Sung‐Eon Kim, Thomas Shaw and Helmut Schneider
For corporations engaged in e‐commerce, the Web serves as their primary interface with customers. Consequently, quality Web site design is a critical success factor for…
Abstract
For corporations engaged in e‐commerce, the Web serves as their primary interface with customers. Consequently, quality Web site design is a critical success factor for corporations with an e‐commerce strategy. However, no comprehensive and coherent set of evaluation criteria exists that corporations and researchers can use to examine Web sites. This paper fills this gap by proposing Web site evaluation criteria and applying these criteria to different industry groups within Korea. Based on the literature survey, six categories of Web site evaluation criteria are defined: business function; corporation credibility; contents reliability; Web site attractiveness; systematic structure; and navigation. Using these criteria, Web sites in 12 industries were evaluated to determine if there are differences in Web site design between industries. The objective was to determine differences between industries which may provide information for benchmarking purposes. The results show significant differences in the design of Web sites across these different industry groups.
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Lucy Budd, Steven Griggs and David Howarth
This chapter examines the torsions and blind spots that structure the contemporary debate on the politics and policy of aviation. It also generates different scenarios for the…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines the torsions and blind spots that structure the contemporary debate on the politics and policy of aviation. It also generates different scenarios for the future of air travel, which can help to unblock the current impasse about the perceived costs and benefits of aviation and its attendant infrastructural needs.
Originality
This chapter characterises and evaluates the competing frames that organise the contested realities of air transport. By mapping out the current fault lines of aviation politics and policy, the chapter is also able to delineate four main scenarios regarding the future of aviation, which we name the ‘post-carbon’, ‘high-modernist’, ‘market regulation’ and ‘demand management’ projections respectively.
Methodology/approach
The chapter problematises and criticises the existing literature, policy reports and stakeholder briefings that inform the contemporary standoff in UK aviation policy. It uses the definition of sustainable development as a heuristic device to map and identify the fault lines structuring contemporary debates on aviation futures. It then builds upon this analysis to delimit four different scenarios for the future of flying.
Findings
The chapter analyses the contested realities of aviation politics. It re-affirms the political nature of such divisions, which in turn structure the rival understandings of aviation. The analysis suggests that the identified fault lines are constantly reiterated by competing appeals to ambiguous and contradictory evidence-bases or policy frames. Ultimately, the chapter claims that any significant reframing of aviation policy and politics rests on the outcome of political negotiations and persuasion. But it also depends on the broader views of citizens and stakeholders about the future challenges facing society, as well as the way in which governments and affected agents put in place and coordinate the multiple arenas in which a dialogue over the future of aviation can be held. Aviation futures cannot be reduced to the narrow confines of the technical merits or claims surrounding the feasibility of policy instruments.
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The paper aims to examine the role played by international shell companies in Latvian-type correspondent banking, who creates the shell companies according to what criteria and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the role played by international shell companies in Latvian-type correspondent banking, who creates the shell companies according to what criteria and the resulting money laundering operations for financial flows from Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on journalist and non-governmental organisations investigations, financial intelligence unit reports, interviews with participants, whistleblower reports and public domain databases to research financial activities shrouded in secrecy with connections to corruption and organised crime.
Findings
Latvian-type correspondent banking generates for its clients from the former Soviet Union anonymous shell companies en masse across diverse onshore and offshore jurisdictions. The shell companies are vehicles for moving white, grey and black funds from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries through international correspondent banking relations to offshore savings accounts and business suppliers. The creation and administration of the shell companies is handled by para-bank “business introducer” structures that dilute customer documentation.
Research limitations/implications
This paper does not address the specifics of Latvia’s domestic anti-money laundering (AML) legislation and enforcement thereof.
Practical implications
Attempts to eradicate shell companies in individual jurisdictions, for instance, by introducing registers of beneficial ownership of companies, may merely displace the phenomenon to other jurisdictions, and thus treat the symptom not the disease.
Originality/value
This is the first scholarly study of mass use of international shell companies by Latvian-type banking in connection with financial flows from Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) dimensions on firm performance in the tourism sector. The goal is twofold: on the one…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) dimensions on firm performance in the tourism sector. The goal is twofold: on the one hand, the paper aims to test whether EO dimensions are still significant determinants of performance after controlling for possible confounding factors; on the other hand, it aims to address the question of which EO dimension exerts the strongest effect on performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was carried out in the Sardinian accommodation sector in 2012 and 224 questionnaires were collected. The multidimensional EO constructs were adopted.
Findings
The results show that innovativeness, proactiveness and autonomy were significantly associated with tourism firm performance, whereas risk-taking and competitiveness were not.
Research limitations/implications
The results are limited to the Sardinian accommodation context. Self-reported data were used to measure firm performance. Further research works could replicate the analyses using objective firm performance not only in similar touristic destinations but also in other countries and incorporating other industries.
Practical implications
The study suggests educational and managerial implications. Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector should be encouraged to adopt an innovative, autonomous and proactive approach in managing their firms.
Originality/value
The study advances entrepreneurial knowledge in the tourism sector and in particular in the accommodation industry. The multidimensional EO approach has never been adopted among touristic firms. Furthermore, considering that EO research has been overlooked in the country of Italy, this study’s contribution is also providing evidence from an area that has received minimal attention to date.
