Search results

The purpose of this paper is to argue that multilateral knowledge transfer emerges from two lines of thinking in the international business (IB) literature – the exploitation of multinationality and the contributory role of subsidiaries – and links three levels of analysis – headquarters, knowledge-creating subsidiaries and host-country environments.

Multilateral knowledge transfer, both vertical and horizontal, is considered in this paper as a cross-level phenomenon that emerges as a result of beneficial interdependencies between headquarters, knowledge-creating subsidiaries and their host-country environments. The paper also discusses the concept of embeddedness, which both lines of thinking draw upon, and argues that the multinational enterprise (MNE) headquarters can actually moderate both internal and external embeddedness through global strategy and organizational design.

By putting forward an integrative cross-level interdependency framework that incorporates insights from the R&D internationalization literature and the subsidiary evolution literature, this paper delineates multilateral knowledge transfer as an MNE strategy to systematically transform and integrate knowledge created at the subsidiary-level for the global competitive advantage at the MNE group-level.

Such a perspective reemphasizes the multi-level nature of IB studies and provides new opportunities for theoretical and empirical development as did the internalization theory which has theorized the conventional headquarters-to-subsidiaries knowledge transfer more than 40 years ago.

This study aims to compare similarities and differences in library and information science (LIS) and non-LIS undergraduates’ conceptions and perceptions of smart libraries via drawing analysis.

In this study, a total of 156 undergraduate students described their perceptions of smart libraries as drawings and textual descriptions. A modified coding scheme with 8 categories and 51 subcategories was used to analyse the undergraduate students’ drawings.

Most of the undergraduate students’ conceptions of smart libraries still involve self-checkout and learning/reading, focusing on information appliances, technical services, activities and objects. The differences are that the LIS undergraduates’ drawings showed smart libraries with robots, interactive book borrowing with technology tools, intelligent services, location-aware services or mobile applications, whereas non-LIS undergraduates presented smart libraries as readers (learners), other activities and no smart technology services. LIS undergraduates focused on providing patron services with technologies. Non-LIS undergraduates were more likely to draw a complex space with immediate access to books or digital resources, quiet reading and the freedom to engage in library activities.

The results provide a baseline for future research on the topic and provide preliminary evidence of using the methods to discern LIS and non-LIS undergraduates’ conceptions of smart libraries.

This paper aims to describe the problems faced by MyAIS, an open access repository of scholarly content, the reasons for moving to a cloud infrastructure and the design of the system.

MyAIS is supported by an IBM HS22V multiple blade server using virtualization technology. A single blade server runs both MyAIS's back‐end that handles the processing of digital repository and front‐end that handles the web server. The whole system runs on a Linux platform. The virtualized servers deliver an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to the Faculty of Computer Science, University of Malaya researchers as well as students.

Sharing resources in the cloud cuts maintenance cost and leaves a smaller carbon footprint due to its modular design. Virtualization makes it easy to monitor access traffic and usage of hardware resources on‐the‐fly. The scalability and expansion of MyAIS is improved. It allows for faster system recovery in case of hard disk failure and speedy file move during migration. Larger bandwidth improves reliability and management of bottlenecks.

There are still bottlenecks at the wide area network level resulting in sluggishness during peak hours.

There is significant improvement in storage expansion through shared hardware resources.

Cloud as an IaaS helps reduce the total cost of ownership and maintenance, increase system scalability to handle increased traffic, meet increasing demand for storage space for full text resources, and reduce downtime. It makes backup and disaster recovery easier. It is possible to accommodate other university repositories in future.