Geoffrey Sandy and Stephen Burgess
Describes some research that is designed to help businesses to maximise the application of Internet technology to add value to their product or service. Uses the type of consumer…
Abstract
Describes some research that is designed to help businesses to maximise the application of Internet technology to add value to their product or service. Uses the type of consumer good as a basis to develop a decision chart to help organisations to identify ways of adding value to a consumer good using Internet technology. Provides a classification scheme that businesses can examine in relation to their goods. Follows a path which leads to the suggested Internet features that provide added value for the consumer. A study involving small business consultants found that the initial chart had its limitations, and needed to be simplified so that it could be understood by small businesses and would be versatile enough to be applicable to firms with a number of different goods. Their suggestions have been incorporated in the updated decision chart. Anticipates that the chart can be used to provide organisations with a structured approach to determining suitable Web site features.
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Lily Wong, Arthur Tatnall and Stephen Burgess
The move towards “blended learning”, consisting of a combination of online and face-to-face teaching, continues to gain pace in universities around the world. It is important…
Abstract
Purpose
The move towards “blended learning”, consisting of a combination of online and face-to-face teaching, continues to gain pace in universities around the world. It is important, however, to question the quality of this learning. The OECD has made use of a model of “Readiness, Intensity and Impact” for investigating the adoption and use of eBusiness technologies. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework, based on this model and adapted for blended learning, to assess the readiness, intensity of adoption and impact on blended learning offerings. The framework is tested via a description of how one university has adopted and used blended learning, and investigates the quality of the learning from this approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is tested via a case study involving the assessment of a blended learning approach to the delivery of a first-year undergraduate accounting unit at Victoria University, Australia. Various approaches to delivery are assessed over a two-year period. The results are drawn from a survey specifically designed to identify students’ attitudes towards blended learning.
Findings
Despite having three new online options readily available for students to access, there was strong support for face-to-face delivery methods. In relation to the framework, the assessment suggested that certain aspects of the university's blended learning approach could be investigated further (particularly student readiness for different blended learning options and an overall assessment of the impact of a blended approach), to provide a more holistic view of the readiness to adopt and impact of the blended learning offerings.
Originality/value
The value of this contribution lies in the development of a unique framework to assess the impact of blended learning approaches from the viewpoint of student readiness and intensity of separate delivery approaches – whilst maintaining the need to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning as an overall package.
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Stephen Burgess and Rafael Paguio
The purpose of this paper is to report on a study that examines an under-researched area, the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in Australian home-based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a study that examines an under-researched area, the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in Australian home-based businesses (HBB).
Design/methodology/approach
HBB constitute a large part of the economy, yet little is known of how they use ICT to improve their business operations. The study involved a case study comprising interviews with 30 business operators in the Western region of Melbourne, a major Australian city. The findings were analysed using a unique approach to Rogers’ (2003) Diffusion of Innovations, employing the innovation-decision process as a lens for the analysis.
Findings
The study findings suggest that ICT application adoption in HBB participants is not uniform, with adoption of applications such as e-mail differing from adoption of newer applications, such as social networking. ICT use needs to be considered according to individual ICT applications and explained in the context of particular HBB. The study contributes to studies of innovation adoption, particularly in relation to the use of ICT applications in HBB.
Research limitations/implications
It should be remembered that this study involved interviews with a broad selection of 30 HBB in the Western region of Melbourne, Australia. The results should be considered in the context of hypothesis generation in regards to HBB rather than hypothesis testing that can occur with larger samples. The authors feel that this study would be representative of the practices of ICT adoption in many such groupings of HBB in cities of major Western countries, but hesitate to claim that similar, specific uses of ICT applications would be matched elsewhere.
Practical implications
This study has a number of practical implications. The results suggest that researchers should consider adoption of individual ICT applications in HBB. Further, policy makers looking to support the use of ICT by HBB should consider that the HBB in this study had adopted different ICT applications and were at different stages of ICT adoption. This is worth considering when deciding upon policies relating to how to suppzort the HBB sector (such as provision of training support and so forth).
Originality/value
The paper introduces a unique means to assess the adoption of ICT applications by examining their level of penetration, level of maturity and usefulness to HBB.