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It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Thomas Shuler Shaw, a member of our Editorial Board. A knowledgeable and indefatigable bibliographer, specialist in documents…
Abstract
It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Thomas Shuler Shaw, a member of our Editorial Board. A knowledgeable and indefatigable bibliographer, specialist in documents, author and reviewer, librarian and educator, he will be missed by the profession as a whole. We were made richer for his presence, by his ideas, his efforts and humanism, and—although the pace of life sometimes diminishes our immediate awareness of such virtues so unassumingly given—we were indeed fortunate that our lives coincided with his. I will personally miss him more than words can express. As I said so many times to Tom as we parted company at ALA Conferences, “Thank you for your time…. So long.”
Richard Burdett, Vicky Hulbert, Melanie Robinson, Mark Richardson, Harriet Shaw and Simon Will
This article focuses on the use of film and animation at the Thomas Hardye School in Dorset ‐ a comprehensive with 2216 on roll. It cites the development of the Films for Learning…
Abstract
This article focuses on the use of film and animation at the Thomas Hardye School in Dorset ‐ a comprehensive with 2216 on roll. It cites the development of the Films for Learning (FFL) website as the driving force in the use of film and animation to promote and share learning. The article explores the various ways teachers and students have been using film and animation to help students with learning difficulties and includes:• how the English department have used film to improve listening and cooperation skills• how the ICT department have used screen capture software to help students with literacy difficulties• how the Education Extra department have used film to introduce a new course• how the Science department use film banks such as YouTube and National Geographic to help the lower ability students understand science topics• how the History department have made films with low ability students to help their understanding of historic periods.
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Alireza Zolfaghari, Kimberly Thomas-Francois and Simon Somogyi
Smart retail technology adoption models are largely focused on consumer perceptions of the technology and the characteristics of digital technologies. However, the impact of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Smart retail technology adoption models are largely focused on consumer perceptions of the technology and the characteristics of digital technologies. However, the impact of the prior-to-use knowledge of consumers on the adoption of the technologies has been understudied. This research examined to what extent social acceptance and consumer learning can facilitate consumer adoption of digital grocery shopping (DGS).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds on the innovation–decision model to develop a framework to examine the impact of social acceptance and consumer learning on DGS. The research tested a structural model based on data collected from 611 North American participants.
Findings
This study found that the social acceptance of DGS directly and consumer learning indirectly affects the appeal of grocery shopping to consumers and consequently increases their intention to adopt this new shopping method. Furthermore, the results indicated that both hypothesised directions are parallelly mediated by digital convenience, the consumer’s digital readiness and digital trust.
Originality/value
This study extends the understanding of consumer adoption of DGS by highlighting the influence of consumer knowledge about DGS on their behavioural intention. Several important theoretical and practical implications are provided to help retail managers to develop service strategies.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the response of British business schools to criticism levied against the MBA.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the response of British business schools to criticism levied against the MBA.
Design/methodology/approach
The content of elite British MBAs was surveyed using web-based research. This followed the approach adopted by Navarro (2008) in his analysis of MBA curricula in the USA.
Findings
The findings suggest that there is significant innovation and diversity within British business schools as they search for more effective ways of preparing MBA students for senior management positions.
Research limitations/implications
This survey was limited by the sample size of the top-10 MBAs in the UK. The results do provide an insight into the curriculum development that is occurring within elite institutions.
Practical implications
This paper not only refutes much of the criticism of the MBA but also provides evidence of the evolution of the degree.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the body of research relating to the MBA as the premier qualification for senior managers. It details the progress made in the UK in making the degree fit for purpose.
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THE Classification of Technology has long been a fruitful source of controversy and discussion, and the problems presented by such discussions are becoming more prominent every…
Abstract
THE Classification of Technology has long been a fruitful source of controversy and discussion, and the problems presented by such discussions are becoming more prominent every day and are among the most interesting to the librarian with a speculative turn of mind. Dr. Richardson in his synthesis of classification arrives at the conclusion that the order of knowledge is the order of things, and that the order of classification is the order of things. Therefore the correct order or arrangement of Technology should follow the same order as that placed before us by Dr. Richardson. To make provision for the better and more systematic classification of Technology for the student and craftsman is the office and responsibility of the librarian.
This study aims to identify the structural relationship among social capital, knowledge sharing, innovation and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the structural relationship among social capital, knowledge sharing, innovation and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a tourism cluster.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 199 valid questionnaires are collected from SMEs in the Bomun tourism cluster in South Korea. A structural equation modeling approach is used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The findings suggest that social capital constructs, including network density of structural capital, relational capital and cognitive capital, all positively influence knowledge sharing among SMEs in the cluster. This implies that creating social capital is critical to enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. This study confirms that knowledge sharing positively affects SME performance through innovation.
Research limitations/implications
This study suggests that social capital, consisting of structural, cognitive and relational capital, facilitates increased knowledge sharing and innovation in a tourism cluster, which in turn enhances SME business performance.
Practical/implications
This study suggests that tourism cluster policies should focus on how to create a friendly operational climate to build social capital and support SME innovation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on social capital and innovation as well as the discourse on tourism clusters by addressing knowledge sharing among SMEs in a tourism cluster. It also expands the knowledge sharing and innovation literature by focusing on inter-organizational social networking among SMEs.