This paper presents selected preliminary results from a study of B2B e-commerce
adoption by Canadian manufacturing firms. The goal of the broad research project
IS to describe the behaviour of Canadian manufacturers with respect to adoption
of B2B technologies and to identify factors which distinguish adopters from non-adopters
of B2B. The study focuses on the organizational characteristics of
adopters of B2B e-commerce technologies and attempts to outline the features
which differentiate them from non-adopters. Preliminary analysis shows the
existence of three distinct B2B adopter types: non-adopters, partial-adopters and
full-adopters. Leadership related variables appear to be the most important
determinants of adoption.
This paper reviews major differences between the accounting regulatory systems in Canada and the United States. In the U.S., the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 governs responsibilities of management, auditors, and Boards of Directors related to internal control over financial reporting. In Canada, a series of Multilateral Instruments under provincial jurisdiction serves similar objectives. As compared to the U.S., the Canadian system is more decentralized and principles-based allowing a greater degree of responsibility to the accounting profession for standard setting and oversight. The Canadian approach has resulted in weaker regulation, slower implementation, and greater influence by the accounting profession. These findings imply that accounting regulations should be tailored to fit the political and institutional structures of the adopting country.
Each year the Canadian government allocates a significant amount of money for science and technology. A major portion of this allocation goes for R& D. In order to enjoy adequate return, technologies that are developed in Canadian federal labs need to be transferred to the public effectively. There are critical factors in technology transfer which play a key role in determining the effectiveness of this transfer process. This study examines the technical, organizational, and people factors which can enhance technology transfer from government laboratories.
Implementation of quality management practice in E-Commerce (EC) is a relatively new challenging area to researchers and managers. Proliferation of EC provides an opportunity to quality management gurus to reshape quality dimensions suitable for real sustainability, expansion, and success of EC. Based on the underpinning principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and quality management practice this paper focuses on the quality dimensions required for launching a successful EC as the competitive edge in gaining market leadership. This article postulates a model to integrate quality management in EC.
Surveys of Australian consumers before and after French nuclear testing in the Pacific show clear evidence of negative responses of consumers to the 1995 testing. Although evaluations of French products did not decline, evaluations of France and the French did. However, by 2005 ratings of French products and France had more than recovered. A model of effects among country and product belief sets is proposed and tested. The model is strongly supported and helpful in understanding the process of image recover.
This paper applies attitude theory to assess the influence of beliefs and evaluations of Nepal with desired linkages and travel intentions. The main contribution is to connect TDI and PCI research by testing a general country image model in a tourism context. Attitude theory acts as the connection between the two fields.
Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are areas within developing countries where business is offered special incentives and a barrier-free environment in order to promote economic growth by attracting foreign investment for export-oriented production. Most developing countries now have EPZs, and the number of zones, number of firms operating within them, and volume of business are growing rapidly. Yet studies of the EPZ phenomenon by business researchers are virtually non-existent, leading to poor understanding of its role in international marketing. This paper draws from the economics literature to provide an integrative review of the EPZ concept, discusses its importance for host nations and international business, and provides suggestions for future research.
Identity fraud (IDF) is the fastest growing white-collar crime in many countries and specifically in developed countries. IDF is not a new phenomenal in human societies; the history of IDF can be traced back to hundreds of years ago. What has made it the center of attention in the past few years is the acceleration in the frequency and the impacts of IDF to individuals and businesses. One of the preliminary steps in managing IDF as a global phenomenon is to understand the scope of the problem and measure its different aspects. By realizing the importance of developing measurement systems in this area, and the recognition of a gap in this area of research, this study presents the previous approaches in developing IDF measurement systems, and uses them as benchmarks for developing and proposing a comprehensive measurement system for assessing IDF.
Past research on brand extension evaluation does not incorporate the effects of the target category structure and competition from the existing brand. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory experimental study that shows the effects of competition on the evaluation of brand extensions and potential implications of the dominant brand in the target category.
The problem of identity theft is complex, spans the boundaries of many organizations, companies and countries, and affects numerous entities in different ways at different times. However, given the nature of the problem, it is extremely difficult and costly for an individual or an organization to fight it on its own. An increasing number of practitioners and researchers have started to indicate that the success of identity theft management relies on joint efforts of different stakeholders. Collaboration, generally defined as 'working together to some end' is believed to have the potential of delivering numerous benefits to its participants when properly executed. This paper discusses different aspects of collaboration efforts undertaken by organizations in order to fight identity theft.
Advertising appeals are central to the effectiveness of advertising and have been studied extensively. However, past research has focused primarily on examining the effects of one or another type of appeal on consumers, and little is known about the concept of an advertising appeal itself. As part of a broader program intended to address this gap, this paper examines the role of underlying motivational forces in the development of consumer attributions regarding advertising appeals. More specifically, we are centrally concerned with examining under what conditions emotion states, personality traits, and underlying motivations may lead to product judgements and subsequent (purchase) behaviour.
