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1 – 10 of 101Luiz Antonio Joia and Gustavo Marchisotti
This study aims to identify the social representation of cloud computing from the perspective of Information Technology (IT) professionals in emerging countries, comparing it with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the social representation of cloud computing from the perspective of Information Technology (IT) professionals in emerging countries, comparing it with the extant literature on this subject.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from IT professionals in Brazil, which was used as a proxy for the emerging countries’ context related to cloud computing. Social Representation Theory was then applied to analyze the data.
Findings
Mismatches between theory and practice on cloud computing make it clear that most of the current scientific literature on cloud computing is, to a great extent, based on the context of developed countries rather than on the context of emerging ones.
Research limitations/implications
Errors of inference may have been made during the categorization of the words evoked. Furthermore, Brazil was used as a proxy for the emerging countries’ context related to cloud computing.
Practical implications
IT professionals in emerging countries have quite an operational view of cloud computing. Thus, companies in these countries have to align cloud computing better with new business models and corporate strategies in order to take advantage of the transformational impacts of cloud computing.
Originality/value
IT professionals in emerging countries have failed to notice the strategic value of cloud computing, the new business models enabled by same, the privacy issues related to it and the impact cloud computing adoption can have on the IT costs of an organization. Moreover, mobility can be a paramount issue related to cloud computing in emerging countries – a fact thus far overlooked by academia.
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The purpose of this paper is to investige the general computing mechanisms of solving the system information problems of interpretation and its fundamental limitations, due to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investige the general computing mechanisms of solving the system information problems of interpretation and its fundamental limitations, due to physical basis Turing machine.
Design/methodology/approach
For creation of theoretical base of methodology, the authors make an attempt to demonstrate the possibility of a constructive building of Turing machine as meta-ontological basis of computing. In the course of this building the role of the operator of atomic implicative transition if-then as generic operator of recognition/decision-making is shown. In order to substantiate the thesis about the determinative role of implicative transition in the interpretation mechanisms, the authors will carry out the comparative analysis methods of interpretation in systems of pattern recognition and expert systems interpretation type.
Findings
The carried-out analysis allows to formulate a common mechanism underlying the classical methods of solving problems of interpretation and to concretize the fundamental limitations of these methods, caused computational basis of their actualization. The cybernetic interpretation of this mechanism is offered.
Originality/value
The fundamental limitations of classical methods of solving problems of interpretation sets the boundaries of the cybernetic approach and allows to outline a way out beyond it. In this context, the authors put forward knowledge-based mechanism of perceptual modeling of dynamics of system visual environment – autonomous agent.
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Swapan Purkait, Sadhan Kumar De and Damodar Suar
The aim of this study is to report on the results of an empirical investigation of the various factors which have significant impacts on the Internet user’s ability to correctly…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to report on the results of an empirical investigation of the various factors which have significant impacts on the Internet user’s ability to correctly identify a phishing website.
Design/methodology/approach
The research participants were Internet users who have had at least some experience of financial transactions over the Internet. This study conducted a quantitative research with the help of a structured survey questionnaire along with three experimental tasks. A total of 621 valid samples were collected and the multiple regression analysis technique was used to deduce the answers to the research question.
Findings
The results show that the model is useful and has explanatory power. And adjusted R2 computed as 0.927, means that 92.7 per cent of the variations in the Internet user’s ability to identify phishing website can be explained by the predictors selected for the model.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should account for the Internet user’s general security practices and behaviour, attitude towards online financial activity, risk-taking ability or risk behaviour and their potential effects on Internet users' ability to identify a phishing website.
Practical implications
The implications of this study provide the foundation for future research on the areas that intend to explain the Internet user’s necessity to take protection or avoid risky behaviour while performing financial transaction over the Internet.
Originality/value
This study provides the body of knowledge with an empirical analysis of impact of various factors on an Internet user’s ability to identify phishing websites. The results of this study can help practitioners create a more successful research model and help researchers better understand user behaviour on the Internet.
