have carriers with the transdisciplinary worldview. Training for such carriers can be organized by the universities within the limits of the systems transdisciplinarity departments and Centers of Systems Transdisciplinary Retraining for Disciplinary Specialists. Thus, it is reasonable to initiate discussion for the idea to reform the disciplinary structure of the universities considering creation of such departments and centers.




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A Classification Schema for Designing Augmented Reality Experiences

Aim/Purpose: Designing augmented reality (AR) experiences for education, health or entertainment involves multidisciplinary teams making design decisions across several areas. The goal of this paper is to present a classification schema that describes the design choices when constructing an AR interactive experience. Background: Existing extended reality schema often focuses on single dimensions of an AR experience, with limited attention to design choices. These schemata, combined with an analysis of a diverse range of AR applications, form the basis for the schema synthesized in this paper. Methodology: An extensive literature review and scoring of existing classifications were completed to enable a definition of seven design dimensions. To validate the design dimensions, the literature was mapped to the seven-design choice to represent opportunities when designing AR iterative experiences. Contribution: The classification scheme of seven dimensions can be applied to communicating design considerations and alternative design scenarios where teams of domain specialists need to collaborate to build AR experiences for a defined purpose. Findings: The dimensions of nature of reality, location (setting), feedback, objects, concepts explored, participant presence and interactive agency, and style describe features common to most AR experiences. Classification within each dimension facilitates ideation for novel experiences and proximity to neighbours recommends feasible implementation strategies. Recommendations for Practitioners: To support professionals, this paper presents a comprehensive classification schema and design rationale for AR. When designing an AR experience, the schema serves as a design template and is intended to ensure comprehensive discussion and decision making across the spectrum of design choices. Recommendations for Researchers: The classification schema presents a standardized and complete framework for the review of literature and AR applications that other researchers will benefit from to more readily identify relevant related work. Impact on Society: The potential of AR has not been fully realized. The classification scheme presented in this paper provides opportunities to deliberately design and evaluate novel forms of AR experience. Future Research: The classification schema can be extended to include explicit support for the design of virtual and extended reality applications.




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Gen Z Self-Portrait: Vitality, Activism, Belonging, Happiness, Self-Image, and Media Usage Habits

Aim/Purpose. This study examined the self-perception of adolescents and young people aged 17-21 – how they perceived their personal characteristics, self-image, vitality, belonging to a local and global (glocal) society, happiness index and activity, media usage habits in general and smartphones in particular – in other words, it sought to produce a sketch of their character. Background. Different age groups are influenced by various factors that shape them, including living environment, technological developments, experiences, common issues, events of glocal significance, and more. People belonging to Gen Z were born at the end of the previous century and the beginning of the 21st century (up to 2010). This generation was born into the digital technological age and is the first one born into the environment defined by smartphones, and social media. Its members are referred to as “digital natives” because they were born after the widespread adoption of digital technology in the Western world. They entered an environment characterized by the widespread daily use of smartphones, the Internet, and technology in general. Methodology. This was a quantitative study based on a sample of 418 Israeli adolescents and young people aged 17-21. The following questionnaires were administered anonymously and disseminated online to an audience of youths aged 17-21 across Israel: A demographic questionnaire; Self-esteem; Vitality; Belonging vs. alienation; Social-emotional aspects; Usage habits in digital environments; Usage habits of learning on a smartphone; Open questions. Contribution. The current study tried to define clusters to characterize adolescents and youth aged 17-21. Findings Results show that study participants had high self-esteem and vitality, felt be-longing, happy, and satisfied with their life, and perceived themselves as active and enterprising at an average level or above. The study identified two clusters. Participants in Cluster 1 were characterized by higher parameter averages than those in Cluster 2 on the self-image, vitality, belonging, happiness, and activism scales. Participants in Cluster 1 felt that using a smartphone made life easier, helped them solve everyday problems, made everyday conduct easier, and allowed them to express themselves, keep up to date with what is happening with their friends, disseminate information conveniently, be involved in social life, and establish relationships with those around them. They thought that it was easy to collaborate with others and to plan activities and events. Recommendations for Practitioners. When examining cluster correlations with data in relation to other variables, it is apparent that participants in Cluster 1 had more options to reach out for help, report more weekly hours spent talking and meeting with friends and feel that using a smartphone makes everyday life easier and facilitates their day-to-day conduct than did participants in Cluster 2. The smartphone allows them to express themselves, keep updated regarding what is happening with their friends and disseminate information easily, helps them be involved in social life and establish connections with those around them. They find it easy to communicate and cooperate with others and to plan activities and events. By contrast, participants in Cluster 2 felt that the smartphone complicates things for them and creates problems in their daily lives. They feel that the use of social networks burdens them and that the smartphone prevents them from being more involved in their social life, and from establishing relationships with those around them. They felt that communication by smartphone creates more problems in understanding messages. Recommendations for Researchers. One of the challenges of this generation is forming an independent identity and self-regulation in a digital, global, across-the-border era that offers a variety of possibilities and communities. They must examine the connection between the digital and personal spaces, to be able to enjoy virtual communities and a sense of togetherness, and at the same time maintain privacy, autonomy, and individuality. Many studies point to the blurring of boundaries between the private-personal and the public, at numerous problems in social networks, including social problems, shaming, and exclusion from various groups and activities. The fear of shaming and the desire to keep up with everything that is happening create a state of mental stress, and adolescents often feel that they urgently need to check their smartphones. Sharing with others can help them deal with negative content and experiences and avoid the dangers lurking in their web surfing. Yet sharing, especially with friends, often causes intimate content to become public and leads to shaming and invasion of privacy. Impact on Society. Gen Z was born into an environment where smartphones, the Internet, and technology in general, are widely used in everyday routine, and they make extensive use of technological means in all areas of life. One of the characteristics of this generation is “globalization.” The present study showed that about 84% of participants felt to a moderate degree or higher that they were citizens of the world. Future Research. The findings of this study revealed a significant difference in self-image between males and females. An attempt was made to explain the findings in light of previous studies, but the need arose for studies on the self-image of young people of Gen Z that would shed light on the subject.




