Dania Bilal and Valerie Jopeck
To identify research work on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the context of young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT in developing countries.
Abstract
Purpose
To identify research work on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the context of young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT in developing countries.
Methodology/approach
A literature search covering the period from early 1990s to date in fields of information science, human–computer interaction, ICT, and educational technologies was performed using relevant databases and Google Scholar. Related literature in the context of specific theoretical frameworks was retrieved and analyzed.
Findings
Abundant research exists on ICT in developing countries. However, little empirical work was found on young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT. The gendered digital divide in relation to ICT showed differing perspectives on this issue. Generally, affective information behavior is much less observed in empirical research than the cognitive behavior, regardless of age, gender, or culture.
Practical implications
Young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT in these countries warrant additional research in this area of study. Findings from research on youth information behavior in Western countries may have little or no bearings on youth in developing countries. The study of young girls’ access and use of ICT in developing countries should account for cultural, socioeconomic, and institutional differences among countries and between societies or communities in a given developing country.
Originality/value
Minimal research exists on young girls’ affective responses to accessing and using ICT in developing countries. The literature review covered in this chapter is grounded in theoretical frameworks derived from varied disciplines, including the field of library and information science.
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Satyanandini Arjunan, Minu Zachariah and Prathima Bhat K.
After reading this case, the students will be able to comprehend the conceptual framework of entrepreneurial learning to tap business opportunities; identify the challenges of…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
After reading this case, the students will be able to comprehend the conceptual framework of entrepreneurial learning to tap business opportunities; identify the challenges of small businesses; understand the structure of the franchise business model; and recognise the need for succession planning for business sustainability and evaluate various options for succession.
Case overview/synopsis
“Jute Cottage”, the two-decade-old brand, was operating through its own stores and franchise outlets. The brain behind the brand was Nasreen and her husband Bilal. Dire times led the duo, venture into this business. It was in 1992, the family had relocated from Kolkata and was trying to make a living in Bangalore. Nasreen joined as a teacher and her husband focused on his existing trading business in jute packaging material. This was when Nasreen tried selling jute bags from home that were bought from Kolkata. After a few years, when Bilal’s business had a setback, Nasreen thought of giving a push to her home business. This was how a business that was started at a small level grew slowly and steadily under Nasreen’s leadership to become a brand and reach the current level of owning four stores and 10 franchise outlets across South India. As Nasreen and Bilal were growing old and wanted to retire, they expected their only son, Ataullah, to take over the reins of their business. But to their dismay, he was not interested, as his focus was on movie-making and designing.
Complexity academic level
The case can be taught to MBA/PGDM students to give them experiential learning in the courses on Entrepreneurship and Strategy. It gives insight on how to tap the business opportunities, grow and sustain. The case also highlights the need for succession planning for business continuity.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
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Through observing the use of iPhone and iPad by a child between the ages of two and four years and a half, this study presents accounts on the child’s use of and interaction with…
Abstract
Purpose
Through observing the use of iPhone and iPad by a child between the ages of two and four years and a half, this study presents accounts on the child’s use of and interaction with these devices, as well as her interaction with the physical environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Unstructured, naturalistic observation was employed in this study. The study is grounded in theories of user engagement with digital and physical objects.
Findings
A child’s interaction with touch-based devices does not deter the child from engaging effectively with the physical environment or from activities centered on creativity and interpersonal engagement. A child is able to move back and forth seamlessly between the physical and digital environments.
Practical implications
Findings from this study could help parents, educators, and system designers understand why and how toddlers and preschoolers use and engage with touch-based devices, as well as the kind of tasks they perform.
Originality/value
Studies of toddlers’ or preschoolers’ information behavior and interaction with touch-based devices are scarce. Children born toward the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century are growing up with a propensity to using touch-based devices. This study provides a framework for effective usage of such devices while ensuring all-round cognitive and physical development of the child.
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This study investigated the design of three online public library catalogs in light of the cognitive ability and success of children ages five to eight.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the design of three online public library catalogs in light of the cognitive ability and success of children ages five to eight.
Methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental approach was employed to examine the influence of system design on children’s searching strategies and search success. Interviews were used to explore children’s rationale for using icons and taxonomies in the catalogs. Fifty one children from one public library participated in this study. Inferential statistics were utilized to whether significant differences existed between use of the catalogs and the children’s success in finding information.
Results
Use of images and text were helpful in searching the catalogs. Results of the ANOVA test indicated no significant difference among children’s searching success rates and the three catalogs. Additionally, the participants misidentified representations used in icons in all three catalogs and created valid search paths that did not produce results. There was a disconnect between the children’s cognitive abilities and the design representations of the three catalogs.
Limitations
The study took place in one location, thus one should not overgeneralize the findings. Use of assigned tasks may have affected children’s success rates. Children’s searching using printed cards of display screens from the three catalogs instead of real-time interaction with them is also a limitation.
Practical implications
Because of the children’s reliance on images, the choice of visual representations is crucial to successful searching. Interface designers should involve young users in the design of today’s online catalogs. They should also consider new forms of representations such as auditory icons, verbal mouse overs, and zooms.
Originality/value
In addition to addressing the need for research on young children’s information seeking and use of online catalogs in public libraries, this research focuses on the need for an additional layer of visual representation and highlights flaws in currently used catalog designs.
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Ahmad Raza Bilal and Mirza Muhammad Ali Baig
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the balanced role of internal and external compliance in risk evaluation process of specialized agriculture financing. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the balanced role of internal and external compliance in risk evaluation process of specialized agriculture financing. The authors examine the adaptive behavior of risk managers to determine the role of proposed transformation for risk monitoring (RM) and control process in risk mitigation and avoidance of agriculture credit failure.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered survey was conducted to collect data from 353 risk-related officers and managers in Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) Pakistan. The authors used a previously tested scale for the main constructs. The descriptive analyses were used to gauge the model capacity for determining the strength of proposed risk patterns in agriculture risk management.
Findings
The results reveal that risk evaluation process in ZTBL is reasonably efficient in mitigating risks. Given the sensitive nature of farm credit, there is a need of fundamental reforms in risk policy manuals in line with central bank’s agriculture prudential regulations and Basel-III standards. The results fully support H1 and H2, while H3 is partially validated. The result patterns indicate serious issues in risk evaluation process in agriculture finance that is causing higher delinquency in farm credit.
Research limitations/implications
Based on highlighted issues, the authors recommend valuable guidelines in the RM review system for agriculture financing products at ZTBL.
Practical implications
The authors propose remodeling of agriculture risk management and offer valuable insights to the agriculture financial regulators and government in taking policy initiatives in the pre-and-post agriculture risk evaluation process. The proposed model enables RM process to improve farm credit delinquency, particularly in ZTBL and other agriculture banking networks in commercial banks.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically investigate RM evaluation process in agriculture risk management of ZTBL in Pakistan, thus, offers new horizon of farm credit regulatory compliance in agricultural sector of Pakistan.
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Ahmad Raza Bilal and Tehreem Fatima
This study aims to extend the much-held strategic entrepreneurial orientation stance and conceptualized it as a psychological disposition of small- and medium-scale enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend the much-held strategic entrepreneurial orientation stance and conceptualized it as a psychological disposition of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) owners. Based on this notion, the authors theorized that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) is a precursor of success in manufacturing sector SMEs. Building on the credo of action regulation, the authors clarified the IEO and SMEs’ success association by introducing exploration activities as a conduit. Further, the authors posited that entrepreneurial alertness augments the nexus of IEO, exploration activities and SMEs success.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-wave survey was done by drawing a cluster-based sample of 389 SME owners in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The mediation and moderation analysis were done by PROCESS macro that uses bootstrapping with 5,000 draws to calculate the indirect (Model 4), conditional and conditional indirect effects (Model 7) at a 95% confidence interval.
Findings
The results offered empirical support to the conjectured association among IEO and SMEs’ success mediated by exploration activities. Moreover, the conditional direct (between IEO and exploration activities) and indirect impact (among IEO and SMEs’ success mediated by exploration activities) of entrepreneurial alertness was substantiated.
