Categorizing 'intention to use' e-government services through mobile phone:the importance of front loading activities

E-government has often been heralded as the new way forwards for emerging countries. While many such countries are already offering e-government services and are gearing up for further growth, little is actually known of the forming stages that are necessary to ensure a greater rate of success and avoid the traditional failure traps linked to new technology and information system adoption and diffusion. We situate our research in the case of mobile phone as a reflection of the current market situation in emerging countries. We contend, in this paper, that more research is needed to understand future intention to use e-government services through mobile phone technology. Front loading activities both from a government and technology perspectives are required to facilitate the decision making process by users.

ICT and internet use at the household levels:a melting pot of sub-optimum decision making in the case of E-Grocery shopping

Research shows that consumers are readily embracing the Internet to buy products. This paper proposes that, in the case of grocery shopping, this may lead to sub-optimal decisions at the household level. Decisions online on what, where and from who to buy are normally taken by one individual. In the case of grocery shopping, decisions, however, need to be ‘vetted’ by ‘other’ individuals within the household. The ‘household wide related’ decisions influence how information technologies and systems for commerce should be designed and managed for optimum decision making. This paper argues, unlike previous research, that e-grocery retailing is failing to grow to its full potential not solely because of the ‘classical’ hazards and perceived risks associated with doing grocery shopping online but because e-grocery retailing strategy has failed to acknowledge the micro-household level specificities that affect decision making. Our exploratory research is based on empirical evidence which were collected through telephone interviews. We offer an insight into how e-grocery ‘fits’ and is ‘disrupted’ by the reality of day to day consumption decision making at the household level. Our main finding is to advocate a more role-neutral, multi-user and multi-technology approach to e-grocery shopping which re-defines the concept of the main shopper/decision maker thereby reconceptualising the ‘shopping logic’ for grocery products.

Quality improvement in professional local government services : a longitudinal study

This sustained longitudinal study, carried out in a single local authority, investigates the implementation of a Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy in professional local government services. At the start of this research, a large majority of what was written about TQM was polemical and based on limited empirical evidence. This thesis seeks to provide a significant and important piece of work, making a considerable contribution to the current state of knowledge in this area. Teams from four professional services within a single local authority participated in this research, providing the main evidence on how the quality management agenda in a local authority can be successfully implemented. To supplement this rich source of data, various other sources and methods of data collection have been used: 1) Interviews were carried out with senior managers from within the authority; 2) Customer focus groups and questionnaires were used; 3) Interviews were carried out with other organisations, all of which were proponents of a TQM philosophy. A number of tools have been developed to assist in gathering data: 1) The CSFs (critical success factors) benchmarking tool; 2) Five Stages of Quality Improvement Model. A Best Practice Quality Improvement Model, arising from an analysis of the literature and the researcher's own experience is proposed and tested. From the results a number of significant conclusions have been drawn relating to: 1) Triggers for change; 2) Resistance of local government professionals to change 3) Critical success factors and barriers to quality improvement in professional local government services; 4) The problems associated with participant observation and other methodological issues used.

The use of ICT by logistics service providers and implications for training needs:a cross-country perspective

Changes in the international economic scenario in recent years have made it necessary for both industrial and service firms to reformulate their strategies, with a strong focus on the resources required for successful implementation. In this scenario, information and communication technologies (ICT) has a potentially vital role to play both as a key resource for re-engineering business processes within a framework of direct connection between suppliers and customers, and as a source of cost optimisation. There have also been innovations in the logistics and freight transport industry in relation to ICT diffusion. The implementation of such systems by third party logistics providers (3PL) allows the real-time exchange of information between supply chain partners, thereby improving planning capability and customer service. Unlike other industries, the logistics and freight transport industry is lagging somewhat behind other sectors in ICT diffusion. This situation is to be attributed to a series of both industry-specific and other factors, such as: (a) traditional resistance to change on the part of transport and logistics service providers; (b) the small size of firms that places considerable constraints upon investment in ICT; (c) the relative shortage of user-friendly applications; (d) the diffusion of internal standards on the part of the main providers in the industry whose aim is to protect company information, preventing its dissemination among customers and suppliers; (e) the insufficient degree of professional skills for using such technologies on the part of staff in such firms. The latter point is of critical importance insofar as the adoption of ICT is making it increasingly necessary both to develop new technical skills to use different hardware and new software tools, and to be able to plan processes of communication so as to allow the optimal use of ICT. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of ICT on transport and logistics industry and to highlight how the use of such new technologies is affecting providers' training needs. The first part will provide a conceptual framework of the impact of ICT on the transport and logistics industry. In the second part the state of ICT dissemination in the Italian and Irish third party logistics industry will be outlined. In the third part, the impact of ICT on the training needs of transport and logistics service providers - based on case studies in both countries - are discussed. The implications of the foregoing for the development of appropriate training policies are considered. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.

