This research project began with the objective of obtaining a deeper understanding of the conduct of business on the Internet. Research regarding the overall performance of business on the Web has been limited due to several constraining factors. Firstly, the shear size, volume, and perceived complexity of business on the Web made it an imposing target for research. Secondly, the interdisciplinary nature of the field had an initial dampening effect on research activity. Kuhn (1962) describes this phenomenon as the insufficiency of methodological directives. He writes (p. 3) ‘Instructed to examine electrical or chemical phenomena, the man who is ignorant of these fields but who knows what it is to be scientific may legitimately reach any one of a number of incompatible conclusions. Among those legitimate possibilities, the particular conclusions he does arrive at are probably determined by his prior experience in the other fields’. Thirdly, academic interest in Web businesses was somewhat diminished by the bursting of the dot com bubble during 2000-2001 as evidenced by the fact that many academic programs in electronic commerce have been discontinued or significantly reduced (Featherstone, Ellis & Borstorff 2004). Lastly, methodological issues arose which limited the application of previously available sampling methods. The impact of this meant that drawing representative samples of websites in order to examine business behaviour became a more complex endeavour. As a result, many fundamental questions regarding business on the Web have remained unanswered. For example, there has been no clear answer to the question of what new business models, if any, are evolving within the Web environment. What is the role of entrepreneurship employing the Web? What are the key elements or mechanisms driving business expansion in the Web? Some have suggested that Web use necessitates greater business cooperation than may be necessary in the non-virtual world. Is there evidence that this is so? This thesis addresses these questions. It accomplishes this by reducing the function of business on the Internet to its simplest element, the domain name, and by employing innovative methodologies to explore the business environment of the Web. Using Complexity and Network Theories as a contextual framework , and based upon a review of existing literature, this thesis develops a series of propositions regarding both the conduct and attributes of Web business, and proceeds to present evidence of confirmation or refutation of these propositions.

This research project began with the objective of obtaining a deeper understanding of the conduct of business on the Internet. Research regarding the overall performance of business on the Web has been limited due to several constraining factors. Firstly, the shear size, volume, and perceived complexity of business on the Web made it an imposing target for research. Secondly, the interdisciplinary nature of the field had an initial dampening effect on research activity. Kuhn (1962) describes this phenomenon as the insufficiency of methodological directives. He writes (p. 3) ‘Instructed to examine electrical or chemical phenomena, the man who is ignorant of these fields but who knows what it is to be scientific may legitimately reach any one of a number of incompatible conclusions. Among those legitimate possibilities, the particular conclusions he does arrive at are probably determined by his prior experience in the other fields’. Thirdly, academic interest in Web businesses was somewhat diminished by the bursting of the dot com bubble during 2000-2001 as evidenced by the fact that many academic programs in electronic commerce have been discontinued or significantly reduced (Featherstone, Ellis & Borstorff 2004). Lastly, methodological issues arose which limited the application of previously available sampling methods. The impact of this meant that drawing representative samples of websites in order to examine business behaviour became a more complex endeavour. As a result, many fundamental questions regarding business on the Web have remained unanswered. For example, there has been no clear answer to the question of what new business models, if any, are evolving within the Web environment. What is the role of entrepreneurship employing the Web? What are the key elements or mechanisms driving business expansion in the Web? Some have suggested that Web use necessitates greater business cooperation than may be necessary in the non-virtual world. Is there evidence that this is so? This thesis addresses these questions. It accomplishes this by reducing the function of business on the Internet to its simplest element, the domain name, and by employing innovative methodologies to explore the business environment of the Web. Using Complexity and Network Theories as a contextual framework , and based upon a review of existing literature, this thesis develops a series of propositions regarding both the conduct and attributes of Web business, and proceeds to present evidence of confirmation or refutation of these propositions.