Exploring the usability of web portals: A Croatian case study

Web portals act as a single point of access to information and services relevant to person's work or personal interests. Market research findings related to Croatian web context report that nowadays horizontal information portals are the most visited sites. Whether they reach their aim of facilitating users’ access to diverse resources and to which extent, remains an open question. In this paper, this issue is addressed by two case studies conducted for summative assessment of Croatian horizontal information portals. Approach assembled expert inspection and user assessment that integrated a number of empirical methods into laboratory-based testing. We report that the results of inspection method were not in agreement with the ones obtained from user test methods. Although differences of this kind have been reported elsewhere, these were not as evident as in these studies. What is very interesting and represents a main contribution of the research is that in both rounds of evaluations this outcome is very sharp and clear. This suggests that we should conduct both kinds of assessments as they seem to be complementary. Evaluation provided some general findings and know-how from the experience and we believe that many readers, both practitioners and researchers, can learn from it.     

TREC概况及其最新发展研究

介绍了文本检索会议的基本情况，包括其研究目标、主要项目和研究内容，然后介绍了TREC-2003新增加的基因学项目的主要内容，最后介绍了TREC主要项目的最新变动情况以及它对国内信息检索评价的启示。     

Evaluating biometrics for online banking: The case for usability

Rising cyber-crimes have heightened existing concerns about e-banking security. However currently the use of biometric technology in the banking sector is not prevalent. We developed a biometric system for authenticating e-banking and applied the established System Usability Scale (SUS) to evaluate its effectiveness from the perspective of potential users. The case demonstrates that on the whole users are very favourable towards a biometric banking system and ostensibly found the system developed usable. We found that when evaluating the biometric system, its different components needed to be considered – namely the biometric technology and the institutional process that supports verification and authentication.     

A usability assessment of e-government websites in Sub-Saharan Africa

E-government holds enormous potential for improving the administrative efficiency of public institutions, encouraging democratic governance, and building trust between citizens/private sector and governments. However, most e-government initiatives to date have failed to attain their full potential, because they are increasingly plagued by usability issues. Consequently, there have been increasing calls for evaluating the usability of e-government websites, as they are widely considered to be the primary platform for government interaction with citizens. This study, therefore, seeks to contribute to extant knowledge by evaluating the usability of e-government websites from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is particularly important as little is known about the usability of e-government websites in the region, and worst still, it is the least advanced region in terms of e-government development. This study evaluated a total of 279 e-government websites from 31 SSA countries. The findings showed that most e-government websites in SSA were characterised by poor usability. The average usability score for the websites was 36.2%, with the most usable website having a score of only 64.8%. The study also showed that the usability of e-government websites was positively associated with the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and the E-Participation Index (EPI).     

The assessment of usability of electronic shopping: A heuristic evaluation

Today there are thousands of electronic shops accessible via the Web. Some provide user-friendly features whilst others seem not to consider usability factors at all. Yet, it is critical that the electronic shopping interface is user-friendly so as to help users to obtain their desired results. This study applied heuristic evaluation to examine the usability of current electronic shopping. In particular, it focused on four UK-based supermarkets offering electronic services: including ASDA, Iceland, Sainsbury, and Tesco. The evaluation consists of two stages: a free-flow inspection and a task-based inspection. The results indicate that the most significant and common usability problems have been found to lie within the areas of ‘User Control and Freedom’ and ‘Help and Documentation’. The findings of this study are applied to develop a set of usability guidelines to support the future design of effective interfaces for electronic shopping.     

University-to-industry advanced technology transfer: A case study

This case study examines the events in the transfer of an advanced technology (a text-to-speech reading machine) from the university group that developed the technology to an industrial firm seeking to exploit the innovation. After a brief history of the six-year project, the paper discusses the roles of the participants, markets, and time and cost considerations. A model of technology transfer is presented and policy implications derived from the case are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the need for matching technical competence between donor and recipient, and on the function of a transfer agent in facilitating the social process of technology transfer.     