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Mandatory Gamified Security Awareness Training Impacts on Texas Public Middle School Students: A Qualitative Study

Aim/Purpose. The problem statement in the proposed study focuses on that, despite the growing recognition that teenagers need to undergo security awareness training, little is known about the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security awareness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behavior of students in Texas. Background. This study was guided by the research question: What are the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security aware-ness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behaviors of students in Texas? The study gathers opinions from experts on the impacts of security awareness training on students. Methodology. Our research used semi-structured interviews with twelve experts chosen through the use of purposive sampling. The population for the study consisted of experts in the fields of security awareness training for and teaching middle school-aged children. Candidates were recruited through the Cyber-Texas Foundation and snowball sampling techniques. Contribution. The research contributed to the body of knowledge by using interviews to explore the impacts of security awareness training on middle school students based on the opinions and views of the teachers and instructors who work with middle school students. Findings. The findings of this study demonstrate that middle school is an ideal time to provide cybersecurity training and will impact student behaviors by making them more conscious of cyber threats and preparing them to be more tech-savvy professionals. The research also showed that well-designed cybersecurity games with real-world application combined with traditional teaching techniques can help students develop positive habits. The research also suggests that teachers possess the skills to teach cybersecurity classes and the classes can be integrated into the current school day without the need for any significant changes to existing daily schedules. Recommendations for Practitioners. A well-design gamification-based curriculum implemented in Texas Middle Schools, combined with traditional teaching techniques and repeated over an extended time period, will impact students’ behaviors by making them more able to recognize and respond to cyber risks and will transform them into more secure and tech-savvy members of society. Recommendations for Researchers. The research shows middle school instructors and technology experts believe the implementation of a security awareness training program in middle schools is both possible and practical, while also beneficial to the students. The recommendation is to encourage researchers to explore ways to build curricula and games capable of appealing to students and implementing the instruction into school programs. Impact on Society. Demonstrating that training provided in middle school will make lasting impacts and improvements to student behaviors benefits children and their families in the short-term and workplaces in the long-term. The development of a more security-conscious workforce can reduce the significant number of data breaches and cyber attacks resulting from the poor security habits of companies’ users. Future Research. Future research that will add significant value to the body of knowledge includes testing the effectiveness of habit-shaping games to determine whether existing long-term games maintain student interest. Qualitative studies could interview parents of teenagers using habit-shaping games to determine the effectiveness of the applications. Another qualitative study could interview teachers to determine how teachers’ ages affect their comfort level teaching technology classes. Both studies could provide valuable insights into how to implement security awareness training in schools.




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Gamified Cybersecurity Education Through the Lens of the Information Search Process: An Exploratory Study of Capture-the-Flag Competitions [Research-in-Progress]

Aim/Purpose. Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges are a popular form of cybersecurity education where students solve hands-on tasks in a game-like setting. These exercises provide learning experiences with various specific technologies and subjects, as well as a broader understanding of cybersecurity topics. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills that are applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Background. The Information Search Process (ISP) is a framework developed to under-stand the process by which an individual goes about studying a topic, identifying emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes. As the individual goes through the problem-solving process, there is a clear flow from uncertainty to clarity; the individual’s feelings, thoughts, and actions are all interconnected. This study aims to investigate the learning of cybersecurity concepts within the framework of the ISP, specifically in the context of CTF competitions. Methodology. A comprehensive research methodology designed to incorporate quantitative and qualitative analyses to draw the parallels between the participants’ emotional experiences and the affective dimensions of learning will be implemented to measure the three primary goals. Contribution. This study contributes significantly to the broader landscape of cybersecurity education and cognitive-emotional experiences in problem-solving. Findings. The study has three primary goals. First, we seek to enhance our under-standing of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving, as demonstrated by the ISP approach. Second, we aim to gain in-sights into how the presentation of CTF challenges influences the learning experience of participants. Lastly, we strive to contribute to the improvement of cybersecurity education by identifying actionable steps for more effective teaching of technical skills and approaches. Recommendations for Practitioners. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Recommendations for Researchers. The Information Search Process (ISP) framework may enhance our understanding of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving as we study the emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes as the individual goes through the problem-solving process. Impact on Society. Our pursuit of advancing our understanding of cybersecurity education will better equip future generations with the skills and knowledge needed to ad-dress the evolving challenges of the digital landscape. This will better pre-pare them for real-world challenges. Future Research. Future studies would include the development of a cybersecurity curriculum on vulnerability exploitation and defense. It would include practice exploiting practical web and binary vulnerabilities, reverse engineering, system hardening, security operations, and understanding how they can be chained together.




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Applicability of Process Maps for Simulation Modeling in Business Process Change Projects




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Towards a Typology of Virtual Communities of Practice




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Predicting Internet-based Online Community Size and Time to Peak Membership Using the Bass Model of New Product Growth




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An Improved Assessment of Personality Traits in Software Engineering




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A Methodology for Increasing Business Process Maturity in Public Sector




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An Evolutionary Software Project Management Maturity Model for Mauritius




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Experiences in Building and Using Decision-Support Systems in Postgraduate University Courses




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Driving Creativity: Extending Knowledge Management into the Multinational Corporation




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Improving Security for SCADA Control Systems




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Framework for Quality Metrics in Mobile-Wireless Information Systems




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Information Quality and Absorptive Capacity in Service and Product Innovation Processes




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The Relationship among Organizational Knowledge Sharing Practices, Employees' Learning Commitments, Employees' Adaptability, and Employees' Job Satisfaction: An Empirical Investigation




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Adaptive Innovation and a MOODLE-based VLE to Support a Fully Online MSc Business Information Technology (BIT) at the University of East London (UEL)




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Generativity: The New Frontier for Information and Communication Technology Literacy




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Assessment of Quality of Warranty Policy




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Collective Creativity and Brokerage Functions in Heavily Cross-Disciplined Innovation Processes




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Relationship between Knowledge Management Process and Creativity among Faculty Members in the University




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Experiencing Creativity in the Organization: From Individual Creativity to Collective Creativity




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Locating the Weak Points of Innovation Capability before Launching a Development Project




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Boosting Creativity with Transformational Leadership in Fuzzy Front-end Innovation Processes




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A Comparison of International Information Security Regulations




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Mise en Scène: A Film Scholarship Augmented Reality Mobile Application




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Knowledge Capture and Acquisition Mechanisms at Kisii University

Knowledge management and knowledge assets have gained much prominence in recent years and are said to improve organizational performance. Knowledge capture and acquisition mechanisms enhance organizational memory and performance. However, knowledge capture and acquisition mechanisms in higher education institutions are not well known. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge capture and acquisition mechanisms at Kisii University. This was a case study in which data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to determine interview participants while questionnaire respondents were selected through stratified random sampling. Qualitative and quantitative data were analysed using SPSS® student version 14; it revealed that there were various knowledge capture and acquisition mechanisms at Kisii University. It was also established that the University encountered various challenges in knowledge capture and acquisition and lacked some essential knowledge capture and acquisition mechanisms. In this regard, this study proposed knowledge capture and acquisition guidelines that may be adopted by the University to enhance its organizational memory and performance.




