Mario Saba, Peter Bou Saba and Antoine Harfouche
The purpose of this paper is to focus on an information technology (IT) deployment project in the specific field of agricultural cooperatives. It also aims to underline the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on an information technology (IT) deployment project in the specific field of agricultural cooperatives. It also aims to underline the importance of the IT implementation phase, but also the pre-implementation phase.
Design/methodology/approach
A four-year canonical action research project was conducted within a network of more than 300 agricultural cooperatives. Research was carried out both during the IT implementation and after deployment. Key information was gathered through unstructured and unofficial interviews, observations, field notes, meetings, focus groups, and documentary analysis.
Findings
Despite user resistance behavior, the findings show that information systems (IS) implementation may lead to unexpected results that extend beyond the tool’s initial objectives. Indeed, four hidden facets of the tool were revealed: inductor, symbol, pretext, and reference.
Research limitations/implications
Although the research is limited to one single-case study, it puts the emphasis on in-depth research, vs cross-sectional data collection, to analyze the relationship between IT implementation initiatives and organizational intelligence. Furthermore, the authors argue that while IS literature has separately developed related theories (actor-network theory, competitive intelligence), the authors conceptualize a whole theoretic system interrelating the two above-stated theories.
Practical implications
The implication for IS practitioners is that, by focusing only on experiences that have occurred during IT implementation, one may disregard critical information, behaviors and knowledge from unforeseen effects that have occurred after implementation. In future IT projects, IS managers therefore need to capitalize on post-implementation knowledge, through sociology of translation and competitive intelligence, in order to anticipate potential diversions from the initial objectives. Finally, while most IT implementation methods tend naturally to manage resistance maximize users’ satisfaction and to reduce potential resistance, the authors support an alternative approach. It consists into enhancing resistance in order to anticipate and resolve latent resistance behaviors directly or indirectly related to the project.
Originality/value
Despite widespread literature on resistance, appropriation or acceptance during IT projects, there is little research that addresses the impact of IT projects on organizational intelligence, and the kind of behaviors that lead to its failure or success. In the case, the implemented IT tool revealed hidden structural and organizational roles, which were unanticipated by IT designers and managers.
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Antoine Harfouche, Peter Saba, Georges Aoun and Samuel Fosso Wamba
The licensing process for third‐generation mobile communications (3G) is largely complete in Europe although much less progress has been made elsewhere in the world. This process…
Abstract
The licensing process for third‐generation mobile communications (3G) is largely complete in Europe although much less progress has been made elsewhere in the world. This process has been controversial, especially in relation to the use of auctions rather than so‐called “beauty contests”, and the purpose of this article is to analyse what processes have been used, in which countries, and to what effect. For this purpose, the analysis is split up into a series of successive time periods with each examined individually to discover what lessons could have been learned, followed by a concluding section which argues that while the choice of process was important, the failure in many cases to learn from experience was a prime determining factor of whether the process was a success or failure.
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Those parties who do become caught up in the sanctions and are blacklisted face a daunting situation. Their property and accounts are often blocked, and dealings with US parties…
Abstract
Those parties who do become caught up in the sanctions and are blacklisted face a daunting situation. Their property and accounts are often blocked, and dealings with US parties, and frequently their overseas affiliates as well, are essentially cut off with little or no warning by virtue of decisions made by a relatively small and obscure office within the Treasury Department. US as well as foreign parties can be blacklisted, and these restrictions can even extend to a firm's employees. The practical consequence of being touched by one of the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) economic sanctions programmes may be the economic equivalent of capital punishment. By virtue of the restrictions, the blacklisted business may cease to exist as a viable entity.
There are several small territories in the Caribbean that have not yet gained their independence and remain under the control of a metropolitan power. These include the…
Abstract
There are several small territories in the Caribbean that have not yet gained their independence and remain under the control of a metropolitan power. These include the territories governed by the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands. This chapter analyses the way in which education policy and reform are enacted in these quite unusual circumstances – with pressures and influences both from the territories and their respective metropoles. The chapter is constructed around two interlinked parts. The first considers the broader political and economic relationships that exist, and the place that education has within them. Both the UK and the Netherlands use language, such as, “partnership,” “prosperity,” and “renewal” to describe their approach to the territories, including in relation to the education sector. However, both governments have used different mechanisms to facilitate change – the British have a slightly more detached approach, while the Dutch are more hands-on. This has important implications for the way in which education is managed in their territories and the consequences that result – and these issues are explored further in the second part of the chapter. By focusing particularly on the Dutch BES (Bonaire, Saint Eustatius, and Saba) islands and Bermuda (a UK Overseas Territory), the chapter traces the contours of recent education reforms, and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of the particular approaches taken. The more flexible approach of the UK is perhaps preferable, but here too concerns are raised about neocolonialism and the lack of sensitivity when it comes to local norms and practices.
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Mary P Hansen and Garrett Trego
To explain an increasingly common practice of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by which it seeks to “claw back” bonus and incentive compensation paid to CFOs of…
Abstract
Purpose
To explain an increasingly common practice of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by which it seeks to “claw back” bonus and incentive compensation paid to CFOs of companies charged with accounting fraud, regardless of the personal involvement, knowledge, or culpability of the CFOs.