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Nicholas Blagden, Belinda Winder, Mick Gregson and Karen Thorne
The aim of this paper is to highlight the practical utility of using repertory grids with sexual offenders in denial and to demonstrate through a case study how they can be used…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to highlight the practical utility of using repertory grids with sexual offenders in denial and to demonstrate through a case study how they can be used to bolster both initial assessment and psychological formulation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a single case study design and applies a repertory grid methodology, which is underpinned by personal construct psychology, to make sense of the case study. The analysis predominately focuses on the structure of the repertory grid.
Findings
The case study appeared to elicit factors that were of clinical utility and which could be used as tentative hypotheses for problem formulation and also seemed to point to an adequate starting point for intervention.
Research limitations/implications
The use of the case study makes generalisation difficult and future research may benefit from more large‐scale research.
Practical implications
Rather than subscribing to fatalist notions of deniers as untreatable, the paper argues that constructive work can be done with this population and that repertory grids can be one way to initially facilitate this process.
Originality/value
Currently “total deniers” are excluded from treatment and are seen as untreatable. It is argued here that this need not be the case and it is demonstrated how repertory grids can inform initial formulation with such offenders. Repertory grids have not been used with deniers before and this is an original feature of this research.
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Jeremiah Ogaga Ejemeyovwi, Evans Stephen Osabuohien, Oseghale Baryl Ihayere, Olanrewaju Olaniyi Omosehin and Angie Osarieme Igbinoba
Evidence abounds on surging disasters, mainly as consequences of poor risk identification and management, which have historically accompanied disaster management in many African…
Abstract
Evidence abounds on surging disasters, mainly as consequences of poor risk identification and management, which have historically accompanied disaster management in many African countries. Effective management of disaster risks, whether natural or man-made, is necessary for building resilience, enhancing mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and adaptation. As part of a broad-based risk management approach, Nigeria made frantic efforts to mitigate the effects of various disasters, by establishing relevant institutions and formulating policies. In spite of these efforts, implementation outcomes have not been adequately quantified and managed. This study reviews and assesses the policies and practices of disaster risk management (DRM) vis-á-vis institutional framework in Nigeria. It utilises available data and policy documents to review and analyse Nigeria’s institutional framework. Furthermore, the study carries out implicative scenario analysis based on the current institutional framework, to match the DRM trends. It also proffers recommendations on how best institutions could drive proper DRM in Nigeria. The strengths, opportunities, gaps and constraints associated with disaster and risk reduction in Nigeria are then highlighted.
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Helen Rottier and Morton Ann Gernsbacher
Purpose: Due to the developmental nature of autism, which is often diagnosed in preschool or elementary school-aged children, non-autistic parents of autistic children typically…
Abstract
Purpose: Due to the developmental nature of autism, which is often diagnosed in preschool or elementary school-aged children, non-autistic parents of autistic children typically play a prominent role in autism advocacy. However, as autistic children become adults and adult diagnoses of autism continue to rise, autistic adults have played a more prominent role in advocacy. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the histories of adult and non-autistic parent advocacy in the United States and to examine the points of divergence and convergence.
Approach: Because of their different perspectives and experiences, advocacy by autistic adults and non-autistic parents can have distinctive goals and conflicting priorities. Therefore, the approach we take in the current chapter is a collaboration between an autistic adult and a non-autistic parent, both of whom are research scholars.
Findings: The authors explore the divergence of goals and discourse between autistic self-advocates and non-autistic parent advocates and offer three principles for building future alliances to bridge the divide between autistic adults and non-autistic parents.
Implications: The chapter ends with optimism that US national priorities can bridge previous gulfs, creating space for autistic adult and non-autistic parent advocates to work together in establishing policies and practices that improve life for autistic people and their families and communities.
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Young consumers represent a significant purchasing group, but little is known about how they make money management decisions. This study aims to identify and classify different…
Abstract
Purpose
Young consumers represent a significant purchasing group, but little is known about how they make money management decisions. This study aims to identify and classify different approaches to money management that may impact purchasing behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from focus groups with 40 respondents between 18 and 24 years were recruited via campus notices across three campuses in a university in Melbourne, Australia.
Findings
Based on how respondents accommodated economic, social and psychological influences in their money management approach, the authors identified three distinct approaches to money management: conservative money managers, creative money managers and entrepreneurial money managers.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a small sample consisting of 40 individuals in Australia.
