Usability Impact Analysis of Collaborative Environments

Cases on Usability Engineering - Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4046-7.ch005 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 94-116

Author(s):

R. Todd Stephens

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

Impact Analysis ◽

Social Software ◽

Software Integration ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

Collaborative Environments ◽

Collaborative Environment ◽

Business Goals ◽

Communication Method ◽

The One

This chapter will focus on the application of usability principles in a corporate collaborative environment in order to show improvements in utilization. Collaborative applications create a two-way communications structure as opposed to the one way communication method of traditional web environments. Collaboration applications can vary in the complexity from discussion forums to complex social software integration. Usability principles have been applied to web sites, but very little research has been done on the implications of usability in collaborative environments. Collaborative environments create a unique set of opportunities that create a different set of user goals. End users want a more collaborative environment that is easy to use and engaging. Organizations need to ensure the business goals stay at the forefront while improving the collaborative nature of the company.

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Measuring the quality of the “comply or explain” approach

Managerial Auditing Journal ◽

10.1108/maj-08-2014-1060 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (4/5) ◽

pp. 373-412 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Michail Nerantzidis

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Web Sites ◽

Stock Exchange ◽

The Body ◽

Content Type ◽

Athens Stock Exchange ◽

Recent Financial Crisis ◽

The One ◽

Comply Or Explain

Purpose – This paper provides evidence regarding the efficacy of the “comply or explain” approach in Greece and has three objectives: to improve our knowledge of the concept of this accountability mechanism, to elevate auditors’ potential role in the control of corporate governance (CG) statements and to contribute to the discussion about the reform of this principle; a prolonged dialogue that has been started by European Commission in the light of the recent financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is a content analysis of CG statements and Web sites of a non-probability sample of 144 Greek listed companies on the Athens Stock Exchange for the year 2011. Particularly, 52 variables were evaluated from an audit compliance perspective using a coding scheme. From this procedure, the level of compliance with Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) code, as well as the content of the explanations provided for non-compliance, were rated. Findings – The results show that although the degree of compliance is low (the average governance rating is 35.27 per cent), the evaluation of explanations of non-compliance is even lower (from the 64.73 per cent of the non-compliance, the 40.95 per cent provides no explanation at all). Research limitations/implications – The research limitations are associated with the content analysis methodology, as well as the reliability of CG statements. Practical implications – This study indicates that companies on the one hand tend to avoid the compliance with these recommendation practices, raising questions regarding the effectiveness of the SEV code; while on the other, they are not in line with the spirit of the CG code, as they do not provide adequate explanations. These results assist practitioners and/or policy-makers in perceiving the efficacy of the “comply or explain” approach. Originality/value – While there is a great body of research that has looked into the compliance with best practices, this study is different because it is the first one that rates not only the degree of the compliance with the code’s practices but also the content of the explanations provided for non-compliance. This is particularly interesting because it adds to the body of research by providing a new approach in measuring the quality of the “comply or explain” principle in-depth.

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Embedding Anglocentric Perceptions of the World: The Falklands-Malvinas Binomial in the News

Meta Journal des traducteurs ◽

10.7202/1003510ar ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

pp. 63-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Roberto A. Valdeón

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

Spanish Version ◽

English Edition ◽

Internet News ◽

News Service ◽

News Events ◽

Global Language ◽

The Times ◽

The One ◽

The Guardian

This paper aims to examine the clash between languages and cultures as identified in the treatment of news events, with particular reference to the Falklands, or Malvinas in their Spanish denomination, in British and Spanish Internet news portals. English, as a global language, and Spanish, as its main European rival, exemplify a conflict between two languages and cultures that attempt to achieve or maintain world dominance, a battle that has been taken to the Internet arena in recent years. Thus,El Paísnewspaper launched an English version for their Internet readers whereas the BBC produced a Spanish version of its English news service.The conflict between the two languages is decisive when reporting on highly sensitive areas in each culture, such as the issue of Gibraltar’s sovereignty or the news events originating in or around the Falkland Islands. The paper pays particular attention to the latter and the way in which translation is embedded within or is part of the conflict itself. For that purpose, the paper surveys the reports posted in the Spanish news web sitesAbc,El País,andEl Mundo, on the one hand, and the English portals ofThe Guardian,The Times,Daily Telegraph,The Independentand the BBC on the other. The results will be compared with the translated news in the English edition ofEl Paísand in the Spanish version of the BBC (BBCMundo) respectively to determine the position of the two media with regards to this issue.

