Fundamental Approach to Valuation of Securities -A Study with reference to Information Technology(IT) Sector Shares in Indian Stock Market

Department of Applied Economics,Cochin University of Science and Technology

Estimation Models for the adoption and use of information technology: internet-related technologies at firm level in the Portuguese and European context

Disserta����o apresentada como requisito parcial para obten����o do grau de Doutor em Gest��o de Informa����o

Maximizing Benefits in Information Technology Outsourcing

Information Technology (IT) outsourcing has traditionally been seen as a means to acquire newresources and competencies to perform standard tasks at lowered cost. This dissertationchallenges the thought that outsourcing should be limited to non-strategic systems andcomponents, and presents ways to maximize outsourcing enabled benefits while minimizingassociated risks. In this dissertation IT outsourcing is approached as an efficiency improvement and valuecreationprocess rather than a sourcing decision. The study focuses on when and how tooutsource information technology, and presents a new set of critical success factors foroutsourcing project management. In a case study it re-validates the theory-based propositionthat in certain cases and situations it is beneficial to partly outsource also strategic IT systems. The main contribution of this dissertation is the validation of proposal that in companies wherethe level of IT competency is high, managerial support established and planning processes welldefined,it is possible to safely outsource also business critical IT systems. A model describing the critical success factors in such cases is presented based on existing knowledge on the fieldand the results of empirical study. This model further highlights the essence of aligning IT andbusiness strategies, assuming long-term focus on partnering, and the overall target ofoutsourcing to add to the strengths of the company rather than eliminating weaknesses.

Describing and Analyzing Information Technology through Total Quality Management and Process Management: Case Stora Enso Newsprint

Laatu on osaltaan vahvistamassa asemaansa liike-el��m��ss�� yritysten kilpaillessa kansainv��lisill�� markkinoilla niin hinnalla kuin laadulla. T��m�� suuntaus on synnytt��nyt useita laatuohjelmia, joita k��ytet����n ahkerasti yritysten kokonais- valtaisen laatujohtamisen (TQM) toteuttamisessa. Laatujohtaminen kattaa yrityksen kaikki toiminnot ja luo vaatimuksia my��s yrityksen tukitoimintojen kehitt��miselle ja parantamiselle. N��ihin lukeutuu my��s t��m��n tutkimuksen kohde tietohallinto (IT). Tutkielman tavoitteena oli kuvata IT prosessin nykytila. Tutkielmassa laadittu prosessikuvaus pohjautuu prosessijohtamisen teoriaan ja kohdeyrityksen k��ytt��m����n laatupalkinto kriteerist����n. Tutkimusmenetelm��n�� prosessin nykytilan selvitt��miseksi k��ytettiin teemahaastattelutta. Prosessin nykytilan ja sille asetettujen vaatimusten selvitt��miseksi haastateltiin IT prosessin asiakkaita. Prosessianalyysi, t��rkeimpien ala-prosessien tunnistaminen ja parannusalueiden l��yt��minen ovat t��m��n tutkielman keskeisemm��t tulokset. Tutkielma painottui IT prosessin heikkouksien ja parannuskohteiden etsimiseen jatkuvan kehitt��misen pohjaksi, ei niink����n prosessin radikaaliin uudistamiseen. Tutkielmassa esitell����n TQM:n periaatteet, laatuty��kaluja sek�� prosessijohtamisen terminologia, periaatteet ja sen systemaattinen toteutus. Ty�� antaa my��s kuvan siit��, miten TQM ja prosessijohtaminen niveltyv��t yrityksen laatuty��ss��.

Acceptance and Use of Information Technology among Nurses in Psychiatric Hospitals