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HUNT: Scavenger Hunt with Augmented Reality

This project shows a creative approach to the familiar scavenger hunt game. It involved the implementation of an iPhone application, HUNT, with Augmented Reality (AR) capability for the users to play the game as well as an administrative website that game organizers can use to create and make available games for users to play. Using the HUNT mobile app, users will first make a selection from a list of games, and they will then be shown a list of objects that they must seek. Once the user finds a correct object and scans it with the built-in camera on the smartphone, the application will attempt to verify if it is the correct object and then display associated multi-media AR content that may include images and videos overlaid on top of real world views. HUNT not only provides entertaining activities within an environment that players can explore, but the AR contents can serve as an educational tool. The project is designed to increase user involvement by using a familiar and enjoyable game as a basis and adding an educational dimension by incorporating AR technology and engaging and interactive multimedia to provide users with facts about the objects that they have located




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Does Usability Matter? An Analysis of the Impact of Usability on Technology Acceptance in ERP Settings

Though the field of management information systems, as a sector and a discipline, is the inventor of many guidelines and models, it appears to be a slow runner on practical implications of interface usability. This usability can influence end users’ attitude and behavior to use IT. The purpose of this paper was to examine the interface usability of a popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system, SAP, and to identify related issues and implications to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A survey was conducted of 112 SAP ERP users from an organization in the heavy metal industry in Bangladesh. The partial least squares technique was used to analyze the survey data. The survey findings empirically confirmed that interface usability has a significant impact on users’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use which ultimately affects attitudes and intention to use the ERP software. The research model extends the TAM by incorporating three criteria of interface usability. It is the first known study to investigate usability criteria as an extension of TAM.




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Innovation Capability: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Purpose: Innovation capability is a growing and significant area of academic research. However, there is little attempt to provide a cumulative overview of this phenomenon. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize peer reviewed articles published in the area to develop a conceptual framework and to aid future research. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper adopted a systematic review of literature on innovation capability. The final screening generated 51 articles from 30 journals from 2000-2015. Findings: The examination and synthesis of the theoretical and the empirical articles show that (1) the authors applied narrow range of conceptual and theoretical foundations; (2) innovation capability is being investigated mostly at the firm level for about 90% of the articles, and marginally about 5% at network (supply) chain level; (3) the authors define innovation capability in different ways and use diverse set of dimensions to measure innovation capability; (4) there is potential for future research across firms in innovation management disciplines. Practical implications: The review contributes to theory development in organizational capability literature in general. Managers wishing to innovate need to examine critically and integrate some of the innovation capability dimensions proposed in this paper. Originality: The review is unique in the sense that it provides conceptualisation of innovation capability framework.




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The Effect of Perceived Expected Satisfaction with Electronic Health Records Availability on Expected Satisfaction with Electronic Health Records Portability in a Multi-Stakeholder Environment

A central premise for the creation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is ensuring the portability of patient health records across various clinical, insurance, and regulatory entities. From portability standards such as International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to data sharing across institutions, a lack of portability of health data can jeopardize optimal care and reduce meaningful use. This research empirically investigates the relationship between health records availability and portability. Using data collected from 168 medical providers and patients, we confirm the positive relationship between user perceptions of expected satisfaction with EHR availability and the expected satisfaction with portability. Our findings contribute to more informed practice by understanding how ensuring the availability of patient data by virtue of enhanced data sharing standards, device independence, and better EHR data integration can subsequently drive perceptions of portability across a multitude of stakeholders.




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Research Foci, Methodologies, and Theories Used in Addressing E-Government Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in Developing Countries

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the key research foci, methodologies, and theoretical perspectives adopted by researchers when studying E-government accessibility for persons with disabilities (PWDs), particularly in developing countries. The study aims to develop a conceptual framework for designing accessible E-government for PWDs in developing countries. Background: Studies on E-government accessibility for persons with disabilities in developing countries have been minimal. The few studies conducted until now have failed to integrate PWDs, a population already marginalized, into the digital society. Accessibility has been identified by researchers as a major hindrance to PWDs participating in E-government. It is imperative therefore to examine the manner in which researchers investigate and acquire knowledge about this phenomenon. Methodology : The study synthesizes literature from top IS journals following a systematic literature review approach. The data synthesis focuses on identifying key concepts relating to E-government accessibility for PWDs. Contribution: The study contributes to the field of E-government, with a focus on how E-government services can be made accessible to PWDs. The study calls on researchers to reflect on their epistemological and ontological paradigms when examining accessibility of E-government services in developing countries. Findings: The findings show that most researchers focus on the evaluation of E-government websites and predominantly adopt quantitative methods. The study also reveals that the use of technological determinism as a theoretical lens is high among researchers. Recommendations for Practitioners : The study recommends that E-government web developers and policy makers involve PWDs from design to evaluation in the development of E-government applications. Recommendation for Researchers: The study advocates the need to conduct studies on E-government accessibility by employing more qualitative and mixed approaches to gain in-depth and better understanding of the phenomenon. Impact on Society : This study creates greater awareness and points out inadequacies that society needs to address to make E-government more inclusive of and participatory for PWDs. Future Research: Further empirical work is required in order to refine the relevance and applicability of various constructs in EADM so as to arrive at a framework for addressing E-government accessibility for PWDs in developing countries.




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Typology on Leadership toward Creativity in Virtual Work

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to develop a descriptive typology to better identify leadership toward creativity in virtual work in different types of companies. Background: The study empirically explores how leadership toward creativity occurs in virtual work and uses the theoretical lenses of creativity-conducive leadership and heterarchy to generate a typology. Methodology : A multiple qualitative case study design, interpretivist approach, and abductive analysis are applied. Data is collected by interviewing 21 leaders and employees face-to-face in four companies in the ICT sector and one business advisor company. Contribution: The empirical evidence of this study enriches the understanding of leadership toward creativity in virtual work and contributes to the limited empirical knowledge on leadership that stimulates a virtual workforce to achieve creativity. Findings: The four different types of companies in the typology utilize various transitions toward leadership creativity in virtual work. The trend in leadership in the existing virtually networked business environment is toward the “collective mind” company, which is characterized by shared values, meaningful work, collective intelligence, conscious reflection, transparency, coaching, empowering leadership by example, effective multichannel interaction, and assertiveness. The findings empirically support applying a heterarchy perspective to lead a virtual workforce toward creativity and promote leaders who are genuinely interested in people, their development, collaboration, and technology. Recommendations for Practitioners: The typology helps professionals realize the need to develop leadership, communication, interaction, learning, and growth to foster creative interaction and improve productivity and competitiveness. Recommendation for Researchers: This study enables researchers to more rigorously and creatively conceptualize the conditions and relationships in leadership that facilitate creativity in virtual work. Impact on Society : The findings highlight humanistic values for developing leadership. The study strengthens the view that collective creativity in virtual work cannot emerge without virtual and physical interaction in appropriate spaces and caring for each other. Future Research: Future studies may focus on other fields, industries, networks, roles of materialities, and employees in fostering creativity and on theory development. Longitudinal studies are advisable.