This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the performance of privatized banks in developed countries. Consistent with the competitive effects hypothesis which asserts that privatization could hurt rivals, we find that the rival banks reacted negatively to news of bank privatization in developed countries. The competitive effects are stronger in cases where government ownership decreases significantly. Contrary to the findings of prior studies that examine the performance of privatized banks in developing countries, we find that privatized banks in developed countries experienced significant improvements in operating performance and stock market performance in the post privatization period.
A review of five major journals in the Management Information Systems (MIS) field reveals that the majority of research articles engaging with Critical Theory, from the period 1990 to 2001, are of a conceptual nature, focusing primarily on systems development. Two reasons are suggested for the comparatively low level of engagement with Critical Theory in empirical research efforts: lack of a critical theory method and reluctance to engage with the theory's emancipatory commitments. A critical theory method that encompasses both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods is advanced. In addition, a more practiceoriented way of thinking about emancipation is proposed.
This paper reviews the existing evidence for dual discrimination based on gender and ethnicity for minority/immigrant women. It focuses on income inequalities between minority/immigrant women and other groups. The effects of human capital, occupational segregation, sector segregation and discrimination or stereotyping on earnings gap are identified. The paper also proposes that a preponderance of minority females in certain occupations may result in a devaluation of wages and lowering of prestige in these occupations. The unique set of stressors experienced by minority/immigrant women that may affect access to jobs as well as performance on the job are also discussed.
This paper provides empirical evidence on the growth, financing activity, and operating performance of Canadian business income trusts. We find that business income trusts are growing in terms of total assets and sales revenues. They frequently acquire other businesses in post-IPO period. We also find that income trusts are likely to issue third-party debt to finance acquisitions. Median operating return on total assets decreases after an business income trust IPO, indicating an operating performance inferior to that in pre-lPO years.
One problem faced by a profit center loyalty reward program firm is that of determining the percentage of the points (the so called "breakage factor or "breakage rate" in loyalty programs industry) accumulated each year that end up not ever being redeemed by members, and that should therefore, be recognized as revenue in the establishment of the periodical financial statements. A higher breakage rate will contribute to increase the net income and profitability on the financial statements. This in turn would offer a competitive advantage to a firm in attracting and pricing new third party partners, developing company strategic plans, and managing the overall yearly reward capacity. In this paper, we propose a quantitative methodology for determining the breakage rate in Loyalty Reward Programs (LRP). The proposed methodology is a simulation-based approach in which the accumulation and redemption of "points" is modeled as a stochastic process. An application of the approach to a real-life context is discussed.
One reason teams are seen to be a high-performance work practice (HPWP) is that the diversity of team member knowledge, skills and abilities, known as cognitive resource diversity supposedly brings new perspectives, information, ideas and resources to the solution of problems and the exploration and exploitation of opportunities. However, to date the performance of heterogeneous teams has been disappointing with the most common finding being increased conflict. Based on social identity and social exchange theories and building onto Mayer, Davis & Schoorman's (1995) classic integrative model of trust, this paper proposes that trust is a critical mediator in the relationship between cognitive resource diversity and within-team knowledge sharing.
The paper addresses important issues regarding how consumers' purchase decisions in a product category are influenced by market mix variables in other categories. We propose a structural analysis of multi-category purchase decisions, where we simultaneously model and estimate consumers' purchase incidence, brand choice and quantity choice decisions across multiple product categories. Addtionally, we study the role played by umbrella brands in influencing the decision made by consumers. We propose a structural model where all the three decisions are derived from the consumer's global utility maximization. Such structural analysis is important from the perspective of (i) a retailer whose objective is to maximize profits over all product categories, and (ii) a manufacturer whose objective is to maximize profits over its entire product line. Our analysis highlights the importance of studying consumers' purchase decisions in a multi-category context which can not be addressed by studying each category in seclusion.
Identification of effective and cost-efficient compensation practices for recruiting and retaining expatriate employees is becoming increasingly important in today's global labor market. This paper proposes a study to investigate perceptions of fair compensation for expatriate employment using the tenets of equity theory. Participants will specify an "equitable" monetary bonus for hypothetical overseas assignments of different lengths and locations. Relying on Konopaske's and Werner's (2002) propositions, the author predicts the following: 1) Short-term overseas assignments will require a larger "foreign service premium" (monetary bonus) than domestic relocation, 2) Long-term expatriate assignments will require a larger premium than short-term or domestic relocation, and 3) Relocation to a developing country will require a larger premium than relocation to an advanced industrialized nation or to a domestic location. A methodology and data analysis strategy are described.