Mobile phone and e-government in Turkey:practices and technological choices at the cross-road

Enhanced data services through mobile phones are expected to be soon fully transactional and embedded within future mobile consumption practices. While private services will surely continue to take the lead, others such as government and NGOs will become more prominent m-players. It is not yet sure which form of technological standards will take the lead including enhance SMS based operations or Internet based specifically developed mobile phone applications. With the introduction of interactive transactions via mobile phones, currently untapped segment of the populations (without computers) have the potential to be accessed. Our research, as a reflection of the current market situation in an emerging country context, in the case of mobile phones analyzes the current needs or emergence of dependencies regarding the use of m/e-government services from the perspective of municipality officers. We contend that more research is needed to understand current preparatory bottlenecks and front loading activities to be able to encourage future intention to use e-government services through mobile phone technologies. This study highlights and interprets the current emerging practices and praxis for consuming m-government services within government.

Articulating wider smartphone emerging security issues in the case of M-government in Turkey

For the last several years, mobile devices and platform security threats, including wireless networking technology, have been top security issues. A departure has occurred from automatic anti-virus software based on traditional PC defense: risk management (authentication and encryption), compliance, and disaster recovery following polymorphic viruses and malware as the primary activities within many organizations and government services alike. This chapter covers research in Turkey as a reflection of the current market – e-government started officially in 2008. This situation in an emerging country presents the current situation and resistances encountered while engaging with mobile and e-government interfaces. The authors contend that research is needed to understand more precisely security threats and most of all potential solutions for sustainable future intention to use m-government services. Finally, beyond m-government initiatives' success or failure, the mechanisms related to public administration mobile technical capacity building and security issues are discussed.

The role of choice in the development of an M-government strategy in Turkey

Enhanced data services through mobile phones are expected to be soon fully transactional, interactive and embedded with other mobile consumption practices. While private services will continue to take the lead in the mobile data revolution, others such as government and NGOs are becoming more prominent m-players. This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach interpreting micro-level municipality officers’ mobility concept, ICT histories and choice practices for m-government services in Turkey. The findings highlight that in-situs ICT choice strategies are non-homogenous, sometimes conflicting with each other, and that current strategies have not yet justified the necessity for municipality officers to engage and fully commit to m-government efforts. Furthermore, beyond m-government initiatives’ success or failure, the mechanisms related to public administration mobile technical capacity building and knowledge transfer are identified to be directly related to m-government engagement likelihood.

E-government strategy in Turkey:a case for m-government

Market orientation strategies are now expected to be integrated and enacted by firms and governments alike. While private services will surely continue to take the lead in mobile strategy orientation, others such as government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are also becoming prominent Mobile Players (m-Players). Enhanced data services through smart phones are raising expectations that governments will finally deliver services that are in line with a consumer ICT lifestyle. To date, it is not certain which form of technological standards will take the lead, e.g. enhanced m-services or traditional Internet-based applications. Yet, with the introduction of interactive applications and fully transactional services via 3G smart phones, the currently untapped segment of the population (without computers) have the potential to gain access to government services at a low cost.

