Under the government development policy, the pulling power of domestic market, and the technology support from Japan, Taiwan has surpass Korean, became the largest Large scale TFT LCD supplying country. The rising status of Taiwan has attracted a lot of international critical component supplier to establish branch in Taiwan, including Corning, Merk, Asahi, NEG, NH Techono Glass Corporation, Nitto optical, HOYA. Taiwan need to increase the self-supplying rate of equipment and control and manage the technology patent to be more competitive. Under the specific long-tern developing policy, Korea government creates a very suitable environment for industry-government-research cooperation. With unique conglomerate developing method, Korea LCD company has producing economic sales, well-known brand name, and vertical integration of key components, which made Korea replaced Japan to be the largest LCD panel supplying country since 1997. Korean¡¦s company keep on upgrade themselves by investing in R&D, under government¡¦s supporting policy, the country is expected to reach 80% self-supplying rate in related material, components and producing equipment, which totally makes Korea more competitive in panel industry. In order to understand the development model of Taiwan and Korean¡¦s company, this research take Taiwan AOU and Korean Samsung as study case to compare how different background and innovative ways influence company¡¦s business performance.

A review of the innovation and diffusion literature indicates a considerable amount of research, where attention is given to a range of features which may support integration technologies adoption. However, some literature suggests that the findings derived from the study of large enterprises cannot be generalised and applied in SMEs due to the distinct characteristics of SMEs. Although the adoption of integration technologies is recognised as being different between large and small companies, the literature on its adoption by SMEs remains limited. Nevertheless, in existing work, there is a lack of studies emphasising the reasons why SMEs and large companies take the decision to adopt integration technologies, focusing specifically on the different factors. This thesis therefore identifies the significant differences in the way that SMEs and large companies approach integration technologies, based on the existing literature, theoretical diffusion theories, and resource-based theory. In doing so, the parameters that can be used to explain the adoption of integration technologies in SMEs and large firms are identified, as nature of organisations, company size, integration needs, adoption factors for SMEs and large organisations, and time. Additionally, adoption factors are found and classified into three categories: adoption factors explicit to SMEs, adoption factors explicit to large organisations, and common factors. Based on this, a conceptual model is introduced to explain the different factors that influence adoption between SMEs and large organisations. The empirical contexts of the research are one project on integration technologies adoption, and four case studies on a large firm and three SMEs, which are analysed using an interpretive and qualitative research approach. The evidence suggests that the empirical data complement the identified dimensions nature of organisations, integration needs, company size and time. The empirical data also confirm that the current integration technologies adoption factors reported in the literature can be classified into common factors, factors explicit to SMEs, and factors explicit to large firms, to support a more comprehensive view of this area. An additional factor perceived future prospect has been considered as an influence on adoption in large organisations. The findings of this research can be useful to guide analysts and researchers in determining critical aspects of the complex issues involved for integration technologies adoption, and lead to suggestions for further valid research.

Kirton's adaption-innovation theory suggests adaptors and innovators have different approaches to decision-making. The relationship between thinking styles in conjunction with decriminalization has not been investigated thoroughly, and this study addressed the relationship based on thinking styles and 6 demographics (race, age, gender, religion, education, and geographical location). The main research question examined whether innovators and adaptors have different attitudes about decriminalization. The hypotheses were tested with: (a) t tests to compare responses, (b) analysis of variance for comparing multiple groups and investigating moderator effects, and (c) correlation tests to determine whether Kirton's adaption-innovation inventory scores are associated with decriminalization attitudes. A correlational research design and 4 research questions were used to understand the relationships utilizing 123 participants. Results found that innovators are more open to the support of drug use and prostitution decriminalization while adaptors perceived danger and social threat of this step. Out of 6 variables analyzed, 3 (age, gender, and religion) significantly moderated the relationships between adaptor and innovator attitudes to decriminalization of prostitution, drug use, and drug possession. Race, education, and geographical location were found to be insignificant factors. The body of work is important, as there is a lack of empirical data on how thinking styles may affect people's perceptions of the legal status of certain activities. The findings of this study are relevant to the process of developing legal policies through legislative actions, as public opinions are considered for specific policy issues. More importantly, it highlights that people's perceptions regarding ambiguous social issues are complex and formed under the influence of numerous factors.