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User-Driven Documentation Building for the ERP System

Advances in Business Information Systems and Analytics - Frameworks of IT Prosumption for Business Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4313-0.ch014 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 222-233

Author(s):

Radosław Kowal

Keyword(s):

Enterprise Resource Planning ◽

Resource Planning ◽

Social Software ◽

Continuous Learning ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

Erp System ◽

Staff Members ◽

Business Applications ◽

Collaborative Knowledge ◽

Source Of Information

Contemporary enterprises use IT tools to support almost every type of business activity. The vast majority use very large business applications called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Such applications can be of great help, both for managers and regular staff members. The downside is that such systems are very complicated and they are a subject of frequent changes. Thus, they can be a source of many problems due to the necessity to continuous learning how to properly use them. The authors propose the usage of the Enterprise Social Software (ESS) in order to help users in their efforts toward finding good source of information. Applications such as wiki, RSS, blogs, tags, and discussion forums can be very effective in collaborative knowledge creation and in knowledge sharing. The authors discuss the possibilities of using such tools in building user-driven documentation for an ERP system.

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Intelligent Agents for E-Learning

Intelligent Information Technologies and Applications - Advances in Intelligent Information Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-958-8.ch002 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 25-42

Author(s):

Ralf Bruns ◽

Jürgen Dunkel

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

Intelligent Agents ◽

Domain Knowledge ◽

Multi Agent Systems ◽

Semantic Web Technologies ◽

Private Data ◽

Intelligent Software Agents ◽

E Learning ◽

The One ◽

New Generation

We propose the software architecture of a new generation of advisory systems using Intelligent Agent and Semantic Web technologies. Multi-agent systems provide a well-suited paradigm to implement negotiation processes in consultancy situations. Intelligent software agents act as clients and advisors using their knowledge in order to assist human users. In the proposed architecture the domain knowledge is semantically modeled by means of XML-based ontology languages such as OWL. Using an inference engine the agents reason on base of their knowledge to make decisions or proposals. The agent knowledge consists of different types of data: on the one hand private data, which has to be protected against unauthorized access, and on the other hand publicly accessible data spread over different web sites. Comparable to a real consultancy situation, an agent only reveals sensitive private data if it is indispensable for finding a solution. In addition, depending on the actual consultancy situation each agent dynamically expands its knowledge base by accessing OWL knowledge sources from the Internet. The usefulness of our approach is proved by the implementation of an advisory system whose objective is to develop virtual student advisers that render support to university students in order to successfully organize und perform their studies.

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Social Software (and Web 2.0)

Social Computing ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-984-7.ch022 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 305-311 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jürgen Dorn

Keyword(s):

Web 2.0 ◽

Web Sites ◽

Social Software ◽

The Internet ◽

Community Members ◽

Work Systems ◽

Collaborative Software ◽

Community Project ◽

Bulletin Boards ◽

Use Of The Internet

Social software is a class of information systems supporting the establishment and management of online communities for people in performing certain tasks. One of the first application types were bulletin boards. Social software may provide different services for community members such as finding members with similar interests, finding information on interesting subjects, discussing common problems, or simply the storing of private or publicly-accessible documents. Another similar term, collaborative software, applies to cooperative work systems, and is applied to software that supports working functions often restricted to private networks. Web 2.0 is a term coined only recently, and with this concept promoters try to focus on the change of use of the Internet. While Web 1.0 was a medium where few users published information in Web sites and many users read and surfed through these publications, in Web 2.0 many users also publish their opinions, information, and documents somewhere in the Internet. By motivating large communities for submissions and by structuring the content, the body of the aggregated information achieves considerable worth. A good example for such a community project is Wikipedia, where thousands of contributors deliver millions of articles, forming an encyclopaedia that is worth millions of dollars.

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The Politics of the Governing the Information and Communications Technologies in East Asian Authoritarian States

Electronic Constitution ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-254-1.ch009 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 134-152

Author(s):

Chin-fu Hung

Keyword(s):

Web Sites ◽

The Internet ◽

Chinese Government ◽

Information And Communications Technologies ◽

Legal Reforms ◽

Communications Technologies ◽

Increasing Demand ◽

Modernization Process ◽

The One ◽

Future Economic Development

China has vigorously implemented ICTs to foster ongoing informatization accompanying industrialization as a crucial pillar to drive its future economic development. The institutional and legal reforms involved were initiated and put into practice in order to meet the increasing demand for technological convergence and the negotiations for the expected entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Chinese government has nevertheless long been torn by the ambivalence brought about by the Internet. It regards the Internet as an engine to drive economic growth on the one hand, and as a subversive challenge to undermine the ruling Communist Party on the other hand. As soon as ICTs were introduced and Web sites mushroomed, the Party was so determined to harness the new medium to assure the Internet’s economic and scientific benefits. As a consequence, controls other than stifling ICTs would be critical for the CCP’s agenda to achieve the century-long modernization process and in the meantime, consolidate its power.