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Transforming Communications in the Workplace: The Impact of UC on Perceived Productivity in a Multi-national Corporation

Aim/Purpose: Unified Communications (UC) is touted as a technology that will transform business communication. While positive claims abound, the factors of UC attributable to its success have yet to be identified. By examining how users perceive UC impacts productivity, this study aids organizations in making better decisions regarding investments in and usage of communications technologies. Background: Unified Communications integrates disparate communications and information sharing applications into a single platform. The promise of UC is that it will revolutionize the workplace by providing a more synchronized fit between the way people communicate and the technology they use. Methodology: Through case study research conducted within a large multinational corporation (the Hewlett Packard Company), this study investigated the impact of UC on productivity. Interview narratives were examined using an open coding technique to capture individual perceptions of productivity. Further, to assess the role UC plays in facilitating relationship building and its connection to productivity, participant responses were mapped to the key factors of technology that influence relationships within an organization as identified by Dillon and Montano (2005). Contribution: This research contributes to studies on the impact of UC on productivity in the workplace. Findings UC was found to increase personal productivity, remove communication barriers, and create a more positive work environment. Recommendations for Practitioners : The findings of this study will aid organizations in making investment decisions as they evolve their business communications strategy. Impact on Society: Unified Communications will play an increasingly important role as people adapt to the evolving digital world through which they communicate and collaborate. Future Research: Little research exists that examines the impact of UC within an organization. Additional research investigating the use of UC in a variety of business sectors is needed.




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The Effect of Personality Traits on Sales Performance: An Empirical Investigation to Test the Five-Factor Model (FFM) in Pakistan

Aim/Purpose: The present study investigates the relationship between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and sales performance in Pakistan. Background: Personality is a well-researched area in which numerous studies have examined the correlation between personality traits and job performance. In this study, a positive effect between the various dimensions of the five-factor model (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and open to experience) and sales performance in Pakistan is investigated. Methodology: Pearson’s correlation values as well as analysis methodologies were employed to gather descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and use the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Cronbach’s alpha value helped determine the internal consistency of the group items. Questionnaires were distributed among 600 salespersons in various cities of Pakistan from April 2015 to January 2016. Subsequently, 510 questionnaires were acquired for the sample. Contribution: The current study contributes to the literature on personality traits and sales performance by applying empirical evidence from sales managers in three industries of Pakistan: pharmaceutical, insurance, and electronics. Findings: The results affirmed a positive effect of the five-factor model on sales performance among various industries in Pakistan. The effect of each sub-factor from the five-factor model was examined autonomously. There is a favorable benefit to sales managers in considering FFM when making hiring decisions. Impact on Society: FFM offers important insights into personality traits that work well within Pakistani sales industry structure. Future Research: A broader rendering of the effects of FFM on sales organizations in other geographical locations around Pakistan should be considered. Additionally, an extended study should be conducted to investigate the effects of FFM on female sales employees involving religious and cultural forces within that country.




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A Systematic Literature Review of Agile Maturity Model Research

Background/Aim/Purpose: A commonly implemented software process improvement framework is the capability maturity model integrated (CMMI). Existing literature indicates higher levels of CMMI maturity could result in a loss of agility due to its organizational focus. To maintain agility, research has focussed attention on agile maturity models. The objective of this paper is to find the common research themes and conclusions in agile maturity model research. Methodology: This research adopts a systematic approach to agile maturity model research, using Google Scholar, Science Direct, and IEEE Xplore as sources. In total 531 articles were initially found matching the search criteria, which was filtered to 39 articles by applying specific exclusion criteria. Contribution:: The article highlights the trends in agile maturity model research, specifically bringing to light the lack of research providing validation of such models. Findings: Two major themes emerge, being the coexistence of agile and CMMI and the development of agile principle based maturity models. The research trend indicates an increase in agile maturity model articles, particularly in the latter half of the last decade, with concentrations of research coinciding with version updates of CMMI. While there is general consensus around higher CMMI maturity levels being incompatible with true agility, there is evidence of the two coexisting when agile is introduced into already highly matured environments. Future Research: Future research direction for this topic should include how to attain higher levels of CMMI maturity using only agile methods, how governance is addressed in agile environments, and whether existing agile maturity models relate to improved project success.




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ICT-Platform to Transform Car Dealerships to Regional Providers of Sustainable Mobility Services

Aim/Purpose: The topic of this study is the ICT-enabled transformation of car dealerships to regional providers of sustainable mobility (e.g., car sharing). Background: Car dealerships offer specific conditions that enable a sustainable mobility offer, based on individual motorized transport like car sharing. This is especially useful in small towns or rural areas where people’s mobility is strongly dominated by private cars, and public transport coverage is limited. However, these new mobility services are combined services with the need of a deep integration of information systems, and these services are not yet related to car dealerships and customer acquisition has to be supported. Methodology: An empirical study with an inductive approach was chosen. The study consists of interviews with three focus groups of different stakeholders of car dealerships. Within the frame of the research project, “ReCaB – Regional Car-Balancing” a qualitative research approach was chosen. Within a design science approach the existing SusCRM architecture was adapted based on the elaborated requirements. Contribution: A software architecture is proposed, where Customer Relationship Management (CRM) components to market new sustainable mobility offers are vital parts and existing information systems of car dealerships are integrated. Findings: The basic feasibility of the establishment and customer acceptance has been demonstrated, at least in the area of car sharing within ReCaB. The execution in the car sharing field has already started and a number of car dealerships are already bringing their own offers to market. Major findings for the SusCRM architecture have been elaborated in a design science approach in the national German research project “Showcase for electro mobility”. Recommendations for Practitioners: There is still no fully functional prototype developed for this specific use case and evaluated in the car dealership environment. An implementation only, based on own efforts, is difficult for car dealerships because of the dealership’s lack of know-how as well as tight IT budgets. However, this approach appears particularly successful in rural areas where public transport services are heavily declining. For full implementation, the presented ICT support is imperative. Recommendation for Researchers: The research on the retailer level, especially in combination with a digital trans-formation by the use of ICT systems, is still fragmentary. Research in this area that both addresses sustainability goals on a general level and supports economical goals on the company level of automotive retailers would be useful. Impact on Society: Creation of sustainable offers as a substitute or supplement for mobility based on their own car is a promising way to reduce negative effects of mobility. Enhancement of the mobility of the people in rural areas is leading to a more active lifestyle by reaching the leisure facilities, workplaces and educational institutions in a sustainable manner. Future Research: In terms of the fast changing mobility landscape, especially on a technical level with the development of autonomous vehicles and digitalization of entire businesses new solutions are becoming accessible, that have to be integrated in further research.