Originality/value
The authors added to the sprouting body of knowledge in the field of entrepreneurial orientation by focusing on its individual-level psychological conception. The authors have unlocked the interplay between IEO and SMEs’ success via the role of action characteristics of exploration activities and entrepreneurial alertness based on the action regulation tenet. Thus, the authors made a novel contribution by linking the micro-level entrepreneurial orientation and actions with macro-level SMEs' success.
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Upeksha Hansini Madanayake and Charles Egbu
The purpose of this paper is to identify the gaps and potential future research avenues in the big data research specifically in the construction industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the gaps and potential future research avenues in the big data research specifically in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts systematic literature review (SLR) approach to observe and understand trends and extant patterns/themes in the big data analytics (BDA) research area particularly in construction-specific literature.
Findings
A significant rise in construction big data research is identified with an increasing trend in number of yearly articles. The main themes discussed were big data as a concept, big data analytical methods/techniques, big data opportunities – challenges and big data application. The paper emphasises “the implication of big data in to overall sustainability” as a gap that needs to be addressed. These implications are categorised as social, economic and environmental aspects.
Research limitations/implications
The SLR is carried out for construction technology and management research for the time period of 2007–2017 in Scopus and emerald databases only.
Practical implications
The paper enables practitioners to explore the key themes discussed around big data research as well as the practical applicability of big data techniques. The advances in existing big data research inform practitioners the current social, economic and environmental implications of big data which would ultimately help them to incorporate into their strategies to pursue competitive advantage. Identification of knowledge gaps helps keep the academic research move forward for a continuously evolving body of knowledge. The suggested new research avenues will inform future researchers for potential trending and untouched areas for research.
Social implications
Identification of knowledge gaps helps keep the academic research move forward for continuous improvement while learning. The continuously evolving body of knowledge is an asset to the society in terms of revealing the truth about emerging technologies.
Originality/value
There is currently no comprehensive review that addresses social, economic and environmental implications of big data in construction literature. Through this paper, these gaps are identified and filled in an understandable way. This paper establishes these gaps as key issues to consider for the continuous future improvement of big data research in the context of the construction industry.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the readability and level of word complexity of search engine results pages (SERPs) snippets and associated web pages between Google and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the readability and level of word complexity of search engine results pages (SERPs) snippets and associated web pages between Google and Bing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed the Readability Test Tool to analyze the readability and word complexity of 3,000 SERPs snippets and 3,000 associated pages in Google and Bing retrieved on 150 search queries issued by middle school children.
Findings
A significant difference was found in the readability of SERPs snippets and associated web pages between Google and Bing. A significant difference was also observed in the number of complex words in snippets between the two engines but not in associated web pages. At the engine level, the readability of Google and Bing snippets was significantly higher than associated web pages. The readability of Google SERPs snippets was at a much higher level than those of Bing. The readability of snippets in both engines mismatched with the reading comprehension of children in grades 6–8.
Research limitations/implications
The data corpus may be small. Analysis relied on quantitative measures.
Practical implications
Practitioners and other mediators should mitigate the readability issue in SERPs snippets. Researchers should consider text readability and word complexity simultaneously with other factors to obtain the nuanced understanding of young users’ web information behaviors. Additional theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
Originality/value
This study measured the readability and the level of word complexity embedded in SERPs snippets and compared them to respective web pages in Google and Bing. Findings provide further evidence of the readability issue of SERPs snippets and the need to solve this issue through system design improvements.
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Dania Bilal and Li-Min Cassandra Huang
This paper aims to investigate user voice-switching behavior in voice assistants (VAs), embodiments and perceived trust in information accuracy, usefulness and intelligence. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate user voice-switching behavior in voice assistants (VAs), embodiments and perceived trust in information accuracy, usefulness and intelligence. The authors addressed four research questions: RQ1. What is the nature of users’ voice-switching behavior in VAs? RQ2: What are user preferences for embodied voice interfaces (EVIs), and do their preferred EVIs influence their decision to switch the voice on their VAs? RQ3: What are the users’ perceptions of their VAs concerning: a. information accuracy, b. usefulness, c. intelligence and d. the most important characteristics they must possess? RQ4: Do users prefer their voice interface to match their characteristics (age, gender, accent and race/ethnicity)?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a 52-question survey questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The population was undergraduate students (freshmen and sophomores) at a research university in the USA. The students were enrolled in two required courses with a research participation assignment offered for credits. Students must register for research participation credits in the SONA Research Participation System www.sona-systems.com/platform/research-management/ Registered students cannot be invited or sampled to participate in a research study. There were 1,700 students enrolled in both courses. After the survey’s URL was posted in SONA, the authors received (n = 632) responses. Of these, (n = 150) completed the survey and provided valid responses.