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Stephen Burgess and Arthur Tatnall
Horizontal web portals fill an important place in the operation of the internet and this paper seeks to look at how these portals may become profitable. A portal is simply a…
Abstract
Purpose
Horizontal web portals fill an important place in the operation of the internet and this paper seeks to look at how these portals may become profitable. A portal is simply a gateway, and a web portal can thus be seen as a gateway to content and services on the internet, or on a corporate intranet. This paper aims to compare several different views of what constitutes a portal, and to offer a specific definition. The main focus of the paper is on general horizontal (or public) portals and the relationship between their business‐revenue models and the content they provide. This paper aims to briefly review the relevant literature before describing a revenue model consisting of players, strategies and content. This is then examined and synthesised to match various revenue models and content.
Design/methodology/approach
After proposing the model, the paper tests how the matches proposed between revenue and content in the model compare with two currently operating popular horizontal portals.
Findings
An examination of two popular portals (one world‐wide and one based in Australia) has provided typical examples of how the advertising/revenue can be employed by horizontal portals and shown that they appear to match fairly closely with the proposed revenue/content model. After having examined the content of these two well‐known portals, it appears at this early stage that the revenue‐content model may show some promise.
Research limitations/implications
While the paper cannot claim complete generalisability of a model based on a comparison of only two horizontal portals, the results are promising and should be useful for horizontal portal managers looking for how to balance the revenue of their portal with the content that they generate and the services they offer.
Practical implications
When fully tested, the model will provide horizontal portal operators assistance with the process of determining suitable content for their portals to match their chosen revenue strategies.
Originality/value
It is believed that this model is one of the few revenue/content matching models developed for horizontal portals.
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Carmine Sellitto, Stephen Burgess and Paul Hawking
This paper aims to report on research that examined the recent scholarly literature to identify the information quality attributes associated with radio frequency identification…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on research that examined the recent scholarly literature to identify the information quality attributes associated with radio frequency identification (RFID)‐based benefits across sectors of the retail supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
Reflecting the recent interest in RFID technology, the literature review was limited to scholarly articles published since the late 1990s when there appears to have been a surge in research and publishing activity. Moreover, the paper uncouples RFID‐focused technology findings that are a feature of many previous publications and reports on the decision‐making attributes associated with the perceived benefits of adopting the technology.
Findings
Many RFID‐based benefits were found to be associated with the distribution and transportation sectors of the supply chain, however, an emerging number are also apparent in the retail and post retail domains. The improved information value associated with RFID‐derived benefits was embodied in quality attributes that included timeliness, currency, accuracy and completeness. The paper proposes an RFID information value chain that maps benefits and information attributes across the supply chain. The paper is also one of the first that attempts to relate RFID‐derived information with aspects of organisational decision making.
Research limitations/implications
This study identified information attributes associated with RFID adoption within the retail supply chain that have led to enhanced organisational responsiveness through improved decision‐making capabilities. As exploratory research in a nascent and emerging area, this research should be viewed as a starting point in the examination and identification of RFID‐derived benefits and information, rather than a prescriptive and/or definitive type of classification system for RFID.
Practical implications
Practical examples of RFID‐derived benefits distilled from the literature tend to provide important retail supply chain lessons for organisations that are currently piloting or expecting to trial RFID. The study highlights operational and strategic implications of adopting RFID technology discussing them from an information value perspective.
Originality/value
The paper is one of the first that examines the information value of RFID‐derived benefits across the organisational supply chain. Moreover, both benefits and information attributes are mapped to specific sectors of the retail and distribution supply chain.
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Carolyn J Woodley, Stephen Burgess, Rafael Paguio and Scott Bingley
The purpose of this paper is to report on the innovative employment of students as technology mentors as part of a Blended Learning Program (BLP) that supported a group of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the innovative employment of students as technology mentors as part of a Blended Learning Program (BLP) that supported a group of owner-managers of small businesses to adopt appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance their work practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This discussion uses various evaluations undertaken throughout the project to examine why the technology mentor role is vital in supporting small businesses to develop digital literacies. The participants’ self-reporting of their ICT skills as well as their progress in using ICT was also assessed by technology mentors in the course of the program and reported in mentor reflections. Academic staff also evaluated the performances of technology mentors in relation to each business.
