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Purpose: Information infrastructures can enable or constrain how companies pursue their visions of sustainability reporting and help address the urgent need to understand how corporate activity affects sustainability outcomes and how socio-ecological challenges affect corporate activity. The paper examines the relationship between sustainability reporting information infrastructures and sustainability reporting practice. Design/methodology/approach: The paper mobilises a socio-technical perspective and the conception of infrastructure, the socio-technical arrangement of technical artifacts and social routines, to engage with a qualitative dataset comprised of interview and documentary evidence on the development and construction of sustainability reporting information. Findings: The results detail how sustainability reporting information infrastructures are used by companies and depict the difficulties faced in generating reliable sustainability data. The findings illustrate the challenges and measures undertaken by entities to embed automation and integration, and to enhance sustainability data quality. The findings provide insight into how infrastructures constrain and support sustainability reporting practices. Originality/value: The paper explains how infrastructures shape sustainability reporting practices, and how infrastructures are shaped by regulatory demands and costs. Companies have developed "uneven" infrastructures supporting legislative requirements, whilst infrastructures supporting non-legislative sustainability reporting remain underdeveloped. Consequently, infrastructures supporting specific legislation have developed along unitary pathways and are often poorly integrated with infrastructures supporting other sustainability reporting areas. Infrastructures developed around legislative requirements are not necessarily constrained by financial reporting norms and do not preclude specific sustainability reporting visions. On the contrary, due to regulation, infrastructure supporting disclosures that offer an "inside out" perspective on sustainability reporting is often comparatively well developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to understand the strategic management of innovation by examining the effect that management control systems (MCS) have on innovation activities during the strategic change process. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was carried out at an innovative company as they undertook a strategic change from closed innovation to open innovation. Simons' levers of control was used to frame the ways in which MCS were designed and used by managers and the effect MCS have on the innovation activities of organization members. Findings: The findings indicate that while managers designed and used MCS to support a drive toward open innovation, organization members did not change their innovation activities. Instead, the findings show that new MCS enabled improvements to their closed innovation strategy. This led to a decrease in the time taken to develop new products, which resulted in increased customer satisfaction, which contributed to the achievement of organizational goals. Originality/value: By focusing on the relationship between MCS and innovation activities in the strategic change process, the paper sheds new light on the ability of MCS to change the innovation activities of organization members. Even though the innovation activities at our case company did not change the interactions between the MCS enabled organizational goals to be achieved as they provided the necessary information infrastructure and motivated goal congruence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the drivers, barriers, benefits and risks affecting the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) into the e-government and to provide a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach: Existing literature examining the relationships between e-government and IoT is scanned and evaluated by conceptualizing the IoT concept in the e-government perspective. Findings: The study shows that there are drivers to integrate IoT in e-government, such as ensuring the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government operations, which would largely establish a relationship between the government and the citizens. Furthermore, there are barriers to such integration, given the lack of political will, the appropriate information technology infrastructure, the training of the stakeholders with a focus on the employee and the like. Originality/value: The integration of IoT in e-government is a novel and weakly explored concept, particularly in the light of new advances such as blockchain in the e-government, which requires further exploration and conceptualization, thereby achieving a shared/common vision and body of knowledge for its further successful and sustainable adoption – to the best of the authors' knowledge, the current study is one of these initial attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a correlation between mobilization costs and project schedule performance of highway projects. In addition to this, the study will also determine if the mobilization costs are helping small or large highway projects in terms of improving the schedule performance. Design/methodology/approach: The data of 206 highway projects were collected from the Department of Transportation of two states with the help of questionnaire survey. The cost, schedule and mobilization costs data were collected. The performance metrics related to construction schedule growth and construction intensity were developed in order to test the research hypotheses: mobilization costs will increase the schedule performance of highway projects. The data were also divided into two groups based on project cost and analyzed to check whether the mobilization costs impact the schedule performance of these highway projects. Spearman's correlation test was conducted to determine the correlation between dependent and independent variables. In addition, a Mann–Whitney test was conducted to determine the difference in medians of construction schedule growth and the construction intensity of these two groups of projects. Findings: One major study finding was that there was no strong linear correlation between the mobilization cost percentage and the construction schedule growth and construction intensity of highway projects. However, the study found the projects that have 9% or more mobilization costs had significantly better schedule growth compared to the projects that have less than 9% mobilization costs. When data were analyzed based on the project size, it was found that this pattern was seen only in large projects costing equal to or more than $5 million. Practical implications: This study's findings have very crucial practical implications to state DOTs contract engineers. This study shows that the highway contract engineers need to provide the right amount of mobilization costs to complete their projects on and before schedule. If the correct amount of mobilization costs is not provided to the contractors, the impact of these mobilization costs on reducing the schedule growth will be negligible. The findings of this study will assist public agency decision makers to complete their projects on or before time by including the mobilization costs provision in the contract. The state DOTs can improve their schedule performance by providing enough financial help to the contractors so that they can improve their cash flows and complete projects successfully within the given timeframe. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by validating the impact of mobilization costs on the schedule performance of highway projects. There has been no empirical study conducted prior to this to identify the role of mobilization costs on reducing the schedule growth of highway projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The academic research into underpricing of initial public offerings (IPOs) offers many explanations, i.e. signalling, financial and market hypothesis. However, another set of information, namely, "Qualitative Factors" (along with financial and others), are largely reported by the issuing firms in the prospectus. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge no such systematic study has been carried out on how firms' qualitative factors impact the IPO valuation. This paper aims to addresses this gap. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 82 IPOs issued from 2014 to 2020, we investigate the issuing firm's pattern of reporting qualitative factors. These qualitative factors are subjected to factor analysis. The authors classify all reported factors across firms into a few categories using principal component analysis. The authors also investigate the impact of these factors on IPO underpricing using OLS regression. Findings: The authors find that the qualitative information relating to market leadership, established brand image and modern scalable information technology infrastructure significantly influences underpricing. The authors also document that market leadership and brand image are the influential reported quality factors that reduce underpricing. Moreover, location advantage, good customer relationship, established relationship with a client, track record of growth and profitability, experienced promoter and management team failed to influence underpricing. Originality/value: The outcome of this piece of research offers additional signalling as an attestation of quality for the issue. The authors further argue that the amount of qualitative information disclosed by the managers in the prospectus to support the pricing should not be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suggests that we are in the early stages of an information revolution which will have an effect similar to that of the industrial revolution of the last century. Looks at the development of electronic news production, the technology required and in particular at the services to shipping offered by IMC Ltd. Warns that information should remain public property and care should be taken to ensure that the elderly, the technophobic, the under-educated and the poor for whom modems and gateways are as alien as Close Encounters, should not be denied their right to information. Concludes that electronic news could replace ink on paper, but only when something better than a PC screen comes into widespread use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the hidden carbon footprint of corporate big data infrastructures and provide guidance for communicators responsible for corporate ESG and reputation. Design/methodology/approach: It is based on a subjective view of the literature on this topic, selecting relevant examples. Findings: The authors found that consciousness within corporations of the carbon footprint of their own information technology infrastructures is low and only a few companies have a strategy for identifying it. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first treatment of this subject from the perspective of the corporate owner of ESG and reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the cloud computing era, three merging developments in software industry are: cloud and on-premises software may offer complementary value to each other; cloud software service requires the support of significant information technology infrastructure; and software piracy problems can be better managed in the cloud. However, how these developments together impact a vendor's bundling strategy has not yet been investigated. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the product bundling framework, this research establishes stylized models to study a software vendor's bundling decision in the cloud-based era with special consideration on the issue of software piracy. Findings: The authors find different key parameters associated with the cloud era exert different effects on the bundling decision. When on-premises software and cloud software generate additional value by complementing each other, software vendors can make greater profits under the pure components (PC) strategy. Regarding a low infrastructure cost, software vendors should favor pure bundling (PB). The impact of piracy deterrence effectiveness is less straightforward – it favors PC when piracy deterrence effectiveness is low, but PB when piracy deterrence effectiveness is high. Originality/value: This study makes key contributions to theory and practice. First, this is the first study to examine software bundling strategies in the cloud computing era, whereby the three factors relevant to the cloud phenomenon have been considered. Second, this paper contributes to the literature of bundling and software piracy by examining the intersection of these two streams of literature. Third, this paper sheds light on a vendor's bundling decision when facing piracy problems in the emerging cloud software era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although an increasing number of organisations implement the Information Technology Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) with the aim to improve provision of information technology services to their customers, a significant number of ITIL implementations do not achieve the expected outcomes. The organisational change strategies of organisations during ITIL implementation initiatives may have an effect on success, but empirical research on this topic is scarce. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study methodology comprising successful ITIL implementations in eight large Australian organisations is used. A socio-technical systems approach represented by Leavitt's Diamond is adopted as a lens to shed light on the attributes of effective organisational change strategies for successful ITIL implementation. Findings: This paper identifies organisational change strategies employed by organisations that have effected a successful ITIL implementation. The authors identified that the ITIL implementation required changes to the four components of the socio-technical work system (STS) identified in Leavitt's Diamond. Changes to one STS component affected other STS components when implementing ITIL; and that effort applied to the STS components did not need to be equal, but appropriate to the requirements of the ITIL implementation and the organisation. Research limitations/implications: The sample size of eight ITIL implementation cases studied may limit the generalisation of findings. Practical implications: This research provides IT service management researchers and ITIL practitioners, for the first time, information about organisational change strategies as applied to successful ITIL implementations. Originality/value: This research has developed novel insights into organisational change strategies and ITIL implementation that had not previously been explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to present six key articles from the archives of Internet Research within a research framework, covering infrastructure, organization, commerce, governance, linking, and interface. Design/methodology/approach - The six articles are introduced, summarized, and used to focus attention on each of the core areas of research that impacted the growth of the Internet. Findings - The prism of time is one of the most powerful tools of observation available to scientists and researchers. Palaeontologists think in terms of aeons, archaeologists consider millennia a mere starting-point, even the biologists, chemists, and physicists have centuries of prior research to consider. Internet Research, the Journal, is only 20 years old - and the field only slightly older than that. Yet what decades those have been. Six articles from the early years of Internet Research epitomize much of the innovation, excitement, challenges and vision that would reshape the world. While tremendous advances in technology have been made in the past 20 years, a number of the original issues and challenges remain unresolved. Practical implications - The paper serves to frame the historic articles within a broader research context. Originality/value - The paper provides a conceptual framework for researchers seeking insights into some of the early formative research on the Internet and web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a new metric that aims to quantitatively support the selection phase of a new e-business idea by performing an evaluation of its distinctness. The paper seeks to explain the reasons for the creation of a new parameter, called "E-distinctivity", the identification of the metrics to assess it and aims to present the results of its evaluation. Design/methodology/approach - In order to visualize the new parameter and to execute all the needed evaluations a two-dimensional radar chart has been created "ad hoc". The radar chart is built on eight crucial characteristics divided into four principal zones representing the strategic aspects of the E-distinctivity. In order to assess the soundness of the identified parameter its evaluation on a reference group of well-known e-business ventures has been performed. Findings - The E-distinctivity parameter permits easy