In a supply chain, a warehouse is a crucial component for linking all chain parties. Automatic identification and data capture (auto-ID) technology, e.g. RFID and barcodes are among the essential technologies in the 21st century knowledge-based economy. Selecting an auto-ID technology is a long term investment and it contributes to improving operational efficiency, achieving cost savings and creating opportunities for higher revenues. The interest in auto-ID research for warehouse management is rather stagnant and relatively small in comparison to other research domains such as transport, logistics and supply chain. However, although there are some previous studies that explored factors for the auto-ID selection decision in a warehouse environment, those factors (e.g., operational factors) have been examined separately and researchers have paid no attention to all key factors that may potentially affect this decision. In fact, yet there is no comprehensive framework in the literature that comprehensively investigates the critical factors influencing the auto-ID selection decision and how the factors should be combined to produce a successful auto-ID selection process in warehouse management. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to investigate empirically the auto-ID technology-selection process and to determine the key factors that influence decision makers when selecting auto-ID technology in the warehouse environment. This research is preceded by a comprehensive and systematic review of the relevant literature to identify the set of factors that may affect the technology selection decision. The Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework has been used as lens to categorise the identified factors (Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990). Data were collected by conducting first a modified (mixed-method) two-round Delphi study with a worldwide panel of experts (107) including academics, industry practitioners and consultants in auto-ID technologies. The results of the Delphi study were then verified via follow-up interviews, both face-to-face and telephone, carried out with 19 experts across the world. This research in nature is positivist, exploratory/descriptive, deductive/inductive and quantitative/qualitative. The quantitative data were analysed using the statistical package for social sciences, SPSS V.18, while the qualitative data of the Delphi study and the interviews were analysed manually using quantitative content analysis approach and thematic content analysis approach respectively. The findings of this research are reported on the motivations/reasons of warehouses in seeking to use auto-ID technologies, the challenges in making an auto-ID decision, the recommendations to address the challenges, the key steps that should be followed in making auto-ID selection decision, the key factors and their relative importance that influence auto-ID selection decision in a warehouse. The results of the Delphi study show that the six major factors affecting the auto-ID selection decision in warehouse management are: organisational, operational, structural, resources, external environmental and technological factors (in decreasing order of importance). In addition, 54 key sub-factors have been identified from the list of each of the major factors and ranked in decreasing order of the importance mean scores. However, the importance of these factors depends on the objectives and strategic motivations of warehouse; size of warehouse; type of business; nature of business environment; sectors; market types; products and countries. Based on the Delphi study and the interviews findings, a comprehensive multi-stage framework for auto-ID technology selection process has been developed. This research indicates that the selection process is complex and needs support and closer collaboration from all participants involved in the process such as the IT team, top management, warehouse manager, functional managers, experts, stockholders and vendors. Moreover, warehouse managers should have this process for collaboration before adopting the technology in order to reduce the high risks involved and achieve successful implementation. This research makes several contributions for both academic and practitioners with auto-ID selection in a warehouse environment. Academically, it provides a holistic multi-stage framework that explains the critical issues within the decision making process of auto-ID technology in warehouse management. Moreover, it contributes to the body of auto-ID and warehouse management literature by synthesising the literature on key dimensions of auto-ID (RFID/barcode) selection decision in the warehouse field. This research also provides a theoretical basis upon which future research on auto-ID selection and implementation can be built. Practically, the findings provide valuable insights for warehouse managers and executives associated with auto-ID selection and advance their understanding of the issues involved in the technology selection process that need to be considered.

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The evolution and proliferation of mobile devices (m-devices) in the workplace have been rapid. In comparison to conventional services provided by mobile phones (m-phones), smartphones feature sophisticated functionality, such as Internet access, video/audio streaming, and business productivity applications. As a consequence of increased demand for smartphones in the workplace, an understanding of the factors that determine the decision to adopt smartphones in business settings is necessary. The goal of this investigation was to identify the key factors that have an impact on the adoption of smartphones. This dissertation investigation provided an understanding of the key factors that affect the adoption of smartphones for the domain of professional consultants and validated the key constructs of a conceptual map of smartphone adoption through the analysis of data generated from a survey of professional consultants from a global professional services firm, ZS Associates. A total of 130 valid responses from an online survey distributed to 336 ZS Associates professional consultants located in North America, European Union, Japan, China, and India were used in this study. The results of this investigation indicated that social influence, perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU)/compatibility in the workplace, job relevance, and technology are the key factors that affect the adoption of a smartphone. Demographics and observability factors such as age and observing others' using smartphones in the workplace were found to have no significant impact on smartphone adoption. The outcomes of this investigation indicated that there were no significant cultural differences between respondents in the North America, EU, and Asia-Pacific regions in regard to the adoption of a smartphone. The results of this investigation expanded the research on the adoption of smartphones to the domain of professional consultants. The investigation expanded the research of smartphone adoption from a cultural perspective. Further, the research bridged the gap in the information technology (IT) literature on the intention to use a smartphone by incorporating the key constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies (UTAUT), and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI) models.