<b>Hoitajien informaatioteknologian hyv��ksynt�� ja k��ytt�� psykiatrisissa sairaaloissa</b> Informaatioteknologian (IT) k��ytt�� ei ole ollut kovin merkitt��v��ss�� roolissa psykiatrisessa hoitoty��ss��, vaikka IT sovellusten on todettu vaikuttaneen radikaalisti terveydenhuollon palveluihin ja hoitohenkil��kunnan ty��prosesseihin viime vuosina. T��m��n tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kuvata psykiatrisessa hoitoty��ss�� toimivan hoitohenkil��kunnan informaatioteknologian hyv��ksynt���� ja k��ytt���� ja luoda suositus, jonka avulla on mahdollista tukea n��it�� asioita psykiatrisissa sairaaloissa. Tutkimus koostuu viidest�� osatutkimuksesta, joissa on hy��dynnetty sek�� tilastollisia ett�� laadullisia tutkimusmetodeja. Tutkimusaineistot on ker��tty yhdeks��n akuuttipsykiatrian osaston hoitohenkil��kunnan keskuudessa vuosien 2003-2006 aikana. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ���teoriaa on hy��dynnetty j��sent��m����n tutkimusprosessia sek�� syvent��m����n ymm��rryst�� saaduista tutkimustuloksista. Tutkimus osoitti kahdeksan keskeist�� tekij����, jotka saattavat tukea psykiatrisessa sairaalassa toimivien hoitajien tietoteknologiasovellusten hyv��ksynt���� ja hy��dynt��mist��, kun n��m�� tekij��t otetaan huomioon uusia sovelluksia k��ytt����notettaessa. Tekij��t jakautuivat kahteen ryhm����n; ulkoiset tekij��t (resurssien suuntaaminen, yhteisty��, tietokonetaidot, IT koulutus, sovelluksen k��ytt����n liittyv�� harjoittelu, potilas-hoitaja suhde), sek�� k��yt��n helppous ja sovelluksen k��ytett��vyys (k��yt��n ohjeistus, k��ytett��vyyden varmistaminen). TAM teoria todettiin k��ytt��kelpoiseksi tulosten tulkinnassa. Kehitetty suositus sis��lt���� ne toimenpiteet, joiden avulla on mahdollista tukea sek�� organisaation johdon ett�� hoitohenkil��kunnan sitoutumista ja t��t�� kautta varmistaa uuden sovelluksen hyv��ksynt�� ja k��ytt�� hoitoty��ss��. Suositusta on mahdollista hy��dynt���� k��yt��nn��ss�� kun uusia tietoj��rjestelmi�� implementoidaan k��ytt����n psykiatrisissa sairaaloissa.

Expectations and Experiences of International Students in Information Technology Department

Education in Finland plays a significant role. International students are becoming an essential part of Finnish Educational system. The study was meant to examine their expectations and experiences in a Finnish University. As a case, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) was chosen and, in particular, Information Technology (IT) Department. The main objectives of the study were to examine students��� satisfaction of their study experiences, their evaluation of the teaching quality of courses and last but not least the cultural impact on those. Data for the study were mainly collected with the help of three Internet surveys from a sample of 50 students ��� currently studying at LUT or already graduated. Response rate from questionnaire to questionnaire varied, however, still close to average and was considered as good and relevant enough. The study was initially meant as qualitative, however, a number of quantitative data analysis methods were used as well. Most of students��� expectations appear to become true, majority of students are satisfied with their experiences. Results show that teaching quality in LUT is evaluated as ���good���. Nevertheless, students prefer particular courses to the other ones. In conclusion, it can be said that culture does affect students��� expectations, experiences, perception of the world, however, cultural differences do not cause any serious problems.

Adoption of information technology based patient education in psychiatric nursing

The overall goal of the study was to describe adoption of information technology (IT)-based patient education (PE) developed for patients and nurses use in psychiatric nursing. The data were collected in three phases during the period 2000-2006 in a variety of psychiatric settings in Finland. Firstly, the development process of IT-based PE for patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis was described. Secondly, nurses��� adoption of IT-based PE and the variables explaining adoption were demonstrated. Moreover, use of daily IT-based PE in clinical practice and factors associated with use were identified and described. And thirdly, nurses��� experiences of the IT-based PE after one year clinical use were evaluated. IT-based PE program was developed in several stages based on users��� needs and it included information and multimedia applications. Altogether, almost 500 IT-based PE sessions were carried out by the nurses on the study wards and revealed nurses��� activity in educating patients using IT to vary and depend on the hospital in which they worked. Almost 80% of all the possible IT-based PE sessions involved 93 patients and 83 nurses. Less than 2% of the IT-based PE sessions were interrupted and less than 10% suffered disturbances due to the patients or external causes. Moreover, the patients whose education took more days had poorer mental status than those whose education was carried out over a shorter period. After a year���s experience, advantages and disadvantages were described by the nurses for both patients and nurses of the IT-based PE. IT-based PE can be used even on closed acute psychiatric wards with patients with serious mental health disorders. However, technology adoption requires time, and therefore, it must fit in with clinical practice. Collaboration between users and developers is needed when developing user-centered methods in the area of mental health services. Moreover, it is important to understand factors that affect IT adoption in healthcare settings. IT-based PE is one option in interactive and co-operative health care practice between patients and nurses. Therefore the staff should begin to refer patients to established, credible and well-maintained Internet sites that provide information on common psychological problems. Even if every nurse should be trained and engaged to carry out IT-based PE, by targeting the training especially for the most active nurses aids them to support the less active ones. Adoption should also be understood from a perspective that includes aspects related to the context where it is implemented and examine how and in what circumstances it works.