Magister Library and Information Studies - MLIS / The advent of the 21st century and its dynamic information environment have changed higher education considerably including the library spaces. Library patrons, namely undergraduates, postgraduates, and academics are placing heavy demands on academic libraries requiring support in research, teaching and learning. As a result, academic librarians globally have undertaken major re-evaluations of what they do and how they do it, to ensure relevance amongst their diverse user communities. The new information landscape is fraught with controversies that prompt opposing perspectives towards change acceptance amongst librarians. In Zimbabwe, academic libraries seemed to be lagging behind regarding changes presented by this information landscape. Given this context, the study sought to understand how librarians are adjusting to the 21st century environment against the expectations of the students and academics. The Diffusion of Innovation Theory crafted by Rogers (2003) and the McKinsey 7S model propounded by Waterman, Peters and Phillips (1982) were used as theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The research further applied a conceptual framework from the literature to determine the expectations of students and academics of the academic library in the 21st century. For data collection, the study adopted a case study design and a mixed methods approach using Web-based questionnaires, follow-up interviews and website content analysis. Data was collected from students, academics and librarians at three selected Zimbabwean universities. All data collecting tools were pre-tested amongst librarians, academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students prior to collecting data. Data collected using questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel while interview data was analysed using thematic text analysis. Findings of this study revealed that the Midlands State University Library had to a larger extent embraced new trends which are in-line with the 21st century environment compared to the National University of Science and Technology and Lupane State University libraries. The Library and Information Science qualification remains important in service delivery among academic librarians. Inadequate funding, limited time due to multitasking, slow uptake of new concepts and limited knowledge and skills were barriers to keeping up with new trends amongst librarians. Academic librarians collaborated with academics in collection development, Information Literacy Skills (ILS) teaching and uploading theses and research papers into the Institution Repository (IR). / 2018-12-14

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study business clients’ technology acceptance of e-commerce within business-to-business in the work wear sector. In specific, develop and test a framework in order to analyze the antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use behind business clients’ behavioral intention to the usage of e-commerce. Problem: There is not sufficient research regarding industries and companies that are categorized as laggards (Del Aguila-Obra & Padilla-Melendez, 2006), and furthermore regarding clients’ technology acceptance in a business-to-business context (Doherty & Ellis-Chadwick, 2010). Actors within the work wear sector conduct their businesses in the most traditional way, with physical stores (Ekberg, Fraenkel, Gustavsson, Hamsten & Hedin, 2014). The question is whether this traditional way remain due to skepticism among the business clients’ and their level of technology acceptance. Method: A proposed framework is developed by the authors, adapted from Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 1983). This framework is tested through quantitative research, and more specific a questionnaire. Subsequently, the empirical data gathering is assembled, analyzed and concluded into a final proposed framework.  Findings: The final proposed framework incorporates antecedents from the proposed framework, but also new influences that are identified in the empirical findings as relevant. These influences are Age, Gender, Experience and Compliance. Further, the antecedents presented in the final proposed framework are the following: Subjective norm/Opinion leaders, Job relevance/Compatibility, Output quality, Result demonstrability/Observability and Trialability.