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Understanding Internal Information Systems Security Policy Violations as Paradoxes

Aim/Purpose: Violations of Information Systems (IS) security policies continue to generate great anxiety amongst many organizations that use information systems, partly because these violations are carried out by internal employees. This article addresses IS security policy violations in organizational settings, and conceptualizes and problematizes IS security violations by employees of organizations from a paradox perspective. Background: The paradox is that internal employees are increasingly being perceived as more of a threat to the security of organizational systems than outsiders. The notion of paradox is exemplified in four organizational contexts of belonging paradox, learning paradox, organizing paradox and performing paradox. Methodology : A qualitative conceptual framework exemplifying how IS security violations occur as paradoxes in context to these four areas is presented at the end of this article. Contribution: The article contributes to IS security management practice and suggests how IS security managers should be positioned to understand violations in light of this paradox perspective. Findings: The employee generally in the process of carrying out ordinary activities using computing technology exemplifies unique tensions (or paradoxes in belonging, learning, organizing and performing) and these tensions would generally tend to lead to policy violations when an imbalance occurs. Recommendations for Practitioners: IS security managers must be sensitive to employees tensions. Future Research: A quantitative study, where statistical analysis could be applied to generalize findings, could be useful.




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A Grounded Theory for ICT-Mediated Tacit Knowledge Transferability in MNCs

Aim/Purpose: A vital business activity within organizations is tacit knowledge (TK) transfer. This work aims to propose a novel framework for TK transferability in multinational corporations (MNCs) from the information and communication technology (ICT) perspective. Background: In the past two decades, researchers have developed several frameworks for TK transfer based on humanistic, business, and educational perspectives. However, a review of the existing work revealed that TK transfer has seldom been examined from an ICT perspective. Methodology: A qualitative method was adopted because it was considered the most appropriate for the research requirements. A grounded theory approach was employed to generate the items that potentially affect the transferability of TK. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, along with observations when possible. The study sample consisted of 20 expert interviewees in Malaysia. An inductive ongoing data analysis process based on grounded theory via open, axial, and selective coding was used as the primary analysis method. In addition, comparative and frequency count analyses were used to examine the collected data. Contribution: The main contribution of this study is its use of the grounded theory approach, which resulted in the generation of items that affect the transferability of TK, not all of which had been identified by previous researchers. This paper reports one of the few inductive studies conducted on TK transferability among MNCs and, therefore, makes distinct contributions to the literature on TK management, specifically bringing to the fore the intricacies involved in TK transferability. Findings: Information and communication technology plays a crucial role in and has a positive impact on TK transfer in MNCs. This study evaluated the potential of various ICT channels to facilitate TK transfer. The findings show that ICT tools cannot completely substitute for face-to-face contact. Tacit knowledge that has a high degree of complexity requires sophisticated channel features for its transfer. From this standpoint, virtual face-to-face communication is the richest communication medium in the ICT hierarchy. On the other hand, email and voicemail are less effective channels for TK transfer, while synchronous groupware is an intermediate communication medium. The findings highlight the importance of utilizing an appropriate mix of channels to improve TK transferability. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended that practitioners consider the diverse aspects of TK and the potential of a range of ICT channels for the TK transfer process in order to increase the efficiency of TK transfer. The analytic categories developed in this study may give managers new insights into and a better understanding of how TK can be supported in a modern organization and how to overcome the barriers to TK transfer.




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The Mechanism of Internet Capability Driving Knowledge Creation Performance: The Effects of Strategic Flexibility and Informatization Density

Aim/Purpose: This study analyzes the mechanism of Internet capability (IC) driving knowledge creation performance (KCP). We consider the mediating role of strategic flexibility and the moderating role of informatization density. Background: The key to achieving KCP for firms is to transform knowledge created into new products or services and to realize the economic benefits. However, the research has not paid enough attention to firms’ KCP. Based on dynamic capability theory, this study empirically reveals how firms drive KCP through Internet capability. Methodology: The study uses survey data from 399 organizations in China. Through structural equation modeling, this study assesses the relationship between Internet capability, strategic flexibility, and KCP and uses hierarchical regression to test the moderating role of informatization density. Contribution: First, this study expands research on knowledge creation and focuses on the further achievement of knowledge creation performance. The study also enriches the exploration of KCP in the Internet context and deepens the research on the internal mechanism by which Internet capability influences KCP. Second, this study highlights the important role of informatization density in the Internet context and expands the research on the impact of external factors on the internal mechanism. Findings: First, Internet capability has a significantly positive effect on both strategic flexibility and KCP. Furthermore, Internet capability directly impacts strategic flexibility, yet it affects KCP both directly and indirectly through strategic flexibility, which confirms that strategic flexibility is a partial mediator in the relationship between Internet capability and KCP. Second, strategic flexibility positively influences KCP. Third, informatization density has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between Internet capability and KCP. Recommendations for Practitioners: The results indicate that firms should consider the importance of Internet capability and strategic flexibility for KCP in the Internet context. This study also provides a theoretical basis that could guide the Chinese government’s informatization construction of the industrial chain. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could further explore the role of other mediator variables (e.g., business process management, organizational agility) and consider the role of other moderator variables (e.g., resource commitment, learning orientation). Impact on Society: This study provides a reference for enterprises with similar cultural backgrounds in using Internet capability to enhance their competitive advantage. Future Research: Future research could collect data from various countries and regions to test the research model and conduct longitudinal studies to increase the robustness of the conclusions.




