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Over the past decade, researchers have been increasingly concerned with the effects of training. Whereas Gary Becker stated that employers pay for specific training and employees for general training, it is often argued that employers provide general training as well and that this has a positive effect on labour productivity. So far empirical research does not indicate that only on‐the‐job training is beneficial to the firm and neither that only employees profit form general training. This paper presents a sector model that measures the effect of training on productivity. The sector model developed in this paper has important advantages as it shows that training generally works, but it is not clear whether this is mainly due to on‐the‐job or off‐the‐job training.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze influential factors of service-oriented architecture (SOA) adoption in e-banking and to provide a methodological framework that explains these factors. One of the main reasons why banks fail to achieve the benefits from SOA adoption is attributed to the lack of a framework that takes multiple perspectives of crucial factors into account. For this reason, the absence of such a methodological framework forms an important research problem that requires deeper investigation. In addressing this issue the paper proposes a framework that improves the decision-making process and helps banks raising SOA adoption benefits.

The paper is based on a critical review and analysis of the normative literature, the development of a conceptual framework for SOA adoption in e-banking and the examination of this through a case study in a real environment. Various data collection methods such as personal interview, archival records, documentation and observation are used. Empirical data are triangulated and then analyzed to draw empirical conclusions.

Several factors and classifications of factors related to SOA adoption are not similar among researchers and there is no completed study on analyzing the influential factors related to SOA adoption in e-banking. The findings provide new insights related to influential factors of SOA adoption in e-banking and extend the body of knowledge. The findings show that the proposed framework can improve the decision-making process and help banks to increase the SOA adoption benefits in an e-banking environment.

An earlier version of the paper was presented at the European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems 2012 and has been selected for publishing in the Journal of Enterprise Information Management. This paper adds a new dimension to existing SOA frameworks by investigating influential factors of SOA adoption in e-banking where limited research has been done, facilitates banks in making robust decisions for SOA adoption in e-banking and enriches the bibliography related to SOA adoption in e-banking.

The purpose of this paper is to broaden the perspective on how information and communication technology (ICT) relates to productivity by introducing a novel ICT variable: the share of ICT-schooled employees in firms, an intangible input often neglected or difficult to measure.

Based on a Cobb-Douglas production function specification, the association between the share of ICT-schooled employees and firm productivity is estimated by the use of unique comparable multi-linked firm-level data sets from statistical offices in six European countries for the period of 2001-2009.

There are indications that the share of ICT-schooled employees significantly and positively relates to productivity, and also that this relationship is generally more persistent than that of ICT intensity of firms, measured as the proportion of broadband internet-enabled employees. However, the strength of the association varies across countries and demonstrates that underlying factors, such as industry structure and institutional settings might be of importance too.

Data features and the way to access harmonised firm-level data across countries affect the choice of econometric approach and output variable.

The results emphasise the importance of specific ICT skills in firms independently of where in the organisation the employee works.

Studies on associations between employees with specific (higher) education based on formal credentials and productivity are rare. Even more uncommon is the cross-country setting with harmonised data including general ICT intensity of firms.

Human capital theory hypothesizes that no firm rationally invests in general job skills training because its competitors might hire the trained employees away before the firm could recoup its costs through higher worker productivity. Drawing from four explanatory perspectives, we developed several research hypotheses about the organizational and environmental sources of variation in company-provided job skills training for core employees, which we tested with a national sample of U.S. work establishments. Contrary to human capital theory expectations, the large majority of employers with core training programs reported providing skills that were either “to a great deal” or “to some extent” useful to other employers. Our general skills training analysis supported only one hypothesis, suggesting the inadequacy of human capital theory for explaining company training investments. We found evidence that the substantive contents of company job skills training programs differentiated into technical skills and social skills dimensions. Multivariate equations supported several hypothesized effects of organizational and environmental factors on the social and technical skills contents of company core training investments. We conclude with a reassessment of the classic general-specific job skills hypothesis and speculate about future directions for job skills training theory and research.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the USA and worldwide. While stroke care has evolved dramatically, many new acute approaches to therapy focus only on the first 3-12 hours. Significant treatment opportunities beyond the first 12 hours can play a major role in improving outcomes for stroke patients. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the issues that affect stroke care delivery for patients and caregivers and describe an integrated care model that can improve care across the continuum.

This paper details evidence-based research that documents current stroke care and efforts to improve care delivery. Further, an innovative integrated care model is described, and its novel application to stroke care is highlighted.

Stroke patients and caregivers face fragmented and poorly coordinated care systems as they move through specific stroke nodes of care, from acute emergency and in-hospital stay through recovery post-discharge at a care facility or at home, and can be addressed by applying a comprehensive, technology-enabled Integrated Stroke Practice Unit (ISPU) Model of Care.

This paper documents specific issues that impact stroke care and the utilization of integrated care delivery models to address them. Evidence-based research results document difficulties of current care delivery methods for stroke and the impact of that care delivery on patients and caregivers across each node of care. It offers an innovative ISPU model and highlights specific tenets of that model for readers.

Techniques of extrude and cure additive manufacturing for thermally cured, high viscosity and medical-grade silicone are investigated by using a small ram extruder and a near-infrared (IR) laser. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the process parameter effects on the stiffness of the final products.

Process parameter effects on axial stiffness values and durometer are explored. Parameters such as extrusion layer height, laser speed, laser current, laser raster spacing and multiple laser passes were investigated and compared to traditional cast and cure methods. Dimensional changes were also recorded and compared.

Tensile and durometer tests show that certain curing parameters give tensile stress and durometers within 10 per cent of bulk material specifications at 200 per cent strain. Parameters that had the highest impact on tensile stress at 200 per cent strain were layer height (0.73 per cent) followed by laser power (0.69 per cent), and then laser raster spacing (0.45 per cent). Parameters that had the highest impact on durometer were laser power (1.00 per cent), followed by layer height, (0.34 per cent) and then laser raster speed (0.32 per cent). Three-dimensional printed samples had about 11.2 per cent more shrinkage than the bulk cast samples in the longest dimension.

This paper is one of the first that demonstrates near IR laser curing parameter effects on three-dimensional printed, commercial off-the-shelf, medical-grade and viscous silicone. The ability to cure very viscous thermosets locally enables interesting technologies such as wire encapsulation, high voltage actuators and drug delivery devices.