comparison among many different alternative ideas during a feasibility phase and provides quantitative data to evaluate these ideas without requiring huge investments. Research limitations/implications - This parameter is not intended to be sufficient for an exhaustive feasibility assessment of an e-business idea. Additional investigation is necessary to determine other parameters and evaluation tasks to improve the accuracy of the model. The aim is to support the selection phase of a new e-business idea with the aid of new parameters that integrate traditional methods of business analysis. Originality/value - The study identified an original parameter to be evaluated on a given e-business idea in order to provide a quantitative measure of its distinctness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper presents a method for estimating the macro-economic cost of a firm-level information system disruption within a supply chain. Design/methodology/approach — The authors combine field study estimates with a Leontief-based input-output model to estimate the macro-economic costs of a targeted internet outage that disrupts the supply chain. Findings — The authors find that supply chain vulnerability or resiliency to cyber disruptions is not necessarily dependent on the types of technology employed, but rather how the technology is used to enable supply chain processes and the type of attack experienced. The authors find that some supply chains like oil and gas could be significantly impacted by certain cyber disruptions. However, similar to other causes of supply chain disruptions such as labor disputes or natural disasters, the authors find that firms can be very resilient to cyber disruptions. Research limitations/implications — The validity of the approach is limited by the accuracy of parameters gathered through field studies and the resolution of government economic data. Practical implications — Managers should examine how information technology is used to enable their supply chain processes and develop capabilities that provide resilience to failures. Lean supply chains that focus on minimizing inventory may be more vulnerable to major information system failures unless they take special steps to build resilience. Originality/value — This paper provides a new approach to estimating economic vulnerability due to supply chain information failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to argue that insight into internet topology at various levels of aggregation is necessary for identifying and understanding policy issues in the areas of fair competition, reliability and performance in the internet. Design/methodology/approach - Using three areas of social concern in relation to the global information infrastructure as a context, the paper provides some theoretical examples, supported by case examples, which show the importance of gaining insight into internet topology Findings - The paper finds that proper detectors for internet policy are lacking and insight into the topology of the internet is needed. The only feasible way of obtaining this insight is by topology measurements, but still some fundamental pathologies in the available measurement tools and techniques need to be overcome. All internet topologies published to date suffer from these limitations and their use for identifying internet policy is limited. Research limitationsiimplications - The paper provides a general overview of importance and limitations. Future research should be focused on increasing the usability of internet topology by solving fundamental issues in the area of internet topology measurement. Practical implications - The availability of high-quality internet topology maps at various levels of aggregation would dramatically improve one's ability to identify and understand certain policy issues in the internet. Originality/value - In policy analysis it is often ignored that certain policy issues have their base in the internet infrastructure and knowledge of this infrastructure is limited. In internet topology research, focus is mainly on technical and operational issues and limited attention is given to the usability of inferred topology for identifying policy issues. Until now, an approach that addresses both fundamental topology research and internet poilcy issues in concordance has been lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To provide a social-theoretic framework which explains how e-commerce affects social conditions, such as availability of information and equality of access to information, influences actors' behavior, shapes e-commerce business models, and in turn impacts industry structure. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical investigation based on one-hour interviews with owners/managers of nine vehicle dealerships and six vehicle buyers in a large US metropolitan region. The hermeneutic method of understanding was used, involving a circular process from research design and attentiveness to data, to data collection and interpretation. This circular process exemplified the dialectic relationship between the theoretical framework (derived from Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action) and empirical data, through which interpretation and theoretical explanations grounded in the data emerged. Findings - Demonstrates that e-commerce gives rise to increasing competition among the dealers, decreasing prices and migration of competition to price, decreasing profitability of the average dealer, and erosion of traditional sources of competitive advantage. Moreover, e-commerce emancipates and empowers vehicle purchasers while reducing the power of automobile dealers. Research limitations/implications - The research findings focus on the effects of e-commerce on the automobile distribution industry. However, one could argue that a number of the findings extend to other retailing-based industries. Practical implications - The paper illustrates a research methodology that may be useful to study other e-commerce applications. Originality/value - This paper illustrates the application of Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action to studying the effect of e-commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a review of recent trends in the open access (OA) movement, as well as to discuss the significance of those trends for information access in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach - An analysis of the recent literature was carried out, focusing on the benefits of a greater information access in developing countries. The paper also brings together the diverse experiences from the authors on OA publishing and archiving with institutions in a number of developing countries. Findings - Knowledge workers in developing countries are now getting access to scholarly and scientific publications and electronic resources at a level that is unmatched historically. This is highly significant, if developing countries are to meet the millennium development goals. The OA movement and the growing number of Open Archive Initiative-compliant institutional repositories promise to provide even greater access to resources and publications that were previously inaccessible. These low cost technology and interoperability standards are providing great opportunities for libraries and publishers in developing countries to disseminate local research and to bridge the south-north knowledge gap. Originality/value - This paper therefore provides recommendations for knowledge workers on how to actively participate in and contribute to the global knowledge commons. The results and recommendations contained in the paper should be of interest to authors, policy makers, funding agencies and information professionals in both developing and developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The paper aims to identify and critically analyze the factors influencing cost system functionality (CSF) using several machine learning techniques including decision trees, support vector machines and logistic regression.Design/methodology/approach The study used a self-administered survey method to collect the necessary data from companies conducting business in Turkey. Several prediction models are developed and tested; a series of sensitivity analyses is performed on the developed prediction models to assess the ranked importance of factors/variables.Findings Certain factors/variables influence CSF much more than others. The findings of the study suggest that utilization of management accounting practices require a functional cost system, which is supported by a comprehensive cost data management process (i.e. acquisition, storage