Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present results from an analysis of service processes regarding their optimization potential through mobile technologies. The analysis was performed with a company of the housing industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis was conducted with the aim of organizing business processes more efficiently in order to realize cost savings. Therefore, a method introduced in this paper was used.
Findings
It is shown how the initial situation of the company was analyzed, which alternative process models on the basis of mobile technologies were developed and how these alternatives were economically evaluated. Furthermore, first restrictions for the software and system design were identified on the basis of one process model. Finally, it is shown how the method can be used to verify whether the adoption of mobile technologies is suitable to obtain a defined goal, and which requirements such a solution needs to fulfill.
Originality/value
This paper shows practitioners how to conduct a systematic analysis of business processes regarding their optimization potential through mobile technologies.
Details
Keywords
Educators recognize that group work and physical involvement with learning materials can greatly enhance the understanding and retention of difficult concepts. As a result, math…
Abstract
Educators recognize that group work and physical involvement with learning materials can greatly enhance the understanding and retention of difficult concepts. As a result, math manipulatives ‐ such as pattern blocks and number lines ‐ have increasingly been making their way into classrooms and children’s museums. Yet without the constant guidance of a teacher, students can easily become distracted, confused, or frustrated. Math games with tangible user interfaces can address the needs of the modern learning environment by providing the guidance that a teacher would while allowing students to work together in a physical environment. This paper describes how math games with tangible user interfaces can be rapidly developed using a library of functions that were designed specifically for tracking visual tags in math games. The paper also discusses pedagogical principles and an approach to designing and developing games that utilize tangible technologies. Examples of math games that have been prototyped this way are presented. The paper concludes with a study that suggests that this approach helps children to stay focused, think about math problems in new ways, and complete the problem at hand. It also suggests that tangible math games may help children to develop problem‐solving skills that transfer to similar problems.
Details
Keywords
Hsin-Pin Fu, Tien-Hsiang Chang, Sheng-Wei Lin, Ying-Hua Teng and Ying-Zi Huang
The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has had a substantial influence on the retail industry. However, AI adoption entails considerable responsibilities and…
Abstract
Purpose
The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has had a substantial influence on the retail industry. However, AI adoption entails considerable responsibilities and risks for senior managers. In this study, the authors developed an evaluation and selection mechanism for successful AI technology adoption in the retail industry. The multifaceted measurement and identification of critical factors (CFs) can enable retailers to adopt AI technology effectively and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
The evaluation and adoption of organisational AI technology involve multifaceted decision-making for management. Therefore, the authors used the analytic network process to develop an AI evaluation framework for calculating the weight and importance of each consideration. An expert questionnaire survey was distributed to senior retail managers and 17 valid responses were obtained. Finally, the Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method was used to identify CFs for AI adoption.
Findings
The results revealed five CFs for AI adoption in the retail industry. The findings indicated that after AI adoption, top retail management is most concerned with factors pertaining to business performance and minor concerned about the internal system's functional efficiency. Retailers pay more attention to technology and organisation context, which are matters under the retailers' control, than to external uncontrollable environmental factors.
Originality/value
The authors developed an evaluation framework and identified CFs for AI technology adoption in the retail industry. In terms of practical application, the results of this study can help AI service providers understand the CFs of retailers when adopting AI. Moreover, retailers can use the proposed multifaceted evaluation framework to guide their adoption of AI technology.
Details
Keywords
João Barata, Paulo Rupino Cunha and Sharon Coyle
The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to incorporating mobility into continuous manufacturing following the advent of Industry 4.0 (I4.0).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to incorporating mobility into continuous manufacturing following the advent of Industry 4.0 (I4.0).
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation is based on a year-long canonical action research into a paper-manufacturing company implementing core I4.0 technologies.
Findings
The findings show how to: classify manufacturing mobility strategy based on the dimensions of team, task and control; design business processes enabled by mobile cyber–physical resources; involve different stakeholders in modeling mobility; and create a comprehensive guide to assist in implementing the mobile digitalization required by I4.0.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the complexity, richness and depth of the insights obtained in this research for mobility management in process industries, this inquiry was conducted in a single organization.
Practical implications
As the fourth industrial revolution encourages decentralization and increased interaction between humans and machines, this paper presents a model to capture the mobility potential in manufacturing. The tools proposed in this research can be used to steer investments in industry transformations that fuse the physical and digital worlds, overcoming mobility constraints.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this paper expands the concept of manufacturing mobility in I4.0. In practice, it proposes a participative roadmap to assist technology management in increasingly decentralized environments, identifying the intertwined network of cyber–physical actors, processes and services.