Information integration and its impacts on logistics performance - Using information technology and systems to facilitate information integration

Fast changing environment sets pressure on firms to share large amount of information with their customers and suppliers. The terms information integration and information sharing are essential for facilitating a smooth flow of information throughout the supply chain, and the terms are used interchangeably in research literature. By integrating and sharing information, firms want to improve their logistics performance. Firms share information with their suppliers and customers by using traditional communication methods (telephone, fax, Email, written and face-to-face contacts) and by using advanced or modern communication methods such as electronic data interchange (EDI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), web-based procurement systems, electronic trading systems and web portals. Adopting new ways of using IT is one important resource for staying competitive on the rapidly changing market (Saeed et al. 2005, 387), and an information system that provides people the information they need for performing their work, will support company performance (Boddy et al. 2005, 26). The purpose of this research has been to test and understand the relationship between information integration with key suppliers and/or customers and a firm���s logistics performance, especially when information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) are used for integrating information. Quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used to perform the research. Special attention has been paid to the scope, level and direction of information integration (Van Donk & van der Vaart 2005a). In addition, the four elements of integration (Jahre & Fabbe-Costes 2008) are closely tied to the frame of reference. The elements are integration of flows, integration of processes and activities, integration of information technologies and systems and integration of actors. The study found that information integration has a low positive relationship to operational performance and a medium positive relationship to strategic performance. The potential performance improvements found in this study vary from efficiency, delivery and quality improvements (operational) to profit, profitability or customer satisfaction improvements (strategic). The results indicate that although information integration has an impact on a firm���s logistics performance, all performance improvements have not been achieved. This study also found that the use of IT and IS have a mediocre positive relationship to information integration. Almost all case companies agreed on that the use of IT and IS could facilitate information integration and improve their logistics performance. The case companies felt that an implementation of a web portal or a data bank would benefit them - enhance their performance and increase information integration.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CREATING SUSTAINABILITY VALUE FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN 2020 : a scenario planning approach

The growing importance of global sustainability issues has been causing many changes to the financial services industry. Facts such as climate change, social development and the financial crisis in 2008 have been making banks reconsider the manner that they consider environmental, social and economic factors in their decision-making process. At the same time, information technology (IT) has been transforming the financial service industry and its fast development has casted doubts on the way it should be managed within an organization. This current changing environment brings a number of uncertainties to the future that cannot be addressed using traditional forecasting techniques. This research investigates how IT can bring value to sustainability in the financial service industry in 2020. Through the use of a scenario planning technique, we analyzed how trends in the current environment (considering the relation between sustainability, financial institutions an IT) can lead to four different future scenarios. Then, we discussed how IT can improve a bank���s sustainability performance, considering the limitations of each scenario.

Learning information technology business in a changing industry landscape. Introducing Team Entrepreneurship in Renewing Bachelor Education in Renewing Bachelor Education in Information