and utilization).Research limitations/implications The underlying data were collected using a questionnaire survey; thus, it is subjective which reflects the perceptions of the respondents. Ideally, it is expected to reflect the objective of the practices of the firms. Second, the authors have measured CSF it on a "Yes" or "No" basis which does not allow survey respondents reply in between them; thus, it might have limited the choices of the respondents. Third, the Likert scales adopted in the measurement of the other constructs might be limiting the answers of the respondents.Practical implications Information technology plays a very important role for the success of CSF practices. That is, successful implementation of a functional cost system relies heavily on a fully integrated information infrastructure capable of constantly feeding CSF with accurate, relevant and timely data.Originality/value In addition to providing evidence regarding the factors underlying CSF based on a broad range of industries interesting finding, this study also illustrates the viability of machine learning methods as a research framework to critically analyze domain specific data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information related to the European Commission that has drawn up a White Paper which is intended to serve as a document for analysis, reflection and debate. Increasingly, the position of each individual in society will be determined by the knowledge that he or she has been able to acquire. The society of the future will, therefore, be one which invests in intelligence, based on education and learning, in which individuals can build up their own personal educational profiles; in other words, a learning society. The White Paper analyses the changes taking place in society, in particular three driving forces of change: the information society, globalization and science and technology. The information society is transforming the nature of work and the organization of production, forcing everyone to adapt not only to new technical tools, but also to drastic changes in working conditions. Globalization is radically changing the picture of job creation. Science and technology are increasingly being developed and applied to production methods.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain the relationship between supply chain information management, supply chain information system (IS) infrastructure, supply chain integration and the manufacturing performance of firms in manufacturing industry in Malaysia. Therefore, the study addresses a gap in research concerning the effect of supply chain information practices toward manufacturing performance.Design/methodology/approach The research design for this study employed the quantitative method using survey questionnaires that have been developed based on a thorough and detailed analysis of the relevant literature. Based on a sample consist of 248 usable data, mediated multiple regression analysis was used to examine the research model.Findings The findings indicate that supply chain integration fully mediates the relationship between supply chain information management and supply chain information system infrastructure (ISI) toward manufacturing performance.Research limitations/implications This research is limited to a particular sample: i.e. electrical and electronics manufacturing firms in Peninsular Malaysia. Thus, the results need to be generalized to encompass wider samples.Practical implications Organizations interest in making all members in their supply chain to communicate using information network to support managers in better decision making while adopting more enhanced information management and system infrastructure. As a plus, it helps in integrating various internal and external value chain processes across manufacturing firms in the organization’s supply chain network. As result, manufacturing firms could improve their performance in the long run.Originality/value The originality of this study lies in employing a newly developed framework-based existing theoretical argument to examine the effectiveness of supply chain information management and system infrastructure with an improved influence from supply chain integration toward the manufacturing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of information technology (IT) competence – composed of IT infrastructure, IT technical and managerial knowledge and the integration of IT strategy with firm strategy – on quality performance. Since, according to the resource-based view, IT alone is not able to sustain a competitive advantage, the moderating effect of leadership practice on this relationship must be analyzed. Design/methodology/approach – A proposed research model is tested using survey data from a sample of 230 leading Spanish firms. Multiple regression analysis was performed with SPSS package. Findings – The main findings show that: the existence of an IT competence will have a partial impact on improvement in quality performance; IT technical knowledge in itself does not influence the determination of improvement in quality performance – rather, one needs complementarity with leadership; and the impact of IT dimensions on quality performance will be greater in the presence of leadership practice. Practical implications – Managers must be aware that the impact of IT on competitive advantage need not be direct; it can have influence through complementarity with other organizational capabilities. Originality/value – The paper reinforces the need to explore in greater depth the relationship between IT and quality management. This appears to be one of the first papers to simultaneously explore relationships between IT, leadership and quality performance. The paper provides insights on the processes by which IT resources interact with other organizational resources, a topic that has received little attention to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework and its relevance to digital library projects and operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to present a multi-faceted summary and classification of the existing literature in the field of quality of service for e-government and outline the main components of a quality model for e-government services. Design/methodology/approach — Starting with fundamental quality principles the paper examines and analyzes 36 different quality approaches concerning public sector services, e-services in general and more specifically e-government services. Based on the dimensions measured by each approach the paper classifies the approaches and concludes on the basic factors needed for the development of a complete quality model of e-government services. Findings — Based on the classification of literature approaches, the paper provides information about the main components of a quality model that may be used for the continuous monitoring and measuring of public e-services' quality. The classification forms the basis for answering questions that must be addressed by the quality model, such as: What to assess?; Who will perform the assessment? and How the assessment will be done? Practical implications — This model can be used by the management of public organizations in order to measure and monitor the quality of e-services delivered to citizens. Originality/value — The results of the work presented in this paper form the basis for the development of a quality model for e-government services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to show, through the case of Jordan, how e-government is difficult to implement, given the characteristics of the local administration, the socio-economic context and the dynamics of the technological infrastructure. It also aims to ascertain more generally whether the marketisation of the state, embedded in e-government, makes sense as the paramount approach to improve democracy and foster development Design/methodology/approach - Describes how the Kingdom of Jordan, as a case study of an innovative and extensive application of e-government ideas and models, provides a paradigmatic example of how ICTs are being introduced in economically less developed countries and identifies the risks of failure in implementation. Based on the empirical evidence provided by the case, examines the more general implications of e-government and new public management in the transformation of the relationship between the state and citizen. Findings - The transformation of citizens into customers is problematic, and the correlation between good governance and minimal state with development can hardly be demonstrated historically. Originality/value - The paper puts forward a new interpretation centred on the newly established link between aid and security. In this light, e-government appears to be one of the new tools for the rich metropolitan states to govern "at a distance" (through sophisticated methodologies and technologies) the potentially dangerous, weak, borderland states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To examine the impact of organizational learning factors (training available, technical expertise, and knowledge level) and knowledge management processes (knowledge acquisition, knowledge application, and knowledge sharing) on e-business systems adoption level. Design/methodology/approach - The data from a survey of 202 IS executives in Taiwan were used empirically to test the proposed research model. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to evaluate the research model. Findings - The analytical results showed that organizational learning factors and knowledge management processes are closely related to the level of e-business systems adoption. However, knowledge sharing did not significantly affect e-business systems adoption level. Research limitations/implications - Future studies could seek an enhanced understanding of the impacts on the level of e-business adoption of the organizational learning and knowledge management factors investigated in this paper through structured interviews and case studies of IS executives dealing with ongoing or recently completed e-business systems projects. Practical implications - Owner/managers considering e-business systems adoption would be best to focus on both social and technical factors, and their interaction within and beyond the organization, rather than focusing exclusively on technological considerations. Originality/value - This paper has implications for e-business managers or policy-makers in formulating policies and targeting appropriate organizational capabilities to ensure effective adoption of e-business systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a spin off of a keynote address that was delivered by the author at the IFLA-Africa section workshop on "developing and managing digital libraries" that was held in Gaborone Botswana from 23-27 February 2004. The author points out that libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa like their counterparts in the rest of the world are continuing to experience a period of rapid change as they prepare to participate in the global information society. In this endeavour, the libraries face various challenges of economic, technological, content, and information literacy nature. In a global information society, there is need to democratize access to information using ICTs, provide adequate and relevant local content to users and equip them with requisite information literacy skills to efficiently find their way in a maze of information networks. This paper discusses the patterns of ICTs diffusion within libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the implications for the development and management of digital libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-service operations that attract and influence customers to buy products and/or services from specific sites is a complex process involving service design, marketing, and delivery, and encompass a number of essential determinants. Determinants that integrate all the three service processes form the basic framework on which a survey was conducted involving e-service companies, and their views were ascertained on those determinants affecting e-service operations. The aim of this paper is to provide a specific solution that isolates the critical determinants for e-service operations. This paper demonstrated the usability of optimisation technique in isolating critical determinants based on companies' responses. It was found that optimisation technique works well and is able to isolate optimum number of key determinants that are critical to e-service operations. Pareto analysis and statistical significance test were also used to explore the relative importance of the determinants; however, it was found that they failed to identify specific and optimum number of critical determinants. The rationale and limitations of each technique and their applicability were also critically assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stresses that the multimedia nature of the next generation of digital libraries requires the digital librarians (DL) to be essentially a type of specialist librarian who has to manage and organize the digital library, handle the specialized tasks of massive digitization, storage, access, digital knowledge mining, digital reference services, electronic information services, search co-ordination, and manage the archive and its access. The digital librarian acts as guardian of the information superhighway/the universal digital library or the global digital library and acts as a symbiotic human-machine guru. This article also highlights the roles and functions of a DL in information retrieval, content delivery, navigation, and browsing. It envisages the professional education and training for digital librarians in the management of digital information systems. It denotes the DL's interface functions, roles, skills and competencies for the management of digital information systems in the important areas of imaging technologies, optical character recognition, markup languages, cataloguing, metadata, multimedia indexing and database technology, user interface design, programming, and Web technology. This paper finally advocates and targets the task of creating a new job title – digital librarian – to take care of digital libraries and to manage the digital information system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a way of using already existing archival resources in the geographic information system (GIS).Design/methodology/approach The essence of the methodology used was to identify semantic relations of archival documents with geographical space and develop their metadata into spatially related metadata, ready to use in GIS and to join geographical names occurring in these metadata with exact places to which they were related to. Research was based on two digital collections from the Library of Contemporary History in Stuttgart on-line service. These collections were related to the First World War and they included metadata prepared in MAB standard.Findings As the results of the research, two sample metadata sets related to posters and ration coupons were developed. Thesauruses of coordinates of places and regions mentioned in documents metadata in different semantic context were also created. To complete the methodology, the assumptions of the GIS structure and concept of applying metadata in them, have been proposed.Research limitations/implications The research also presents limitations in effective implementation of the proposed solutions, which lie mainly in lack of rules and consequences in recording geographical names in metadata.Originality/value The value of the proposed solution is easy way of using already existing data in GIS and possibilities of gathering, managing, presenting and analyzing archives with one parameter more than in traditional databases – with spatial information. The added value and an effective use of already collected data lies in the strong recommendation of defining and implementation of rules for recording geographical names in archival documents metadata. This will help in a wide use of collected data in any spatial-based solutions as well as in automation of process of joining archives with geographical space, and finally in dissemination of collected resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to clarify the impact of agriculture–tourism integration (ATI) on in situ urbanization (ISURB) of rural residents, to highlight the role of industrial integration in the process of China's ISURB and to provide industrial integration suggestions for promoting urbanization quality in Chinese counties. Design/methodology/approach: By sorting out the panel data of China's 1868 counties, the evaluation index system of ISURB was constructed. Difference in difference (DID) and spatial Durbin-difference in difference (SDM-DID) model is used for estimate the relationship between ATI and ISURB. Findings: First, ATI can improve ISURB by 11.4% higher than other regions. Second, theoretical analysis model of ATI on ISURB is constructed from four aspects of "drive–push–pull–block." The results show that ATI can promote ISURB by increasing upgrading of rural industries, rural employment demand and income capacity, whereas