O objetivo do trabalho é analisar o modelo brasileiro de inovação, buscando estabelecer a ligação entre a teoria, a prática e as intervenções no processo empreendidas pelo poder público, a partir das políticas adotadas. Da relação dialética entre a teoria de C,T&I e as práticas acadêmicas de pesquisa, pretende-se aprofundar os conhecimentos acerca da coerência ou não entre o modelo pretendido (teoria/abstração subjacente à política) e o modelo apropriado pela comunidade científica (teoria/abstração subjacente às práticas de pesquisa acadêmica). Em termos operacionais, a abordagem teórica (perspectiva analítica) do tema desenha-se sobre os paradigmas da ciência, tecnologia e inovação: linear, sistêmico e complexo. O foco normativo recai sobre o marco legal da Lei de Inovação n. 10.973 e os possíveis impactos de sua adoção no meio acadêmico. Interessa-nos principalmente examinar o eixo de flexibilização das atividades dos pesquisadores, mobilidade e relações de trabalho nas universidades públicas. Do ponto de vista da práxis acadêmica, elegeu-se como objeto de estudo o Departamento de Engenharia de Energia e Automação Elétricas (PEA) da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Neste sentido, a partir da pesquisa de campo, foram analisados os condicionantes institucionais relativos à USP e a organização do trabalho de pesquisa. No estudo de caso buscou-se estabelecer a visão de mundo dos pesquisadores, modelos mentais e objetivos de pesquisa que deles derivam. A partir daí estabeleceram-se as relações entre prática, teoria, e políticas. Na fronteira teórica mundial relativa à C,T&I há indícios de instauração do paradigma complexo, no qual a sustentabilidade, a inovação sustentável e a inteligência distribuída têm papel preponderante. As políticas públicas brasileiras relativas à C,T&I evidenciam alinhamento ao paradigma sistêmico competitivo, com foco em P&D nas empresas. Do ponto de vista institucional, pode-se afirmar que está em curso na USP um processo de transição conduzido principalmente no meso-nível dos processos administrativos. Com referência à práxis acadêmica de pesquisa observada no PEA, há indícios de transição ao paradigma complexo. Conclui-se que no momento não há evolução harmoniosa dos sistemas de C,T&I devido à falta de alinhamento entre teoria, prática e políticas. / The purpose of this work is to analyze the Brazilian innovation model, to establish the link between theory, practices and the interventions in the process undertaken by the public power, as from the policies adopted. The dialectic relation between the S,T&I theory and the academic research practices intend to deepen the knowledge on the coherence or not between the intended model (theory/underlying abstraction to the policies) and the appropriate model for the scientific community (theory/underlying abstraction to the practices of academic research). In operational terms, the theoretical approach (analytical perspective) of the subject is drawn on the paradigms of science, technology and innovation: linear, systemic and complex. The normative focus is on the Law of Innovation n. 10,973 and possible impacts of its adoption into the academic environment. The focus is on research activities flexibility, mobility and work relations in public universities. The Department of Energy and Electric Automation Engineering (PEA) of the Engineering School of the University of Sao Paulo (USP) was chosen as a study object. The USP institutional conditioners and the organization of the research work were analyzed. In the case study, the purpose was to establish the worldview of the researchers, and mental models of research. From these, the relations among practice, theory, and policies were established. In the world-wide theoretical border of studies in S,T&I, there are indications of establishing the complex paradigm, in which sustainability, sustainable innovation and distributed intelligence have a preponderant role. The Brazilian public policies in S,T&I have evidences on the alignment to the competitive systemic paradigm, focused on the companies\' R&D. From the institutional point of view, it can be said that a transition process is in course at USP, led mainly in the mid-level of the administrative processes. Regarding the academic research praxis observed in PEA, there are indications of transition to the complex paradigm. It is concluded that, at the moment, harmonious evolution of the Science, Technology and Innovation systems is not possible, due to lack of alignment among theory, practices and policies.

Social media has changed the way businesses relate to their customers. Since the beginning of social media, traditional methods of communicating with customers have begun to decline. The purpose of this multicase study was to determine the strategies of 5 owners of small restaurant businesses in Western North Carolina who successfully used social media marketing for 1 year or more. Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews, documents pertaining to social media marketing strategies, and social media pages and websites from the participating restaurants. These data were analyzed following Yin's 5-step analysis plan. The themes that emerged were social media platforms, word-of-mouth, and challenges implementing social media. Facebook, Yelp, and Instagram were the most used social media platforms. The participants implied that word-of-mouth has the potential to increase sales and to grow business. Challenges implementing social media included the ability to be consistent and actively engaged on the social media sites to allow business owners to respond quickly to negative posts made by customers. Small restaurant businesses can be successful if they develop and implement a social media presence, encourage customer feedback, and formulate a plan to overcome obstacles and challenges that may arise with implementing social media marketing strategies. These findings contribute to positive social change by increasing the sustainability of small businesses in the community, which may drive economic development and improve community relations.