Impact of information use architecture on load and usability

Information use is defined as the application of acquired and transmitted information in the decision making of an organization at the strategic and tactical levels. The purpose of the research is to investigate how information use architecture impacts information load and usability at the operational level of manufacturing where machines, humans and the production processes are information users. A new approach to information load is introduced which takes all the characteristics of information use (tacit, mechanical, paper and digitized) and possibilities of users (machine, operator and process) into consideration. Information use nodes are conceptualized building blocks for information use architecture which impact information load and usability. The results suggest that information use load is sensitive to information encoding/decoding. A combination of the federated and integrated information use architectures tends to result in a low information use load and can become a strategic tool for waste reduction. How information usability relates to load varies depending on the usability characteristic in view. The major conclusion is that a holistic approach to information systems includes the consideration of information use architecture which is an important factor in the management of information load and usability at the operational level.     

中国管理学案例研究:综述与评估

案例研究一直是管理理论创建的重要研究方法。虽然目前国内在案例研究方面发表论文的数量不多,规范性也不够,但是经过同仁多年的努力,这类研究正在进入可喜的发展阶段。目前,尚未有文献对国内管理学案例研究的现状进行较为系统的综述与评估。本文研究国内在管理学领域案例研究的现状,以已发表在国内领先管理期刊的案例研究论文为样本,通过对案例选择、数据来源、数据分析和研究成果等因素进行归类分析,考察对研究方法的把握和应用。在此基础上,进一步从建构效度、内在效度、外在效度和可靠度四个维度讨论管理学案例研究的规范性和适用性。本文的目的在于把握案例研究的精髓,共同提高在中国文化背景下的管理学研究的规范性,争取在国际期刊上发表更多中国案例研究的论文。     

企业家族和家族企业成长——中春眼镜有限公司案例分析

台州市中春眼镜有限公司是一家从事各种眼镜设备、眼镜盒、眼镜展示架的企业。在将近20年的发展中,不断地通过家族、姻亲及地缘力量增强了企业竞争实力,并带领家族其他成员一起创业。在经历21世纪初激烈的市场竞争,面对企业利润下降及竞争对手的崛起,是什么原因使它没有被市场所淘汰,又是什么原因让它进入新的高度?我们针对这些问题,对该企业做了深入了解,探索企业家族的独特性,通过描述台州市中春眼镜有限公司这二十年的发展,探讨这一企业家族特性对企业发展起到的作用。     

A case study of morphogenetic change in long-term offshoring

This paper applies a morphogenetic change framework to the case study of a financial information services provider's relationships with offshore IT application vendors over a six year period, in order to discover the underlying causal mechanisms. The analysis finds the progression to have consisted of a sequence of three major organizational changes, where each change was characterized by a morphogenetic cycle of three phases – Structural and Cultural Conditioning, Socio-Cultural Interactions, and Structural and Cultural Elaboration. In the first phase of each change cycle, structural and cultural outcomes of antecedent cycles conditioned the context as perceived by managerial actors. In the second phase, these conditioning factors interacted with the organization's prevailing socio-cultural dynamics to influence managerial decisions and to effect change. Finally, in the third phase, the emergent consequences of their decisions further altered the structural and cultural landscape, thus conditioning the context for the subsequent change cycle. While the specific organizational mechanisms activated varied from one cycle to the next, the overall analysis collectively revealed the company's quest for more effective vendor relationships. It was seen to have struggled with inconsistencies in its view of a captive vendor's role in the first cycle, and a lack of standard processes with multiple vendors in the second cycle, before establishing closer, comprehensive, successful relationships with two vendors in the third cycle. These findings serve to validate the utility of the morphogenetic analytical framework in uncovering change factors unique to specific offshoring contexts.     