Design/methodology/approach
This article details the facts underlying a recent SEC accounting fraud settlement through which two former CFOs of a company charged with fraud agreed to repay their bonuses and incentive compensation, despite not having been accused of any wrongdoing. The article goes on to outline the historic use of Section 304(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), the provision that endows the SEC with this enforcement authority, in search of guidance for when and why the SEC may choose to exercise its authority under this provision.
Findings
The SEC’s inconsistent use of its enforcement authority under Section 304(a) leaves chief financial officers potentially subject to individual liability and ill-equipped to modify their behaviour in order to prevent it.
Originality/value
This article intends to raise industry awareness about the potential exercise of the broad enforcement power available to the SEC under Section 304(a) and call attention to the lack of guidance provided to corporate officers to avoid liability under this provision.
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Ahmet Bulent Ozturk, Anil Bilgihan, Saba Salehi-Esfahani and Nan Hua
This study aims to examine factors affecting restaurant customers’ intention to use near field communication (NFC)-based mobile payment (MP) technology. More specifically, based…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine factors affecting restaurant customers’ intention to use near field communication (NFC)-based mobile payment (MP) technology. More specifically, based on the valence theory, this paper examined the impacts of users’ negative valence (perceived risk and privacy concern) and positive valence (utilitarian value and convenience) perceptions toward their NFC-MP technology acceptance. Furthermore, the impacts of individual difference variables (smartphone affinity and compatibility) on users’ negative and positive valences and on their behavioral intentions were analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect the data of the study from 412 restaurant customers. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the measurement model. To test the hypothesized model, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used.
Findings
The study findings demonstrated that privacy concern, utilitarian value and convenience significantly affected individuals’ NFC-MP technology acceptance. In addition, compatibility significantly influenced negative and positive valance constructs and smartphone affinity had a positive impact on positive valance constructs only.
Practical implications
This study provides valuable practical implications for restaurant operators and hospitality technology vendors in the context of mobile payment systems.
Originality/value
This study successfully extended the valence framework by adding individual difference constructs to it.
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Mélia Djabi and Sakura Shimada
The purpose of this article is to understand how academics in management deal with the concept of generation in the workplace. We begin by conducting an interdisciplinary…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to understand how academics in management deal with the concept of generation in the workplace. We begin by conducting an interdisciplinary literature analysis, thereby elaborating a conceptual framework concerning generational diversity. This framework consists of four levels of analysis (society, career, organisation and occupation) and three dimensions (age, cohort and event/period). We then conduct a meta-analysis using this conceptual framework to analyse papers from the management field. The results from this analysis reveal the existence of a diversity of generational approaches, which focus on the dimensions of age and cohort on a societal level. Four factors seem to explain these results: the recent de-synchronisation of generational dimensions and levels, the novelty of theoretical models, the amplification of stereotypes by mass media and the methodologies employed by researchers. In sum, this article contributes to a more realistic view of generational diversity in the workplace for both academics and practitioners.
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Chengzhi Wang and Zao Liu
The past two decades have witnessed the rapid developments in distance education. Though debates surrounding issues related to distance education have yet abated, more and more…
Abstract
The past two decades have witnessed the rapid developments in distance education. Though debates surrounding issues related to distance education have yet abated, more and more institutions, entrepreneurs, educators, and learners embrace distance education with the aid of improved information technologies. The present guide introduces the historical development, major theories, and leading agencies and organizations associated with the discipline. Furthermore, it provides an annotated selection of resources including periodicals, books and monographs, and Internet sites. Though emphasis is placed on representative resources and information of distance education of the USA, important international resources are also analytically introduced.
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Jenny Rendahl, Peter Korp, Marianne Pipping Ekström and Christina Berg
The authors used role-playing with subsequent focus group interviews in order to explore how adolescents negotiate conflicting food messages they encounter in their everyday…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors used role-playing with subsequent focus group interviews in order to explore how adolescents negotiate conflicting food messages they encounter in their everyday lives. The purpose of this paper is to describe adolescents’ perceptions about different messages and their sources and to explore the trust they place in such sources.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 31 adolescents aged 15-16 years participated in role-playing with subsequent focus group interviews. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The adolescents depicted an everyday life with multiple and different messages about food and eating. In addition, they stated that these messages were conveyed by a wide range of sources at different levels, for example, by parents, teachers, sports coaches and media. The messages from different sources were conflicting and covered many different perspectives on food and eating. When negotiating food choices in the role-playing and in the focus group discussing how to handle different and conflicting messages, trust became visible. The trustworthiness of messages and trust in their sources were associated with several important aspects in regard to whether or not the messages were based on knowledge about food and nutrition, care for the person receiving the messages, and/or commercial interest. In addition, the results indicate that the situation and the social relationship to the person providing the message were of importance for trustworthiness.
Originality/value
This study is novel as it uses role-playing as a research method and describes the trust adolescents place on food messages and their sources. To understand the factors that enhance such trust is important for the development and provision of education, information, and other health-promotion activities related to food in order to support and strengthen adolescents’ critical reflections on food messages from different sources.