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Bakgrund Hotellbranschen står inför utmaningar vad gäller att möta gästens ständigt förändrade förväntningar. För att ligga i framkant i gästerbjudandet satsas mer än någonsin på investeringar i teknologi där implementering av SST är en strategi för att överleva. Detta förändrar gästens roll i servicemötet vilket skapar en osäkerhet angående adoption av SST. Syfte Studiens syfte är att från ett kundperspektiv skapa en djupare förståelse för adoption av självserviceteknologi (SST) genom att identifiera och förstå faktorer som triggar en hotellgästs inställning och användande av SST vid incheckning. Genomförande Med avstamp i en litteraturgenomgång genomfördes en förstudie i form av ostrukturerade intervjuer med hotellgäster i syfte att identifiera triggers. Utifrån förstudien och litteraturgenomgången skapades sedan en enkät som analyserades kvantitativt i programmet SPSS för att med stöd av kvalitativa delar från förstudien besvara studiens forskningsfrågor. Slutsats Hotellgästen har generellt en god inställning till SST vid incheckning vilket förklaras mycket av SSTs förmåga att minska kö och väntan. Gästens behov av mänsklig interaktion har dock visat sig hämma adoptionen. SST vid incheckning anses vara en naturlig utveckling men behovet av interaktion tyder på att gästen inte är riktigt redo för hur teknologins framfart förändrar roller och manus i servicemötet. Istället kan interaktion ske utanför incheckningsmomentet, så länge personal finns tillgänglig på gästens villkor finns goda förutsättningar att öka gästens inställning och därmed användande av SST. / Background The hotel business is facing great challenges meeting the guest’s constantly pivoted expectations. In order to maintain the guest offering attractive, hotels are investing more than ever in technology with SST as a strategy of survival. This changes the customers’ role which makes the customer adoption doubtful. Purpose  The purpose of this study is to create a deeper knowledge for adoption of SST from a customer perspective. This by identify and understand triggers of a hotel guest’s attitude and intention to use SST at the check in. Completion  With support from a literature review, a pre-study in form of unstructured interviews with hotel guests took place in order to identify triggers. With the pre-study and literature review in mind a survey was carried out and later analysed using the software SPSS. The quantitative analysis was supported by qualitative results from the pre-study in order to fulfil the purpose. Conclusion  The hotel guest has in general a good attitude to SST at the check in which is shown to by a large extent be explained by the ability to reduce queue and waiting time. Thus is the guest’s need for interaction a hinder for adoption. SST at the check in is more or less seen as a natural service progress, but the need for interaction implies that the guest is not quite ready for how technology is changing role and script. Instead interaction can take place separated from the check in - as long as personnel is available for interaction on the guest’s own terms there are good chances to increase their attitude and thereby usage of SST.

All too often faculty are asked to implement technology into their teaching without the knowledge necessary to use the technology effectively. Due to the evolution of technology in everyday settings, students have come to expect to be engaged through technological means. This often creates undue stress on faculty members. The purpose of this study is to investigate technology integration by exploring the relationships between a faculty member’s technology preferences and educational beliefs. Through a mixed method, this study attempts to address the question of why faculty use the types of technology they do. More importantly, this study investigates if a faculty member’s educational beliefs have any influence on the technology they choose to use. Thirty-two medical, clinical, and healthcare faculty members participated in the study. They responded to a Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) survey and a Technology Preferences survey with open-ended questions. Data analysis revealed multiple statistically significant findings between different beliefs and different types of technology. The results indicated that personal epistemic beliefs influence the types of technology faculty use. The technology choices faculty make are largely related to tools they are comfortable with and ones they believe effectively fit their teaching materials. The study also found statistically significant differences between age, gender, and reported technology use. It is suggested faculty development programs should consider faculty members’ educational beliefs and personal preferences when supporting faculty with their uses of technologies.

This thesis analyses the process of knowledge-base adoption in the enterprise environment. Using data from two knowledge-management systems operated by the company, Semanta, s.r.o. we studied the day-to-day interactions of employees using the system and identified the important drivers of system adoption. We began by studying the effect of co-workers' collaborative activities on knowledge creation within the system. It was found that they had a positive and significant impact upon overall knowledge creation and thus on adoption. Secondly, we explored how the newly defined concept of gamification could help determine and encourage an increase in knowledge creation. The use of gamification tools, such as the "Hall of Fame" page, turned out to have significant influence in the adoption process. Thirdly, we examined how users continually seek knowledge within the system and how asking for missing information and being supplied with answers has an impact on adoption rates. It was shown that the quicker the responses and the more experts dealing with requests the greater the impact on knowledge base adoption. Finally, we showed that the size and character of the company deploying the knowledge management system does not influence the adoption drivers. This thesis represents an effort to fill the...