科学研究领域评价的案例研究

借鉴国内外相关机构开展学科评价的理论与方法,选择国家自然科学基金资助的心理学学科领域开展评价,分析我国心理学学科的资助情况、论文产出、资助管理以及发展战略等方面的现状与问题,并提出相应的政策建议。在心理学学科评价案例研究的基础上,提出我国学科评价存在的问题,探讨学科评价的理论与方法,并就我国如何开展学科评价提出建议。     

高技术企业成长案例研究

本文通过对近４０ 家高技术企业的调查,分析了它们在成长过程中取得成功及遇到挫折的原因,从中得到了一些启示。并为政府的决策及企业的发展提出了一些建议。     

基于ASTER数据的蛇绿岩组分识别：以德尔尼矿区为例

本文运用高级星载热辐射和反射探测器（ASTER）反射率数据对青海德尔尼蛇绿岩的主要岩石组成和蚀变矿物进行探测.以现有的标准光谱库数据作为参照,采用光谱角制图法来提取感兴趣的岩性和矿物信息,并通过与现有地质图对比,验证结果的精度.实验结果表明,运用ASTER数据和标准的光谱库数据,可较有效地识别蛇绿岩的主要岩性和相关矿物成分,但不同岩性的识别精度不同.     

国际创业韧性形成与成长机理案例研究

企业在国际市场上面临极大的不确定性、复杂性和风险性,现有研究多关注企业如何进行国际创业以取得成功,鲜有学者探究企业如何应对国际市场中的挫折或失败并持续进行国际创业。对金鹏的国际创业过程进行探索性单案例分析得出：(1)国际市场上的情境不确定性与网络关系触发组织能力、危机意识和应对机制进一步演化而形成国际创业韧性;(2)在国际创业中持续的学习和经验积累,以及国际创业团队面对失败或成功时的态度和行为推动国际创业韧性成长,并经过以能力为主导、以信心为主导和以应对机制为主导三个阶段。最后明晰国际创业韧性成长机理,以指导企业形成和培养动态化的国际创业韧性。     

International academic knowledge creation and ba. A case study from Finland

Knowledge is created through discourse in ba that is the physical, mental and/or virtual arena of knowledge creation. This article studies ba in international humanist (H-group), technical (T-group) and scientific (S-group) research groups. These international groups consist of members originating from many countries. The empirical evidence is derived from interviews and discourse analysis of three research groups from the University of Oulu which, by staff, is the most international large university in Finland. The article advances understanding of ba by considering the theory of ba in relation to the discourse and exploratory case study. In the case groups, ba is formed in relation to the knowledge type created, suitable characteristics of a group member and structural factors related to administrative responsibilities. Humanist knowledge, with abstract concepts and philosophical discussions, is created with deeper attention to language and social bonds inside the H-group than the more accurate scientific and technical knowledge in the S- and T-groups.     

高技术企业跨边界学习的案例研究

 本案例研究对比了两家高技术企业在跨边界学习和组织特性上的异同,发现大企业可以不断发展新技术,通过探索和利用之间的平衡实现长久的生存;小型企业通过利用专一的技术和市场业务的逐步演进实现较快的成长。以创新为导向的企业注重跨知识边界的学习,以客户导向的企业注重跨组织边界的学习,跨知识边界和跨组织边界的学习存在交织互补的关系。     

How user innovations become commercial products: A theoretical investigation and case study

In this paper we model the pathways commonly traversed as user innovations are transformed into commercial products. First, one or more users recognize a new set of design possibilities and begin to innovate. They then join into communities, motivated by the increased efficiency of collective innovation. User-manufacturers then emerge, using high-variable/low-capital cost production methods. Finally, as user innovation slows, the market stabilizes enough for high-capital, low-variable cost manufacturing to enter. We test the model against the history of the rodeo kayak industry and find it supported. We discuss implications for “dominant design” theory and for innovation practice.     

电子商务平台商业模式创新与演变的案例研究

基于双边网络效应视角和商业模式创新相关理论,提出电子商务平台商业模式创新的"创新动因-驱动因素-创新效果"研究构念。通过多案例研究得到提升顾客识别、顾客契合、让渡顾客价值、电商生态系统的方法。按照电商平台创新演变阶段进行讨论,认为个性化推荐系统所代表的技术驱动、商业诚信所代表的市场驱动、线上线下整合代表的价值链驱动、以及自组织生态系统代表的范围经济驱动分别是电子商务平台发展各阶段商业模式创新的关键。