Investigating factors influencing local government decision makers while adopting integration technologies (IntTech)

The emergence of innovative and revolutionary Integration Technologies (IntTech) has highly influenced the local government authorities (LGAs) in their decision-making process. LGAs that plan to adopt such IntTech may consider this as a serious investment. Advocates, however, claim that such IntTech have emerged to overcome the integration problems at all levels (e.g. data, object and process). With the emergence of electronic government (e-Government), LGAs have turned to IntTech to fully automate and offer their services on-line and integrate their IT infrastructures. While earlier research on the adoption of IntTech has considered several factors (e.g. pressure, technological, support, and financial), inadequate attention and resources have been applied in systematically investigating the individual, decision and organisational context factors, influencing top management's decisions for adopting IntTech in LGAs. It is a highly considered phenomenon that the success of an organisation's operations relies heavily on understanding an individual's attitudes and behaviours, the surrounding context and the type of decisions taken. Based on empirical evidence gathered through two intensive case studies, this paper attempts to investigate the factors that influence decision makers while adopting IntTech. The findings illustrate two different doctrines - one inclined and receptive towards taking risky decisions, the other disinclined. Several underlying rationales can be attributed to such mind-sets in LGAs. The authors aim to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring the factors influencing top management's decision-making process while adopting IntTech vital for facilitating LGAs' operational reforms.

Internet use by patients with bipolar disorder:results from an international multisite survey

There is considerable international interest in online education of patients with bipolar disorder, yet little understanding of how patients use the Internet and other sources to seek information. 1171 patients with bipolar disorder diagnosis in 17 countries completed a paper-based, anonymous survey. 81% of the patients used the Internet, a percentage similar to the general public. Older age, less education, and challenges in country telecommunications infrastructure and demographics decreased the odds of using the Internet. About 78% of the Internet users looked online for information on bipolar disorder or 63% of the total sample. More years of education in relation to the country mean, and feeling very confident about managing life decreased the odds of seeking information on bipolar disorder online, while having attended support groups increased the odds. Patients who looked online for information on bipolar disorder consulted medical professionals plus a mean of 2.3 other information sources such as books, physician handouts, and others with bipolar disorder. Patients not using the Internet consulted medical professionals plus a mean of 1.6 other information sources. The percentage of patients with bipolar disorder who use the Internet is about the same as the general public. Other information sources remain important.

The growing importance of inter-company collaboration

Guest editorial: This special issue has been drawn from papers that were published as part of the Second European Conference on Management of Technology (EuroMOT) which was held at Aston Business School (Birmingham, UK) 10-12 September 2006. This was the official European conference for the International Association for Management of Technology (IAMOT); the overall theme of the conference was “Technology and global integration.” There were many high-calibre papers submitted to the conference and published in the associated proceedings (Bennett et al., 2006). The streams of interest that emerged from these submissions were the importance of: technology strategy, innovation, process technologies, managing change, national policies and systems, research and development, supply chain technology, service and operational technology, education and training, small company incubation, technology transfer, virtual operations, technology in developing countries, partnership and alliance, and financing and investment. This special issue focuses upon the streams of interest that accentuate the importance of collaboration between different organisations. Such organisations vary greatly in character; for instance, they may be large or small, publicly or privately owned, and operate in manufacturing or service sectors. Despite these varying characteristics they all have something in common; they all stress the importance of inter-organisational collaboration as a critical success factor for their organisation. In today's global economy it is essential that organisations decide what their core competencies are what those of complementing organisations are. Core competences should be developed to become a bases of differentiation, leverage and competitive advantage, whilst those that are less mature should be outsourced to other organisations that can claim to have had more recognition and success in that particular core competence (Porter, 2001). This strategic trend can be observed throughout advanced economies and is growing strongly. If a posteriori reasoning is applied here it follows that organisations could continue to become more specialised in fewer areas whilst simultaneously becoming more dependent upon other organisations for critical parts of their operations. Such actions seem to fly in the face of rational business strategy and so the question must be asked: why are organisations developing this way? The answer could lie in the recent changes in endogenous and exogenous factors of the organisation; the former emphasising resource-based issues in the short-term, and strategic positioning in the long-term whilst the later emphasises transaction costs in the short-term and acquisition of new skills and knowledge in the long-term. For a harmonious balance of these forces to prevail requires organisations to firstly declare a shared meta-strategy, then to put some cross-organisational processes into place which have their routine operations automated as far as possible. A rolling business plan would review, assess and reposition each organisation within this meta-strategy according to how well they have contributed (Binder and Clegg, 2006). The important common issue here is that an increasing number of businesses today are gaining direct benefit from increasing their levels of inter-organisational collaboration. Such collaboration has largely been possible due to recent technological advances which can make organisational structures more agile (e.g. the extended or the virtual enterprise), organisational infra-structure more connected, and the sharing of real-time information an operational reality. This special issue consists of research papers that have explored the above phenomenon in some way. For instance, the role of government intervention, the use of internet-based technologies, the role of research and development organisations, the changing relationships between start-ups and established firms, the importance of cross-company communities of practice, the practice of networking, the front-loading of large-scale projects, innovation and the probabilistic uncertainties that organisations experience are explored in these papers. The cases cited in these papers are limited as they have a Eurocentric focus. However, it is hoped that readers of this special issue will gain a valuable insight into the increasing importance of collaborative practices via these studies.