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Exploring Perceptions of Bitcoin Adoption: The South African Virtual Community Perspective

Aim/Purpose: This paper explored the factors (enablers and barriers) that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa, a Sub-Saharan country with the high potential for Bitcoin adoption. Background: In recent years, Bitcoin has seen a rapid growth as a virtual cryptocurrency throughout the world. Bitcoin is a protocol which allows value to be exchanged over the internet without a central bank or intermediary. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are technological tools that arguably can contribute to reducing transactions costs. This paper explored the factors that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa, a Sub-Saharan country with the high potential for Bitcoin adoption, as little is known about the factors that affect Bitcoin adoption and the barriers to adoption. Methodology: A quantitative questionnaire was distributed to South African virtual communities where Bitcoin is a topic of interest, and 237 quantitative responses were received, along with 212 open-ended comments. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge in information systems by providing insights into factors that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa. It raises awareness of incentives and barriers to Bitcoin adoption at a time when financial literacy is a crucial issue both in South Africa and worldwide. Findings: The results indicate that perceived benefit, attitude towards Bitcoin, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control directly affected the participants’ intentions to use Bitcoin. Perceived benefit, usefulness, ease of use, and trust-related risk were found to indirectly affect intention to use Bitcoin. Further, it emerges that the barriers to Bitcoin adoption in South Africa consist of the complex nature of Bitcoin and its high degree of volatility. Recommendations for Practitioners: Bitcoin can contribute to reducing transactions costs, but factors that affect adoption and the barriers to adoption should be taken into consideration. These findings can inform systems and software developers to develop applications that make managing Bitcoin keys and transacting using Bitcoin less complex and more intuitive for end users. Recommendation for Researchers: Bitcoin adoption in South Africa is a topic that has not been previously researched. Researchers could research similarities or differences in the various constructs that were used in this research model. Impact on Society: South African Bitcoin users consider it as a universal currency that makes cross-border payments cheaper. A large number of refugees and workers in South Africa make regular payments across borders. Bitcoin could reduce the costs of these transfers. Future Research: Future research could explore Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) adoption in other developing countries. Researchers could look at factors that influence cryptocurrency adoption in general. The factors affecting adoption of other cryptocurrencies can be compared to the results of this study, and similarities and differences can thus be identified.




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An Overlapless Incident Management Maturity Model for Multi-Framework Assessment (ITIL, COBIT, CMMI-SVC)

Aim/Purpose: This research aims to develop an information technology (IT) maturity model for incident management (IM) process that merges the most known IT frameworks’ practices. Our proposal intends to help organizations overcome the current limitations of multiframework implementation by informing organizations about frameworks’ overlap before their implementation. Background: By previously identifying frameworks’ overlaps it will assist organizations during the multi-framework implementation in order to save resources (human and/or financial). Methodology: The research methodology used is design science research (DSR). Plus, the authors applied semi-structured interviews in seven different organizations to demonstrate and evaluate the proposal. Contribution: This research adds a new and innovative artefact to the body of knowledge. Findings: The proposed maturity model is seen by the practitioners as complete and useful. Plus, this research also reinforces the frameworks’ overlap issue and concludes that some organizations are unaware of their actual IM maturity level; some organizations are unaware that they have implemented practices of other frameworks besides the one that was officially adopted. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners may use this maturity model to assess their IM maturity level before multi-framework implementation. Moreover, practitioners are also incentivized to communicate further requirements to academics regarding multi-framework assessment maturity models. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers may explore and develop multi-frameworks maturity models for the remaining processes of the main IT frameworks. Impact on Society: This research findings and outcomes are a step forward in the development of a unique overlapless maturity model covering the most known IT frameworks in the market thus helping organizations dealing with the increasing frameworks’ complexity and overlap. Future Research: Overlapless maturity models for the remaining IT framework processes should be explored.




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Investigating Knowledge Acquisition among Faculty Members

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the issue of knowledge acquisition among faculty members. Background: The paper reports the use of knowledge acquisition tools and reading knowledge sources by faculty members. It also identifies demographic differ-ences among participants in using knowledge acquisition tools and reading knowledge sources. Methodology: The study used an online survey-based questionnaire tool for data collection. The participants consisted of 300 faculty members from 26 academic institu-tions in UAE. Statistical tests are used to verify and validate the hypotheses. Contribution: The paper represents one of the few empirical studies conducted on knowledge acquisition among faculty members in the GCC countries. Find-ings of the study may contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of knowledge acquisition among faculty members. Findings: Findings of the study revealed that medical faculty members read knowledge acquisition sources more than other faculty members. Likewise, IT faculty members use knowledge acquisition tools more than other faculty members. Results of the study supported stage three of knowledge acquisition proposed in the “Stage Theory of Knowledge Consumption Growth” (Mathew, 1985). The study found that journals are the most sources read by the participants while web-based training (WBT) tools are the most used knowledge acquisition tools among faculty members. Results of the study indicated significant differ-ences among faculty members of different age groups, academic ranks, aca-demic specializations, and institutional affiliation in reading knowledge sources. Likewise, findings of the study revealed significant difference among partici-pants of different academic specializations in using knowledge acquisition tools. Recommendations for Practitioners: Results of the study could be extrapolated to other faculty members in the GCC countries. Recommendation for Researchers: More researches could be done to address different issues of knowledge acquisition among faculty members. Impact on Society: Faculty reading of knowledge sources and use of knowledge acquisition tools may have direct or indirect positive impacts on innovation, creativity, and re-search productivity in any society. Future Research: It will be interesting to apply more than one data collection method in the future research.




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A New Typology Design of Performance Metrics to Measure Errors in Machine Learning Regression Algorithms

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze various performance metrics and approaches to their classification. The main goal of the study was to develop a new typology that will help to advance knowledge of metrics and facilitate their use in machine learning regression algorithms Background: Performance metrics (error measures) are vital components of the evaluation frameworks in various fields. A performance metric can be defined as a logical and mathematical construct designed to measure how close are the actual results from what has been expected or predicted. A vast variety of performance metrics have been described in academic literature. The most commonly mentioned metrics in research studies are Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), etc. Knowledge about metrics properties needs to be systematized to simplify the design and use of the metrics. Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted to achieve the objectives of identifying related peer-reviewed research studies, literature reviews, critical thinking and inductive reasoning. Contribution: The main contribution of this paper is in ordering knowledge of performance metrics and enhancing understanding of their structure and properties by proposing a new typology, generic primary metrics mathematical formula and a visualization chart Findings: Based on the analysis of the structure of numerous performance metrics, we proposed a framework of metrics which includes four (4) categories: primary metrics, extended metrics, composite metrics, and hybrid sets of metrics. The paper identified three (3) key components (dimensions) that determine the structure and properties of primary metrics: method of determining point distance, method of normalization, method of aggregation of point distances over a data set. For each component, implementation options have been identified. The suggested new typology has been shown to cover a total of over 40 commonly used primary metrics Recommendations for Practitioners: Presented findings can be used to facilitate teaching performance metrics to university students and expedite metrics selection and implementation processes for practitioners Recommendation for Researchers: By using the proposed typology, researchers can streamline development of new metrics with predetermined properties Impact on Society: The outcomes of this study could be used for improving evaluation results in machine learning regression, forecasting and prognostics with direct or indirect positive impacts on innovation and productivity in a societal sense Future Research: Future research is needed to examine the properties of the extended metrics, composite metrics, and hybrid sets of metrics. Empirical study of the metrics is needed using R Studio or Azure Machine Learning Studio, to find associations between the properties of primary metrics and their “numerical” behavior in a wide spectrum of data characteristics and business or research requirements