Findings
Participants in the BLP pilot program singled out the technology mentors as being essential in promoting their uptake of ICT and in their ability to use specific technologies at work.
Research limitations/implications
Findings are based on a pilot program involving six learners and two technology mentors. While this is a statistically insignificant number of evaluations, both the findings and the model of the BLP remain of interest. This model has the capacity to address a long-standing and global challenge to support small businesses in the use of ICT. A scaled up version of the program is required to validate the findings.
Practical implications
In the final evaluation, participants all self-assessed as having increased ICT knowledge and skills. They provided specific examples of how they now use ICT. The BLP could be taken up by local and state governments who periodically attempt to support small businesses in the uptake of technologies. The BLP could also be applied to vocational education students in business, information technologies or information systems. As well as supporting small businesses to adopt ICT, this model also provides an important alternative to resource-intensive work-placement programs that are designed to develop students’ employability skills through work-integrated learning.
Originality/value
Less effective attempts to support small businesses often involve face-to-face training for unrealistic periods of time that foreground technology rather than real world, useful and relevant outcomes (IBSA, 2013). This BLP successfully supported owner operators of small businesses to identify, apply and evaluate a range of software applications (“apps”) and online programs to enhance their work practices.
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Heather Rothwell, Michael Shepherd, Simon Murphy, Stephen Burgess, Nick Townsend and Claire Pimm
The purpose of this paper is to assess the implementation of the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes (WNHSS) at national, local and school levels, using a systems approach…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the implementation of the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes (WNHSS) at national, local and school levels, using a systems approach drawing on the Ottawa Charter.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach takes the form of a single‐case study using data from a documentary analysis, interviews with Healthy Schools Co‐ordinators (n=23) and stakeholder (n∼93) discussion of interim findings at three regional workshops.
Findings
There was almost universal adherence to a national framework based on Ottawa Charter principles. Substantial progress had been made with advocacy and mediation, although the framework provided less specific guidance regarding enablement. All‐Wales training for co‐ordinators, the commitment of co‐ordinators to working across administrative and professional boundaries, and support from local education and health partnerships, were important determinants of healthy school schemes' growth and efficiency. Primary schools were more successful than secondary schools in embedding health‐related changes.
Research limitations/implications
Although findings are largely based on indirect evidence, the use of a social‐ecological model of evaluation provided valuable insights into implementation processes at multiple levels. Findings suggest that strong national support benefits programme development and dissemination and should include effective monitoring of local performance. The national strategic environment was influential at all levels of programme implementation. Priorities for further research include application of the social‐ecological model and organisational theory to investigate indicators of sustainability and influences on inequalities in health in school health promotion programmes.
Originality/value
The review illustrates the importance of evaluating health promotion programmes at multiple levels using a systems approach.
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Carla Ruiz Mafé and Silvia Sanz Blas
The purpose of this paper is to analyse key drivers of teleshopping adoption.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse key drivers of teleshopping adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of demographics, televiewing behaviour, non‐store shopping previous experience and attitude to teleshopping in present and future teleshopping decisions is analysed in the paper.
Findings
Data analysis shows that attitude towards teleshopping and teleshopping genre exposure are the main predictors of teleshopping behaviour, while consumer attitude towards teleshopping and previous experience as user of non‐store shopping channels (catalogue and television) are the most relevant factors influencing future teleshopping intention.
Practical implications
This research enables companies to know the key drivers influencing teleshopping adoption and, therefore, what aspects to highlight in their marketing strategies. Companies that use television as a shopping channel must increase their presence on the television market and improve televiewers' opinion of the teleshopping system as it would allow televiewers to maintain a relation with the teleshopping genre and to increase their probability of purchase. The significant influence that non‐store previous experience exerts on willingness to teleshop shows managers that the complementary use of other non‐store shopping systems becomes a key tool to increase teleshopping in the future.
Originality/value
Despite dramatic differences being discovered between non‐store shoppers, very limited research has been conducted to examine them. There are still not enough studies that examine the demographic, behavioural and attitudinal differences among televiewers and teleshoppers. This paper analyses the background of teleshopping and key drivers of future teleshopping decisions among Spanish consumers.