Practical implications
Young consumers share common traits as a group but have diverse attitudes and approaches to money management. The authors identify three distinct approaches to money management based on respondents’ management of factors affecting their money management. Companies must consider these differences to effectively approach millennial consumers.
Social implications
The indebtedness of young consumers is a common concern in society. Analysis of their approaches to money management offers an opportunity for organisations to support responsible individual money usage amongst young consumers.
Originality/value
While exploratory, the current study is the first to consider how differences in money management behaviour in young generations may impact consumer decision-making.
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Sergio Biggemann and Francis Buttle
In this paper the authors present a theoretical framework that shows how interaction between two or more companies depends on its context of performance. Reflexivity between two…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper the authors present a theoretical framework that shows how interaction between two or more companies depends on its context of performance. Reflexivity between two or more levels of context potentially leads the parties to a situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature: paradox. The authors study the manner in which such situations occur and are resolved.
Design/methodology/approach
The data in this paper comes from a three‐year‐long multiple case study investigation. Data was gathered from 15 different organizations through interviews, participant observation and document reviews.
Findings
Context‐bounded interaction between organizational actors can be interpreted in different, sometimes contradictory, ways, which can create paradox. Parties cannot stay in paradox for long because it may produce adverse personal and social consequences. Thus, resolution of paradox potentially causes significant changes to the structural attributes of relationships.
Practical implications
Paradox has potentially significant and destructive consequences for the quality of business‐to‐business relationships. Organizational actors who understand that paradox has been encountered can develop strategies for exiting paradox and maintaining high‐quality relationships with their partners.
Originality/value
This paper presents a novel theoretical framework that explains how business interaction can lead to paradox, the experience and resolution of which potentially makes significant changes to the structure of business relationships.
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The more orthodox versions of our discipline as well as other social sciences are grounded in the common presupposition that science and philosophy be expounded by an especially…
Abstract
The more orthodox versions of our discipline as well as other social sciences are grounded in the common presupposition that science and philosophy be expounded by an especially true level of language characterized by precision and absence of ambiguity. For this reason, tropological linguistic forms such as metaphor are often held to be illicit, as unimportant or nonessential frills, deviant and parasitic on normal usage, for use by none but the poet. Argues that metaphor, far from being a mere stylistic device, is an indispensable, and indeed inseparable ingredient of all discourses whether literary, scientific, philosophical, or accounting. Draws heavily on Black’s (1962, 1978, 1993) interaction account of metaphor as a basis for explicating the poetic and rhetorical roles that metaphor may play in accounting discourse. Through presentation of three primary propositions with supporting metaphoric illustrations, suggests that metaphor is very much a part of the way in which accountants create and disseminate meaning about the world as both part of mundane accounting discourse and extensions of discursive practices.
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Purpose – This interpretive study aims to demonstrate how dialectics might hamper researchers' imagination, inspiration, and insight that can otherwise enhance the understanding…
Abstract
Purpose – This interpretive study aims to demonstrate how dialectics might hamper researchers' imagination, inspiration, and insight that can otherwise enhance the understanding of a variety of phenomena in consumer-market dynamics and subsequently propose Foucauldian genealogy as an alternative to theorize such dynamics in the current consumer culture.
Methodology/approach – An ethonographic field study is conducted in the context of X Games, followed by an empirical juxtaposition of semiotic square, as a dialectical analysis, and a genealogical analysis of the same textual data.
Findings – Consumer-market dynamics operate based on interactions and mutual facilitations among four theoretically and empirically distinct groups of consumers in the context of X Games: pragmatic, stigmatized, distinction-oriented, and self-normalizing consumers. The historic conflict between consumers and the market steeped in Hegelian dialectics is contested in the dynamics due to the switch of modes(arts) of being(consumption) made by individual consumers who respectively participate in the system through presentation and representation.
Implications – A multitude of reality/truth-making is present in the consumer-market dynamics; thus, the dialectical view of the systematic progression of the market is found to be less implicative than the genealogical view of the system as polyvalent power relations.
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