ATI may inhibit ISURB by reducing farmland. Third, considering changes in institutional, hard and soft factors, rural collective economy, information infrastructure and digital finance all promote positive impact of ATI on ISURB. Fourth, ATI will produce spillover effects on ISURB in neighboring regions, which is more pronounced in the central and western regions. Research limitations/implications: This study lacks quantification of ATI, so future studies are encouraged to further quantify ATI at the county level. Practical implications: This study has policy significance for constructing ATI demonstration counties and promoting ISURB in China's counties. Social implications: It is of great practical value to promote China's ISURB. By stimulating ATI, it can improve income and employment capacity of rural residents and stimulate ISURB of China. Originality/value: This study enriches the theoretical and practical research on industrial integration behaviors during the process of ISURB. Highlights: Use county data to measure in situ urbanization (ISURB) Agriculture–tourism integration (ATI) can increase ISURB Constructs a "drive-push-pull-block" model to explain the influence mechanism Use spatial Durbin-difference in difference (SDM-DID) models Consider collective economy, rural information infrastructure and digital finance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The particular dimensions of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) action plan that are intended to close the infrastructure shortcomings of the digital divide can best - and possibly only - be addressed through the wide deployment of a new generation of broadband satellites. Yet current business developments do not provide any level of comfort that the present commercial and regulatory regimes are properly structured for such deployment. This paper proposes some particular aspects of a model conceived by the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) that can provide the proper regulatory incentives and conditions that will allow market forces to meet the requirements of the action plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the USA's movement to a digital network infrastructure which may be threatened by the unavailability of high-speed network channels to some sources of information. Design/methodology/approach - One reason for unavailability is fear by network intermediaries that they face legal liability for carrying harmful messages. Yet changing the law to require network intermediaries to provide equal access to their services raises First Amendment questions. Findings - A mechanism should be established for providers of network services to inform potential customers of the terms on which they handle traffic. An electronic forum for notices of access policy would be one way to implement this recommendation. Originality/value - Uncertainty about equal access, tort liability and First Amendment privileges adversely affects commercialization of the Internet. Commercialization must begin with acceptance of three goals for digital electronic network policy: encouraging a diversity of information products, preventing suppliers of information content from being foreclosed from access to markets, and allowing persons suffering legal injury, because of information content, to obtain compensation based on fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how the British Library (BL) is responding to the changing world of publishing through the Digital Library Programme. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is a descriptive review of the factors that led to the BL establishing the Digital Library Programme. The paper describes the goals of the programme, the priorities for the programme, the mechanisms for providing access to digital material acquired by the Library and gives an overview of the approach to ensuring that material stored in the Digital Library System remains permanently accessible. It also gives a brief overview of some of the main challenges that the Programme faces. Findings - The unique position of the BL within the research environment means that there is great benefit to be had in building a digital library to store significant amounts of material even where it is already available elsewhere. The reason for this is the ability of the Library to sustain storage and access over a much longer period than can be achieved by commercial companies. The Library has also built up significant expertise and a world leadership in the field of digital preservation. The use of a programme and project structure to manage the development of the infrastructure, processes and procedures has already shown that it can deliver significant benefit in the changing landscape of digital dissemination of information. The use of an iterative and incremental approach both for the programme as a whole and for projects within the programme has shown significant benefits in allowing the BL to make progress where the end goal is very ambitious and there is no obvious off-the-shelf solution. Practical implications - This may have broad applications for similar complex projects. Originality/value - The BL Digital Library Programme is providing a solution to the acquisition and dissemination of digital material on a larger scale than is common within the library and archiving community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Digital media technology is becoming an integral part of our daily activities, with widespread penetration in various application domains including arts, medicine, education, and commerce. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the horizon of emerging digital media technologies in electronic financial trading with reference to a novel application drawing expertise from two important fields of study, namely: digital media (video and image) processing and augmented reality. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents an ergonomic study that considers the potential utility and usability of augmented reality (AR) in finance. In order to justify the outcome of this ergonomic study, the authors describe the technology under study (CYBERII) and its implementation in finance. This ergonomic study is based on a comparative analysis of the use of AR with a counterpart virtual reality (VR) approach used for the same application. Findings - The comparative analysis highlights an added value in the shift from the use of VR to AR in electronic financial trading. This added value is gained from augmented realism and less constrained interaction. The paper discusses the challenges and rewards of the emerging digital media technologies in meeting the needs of electronic commerce applications, particularly in electronic financial trading. The main considerations taken into account are the realism of rendering, system portability, and widespread usability. Originality/value - This study motivates further ergonomic studies involving the evaluation of augmented reality integration including CYBERII technology, in the field of electronic commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose ? The purposes of this study are to present an operational definition of information technology (IT) infrastructure flexibility and to provide a framework for assessing its components. Design/methodology/approach ? A comprehensive review of the relevant literature was conducted along with expert interviews to determine what experts considered to be the characteristics of IT infrastructure flexibility. A questionnaire was then developed, and 388 IT personnel with a wide range of experience verified the proposed framework. Factor analysis was conducted to reveal the common aspects of IT infrastructure flexibility. Findings ? The results expand on the four recognized components (connectivity, compatibility, modularity and IT personnel competency) from the literature by revealing five further components (scalability, continuity, rapidity, facility and modernity). Research limitations/implications ? The issue of external validity should be a concern because the samples were collected only from IT personnel in the financial service industry in Thailand. The improvement of the instrument to fit additional contexts is recommended. Practical implications ? Practitioners may now consider their IT infrastructure profiles and determine which components need more attention. Researchers may expand on this paper's results by conducting further investigations with other organizational measurements. Originality/value ? This study is the first to provide empirical evidence from the context of a developing country, which fills a significant