Search

Organisations are now turning their attention to business-to-employee (B2E) e-business systems upon exploiting the potentials of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) aspects of e-business. The business literature and IT vendors-owned publications both contain many stories highlighting the benefits that organisations are likely to receive as a result of embracing B2E e-business systems. However, little is reported in the scholarly academic literature about the adoption of such systems. More specifically, it is not clearly known how organisations experience benefits, what impediments they encounter, and how they resolve those impediments associated with B2E systems adoption. To address this gap in the literature, this paper presents the experiences of two large Australian universities in introducing two different types of B2E e-business systems, and reports on the findings about their views on benefits experienced and impediments encountered. The implications of the findings are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing underutilisation of immigrant skills has become a topical issue for researchers and policy-makers alike. Within Australia, the majority of studies conducted in this space have adopted either the immigrant or policy-maker perspective, and have utilised human capital theory or labour market segmentation theory to explain the phenomenon. This paper contributes to the existing literature by proposing a novel occupation-specific approach focusing on the employer as a central player in determining labour market outcomes. In this exploratory study, interviews were conducted with 21 employers of accounting and IT employers in the regional city of Wollongong, Australia. The findings suggest that employers of accountants held a greater preference for Australian work experience and qualifications; communication skills beyond English language skills; and emphasised person–organisation fit over person–job fit. Conversely, employers of immigrant IT professionals were more tolerant of overseas-based qualifications and experience; were willing to accept candidates with ‘sub-standard’ communication skills; and were open to personal attribute variations. Immigrant accounting professionals were therefore more likely than their IT counterparts to experience disadvantage when seeking employment opportunities in Australia; a finding that represents important implications for immigrant professionals, policy-makers and employers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Healthcare is a sector where investments in information technology (IT) have been found to be associated with improvements in the quality of care, efficiency, and safety. Prior studies have not asked whether the quality of IT is also associated with improved work–life balance for employees. This study addresses that question using the Job Demands-Resources model and a longitudinal sample of 11,140 physicians in Australia. Controlling for a variety of factors that may also influence work–life balance, and using diverse specifications, the reported quality of IT services is positively associated with work–life balance. The measured effects of IT support are smaller than those for long and unpredictable work hours, but similar to those for many other job demands and resources, such as colleague support, complex patients, or part-time employment for women physicians. Implications for HR researchers and practitioners are discussed in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Internet commerce has been greeted with much excitement in the popular, practitioner and researcher literature over its brief lifetime. Many firms fervently pursued Internet commerce based business models in the belief that the initial costs would be justified by future returns. The “tech wreck” of early 2000 saw a sudden drop in ecommerce uptake. Only a limited amount of research has examined managerial expectations regarding adoption of this technology, especially after the crash of 2000. This study examines such post-crash expectations of managers of Australian companies regarding Internet commerce adoption. Based on literature analysis, it proposes a set of business expectations from technology adoption, these being the desire to gain a competitive advantage, to remove a competitive disadvantage, improve communication, reduce organizational costs and improve functionality. The study finds that, in the short and long term, managers still hope to acquire a competitive advantage and to benefit from improved communication with customers and shareholders. The results also suggest that managers are optimistic about functionality improvements in the long term but that some skepticism may have emerged regarding other benefits purportedly obtainable from Internet e-commerce adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]