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E-Learning with Wikis, Weblogs and Discussion Forums

Novel Developments in Web-Based Learning Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-938-0.ch010 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 174-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Reinhard Bernsteiner ◽

Herwig Ostermann ◽

Roland Staudinger

Keyword(s):

Teaching And Learning ◽

Software Tools ◽

Social Software ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

Academic Context ◽

Empirical Survey ◽

Self Organized ◽

Innovative Learning ◽

E Learning ◽

Context Of Learning

This chapter explores how social software tools can offer support for innovative learning methods and instructional design in general and those related to self-organized learning in an academic context in particular. In the first section the theoretical basis for the integration of wikis, discussion forums and weblogs in the context of learning are discussed. The second part presents the results of an empirical survey conducted by the authors and explores the usage of typical social software tools which support learning from a student’s perspective. The chapter concludes that social software tools have the potential to be a fitting technology in a teaching and learning environment.

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Economic Impact of Investments in Bicycle Facilities

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198105193900102 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 1939 (1) ◽

pp. 15-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mary Paul Meletiou ◽

Judson J. Lawrie ◽

Thomas J. Cook ◽

Sarah W. O'Brien ◽

John Guenther

Keyword(s):

North Carolina ◽

Economic Impact ◽

Impact Analysis ◽

Public Investment ◽

Outer Banks ◽

North Carolina Department ◽

Economic Impact Analysis ◽

The North ◽

Spending Patterns ◽

The One

The northern Outer Banks coastal area in North Carolina is well suited to drawing bicycle tourism because of its geography, climate, and attractions. In 2003, the North Carolina Department of Transportation commissioned a study to examine the value of public investment in bicycle facilities that have been constructed in this area over the past 10 years at a cost of approximately $6.7 million. A particular challenge in conducting this study was that tourists visited the Outer Banks for a variety of reasons, not just for cycling. Thus, the collection of information on the amount and nature of bicycling activity and on the spending patterns of bicyclists in the area was critical for the development of an economic impact analysis. Researchers surveyed cyclists using the bicycle facilities (shared-use paths and wide paved shoulders) and obtained data from self-administered surveys of tourists at visitor centers during the primary tourist season. The data collected were then used to determine the economic impact of bicycling visitors to the area. Seventeen percent of tourists to the area reported that they bicycled while there; this translates to 680,000 people annually. The economic impact of bicycling visitors is significant: a conservative annual estimate is $60 million, with 1,407 jobs created or supported per year. This is almost nine times greater than the one-time expenditure required to construct the facilities. Continued investment in bicycle facilities is expected to increase this favorable economic impact and is therefore recommended.

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Online Learning in a South African Higher Education Institution: Determining the Right Connections for the Student

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning ◽

10.19173/irrodl.v17i5.2552 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dorothy Ruth Queiros ◽

Mary Ruth De Villiers

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Online Learning ◽

South African ◽

Web Sites ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Education Institution ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

The Right

Online learning is a means of reaching marginalised and disadvantaged students within South Africa. Nevertheless, these students encounter obstacles in online learning. This research investigates South African students’ opinions regarding online learning, culminating in a model of important connections (facets that connect students to their learning and the institution). Most participants had no prior experience with online learning. Their perceptions and barriers to learning may apply to other developing countries as well.A cross-sequential research design was employed using a survey among 58 fourth-year students who were studying a traditional paper-based module via open distance learning. The findings indicated certain essential connections: first, a strong social presence (through timely feedback, interaction with facilitators, peer-to-peer contact, discussion forums, and collaborative activities); second, technological aspects (technology access, online learning self-efficacy, and computer self-efficacy); and third, tools (web sites, video clips). The study revealed low levels of computer/internet access at home, which is of concern in an ODL milieu heading online. Institutions moving to online learning in developing countries should pay close attention to their students’ situations and perceptions, and develop a path that would accommodate both the disadvantaged and techno-savvy students without compromising quality of education and learning. The article culminates in practical recommendations that encompass the main findings to help guide institutions in developing countries as they move towards online teaching and learning.

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