The healthcare system in the US faces substantial challenges related to cost, access and quality. Health Information Exchange (HIE) has been widely viewed as a viable solution for dealing with those challenges. Despite the potential contributions to the healthcare system that HIE promises, adoption and use of HIE have always been difficult, and the past two decades have witnessed significant HIE implementation failures. The limited understanding of HIE is a major obstacle for HIE success. Only recently in-depth research about HIE starts to appear in top IS journals. In addition, the uniqueness of healthcare industry adds to the complexity to HIE. Our study attempts to address this research gap by systematically examining multiple factors that influence HIE adoption and use. Using social exchange theory (SET) and diffusion of innovations theory, a research model was developed to empirically test major factors that impact healthcare providers’ relative advantages and risks perceptions for adopting and using HIE. It is further proposed that relative advantages and risks in turn impact organizations’ intentions for adopting and continuously using HIE. As such, we posit that organizations’ assessments of relative advantages and risks associated with HIE mediate the impacts of organizational and technological factors on organizations’ adoption and use intentions. This study uses questionnaire surveys for data collection. Out of a total of 163 responses, 117 surveys were completed and were analyzed using Partial Least Square software SmartPLS 3. Data analysis finds that most of the relationships were in the hypothesized directions with some of the relationships being significant. Specifically, top management support, absorptive capacity, trust, and HIE innovation characteristics positively affect relative advantages and negatively affect risk. Furthermore, relative advantages positively affect adoption/continuance intentions, whereas risk negatively affects adoption/continuance intentions. This study contributes to the literature and offers important practical implications. It is one of the early empirical attempts to understand the key factors that affect HIE’s adoptions and use. The research can also serve as a starting point for more in-depth studies in the future. Moreover, practitioners can use the several newly-developed scales to empirically examine healthcare providers’ adoption and use intentions.

Radio frequency identification, also known as RFID technology, has been commercially available since World War II. In recent years, interest has turned toward using RFID in supply chain management, such as monitoring and tracking business processes. There are many businesses that have already invested in an RFID supply chain management solution but little is known about the current state of diffusion of RFID technology and the role of advocacy groups in the diffusion process. This research investigated the current state of RFID diffusion in New Zealand according to diffusion of innovation and Moore’s theory to provide insight into the role of innovation advocacy groups such as New Zealand RFID Pathfinder Group (referred as the NZ RFID Pathfinder Group). RFID in supply chain management terms is inter-organisational and much of the role of advocacy groups is in networking between players in the supply chain management context. Therefore, this research focused on industry group leaders. The research was conducted in two main parts, an online questionnaire survey and a follow up interview. The online questionnaire survey used a quantitative approach while the interview used a qualitative one. In summary, the result show that: 14% industries (seven out of 51) have already adopted RFID technology, the industries were from importer, research institute, manufacturing, and distribution; 36% have plans (16 out of 44) to adopt RFID technology in the near future, the industries were from importer, research institute, manufacturing, and distribution; and 64% industries (28 out of 44) did not any plan to adopt RFID. The strong recommendation was to standardise each aspect of the technology, making the products available to clients and creating competition between RFID technology service suppliers, thus bringing down the cost through market forces. Increasing the number of members of advocacy group could also encourage RFID adoption. One group of potential RFID adopters in the future will be local branches of international companies with a mandate to adopt RFID technology. The results suggest that the NZ RFID Pathfinder Group should set the direction of NZ RFID adoption; get involved in national pilots; and the activities of lobbying governments and associations and information sharing.

The purpose of this research is to study the role of information and communication technology (ICT) and information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) in Cambodian non-government organizations (NGOs). By focusing on a workshop on the ICT applications Unicode and Open Office, initiated by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (the CCC), I intend to see how these applications were adopted, how they are used and what the future is for ICT and ICT4D in Cambodia. The research is based on qualitative, semi structured interviews with employees at CCC as well as NGO workers who were participants at the workshops. The theories that I have used are Amartya Sen’s capability approach, Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory and intercultural communication. This study shows that ICT is considered to be a very important tool for the development of Cambodia. Unicode has contributed with an easier way to type and read documents in Khmer and it is considered to promote the Khmer language. Open Office have not found its renaissance yet since people find it difficult to use although the NGOs sees its’ potential and wants to learn it. According to the NGO workers, ICT and ICT4D will play an important role for the Cambodian development in the future but because of a lack of infrastructure and proper knowledge about the new technology, it has not been used to its full capacity. In order for us to understand how ICT can reach its full potential within NGOs, there have to exist an understanding of Cambodian culture and history since the Khmer people’s values affect how the NGO workers look at development and the tools they are using.