Understanding community and its possibilities in late modernity

This thesis argues that community is being reconfigured and practiced in new forms and behaviours. Examples of this can be seen in the way that communities have emerged through the interplay with developing technological mediums and out of the growing social discontent with contemporary forms of political alienation.

Technological innovations and m-commerce applications

Many technological innovations have occurred within the past decade that have revolutionized the banking industry. The most important has been the Internet and the emergence of mobile-commerce (m-commerce). The aim of this paper is to investigate how Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) banking is being implemented with younger adopters. A conceptual model is developed based on the behavioral intentions younger adopters have on WAP banking that is tested through a survey instrument. Social cognitive theory underpins the conceptual model and helps to explain some of the findings from the study. Suggestions for future research are also espoused.

Adoption of technological innovations in the m-commerce industry

The banking industry has globalised as a result of the many technology innovations created by the internet. The electronic commerce (e-commerce) industry is a result of these technological innovations that have revolutionised the way both consumers and businesses conduct business. In the past decade, banks have encouraged the use of e-commerce and most people are now comfortable conducting their banking online. More recently, mobile commerce (m-commerce) has started to gain momentum and an increasing amount of people are conducting their banking on mobile phone devices instead of through the internet. Mobile banking is a technological innovation that people adopt in different ways depending on internal and external environmental influences. In this paper, a social cognitive theoretical framework is adopted to understand an individual’s intention to adopt mobile banking. A conceptual model is proposed, which helps to explain how environmental influences affect an individual’s intention to adopt mobile banking. Implications for mobile banking and m-commerce industry are stated along with suggestions for future research on technological innovations.

Emotional connections to books and technological innovations : an e-book perspective

E-book devices are a technological innovation that has been mass marketed to consumers as a revolution in the way that books will be read and stored. This paper extends previous research on technology adoption behaviour of individuals by focusing on the role of emotional connections people have towards e-books. A number of technology adoption models can explain the adoption of e-book devices such as the technology acceptance model, theory of planned action, theory of reasoned action and social cognitive theory. Due to the increased importance of social learning on a person’s behaviour, social cognitive theory is identified in this paper as being the most appropriate theoretical lens to understand the emotional connections a person has towards e-books. The findings from this paper may help to fill the gaps in academic discussion about what theory best explains a person’s behavioural intention towards technological innovations and the impact of marketing on this behaviour. In addition, the paper has a number of managerial implications including identifying the importance of an emotional connection to a technological innovation that influences the adoption process. The emphasis on emotional connection as mediating the way a person receives information about e-book devices may help to influence future marketing efforts of new technologies.

Learning how to engage students online in hard times

In a context of financial restraint and enterprising university managers, teacher-researchers have reason to be sceptical about the trend towards online teaching and away from learning for its own sake. This article departs from both economic and technological determinism and turns instead to ideas about technology embedded in social and political institutions. Activity theory offers a useful means of analysing such embeddedness. Its Marxian assumptions about human nature specify a non-deterministic approach to technology. Its dynamic model of the subjects, tools, and objects of activity within a context of rules, a community, and a division of labour helps to specify aspects of the authors process of learning how to use electronic conferencing effectively. A full deployment of activity theory would also analyse the activity of students. Here the evidence comes mainly from the activity of researcher-teachers engaging greater activity among students. The numbers of students involved precludes reliable quantitative analysis but qualitative evidence from students does support conclusions about researcher-teachers learning how to make best use of electronic conferencing.

Business community partnerships in New Zealand : understanding experiences of 'partnership'

This research examined business community partnerships that address social issues. The study demonstrated that 'pragmatic' versions of partnership are more concerned with the self-interests of the stakeholders, rather than shared community concerns. The findings highlight trust, power and the negotiation of mutual interests as critical issues to understanding business community partnerships in the NZ context.

Community capacity building for obesity prevention

The study aimed to understand how capacity-building was operationalised within obesity prevention projects. It clarified definitions of capacity building and identified patterns in the process of building capacity. A potential framework to guide communities to formalise and contextualise capacity building, and prioritise action for leveraging existing capacities was proposed.

Organisational transformation through CRM implementation: a descriptive case study

CRM is becoming critical to organisations worldwide as global competition increases and technological innovations in communication continue to emerge. In this descriptive case study, we have investigated a utility provider – with a geographical monopoly, who has successfully implemented a complaint management system, as part of their CRM process transformation. We have applied the teleological process theory (Ven de Ven and Poole 1995) to describe the organisational change, based on our empirical research.