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-01T15:53:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) MGP - Dissertação FERNANDA LAURA M J L DOS SANTOS CD ata original.pdf: 1169828 bytes, checksum: b963ca867af022a3861e5587a0540dea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-01T15:53:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) MGP - Dissertação FERNANDA LAURA M J L DOS SANTOS CD ata original.pdf: 1169828 bytes, checksum: b963ca867af022a3861e5587a0540dea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-29 / Após os trabalhos de Schumpeter, o fenômeno da inovação ganhou bastante destaque, uma vez que passou a ser percebido como essencial para o desenvolvimento econômico e social no sistema capitalista. A necessidade de compreender os aspectos da inovação é fortalecida à medida em que as atividades baseadas em conhecimento integram parte significativa da economia global. Sendo assim, o tema é explorado com frequência dentro e fora da academia, a partir de diferentes perspectivas. A presente discussão tem o intuito de abordar a percepção de gestores de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (CT&I) de uma universidade federal sobre o processo de inovação e a política de CT&I estabelecidos na instituição, uma vez que foi detectada a necessidade de compreender o ponto de vista desses atores formuladores de política. Para tanto, a abordagem teórica adotada tomou como base os conceitos do processo de inovação e seus modelos, com maior ênfase no sistema de inovação, bem como a manifestação das políticas públicas que atuam sobre esse campo, suas características, e como elas se subdividem e se relacionam. A metodologia aplicada teve uma pesquisa qualitativa, por meio do método de análise de conteúdo e com a técnica de análise categorial. A pesquisa de campo teve como locus a Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) e investigou, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, gestores de alto nível na área de CT&I. Para a análise desta pesquisa, os dados foram estruturados em quatro eixos temáticos, os quais trataram sobre o entendimento sobre CT&I; os atores na produção do conhecimento; a lógica e o foco da política institucional e os instrumentos de avaliação e análise. Esses eixos guiaram a busca pelo atendimento aos objetivos da pesquisa, na qual foi possível observar uma considerável proximidade da percepção dos gestores entrevistados com os princípios da perspectiva sistêmica no tocante ao processo de inovação, enquanto, na abordagem da política de CT&I, houve a identificação de apenas alguns aspectos dessa teoria, evidenciando áreas que sofrem com algum tipo de deficiência institucional. / After Schumpeter’s works, the phenomenon of innovation has gained much attention as it came to be perceived as essential for economic and social development in the capitalist system. The need to understand the aspects of innovation is strengthened to the extent that the activities based on knowledge integrate significant part of the global economy. Thus, currently, the subject is explored often in and out of academia, from different perspectives. This discussion aims to address the perception of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) managers of a federal university on the innovation process and ST&I policy established in the institution, since the need to comprehend the point of view of these policy-makers actors was detected. Therefore, the adopted theoretical approach was based on the concepts of the innovation process and its models, with greater emphasis on innovation systems and the manifestation of public policies that act on this field, its characteristics, and how they are divided and related. The methodology applied obtained a qualitative research, through the method of content analysis and the technique of categorical analysis. The field research had as locus the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and investigated, through semi-structured interviews, senior managers in the STI area. For this research’s analysis, data were structured into four themes, which treated on the understanding of STI; actors in the production of knowledge; the logic and focus of institutional policy and instruments of evaluation and analysis. These themes guided the search for meeting the research objectives, in which it was observed a considerable proximity to the perception of the managers interviewed with the principles of the systemic perspective with regard to the innovation process, while on the approach of the ST&I policy, there was an identification of only some aspects of this theory, evidencing areas that suffer from some kind of institutional deficiency.