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Enterprise Knowledge Generation Driven by Internet Integration Capability: A Mediated Moderation Model

Aim/Purpose: Drawing on theories of organizational learning, this study analyzes the mechanism of Internet integration capability affecting knowledge generation by 399 Chinese enterprises. This paper will further explore whether there is a moderating role of learning orientation in the mechanism of Internet integration capability affecting enterprise knowledge generation. Background: The Internet has gradually integrated into the enterprise innovation system and penetrated into all aspects of technological innovation, which has promoted the integration and optimization of resources inside and outside the organization. However, there is limited understanding of how the combination of the Internet and integration capability can drive enterprise knowledge generation. Methodology: The study uses survey data from 399 organizations in China. Through structural equation modeling, this study assesses the relationship between Internet integration capability, organizational learning, knowledge generation, and uses PROCESS macro program to test the mediated moderation effect of learning orientation. Contribution: First, this study provides empirical evidence for managers to better build Internet integration capability and ambidextrous learning to promote enterprise knowledge generation. Second, this study highlights the important moderating role of learning orientation in the mediating role of ambidextrous learning. Findings: First, the study confirms the mediating role of exploratory learning and exploitative learning in knowledge generation driven by Internet integration capability. Second, the results show that when organizations have a strong learning orientation, the indirect path of Internet integration capability influencing knowledge generation through exploratory learning will be enhanced. Recommendations for Practitioners: Enterprises should pay full attention to the improvement of internet integration capability and ambidextrous learning to promote knowledge generation. In addition, enterprises should establish a good learning atmosphere within the organization to strengthen the bridge role of exploratory learning between Internet integration capability and knowledge generation. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could collect data from countries with different levels of economic development to verify the universal applicability of the proposed theoretical model. Impact on Society: This study provides references for enterprises using Internet integration capability to promote their knowledge generation capability under the internet background. Future Research: Future research can compare the impact of Internet integration capability on knowledge generation in different industries.




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The Effect of Rational Based Beliefs and Awareness on Employee Compliance with Information Security Procedures: A Case Study of a Financial Corporation in Israel

Aim/Purpose: This paper examines the behavior of financial firm employees with regard to information security procedures instituted within their organization. Furthermore, the effect of information security awareness and its importance within a firm is explored. Background: The study focuses on employees’ attitude toward compliance with information security policies (ISP), combined with various norms and personal abilities. Methodology: A self-reported questionnaire was distributed among 202 employees of a large financial Corporation Contribution: As far as we know, this is the first paper to thoroughly explore employees’ awareness of information system procedures, among financial organizations in Israel, and also the first to develop operative recommendations for these organizations aimed at increasing ISP compliance behavior. The main contribution of this study is that it investigates compliance with information security practices among employees of a defined financial corporation operating under rigid regulatory governance, confidentiality and privacy of data, and stringent requirements for compliance with information security procedures. Findings: Our results indicate that employees’ attitudes, normative beliefs and personal capabilities to comply with firm’s ISP, have positive effects on the firm’s ISP compliance. Also, employees’ general awareness of IS, as well as awareness to ISP within the firm, positively affect employees’ ISP compliance. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study can help information security managers identify the motivating factors for employee behavior to maintain information security procedures, properly channel information security resources, and manage appropriate information security behavior. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can see that corporate rewards and sanctions have significant effects on employee security behavior, but other motivational factors also reinforce the ISP’s compliance behavior. Distinguishing between types of corporations and organizations is essential to understanding employee compliance with information security procedures. Impact on Society: This study offers another level of understanding of employee behavior with regard to information security in organizations and comprises a significant contribution to the growing knowledge in this area. The research results form an important basis for IS policymakers, culture designers, managers, and those directly responsible for IS in the organization. Future Research: Future work should sample employees from another type of corporation from other fields and should apply qualitative analysis to explore other aspects of behavioral patterns related to the subject matter.




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Consumer Engagement in Online Brand Communities: Community Values, Brand Symbolism and Social Strategies

Aim/Purpose: This study examines the kind of community value companies should provide when strengthening the relationship between customers and brands through the establishment of an online brand community, and how this kind of community value promotes customers’ sense of community engagement and willingness to spread brand reputation. The paper also discusses how an enterprise’s brand symbolism affects the relationship between community value and customers’ engagement in online brand community. This study explored the important role of brand symbolism in the establishment of an online brand community. Background: Many companies want to create online brand communities to strengthen their relationships with consumers as well as to provide better service and value to consumers, for example, Huawei’s Huafen community (club.huawei.com), Apple’s support community (support.apple.com/zh-cn), and Samsung’s Galaxy community (samsungmembers.cn). However, these brand communities may have different interests and consumer engagement about the kind of community value to offer to their customers. Methodology: This study uses data collection from questionnaire surveys to design a quantitative research method. An online questionnaire survey of mobile phone users in China was conducted to collect data on social value, cognitive value, brand symbolism, customer community engagement, and brand recommendation. The brands of mobile phone include Apple, Huawei, Samsung, OPPO, VIVO, MI, and Meizu. The researcher purchased a sample service of WJX, an online survey company (www.wjx.cn), and WJX company distributed the questionnaire to research participants. The WJX company randomly selected 240 subjects from their sample database and then sent the questionnaire link to research participants’ mobile phones. Among the 240 research participants, the researcher excluded participants who lacked online brand community experience or had invalid data to qualify for data collection. After the researcher excluded participants who did not qualify for data collection, only 203 qualified questionnaire surveys advanced to the data collection and analysis phase, which was the questionnaire recovery rate of 84.58%. For the model analysis and hypotheses testing, the researcher used statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics and AMOS 21 and Smartpls3. Contribution: This study deepens the body of literature knowledge by combining online brand community value and brand symbolic value to explore issues that companies should consider when establishing an online brand community for their products and services. This study confirms that brands with high symbolic value establish communities and strengthen social values in the online brand community rather than reducing brand symbolism. Online brand community involves a horizontal interaction (peer interaction) among peers, which can have an effect on the symbolic value of brand (social distance). Findings: First, online brand community value (both cognitive and social value) has a positive impact on customer community engagement. Second, customer community engagement has a positive impact on customers’ brand recommend intention. Third, the customer community engagement is a mediator between the online brand community value and the customer brand recommend intention. Most importantly, fourth, the symbolic value of the brand controls the relationship between community value and customer community engagement. For brands with high symbolic value, the community value should emphasize cognitive value rather than social value. For brands with a low symbolic value, the community provides cognitive or social value, which is not affected by the symbolism of the brand. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners can share best practices with the corporate sectors. Brand owners can work with researchers to explore the characteristics of their online brand communities. On this basis, brand owners and researchers can jointly build and manage online brand communities. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can explore different perspectives and factors of brand symbolism that involve brand owners when establishing an online brand community to advance consumer engagement, community value, and brand symbolism. Impact on Society: Online brand community is relevant for brand owners to establish brand symbolism, community value, and customer engagement. Readers of this paper can gain an understanding that cognitive and social values are two important drivers of individual participation in online brand communities. The discussion of these two factors can give readers and brand owners the perception to gain more understanding on social and behavior activities in online brand communities. Future Research: Practitioners and researchers could follow-up in the future with a study to provide more understanding and updated research information from different perspectives of research samples and hypotheses on online brand community.