Speed, uncertainty and complexity are increasing in the business world all the time. When knowledge and skills become quickly irrelevant, new challenges are set for information technology (IT) education. Meta-learning skills ��� learning how to learn rapidly - and innovation skills have become more essential than single technologies or other specific issues. The drastic changes in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector have caused a need to reconsider how IT Bachelor education in Universities of Applied Sciences should be organized and employed to cope with the change. The objective of the study was to evaluate how a new approach to IT Bachelor education, the ICT entrepreneurship study path (ICT-ESP) fits IT Bachelor education in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. This kind of educational arrangement has not been employed elsewhere in the context of IT Bachelor education. The study presents the results of a four-year period during which IT Bachelor education was renewed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. The learning environment was organized into an ICT-ESP based on Nonaka���s knowledge theory and Kolb���s experiental learning. The IT students who studied in the ICT-ESP established a cooperative and learned ICT by running their cooperative at the University of Applied Sciences. The students (called team entrepreneurs) studied by reading theory in books and other sources of explicit information, doing projects for their customers, and reflecting in training sessions on what was learnt by doing and by studying the literature. Action research was used as the research strategy in this study. Empirical data was collected via theme-based interviews, direct observation, and participative observation. Grounded theory method was utilized in the data analysis and the theoretical sampling was used to guide the data collection. The context of the University of Applied Sciences provided a good basis for fostering team entrepreneurship. However, the results showed that the employment of the ICT-ESP did not fit into the IT Bachelor education well enough. The ICT-ESP was cognitively too tough for the team entrepreneurs because they had two different set of rules to follow in their studies. The conventional courses engaged lot of energy which should have been spent for professional development in the ICT-ESP. The amount of competencies needed in the ICT-ESP for professional development was greater than those needed for any other ways of studying. The team entrepreneurs needed to develop skills in ICT, leadership and self-leadership, team development and entrepreneurship skills. The entrepreneurship skills included skills on marketing and sales, brand development, productization, and business administration. Considering the three-year time the team entrepreneurs spent in the ICT-ESP, the challenges were remarkable. Changes to the organization of IT Bachelor education are also suggested in the study. At first, it should be admitted that the ICT-ESP produces IT Bachelors with a different set of competencies compared to the conventional way of educating IT Bachelors. Secondly, the number of courses on general topics in mathematics, physics, and languages for team entrepreneurs studying in the ICTESP should be reconsidered and the conventional course-based teaching of the topics should be reorganized to support the team coaching process of the team entrepreneurs with their practiceoriented projects. Third, the upcoming team entrepreneurs should be equipped with relevant information about the ICT-ESP and what it would require in practice to study as a team entrepreneur. Finally, the upcoming team entrepreneurs should be carefully selected before they start in the ICT-ESP to have a possibility to eliminate solo players and those who have a too romantic view of being a team entrepreneur. The results gained in the study provided answers to the original research questions and the objectives of the study were met. Even though the IT degree programme was terminated during the research process, the amount of qualitative data gathered made it possible to justify the interpretations done.

The use of information technology by the quantity surveying professionals in Hong Kong

This paper introduces the findings of a recent study on the use of information technology (IT) among the quantity surveying (QS) organisations in Hong Kong. The study was conducted through a structured questionnaire survey among 18 QS organisations registered in Hong Kong, representing around 53% of the total number of organisations in the profession. The data set generated from this study provided rich information about what information technology the QS profession used, what the perceived benefits and barriers experienced by the users in the industry were. The survey concluded that although IT had been widely used in QS organisations in Hong Kong, it is mainly used to support various individual tasks of the QS services at a basic level, rather than to streamline the production of QS services as a whole through automation. Most of the respondents agreed that IT plays an important role in the QS profession but they had not fully taken advantage of IT to improve their competitive edge in the market. They usually adopted a more passive ���wait and see��� approach. In addition, very few QS organisations in Hong Kong have a comprehensive policy in promoting the use of IT within the organisations. It is recommended that the QS profession must recognise the importance of IT and take appropriate actions to meet the challenges of ever-changing and competitive market place.

iTrench: a study of user reactions to the use of information technology in field archaeology

This article describes work undertaken by the VERA project to investigate how archaeologists work with information technology (IT) on excavation sites. We used a diary study to research the usual patterns of behaviour of archaeologists digging the Silchester Roman town site during the summer of 2007. Although recording had previously been undertaken using pen and paper, during the 2007 season a part of the dig was dedicated to trials of IT and archaeologists used digital pens and paper and Nokia N800 handheld PDAs to record their work. The goal of the trial was to see whether it was possible to record data from the dig whilst still on site, rather than waiting until after the excavation to enter it into the Integrated Archaeological Database (IADB) and to determine whether the archaeologists found the new technology helpful. The digital pens were a success, however, the N800s were not successful given the extreme conditions on site. Our findings confirmed that it was important that technology should fit in well with the work being undertaken rather than being used for its own sake, and should respect established work flows. We also found that the quality of data being entered was a recurrent concern as was the reliability of the infrastructure and equipment.

Information technology for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America and East Asia

Includes bibliography

Supply Chain Management practices in the electro-electronics sector in Brazil: Evolutionary approach, information technology adoption and management actions

This paper examines the current level of adoption of Supply Chain Management (SCM) practices in the electro-electronic sector in Brazil and aims to identify the management and Information Technology (IT) actions that have been implemented to support the adoption of those practices. An e-mail survey was conducted. Descriptive statistics techniques were employed for data analysis. This study makes contributions to the electro-electronics sector and to the topics related to SCM, such as identifi cation and level of adoption of SCM practices. Another contribution of this research is the investigation of whether approaches such as Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), Workshop with Customers, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Workshop with Suppliers and electronic Kanban are commonly used to support SCM practices. So far, this is the fi rst research on SCM practices in the electro-electronics sector in Brazil. Copyright �� 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.