The graduation thesis focuses on science and technology parks as the form of tendencies for the integration of the science and technology development in Europe. The objective of the thesis is to describe the development of science and technology parks in selected European countries and to verify the existence of dependencies between the integration of the science and technology development and the competitiveness of countries. The author defines the fundamental parameters and strategic goals of parks and compares parks in selected European countries on that basis. The author confirms positive dependences between the integration of the science and technology development and the competitiveness of countries and deduces prerequisites for the effective function of science and technology parks in the economy. The author suggests prospective good practices for the identified prerequisites.

Mit dem Thema Innovationen beschätftigen sich in heutiger Zeit nicht nur Unternehmen. Diese Problematik spielt auch für den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg ganzer Regionen eine wichtige Rolle. Die mit Innovationen verbundenen Aspekte werden deshalb sowohl von der Wirtschaft als auch seitens der Wissenschaft mit großem Interesse verfolgt. Die Publikation präsentiert die grundlegenden Ergebnisse des Ziel3-Projekts „INPOK – Innovationspotenzial als Faktor zur Erhöhung der Konkurrenzfähigkeit des sächsisch--böhmischen Grenzraums“. Der Forschungsansatz der beiden Projektpartner, die Jan Evangelista Purkyně Universität in Ústí nad Labem sowie die Technische Universität Dresden basiert auf qualitativen und quantitativen Untersuchungsmethoden. Darüber hinaus wurden verschiedene Transferaktivitäten umgesetzt. Aus den vorgestellten Untersuchungsergebnissen können vor allem Vertreter/innen aus dem Bereich des Wissens- und Technologietransfers, d.h. aus innovationsorientierten Unternehmen, Forschungseinrichtungen, kommunalen Verwaltungen und intermediären Einrichtungen einen besonderen Nutzen ziehen. Nicht zuletzt wird ein Lösungsansatz präsentiert, um den grenzüberschreitenden Wissens- und Technologietranser im sächsisch-böhmischen Grenzraum zu steigern.:Vo r w o r t 7 Abbildungs- und Tabellenverzeichnis 9 Abkürzungsverzeichnis 14 Projektpartner und das Autor/innenteam 15 Einleitung 18 1. Region und Innovation 21 1.1 Theorien der Regionalentwicklung 23 1.2 Forschungskooperationen, ihre Akteure und Rahmenbedingungen in der Praxis 27 1.3 Forschungsleitende Hypothesen 32 1.3.1 Territorium und Potenzial 32 1.3.2 Akteure und Wissenstransfer 33 2. Das Unter suchungsgebiet und regional politische Strategien 35 2.1 Lage und administrative Gliederung 38 2.2 Bevölkerungsentwicklung und Siedlungsstruktur 41 2.2.1 Entwicklung auf nordböhmischer Seite 41 2.2.2 Entwicklung auf sächsischer Seite 42 2.3 Wirtschaftliche Situation aus innovationsorientierter Perspektive 44 2.4 Akteursgruppen im Innovationsprozess 47 2.4.1 Unternehmen 47 2.4.2 Forschungseinrichtungen 48 2.4.3 Intermediäre 48 2.5 Grenzüberschreitende Infrastrukturen 49 2.6 Modellregion Šluknovsko 51 2.7 Die Entwicklung von Innovationen aus der Perspektive verschiedener Entscheidungsebenen 55 2.7.1 Europäische Ebene 55 2.7.2 Nationale Ebene 57 2.7.3 Grenzüberschreitende Verbindungen und internationaler Vergleich 61 3. Methodisches Vorgehen 63 3.1 Empirische Untersuchung 66 3.1.1 Unternehmen 67 3.1.2 Forschungs- und Entwicklungseinrichtungen 68 3.1.3 Kommunale Verwaltung (Gemeinden) 70 3.1.4 Intermediäre 70 3.2 Erprobung von Transferformaten 71 3.2.1 Innovationsbörse 71 3.2.2 Besuchsprogramm 71 3.2.3 Gruppendiskussion 72 4. Empirische Ergebnisse 73 4.1 Quantitative Untersuchungsergebnisse 75 4.1.1 Ergebnisse der Befragung von Unternehmen 75 4.1.2 Ergebnisse der Befragung von Forschungs- und Entwicklungseinrichtungen 107 4.1.3 Ergebnisse der Befragung kommunaler Verwaltungen und intermediärer Einrichtungen 127 4.2 Qualitative Untersuchungsergebnisse 150 4.2.1 Förderliche Elemente für Forschungs kooperationen 150 4.2.2 Hinderliche Elemente für Forschungs kooperationen 152 4.2.3 Grenzüberschreitende Forschungs kooperationen – IST-Stand 152 4.2.4 Grenzüberschreitende Forschungskoopera tionen – Verbesserungsansätze 153 4.2.5 Fazit der qualitativen Studie 154 4.3 Ergebnisse der Erprobung von Transferformaten 154 4.3.1 Innovationsbörsen 154 4.3.2 Besuchsprogramm 156 4.3.3 Gruppendiskussionen 157 5. Fazit 159 5.1 Hypothesenüberprüfung 161 5.2 Schlussfolgerungen und Handlungsansätze 163 5.2.1 Organisationsinterne Faktoren 164 5.2.2 Organisationsexterne Faktoren 166 5.3 Lösungsvision – ein grenzüberschreitendes Innovationsnetzwerk 178 Resümee 182 Resumé 191 Resume 202 Literatur 213 Anlagen 218

Background: Automation deployment is an innovative solution for organisations andbusinesses to improve efficiency and increase value. This study examines the impact ofleadership, learning culture and willingness to automation deployment and, therefore,organisational performance. Two types of leadership styles, participative and autocratic, havebeen selected to analyse their impact on the promotion and deployment of innovative solutionslike automation. The method to measure the success of the organisational performance wasbased on internal improvements of the team's efficiency and productivity using automated tools.An explanatory study was conducted using a questionnaire shared with 242 professionals in theICT industry in Europe to verify our hypotheses. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether leadership, learning cultureand employees’ willingness to change affect the automation deployment and how the latterimpacts the organisational performance. Methodology: A quantitative case study based on an online questionnaire using Google formshas been formed to collect data for analysis. Two multivariate regression models have beendeveloped to evaluate the 77 responses collected from the participants with familiarity andexposure to the automation technology. Results & Conclusions: The results align with the existing literature in the fields of innovation,organisational culture, and performance. More specifically, we discovered that the autocraticstyle negatively affects the automation deployment (B=-2.89, p=0.008), while learning culture(B=0.38, p=0.001,) and willingness to change (B=0.8, p=0,) could be considered as enablerssince both found with positive coefficients. Moreover, the automation deployment has beenidentified as a significant variable that affects organisational performance (B=1, p=0).Additionally, the findings from both models are underpinned by the existing literature provingtheir validity. Recommendations for future research: Future work could be focused on including otherleadership styles, such as transformational or entrepreneurial, to examine the impact onautomation deployment and organisational performance. Additionally, the performance couldbe evaluated based on the final service or product of the company, considering customers'feedback or financial terms. Last but not least, expanding the research to other organisationsthat are considering or have already deployed automation would shed more light on the effectto the organisational performance.