gap in the literature. Although this study reports different findings from the literature, the results still complement rather than contradict the existing research framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current development of public in formation infrastructure in eastern USA. It proposes discussing lessons learned from four case studies of public information infrastructure projects to gain a better understanding of the challenges and implications of open access for broadband services and to provide a foundation for evaluating the advisability of mandatory open access policies. Design/methodology/approach - Four cases were selected for in-depth study in the eastern area of the USA. Multiple data collection methods were used - in-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews with people associated directly with the projects. Findings - The study recommends appropriate policy measures that can promote open access. Originality/value - The case studies shed light on how future public information infrastructures may evolve within the larger context of national and global information infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — To give an overview of the current state and trends in authentication and authorisation in satisfying academic library users' mobility and instant access to digital information resources, and to propose that libraries strongly support efforts to establish a global authentication and authorisation infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach — An overview of some national projects towards such an infrastructure for public institutions, including libraries, is provided. Findings — There are many projects working towards such an infrastructure, but no single widely accepted authentication and authorisation infrastructure exists yet. A global authentication and authorisation infrastructure will enable users to use a single username and a password for all local and remote library services. It will consist of interconnected authentication/authorisation servers, where each institution will be responsible for a local user database. Research limitations/implications — The list of projects towards global authentication and authorisation infrastructure is not complete. Projects are not described in detail. Practical implications — Libraries will have to join efforts towards a global authentication and authorisation infrastructure and to integrate this into their applications. That way, they will improve services for their users who are remote from their home institutions, enable users to access new services faster, lessen user frustration with forgotten passwords, reduce time spent on administrative tasks and also reduce the burden of password management and enable security improvements. Originality/value — This paper fulfils an identified need to speed up the development of a global authentication and authorisation infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Despite rapid expansion of e-business, the research on corresponding evaluation is relatively rare. This paper studies the factors that impact how companies evaluate their e-business projects. Design/methodology/approach - Paper starts with conceptualization of factors that affect the usage of e-business evaluation. The empirical part is based on representative telephone survey (n =755) among Slovenian companies in 2003. The causal model (LISREL) was applied on this data. Findings - Only about one tenth of the companies with sizeable e-business projects employs some type of formal e-business evaluation. One reason for that might be high satisfaction with e-business. Among formal methods return on investments and cost benefit analysis dominate. However, once a company decides to apply evaluation approach it will use more methods, usually three or four. The attitudes towards e-business are the most important factors affecting the implementation of e-business evaluation methods. Surprisingly little differences were noticed in respect to the size of the company, its IT infrastructure, as well as the number and variety of e-business projects. Practical implications - The attitudes of the IT management are crucial for employing evaluation of e-business projects. Originality/value - The paper revealed that the perceptions of e-business most strongly affect the corresponding e-business evaluation practice. On the other hand, the high occurrence of problems related to e-business implementation has a negative impact on the introduction of evaluation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although only a small percentage of the world's population has access to the Web, its influence over the world economy and society is very high. It is possible to imagine a completely different economy from the industrial one, but the potential of information and communications technology constitutes a challenge for traditional economic thought. This paper explores the characteristics of the information society and the global economy from the perspective of the developing countries of Latin America, and the potential of the digital economy to transform social relationships both universally and locally. As Latin America is about to start its third century of political autonomy, the digital revolution provides a new opportunity to articulate that freedom of action and to exercise alternative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing concern about the apparent widespread failure of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) to deliver real organisational and business benefits. Several high profile computer system failures in the public domain have highlighted this problem. A lack of understanding about the impact of IS and IT on employees and organisations has compounded the problem. Historically, the majority of IS have been developed using a predominantly technical perspective. IS developers have attempted to minimise the complexity surrounding organisational change by concentrating primarily on a technical agenda. This paper attempts to show that the majority of current IS development methodologies focus on only a sub-set of the organisational problems that can be created by information systems. It then continues by highlighting the need for development methodologies to take a more “business-led” perspective when information systems are being introduced into organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considers the world-wide emergence of "educational superhighway" policies: government programmes aiming to connect school systems to the Internet - and explores their relevance to education. By examining the key actors and motives behind educationa l Internet initiatives the paper argues that such policies are primarily economically not educationally driven. The implications of this are then considered in the light of increasing global information priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1994 spring semester, twelve students, enrolled in Columbia University's graduate program in public policy and administration and explored the new phenomenon of civic networking for a workshop in applied public policy analysis. Each workshop is required to be sponsored by a governmental client, which in this case was the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. The commission was interested in ascertaining the range of activities sponsored by the networks and in determining their involvement or lack of involvement with local public libraries. Participating in this project were representatives of twenty-four civic networks, who answered telephone queries covering a range of topics dealing with network services, users, goals, funding, governance, technical design, social benefits, government information provision, evaluation, and definition. This paper summarizes the findings of the students' investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Public Advisory Council on Information Highway Policy (PACIHP) project is discussed in terms of activities, difficulties, successes, impact, motivations, and background. This paper is presented in two parts. The first part details how project organizers have attempted to involve the online community in the policy-making process, the techniques used, and the community's and policymakers' response to the initiative. Some preliminary observations about the project's impact are also discussed. The second part presents an overview of the Canadian regulatory and political environment. The specific trends identified have contributed to the authors' concerns, providing some of the motivation for the project. In conclusion, thoughts on the future of computer-mediated communication and its potential for democratizing politics are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent managerial literature on the development of corporate infrastructures to deliver sophisticated and flexible IT capabilities is based on a set of assumptions concerning the role of management in strategy formulation, planning and control; the role of IT as a tool; the linkages between infrastructure and business processes; the implementation process. This paper deconstructs such assumptions by gradually enriching the conventional management agenda with new priorities stemming from other styles of taking care of infrastructures. The original, straightforward management agenda appears to be lacking: its foundations are irremediably shaken. The paper finally evokes a philosophy-based agenda, the only one valuable in the uncharted territory where the usual foundations do not deliver any longer. Such an agenda speaks a language of weak agency: releasement; dwelling with mystery; capacity to drop the tools; valuing marginal practices. Will the last agenda play a key role in coping with the information infrastructures of the next millennium? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the era of digitalisation, blockchain has the potential to fundamentally change the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry's workflow, trust and procurement environments. However, few studies have investigated blockchain adoption barriers in the AEC industry in detail. Therefore, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these barriers and their interdependent relationships in the context of the AEC industry. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a review of the literature, industry reports and expert feedback, 11 barriers towards adopting the blockchain were identified. Then, the authors investigated the interdependencies amongst the factors by adopting a two-stage integrated interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Findings: The findings show that the lack of information technology infrastructure (BC4) and legal and regulatory uncertainty (BC11) are the most prominent barriers towards blockchain adoption in the AEC industry. Practical implications: The research contributes in providing a clearer understanding of related barriers and potential solutions for practitioners in this area. Subsequently, the identification of adoption barriers can enable an important knowledge foundation and suggest possible solutions for adopting blockchain techniques successfully and effectively in the AEC industry. Originality/value: The study lays an essential research foundation for the effective adoption and use of blockchain in the AEC industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explored the information practices of cosplayers, as well as the social norms, social types and information infrastructure of an online cosplay Facebook group, the Rey Cosplay Community (RCC). Design/methodology/approach: To better understand individual behavior, the authors made use of ethnographic methods and semi-structured interviews. Observation of the RCC was combined with information gleaned from select participant interviews. Findings: The results suggest that the RCC can be conceived of as an information community where fans obtain and share information about cosplay costume making. Sufficient and well-organized information and positive community culture greatly help community members make their costumes. Originality/value: This works serves as a bridge between fan studies and information science research in its exploration of online communities, shared information practices and creating non-toxic virtual environments. It also lends support to the idea that positivity, respect for community rules and a tight-knit connection between members play essential roles in building a non-toxic fan and information community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The challenges of digital transformation (DT) have gained attention from both academics and practitioners, as more manufacturing companies are seeking digital technology implementation. This study, therefore, aims to identify the challenges of DT in manufacturing companies and propose new research directions. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review considering 176 articles (published between 2003 and 2019) was used to build a conceptual framework of DT. Findings: A systematized view of challenges regarding organizational commitment, value creation, value proposition, value delivery, value capture, information and technology infrastructure and data security were identified. Moreover, a conceptual framework was developed to summarize the challenges and how they are associated with the business model value architecture and with the DT phases. Research opportunities for future research were also identified, contributing to the advancement of the topic. Originality/value: First, the study provides a categorization of the main challenges of DT in manufacturing companies. Second, it identifies research gaps and future research avenues; and finally, it proposes a conceptual framework that aims to support more rigorous studies and guide management decisions regarding an integrative understanding of DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This study seeks to develop a general framework for evaluating communication platforms in e-commerce, and then apply the framework to investigate what factors have impeded m-commerce from taking off in the specific context of China. Design/methodology/approach — The paper proposes a three-dimension framework for evaluating a communication platform in e-commerce, which features reach, richness, and costs of communications as its salient characteristics. Grounded on the framework, a comparative analysis is conducted using data from a survey sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China. The analysis, from the user's perspective, compares facilitators and inhibitors for using communication platforms in two different contexts, the mobile communication platform in m-commerce vs the fixed communication platform in the "classical" e-commerce. Findings — The study finds that, compared with e-commerce over the fixed communication platform, the m-commerce in China enjoys relatively great communication reach but suffers from relatively low communication richness. In the mean time, costs of communications do not seem to be a major barrier for m-commerce growth. Originality/value — The three-dimension framework can serve as an underlying model not only to evaluate currently available communication platforms for e-commerce, but also to address economic calculus of benefits and costs of emerging communication platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To investigate the relationship between organizational characteristics and enterprise information portal (EIP) adoption, and the relationship between Elf implementation and e-business performance. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses questionnaire survey method to collect data for statistical analysis. Findings - The result of analysis shows that: between organizations that have and those that have not adopted EIP, significant differences exist in the maturity and familiarity of information technologies, and firm size; the implementation of Elf in terms of application degree, implementation type, integration ability, and users of ElP, will significantly influence e-business performance; the relationship between the application degree of Elf and e-business performance will be enhanced by higher e-business implementation; the relationship between the implementation type of Elf and e-business performance will be intervened by higher e-business implementation. Practical implications Corporations may create great business value by establishing ElP project. Originality/value - This paper provides a model to understand the relationship between Elf implementation and e-business performance and helps corporations evaluate ElP project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To introduce the special issue on organizational transformation and e-business implementation. Design/methodology/approach - Provides a brief review of the papers within the issue. Findings - The organization transformation brought on by the internet and the adoption of e-business approaches are fertile ground for continuing work. Virtually, all aspects of the structure and process within the organization are affected. Originality/value - Provides a summary of the perspectives considered within the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]