Findings
Participants (43%) switched the voice interface in their VAs. They preferred American and British accents but trusted the latter. The British accent with a male voice was more trusted than the American accent with a female voice. Voice-switching decisions varied in the case of most and least preferred EVIs. Participants preferred EVIs that matched their characteristics. Most trusted their VAs’ information accuracy because they used the internet to find information, reflecting inadequate mental models. Lack of trust is attributed to misunderstanding requests and inability to respond accurately. A significant correlation was found between the participants’ perceived intelligence of their VAs and trust in information accuracy.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the wide variability in the data (e.g. 84% White, 6% Asian and 6% Black), the authors did not perform a statistical test to identify the significance between the selected EVIs and participants’ races or ethnicities. The self-reported survey questionnaire may be prone to inaccuracy. The participants’ interest in earning research credit for participation in this study and using SONA is a potential bias. The EVIs the authors used as embodiments are limited in their representation of people from diverse backgrounds, races, ethnicities, ages and genders. However, they could be examples for building prototypes to test in VAs.
Practical implications
Educators and information professionals should lead the way in offering artificial intelligence (AI) literacy programs to enable young adults to form more adequate mental models of VAs and support their learning and interactions. VA designers should address the failures and other issues the participants experienced in VAs to minimize frustrations. They should also train machine learning models on large data sets of complex queries to augment success. Furthermore, they should consider augmenting VAs’ personification with EVIs to enrich voice interactions and enhance personalization. Researchers should use a mixed research method with data triangulation instead of only a survey.
Social implications
There is a dire need to teach young adults AI literacy skills to enable them to build adequate mental models of VAs. Failures in VAs could affect users’ willingness to use them in the future. VAs can be effective teaching and learning tools, supporting students’ autonomous and personalized learning. Integrating EVIs with diverse characteristics could advance inclusivity in designing VAs and support personalization beyond language, accent and gender.
Originality/value
This study advances research on user voice-switching behavior in VAs, which has hardly been investigated in VA research. It brings attention to users’ experiential learning and the need for exposure to AI literacy to enable them to form adequate mental models of VAs. This study contributes to research on personifying VAs through EVIs with diverse characteristics to visualize voice interactions. Reasons for not switching the voice interface due to satisfaction with the current voice or a lack of knowledge of this feature did not support the status quo theory. Incorporating satisfaction and lack of knowledge as new factors could advance this theory. Switching the voice interface to avoid visualizing the least preferred EVIs in VAs is a new theme emerging from this study. Users’ trust in VAs’ information accuracy is intertwined with perceived intelligence and usefulness, but perceived intelligence is the strongest factor influencing trust.
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Tehreem Fatima, Ahmad Raza Bilal, Muhammad Kashif Imran and Ambreen Sarwar
Based on action regulation theory (ART), this study aims to test the impact of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) training on small business owner career success…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on action regulation theory (ART), this study aims to test the impact of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) training on small business owner career success (financial attainment, satisfaction and achievement). Moreover, this relationship was unpacked through a dual mediation model of IEO behaviour and career resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
A four-wave, longitudinal randomized controlled field experiment was conducted in which 527 small business owners participated from Lahore, Pakistan (training group = 256, control group = 271). The data analysis was done via ANCOVAs (group comparison) and PROCESS Model 6 (for serial mediation).
Findings
The results demonstrated that after getting IEO training, the small business owners had increased IEO behaviour, career resilience and career success as compared to their counterparts in the control group. In addition, the effect of IEO training on career success was attributed to the underlying role of IEO behaviour and career resilience development.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that have demonstrated the impact of IEO training on the career-related outcomes based on the action regulation perspective.