<p>The rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets has sparked substantial interest among healthcare providers. Increasing number of medical schools have launched curricula targeted for mobile tablets. A mobile tablet that facilitates clinical documentation can enhance the mobility of residents and physicians by eliminating the need to be tethered to a workstation. Considering the popularity of Apple’s iPad, a clinical evaluation tool for syncope was implemented on an iPad to test its usability in this environment.</p> <p>The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a mobile tablet app for clinical evaluation and to assess its usability. The contents of the app are based on clinical practice guidelines. The app facilitates clinical evaluation using structured, pre-populated items and unstructured free-text narratives. The participants of this study used the app and paper in pre-determined sequences to document clinical evaluation of a given scenario. A System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire was used to gather feedback on usability. A comparison questionnaire gathered participant preferences between app and paper.</p> <p>This study showed that evidence-based app could be developed, with an emphasis on usability during design and development. During the study, participants recorded more ‘structured’ than ‘unstructured’ free-text information on the tablet. The SUS scores indicated an above average usability score for the app. However, participants rated paper above the app in overall comparison. Future studies are needed to determine whether the level of detail of clinical information presented in mobile tablet apps have a negative effect on participant acceptance.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

This study explores the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on creative workflows and the broader implications for the modern creative and marketing landscapes. The study analyzes the effects of generative AI on brand-consumer relationships, emphasizing emergent creative, ethical and societal challenges. It highlights the transformative power of AI in content creation and content distribution while also addressing its limitations. The research examines the blurred lines between human and machine creativity, the ethical dilemmas surrounding intellectual property, and the impact of algorithmic branding on society and culture. This research involved interviews with 12 subject matter experts with experience using generative AI tools in creative industries. These interviews sought to discover how generative AI enhances creative workflows and impacts the dynamics of brand-consumer relationships. Participants describe their experiences integrating generative AI into their workflows and provided their perspectives on how these tools will impact brands and consumers in the future.

Financial services institutions maintain large amounts of data that include both intellectual property and personally identifiable information for employees and customers. Due to the potential damage to individuals, government regulators hold institutions accountable for ensuring that personal data are protected and require reporting of data security breaches. No company wants a data breach, but finding a security incident or breach early in the attack cycle may decrease the damage or data loss a company experiences. In multiple high profile data breaches reported in major news stories over the past few years, there is a pattern of the adversary being inside the company’s network for months, and often law enforcement is the first to inform the company of the breach. The problem that was investigated in this case study was whether new information technology (IT) utilized by Fortune 500 financial services companies led to the changes in data security incidents and breaches. The goal of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding on how IT can increase awareness of a security incident or breach, and can also decrease security incidents and breaches. This dissertation also explores how threat information sharing increases awareness and decreases information security incidents and breaches. The objective of the study was to understand how changes in IT can influence an increase or decrease in data security breaches. This investigation was a case study of nine Fortune 500 financial services companies to understand what types of IT increase or decrease detection of security incidents and breaches. An increase in detecting and stopping a security incident or breach may have positive effects on the security of an enterprise. The longer a hacker has access to IT systems, the more entrenched they become and the more time the hacker has to locate data with high value. Time is of the essence to detect a compromise and react. The results of the case study showed that Fortune 500 companies utilized new IT that allowed them to improve their visibility of security incidents and breaches from months and years to hours and days.

I examine individual innovation in organizations from a social network perspective. I employ two theoretical lenses to examine innovation outcomes in three separate empirical studies. First, I use a sociopolitical framework to examine how political skill and social network structure interact to predict successful innovation initiation and, ultimately, career success. I find that innovation initiation mediates the relationship between political skill and career success. Moreover, structural holes in employees’ social networks moderate the mediated relationship between political skill and career success such that the relationship is stronger for employees with many structural holes in their social network. Second, I use social resources theory to examine how the characteristics of employees’ social network contacts affect individual innovation behavior. Results suggest that there is a positive relationship between the average amount of professional experience of one’s social network contacts and individual innovation behavior. Similarly, there is a positive relationship between the average creativity level of one’s social network contacts and individual innovation behavior. Each of these relationships is moderated by social structure such that the relationships are stronger for those with fewer structural holes in their social networks. Third, I develop and validate a scale to assess employee behavioral orientations toward brokering disconnected social network contacts. The scale is found to demonstrate convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity based on data from two field sites and one student sample. Results indicate that the scale is positively related to innovation support behavior.