1,721,031 research outputs found
Revisiting IT readiness:an approach for small firms
Full text linkPurpose– Drawing from the literature, the purpose of this paper is to offer an empirically validated framework for examining information technology (IT) readiness in small firms.Design/methodology/approach– A conceptual framework of IT readiness for small firms is developed and validated empirically using a quantitative survey of 117 UK manufacturing small firms to identify distinct clusters of firms according to their states of IT readiness.Findings– The survey responses are grouped according to three distinct profiles that display varying degrees of IT readiness depending upon their strategic motivation, IT processes, project management and technology complexity.Research limitations/implications– Prior studies examining IT readiness in small-and medium-sized enterprises have not offered a differentiated understanding of small firms that is grounded in quantitative data. The varying profiles of small firms discovered indicate potential paths of IT readiness which offers a basis for further research using longitudinal case studies.Practical implications– Managerial motivation is not a sufficient condition for achieving IT readiness; it requires both strategic and operational capabilities that have significant implications for training and skills development in small firms. Understanding the level of IT readiness of their organisation can help managers identify areas needing improvement in their use of IT.Social implications– Findings suggest differentiated policy support is required for various small business clusters identified in the study.Originality/value– The novelty of the conceptual model differs from the prior literature on IT readiness by explicitly recognising the potential effect of IT maturity on the capability of the firm to respond to opportunities in its external environment. The paper also distinguishes between internal IT processes and project management skills
SMEs and E-commerce: A Comparative Pilot Study of Experiences in the UK and Italy
No full textThis paper explores patterns of adoption and use of information and communications technology (ICT) by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in both North West England and the Italian Genoa region. We focus especially on the factors enabling or inhibiting the impact of ecommerce on the SMEs
ICT Use in SMEs. A Comparison between the North West of England and the Province of Genoa
No full textThis paper explores patterns of adoption and use of information and communications technology (ICT) by
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in both the North West region of England and the Genoa region
of Italy. Here we present the results of this two region survey drawn from two economically significant
sectors: high technology manufacturing and food processing. Our main objectives were to explore and
compare ICT adoption and use patterns by SMEs in the two regions to identify factors enabling or inhibiting
the successful adoption and use of ICT, and to explore the impact of ecommerce on the SMEs. While our
main result indicates a generally favourable attitude to ICT amongst the SMEs surveyed, it also suggests a
number of differences between the two regions. English SMEs report greater uses of sophisticated ICT
applications but Italian SMEs make more use of basic ICT functionality. English SMEs also report more
focus on operational matters and often ignore strategic considerations, unlike their Italian counterparts.
Having said that, the English SMEs pay less attention to applying ecommerce but appear to make more
effective use of the Internet than the Italian SMEs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Hungarian IT: Coping with Economic Transition and Globalization
Full text linkThis paper examines the impact of economic transition on the information technology industry in Hungary. It highlights some of the challenges faced by policy makers and businesses in their efforts to ensure that Hungarian technology capabilities survive the onslaught of fierce competition from abroad, and that the industry continues to grow and innovate in the context of a rapidly globalising economy. The paper is based on extensive field research conducted by the author in Hungary during 1998-2002
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