Details
Keywords
Jane Seale, Mike Wald and E Draffan
There is a need for more in‐depth exploration of the e‐learning experiences of disabled learners in higher education, taking into account the complex relationship between learners…
Abstract
There is a need for more in‐depth exploration of the e‐learning experiences of disabled learners in higher education, taking into account the complex relationship between learners (skills, knowledge and beliefs), their assistive technologies and the e‐learning contexts in which learners are required to operate. Participatory methods appear to have great potential in enabling the voice of disabled learners to be a more central focus of e‐learning studies. This paper will describe and evaluate a two‐year research project called LExDis, which aims to use participatory methods to explore the e‐learning experiences of disabled learners in one higher education institution. The experience of conducting phase one of the LExDis project will be discussed with regards to three main challenges to using participatory methods: informed participation; valued participation; and empowered participation.
Details
Keywords
The objective of this paper is to persuade the reader of the potential benefits to be gained in applying to the study of information systems in Organisations concepts and…
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to persuade the reader of the potential benefits to be gained in applying to the study of information systems in Organisations concepts and theoretical tools developed elsewhere in the social sciences. A framework for analysis derived from a combination of feminist theory and social studies of technology (SST) is presented. The key analytical tools of the script and inscription, interpretative flexibility and actant, stabilisation and visibility are discussed. The paper attempts to demonstrate how these tools can be employed to go beyond the stereotypical images of gender and technology, by focusing on contradiction and resistance. An empirical study concerns an automated care planning system used and resisted by nurse users in a UK National Health Service hospital. The discussion is informed by a resultant table describing the outcome of the application of SST tools as well as points made concerning the issue of gender and technology.
Details
Keywords
Amila Withanaarachchi and Nisansala Vithana
This study aims to identify factors impacting female underrepresentation among cybersecurity professionals in Sri Lanka.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify factors impacting female underrepresentation among cybersecurity professionals in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on survey data from 75 female professionals working in the cybersecurity sector of Sri Lanka. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.
Findings
Results showed that female self-efficacy on their capabilities, family, organisational culture, mentors and role model act as antecedents for women’s perceived motivation to select cybersecurity as a career option.
Originality/value
The study advances the literature on workforce gaps in the cybersecurity sector and claims that there is no single factor causing significant female underrepresentation in the cybersecurity industry. While clarifying the complexity of such factors, the study presents how such factors can systematise to attract females into the cybersecurity field.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this theoretical paper is to introduce a conceptual model to investigate e-learning persuasion through gamification elements using the social psychology theory of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this theoretical paper is to introduce a conceptual model to investigate e-learning persuasion through gamification elements using the social psychology theory of elaboration likelihood model (ELM).
Design/methodology/approach
The author systematically reviewed several theoretical and empirical papers which applied the ELM in various settings. Based on the literature, the author identified six research prepositions which facilitate to investigate e-learning persuasion through gamification.
Findings
This study contributes to the existing literature by identifying an ELM-based conceptual model which can be used to empirically investigate the e-learning persuasion using gamification elements. Accordingly, the central route persuasion could be conducted through argument quality, demographic differences and technology context facilitated through gamification elements. The peripheral route persuasion could be conducted through variables such as source credibility, social presence and message content.
Practical implications
This study contributes important findings to the e-learning research by introducing a conceptual model–based on the social psychology theory of ELM. Thereby, this study introduces a method for the future researchers, to investigate the e-learning persuasion using gamification elements. Further, future researchers can use this model to investigate the e-learning persuasion through gamification in different contexts including primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study can be considered as the first theoretical paper which developed an ELM-based conceptual model to investigate the e-learning persuasion through gamification in education context.
Details
Keywords
Luenda E. Charles, Cecil M. Burchfiel, Desta Fekedulegn, Bryan Vila, Tara A. Hartley, James Slaven, Anna Mnatsakanova and John M. Violanti
Working on the night shift is a potential source of occupational stress and has been associated with sleep disorders. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association…
Abstract
Purpose
Working on the night shift is a potential source of occupational stress and has been associated with sleep disorders. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between shift work and sleep problems among police officers from Buffalo, New York.
Design/methodology/approach
Randomly selected officers (n=111) responded to questions on sleep quality and quantity. Shift work data were obtained from daily payroll records from 1994 to the exam date (1999‐2000). Prevalence ratios (PR) were obtained using Poisson regression models that examined associations of shift work with sleep quality and quantity.
Findings
Among police officers, night shift work was significantly and independently associated with snoring and decreased sleep duration.
Originality/value
Although the sleep questions were similar to those used in validated sleep questionnaires, a major strength of this study was the availability of daily work history data on all officers for up to five years prior to the current examination.