The digital divide and ICT learning in rural communities:examples of good practice service delivery

This article aims to gain a greater understanding of relevant and successful methods of stimulating an ICT culture and skills development in rural areas. The paper distils good practice activities, utilizing criteria derived from a review of the rural dimensions of ICT learning, from a range of relevant initiatives and programmes. These good practice activities cover: community resource centres providing opportunities for ‘tasting’ ICTs; video games and Internet Cafe´s as tools removing ‘entry barriers’; emphasis on ‘user management’ as a means of creating ownership; service delivery beyond fixed locations; use of ICT capacities in the delivery of general services; and selected use of financial support.

Exploring civil servant resistance to M-government:a story of transition and opportunities in Turkey

The concept of mobility, related to technology in particular, has evolved dramatically over the last two decades including: (i) hardware ranging from walkmans to Ipods, laptops to netbooks, PDAs to 3G mobile phone; (ii) software supporting multiple audio and video formats driven by ubiquitous mobile wireless access, WiMax, automations such as radio frequency ID tracking and location aware services. Against the background of increasing budget deficit, along with the imperative for efficiency gains, leveraging ICT and mobility promises for work related tasks, in a public administration context, in emerging markets, point to multiple possible paths. M-government transition involve both technological changes and adoption to deliver government services differently (e.g. 24/7, error free, anywhere to the same standards) but also the design of digital strategies including possibly competing m-government models, the re-shaping of cultural practices, the creation of m-policies and legislations, the structuring of m-services architecture, and progress regarding m-governance. While many emerging countries are already offering e-government services and are gearing-up for further m-government activities, little is actually known about the resistance that is encountered, as a reflection of civil servants' current standing, before any further macro-strategies are deployed. Drawing on the resistance and mobility literature, this chapter investigates how civil servants' behaviors, in an emerging country technological environment, through their everyday practice, react and resist the influence of m-government transition. The findings points to four main type of resistance namely: i) functional resistance; ii) ideological resistance; iii) market driven resistance and iv) geographical resistance. Policy implication are discussed in the specific context of emerging markets. © 2011, IGI Global.

Democratization of local government in Brazil : decentralisation and people's councils

This research studies two cases of implementation of alternative strategies for municipal government reform in Brazil, decentralisation and People's Councils. The aim is to answer the following general question: `Can decentralisation and People's Councils be a means for democratization of municipal government in Brazil?'. The hypothesis is that initiatives to reform Brazilian municipal governments face problems that are characteristic of the Brazilian political and administrative reality. These problems are considered obstacles for the development of those initiatives and accordingly, for democratization of municipal government in Brazil. After an introduction and outline in Chapter One, Chapter Two discusses four main theories concerning local government. Chapter Three discusses decentralisation and People's Councils are discussed in Chapter Four. Chapter Five presents a historical, political and economic overview of Brazil. Chapter Six deals with Brazilian Federalism and Municipal Government. The main aspects of the Municipal Government are presented as well as the development of municipal autonomy through the various Federal Constitutions and cases of People's Councils and decentralisation in municipalities in Brazil. Chapter Seven presents the political parties responsible for the initiatives, the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democratic Party) in the case of decentralisation, and the PT (Workers' Party) in the case of People's Councils. In Chapter Eight the research strategy and the data collection techniques are described. Chapters Nine and Ten present decentralisation implemented by the PSDB in Belo Horizonte, the Minas Gerais state capital and People's Councils introduced by the PT in the town of Ipatinga in the same state. Conclusions are presented in Chapter Eleven and include a comparison and discussion of the two cases. The thesis shows that these experiments with alternative strategies of local government face problems that are generally current in Brazilian political and administrative reality. Those problems are concerned with unwillingness to decentralise power, clientelism, low levels of participation of civil society and the `political' use of the structures implemented.