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Security as a Solution: An Intrusion Detection System Using a Neural Network for IoT Enabled Healthcare Ecosystem

Aim/Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to provide a cost-effective and artificial intelligence enabled security solution for IoT enabled healthcare ecosystem. It helps to implement, improve, and add new attributes to healthcare services. The paper aims to develop a method based on an artificial neural network technique to predict suspicious devices based on bandwidth usage. Background: COVID has made it mandatory to make medical services available online to every remote place. However, services in the healthcare ecosystem require fast, uninterrupted facilities while securing the data flowing through them. The solution in this paper addresses both the security and uninterrupted services issue. This paper proposes a neural network based solution to detect and disable suspicious devices without interrupting critical and life-saving services. Methodology: This paper is an advancement on our previous research, where we performed manual knowledge-based intrusion detection. In this research, all the experiments were executed in the healthcare domain. The mobility pattern of the devices was divided into six parts, and each one is assigned a dedicated slice. The security module regularly monitored all the clients connected to slices, and machine learning was used to detect and disable the problematic or suspicious devices. We have used MATLAB’s neural network to train the dataset and automatically detect and disable suspicious devices. The different network architectures and different training algorithms (Levenberg–Marquardt and Bayesian Framework) in MATLAB software have attempted to achieve more precise values with different properties. Five iterations of training were executed and compared to get the best result of R=99971. We configured the application to handle the four most applicable use cases. We also performed an experimental application simulation for the assessment and validation of predictions. Contribution: This paper provides a security solution for the IoT enabled healthcare system. The architectures discussed suggest an end-to-end solution on the sliced network. Efficient use of artificial neural networks detects and block suspicious devices. Moreover, the solution can be modified, configured and deployed in many other ecosystems like home automation. Findings: This simulation is a subset of the more extensive simulation previously performed on the sliced network to enhance its security. This paper trained the data using a neural network to make the application intelligent and robust. This enhancement helps detect suspicious devices and isolate them before any harm is caused on the network. The solution works both for an intrusion detection and prevention system by detecting and blocking them from using network resources. The result concludes that using multiple hidden layers and a non-linear transfer function, logsig improved the learning and results. Recommendations for Practitioners: Everything from offices, schools, colleges, and e-consultation is currently happening remotely. It has caused extensive pressure on the network where the data flowing through it has increased multifold. Therefore, it becomes our joint responsibility to provide a cost-effective and sustainable security solution for IoT enabled healthcare services. Practitioners can efficiently use this affordable solution compared to the expensive security options available in the commercial market and deploy it over a sliced network. The solution can be implemented by NGOs and federal governments to provide secure and affordable healthcare monitoring services to patients in remote locations. Recommendation for Researchers: Research can take this solution to the next level by integrating artificial intelligence into all the modules. They can augment this solution by making it compatible with the federal government’s data privacy laws. Authentication and encryption modules can be integrated to enhance it further. Impact on Society: COVID has given massive exposure to the healthcare sector since last year. With everything online, data security and privacy is the next most significant concern. This research can be of great support to those working for the security of health care services. This paper provides “Security as a Solution”, which can enhance the security of an otherwise less secure ecosystem. The healthcare use cases discussed in this paper address the most common security issues in the IoT enabled healthcare ecosystem. Future Research: We can enhance this application by including data privacy modules like authentication and authorisation, data encryption and help to abide by the federal privacy laws. In addition, machine learning and artificial intelligence can be extended to other modules of this application. Moreover, this experiment can be easily applicable to many other domains like e-homes, e-offices and many others. For example, e-homes can have devices like kitchen equipment, rooms, dining, cars, bicycles, and smartwatches. Therefore, one can use this application to monitor these devices and detect any suspicious activity.




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Establishing a Security Control Framework for Blockchain Technology

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to propose a new information security controls framework for blockchain technology, which is currently absent from the National and International Information Security Standards. Background: Blockchain technology is a secure and relatively new technology of distributed digital ledgers, which is based on inter-linked blocks of transactions, providing great benefits such as decentralization, transparency, immutability, and automation. There is a rapid growth in the adoption of blockchain technology in different solutions and applications and within different industries throughout the world, such as finance, supply chain, digital identity, energy, healthcare, real estate, and the government sector. Methodology: Risk assessment and treatments were performed on five blockchain use cases to determine their associated risks with respect to security controls. Contribution: The significance of the proposed security controls is manifested in complementing the frameworks that were already established by the International and National Information Security Standards in order to keep pace with the emerging blockchain technology and prevent/reduce its associated information security risks. Findings: The analysis results showed that the proposed security controls herein can mitigate relevant information security risks in blockchain-based solutions and applications and, consequently, protect information and assets from unauthorized disclosure, modification, and destruction. Recommendations for Practitioners: The performed risk assessment on the blockchain use cases herein demonstrates that blockchain can involve security risks that require the establishment of certain measures in order to avoid them. As such, practitioners should not blindly assume that through the use of blockchain all security threats are mitigated. Recommendation for Researchers: The results from our study show that some security risks not covered by existing Standards can be mitigated and reduced when applying our proposed security controls. In addition, researchers should further justify the need for such additional controls and encourage the standardization bodies to incorporate them in their future editions. Impact on Society: Similar to any other emerging technology, blockchain has several drawbacks that, in turn, could have negative impacts on society (e.g., individuals, entities and/or countries). This is mainly due to the lack of a solid national and international standards for managing and mitigating risks associated with such technology. Future Research: The majority of the blockchain use cases in this study are publicly published papers. Therefore, one limitation of this study is the lack of technical details about these respective solutions, resulting in the inability to perform a comprehensive risk identification properly. Hence, this area will be expanded upon in our future work. In addition, covering other standardization bodies in the area of distributed ledger in blockchain technology would also prove fruitful, along with respective future design of relevant security architectures.