This thesis focuses on investigating inter-departmental Electronic Information Sharing (EIS) through Inter-organisational Systems (IOS) in the context of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in England and Wales. There is an increasing demand to involve LGA departments in sharing information electronically in order to reduce the cost of storing and managing data, increase the level of data accuracy and timeliness and improve the accountability of the authority. During the last decades, several LGAs in the United Kingdom have started to employ IOSs to support information sharing and networked collaboration within their departments in order to meet a diverse range of citizen needs including housing services, social care services and education services. However, reaching a great level of crossdepartmental collaboration is not easy and requires additional time and effort. Normative literature proposed various models and frameworks that examine various issues and factors influencing the effort of EIS in the private and public domain. However, the applicability and validity of those models in the context of LGAs is arguable. Therefore, this research proposes and validates a novel conceptual framework that can be used as a tool for decision-making while sharing information electronically. The framework consists of four main levels: (a) investigation and presentation of factors influencing Electronic Information Sharing in LGAs based on external environment, organisational capacity, technology environment, EIS characteristics and inter-departmental environment, (b) investigation and presentation of the phases that departments adopt while participating in the EIS effort, (c) mapping of the influential factors onto the participation phases and (d) prioritisation of the factors influencing EIS in LGAs in relation to different phases. By validating the conceptual framework through using a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study research strategy, this thesis attempts to contribute to the theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of inter-departmental EIS. Despite the results of the cases cannot be generalised, yetthey can allow others to relate their views with the onesreported in this thesis.

This research is motivated by the interest in understanding the usage of the Generalised Audit Software (GAS) by external auditors within public accounting firms. GAS is a tool used by auditors to automate various audit tasks. It helps auditors to analyse accounting data electronically where it is quite impossible to do so manually. GAS is claimed to be the most influential Computer Assisted Audit Tools and Technique (CAATTs) that can facilitate the audit objective. However, research has found that there is little evidence that auditors have extensively adopted GAS. Even greater benefits have been promoted since the existence of GAS, but auditors do not really seem to be interested in this tool. Most previous studies have focused on either internal auditors, large accounting firms, other countries or merely adopters of GAS. However, there is little evidence that the study of GAS has been conducted on external auditors, especially in small and medium sized accounting firms in the United Kingdom (UK). This study helps to fill this gap by exploring the use of GAS among them, and covers both adopters and non-adopters of GAS. Through an online survey using both close and open-ended questions, this issue has been investigated among registered statutory auditors. The primary aim of this study is to explore the current usage of GAS and to understand the factors that influence the use of GAS as well as the perceptions and expectations of using GAS. The views are gathered from both auditors who are already implementing GAS and those who are not using GAS. A framework was developed to identify a range of relevant factors which are important when considering the application of GAS. Responses from 205 statutory auditors across the UK were then mapped against the framework. Of the 14 variables used to test the factors that influence the use of GAS, only six of them are found to be significant from logistic regression analysis. These are firm size, experience of auditors in computerised auditing, organisational influence, client factor, audit engagement allocation and perceived usefulness. The findings show that the utilisations of GAS is unusually low among audit firms in the UK. Almost 73% of external auditors make no use of GAS, due to the limited perceived benefit of using GAS for auditing small clients. While some respondents recognised the advantages of GAS, they were put off by what they believed to be high implementation costs; the significant learning curve and adoption process; and lack of ease of use. Some auditors expressed their awareness of GAS, but most of them showed a preference for using traditional auditing methods instead. A few problems have also been identified in causing the limitation of GAS usage. This study contributes to the literature on suggestions to improve the use of GAS that can be used by small and medium sized public accounting firm, which is lacking in existing research related to this group. In sum, this study has deepened current understanding of the GAS usage among small and medium sized audit firms in the UK, and has provided useful insights for audit professionals, software developers, vendors, standards setters, academicians and researchers. This study has also opened up the possibilities for further study on GAS or related areas either in the UK or other places in the world.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Bryan Schurle / Frito-Lay is part of the PepsiCo Family which makes some of the best known and top selling snack foods around. Frito-Lay is the dominant player in the salty snack category in the United States, with a 65 percent share of the market. Frito-Lay brands include Lay's, Ruffles, Tostitos, Sunchips, Fritos, Cheetos, and Doritos. The objective of the thesis is to analyze a potential project: installing a raw potato sorting system on a potato chip line. Part of the analysis will be to conduct a net present value analysis of the costs and benefits associated with the project. Currently the line runs with one full time employee that inspects the raw incoming potatoes for foreign matter and color. Recently, technology options are available that the company could add to the raw potato sorting function that could potentially reduce employee labor costs. This research project provides information regarding the system’s investment cost, maintenance requirements, labor savings, and finished product quality impact. As the business environment changes businesses must keep up with rapidly changing technology to be able to compete. A company that is able to compete will be able to survive in the market and sustain profitability. Capital expenditures need to be evaluated and adopted if they keep a company competitive or make a company more cost efficient. The analysis concluded that the investment of installing a raw potato sorting system would be profitable, earning a positive NPV and internal rate of return greater than Frito-lay’s cost of capital. I would recommend that Frito-Lay move forward with this investment.