<p>Purpose – The growing importance of use of Internet banking as another service delivery channel by banks to their customers lead to a number of supposition and deductions been made on the value creation of Internet banking and its extent of use. In the light of this, a profound and comprehensive study was conducted with the aim to first, determine the extent of use of Internet banking in Sweden, second, to validate the conjecture and the anecdote inferences that Internet banking provides values to both the bank and its customers.</p><p>Design/Methodology/approach - To test the validity of the conjecture and the anecdote inferences made over the years, the author use data collected in two folds. One set was collected from financial institution “the big four banks” and the other set from 60 bank customers out of the 90 questionnaires administered.</p><p>Findings - The results provide first, evidence of the high rate of adoption of Internet banking in Sweden, second, the values the banks and its customers have enjoyed since the advent of Internet banking.</p><p>Research limitations/implications - Although this exploratory study approach may have validated the proposed model, further research into other cities is required to generalize these findings as this study has the limitation of using only Stockholm and the number of respondents used.</p><p>Originality/value - The findings contribute and support several other studies that pointed to the fact that use of Internet banking channel of delivery is on the increase, and its value creation far exceed all other service delivery channels; provide critical implications for managers of financial institutions, Internet service providing firms, government and highlight directions for future research.</p><p>Keywords Internet banking, Online banking, Service delivery channels, Technology-based, Enabled-service, Product-service Continuum</p>

Technology based self-service (TBSS) used in supermarket self-scanning checkouts is a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden. Studies on TBSS as a self- checkout device have been formerly carried out but with focus on the customer perspective. The authors therefore saw a challenge in covering the self-scan checkout concept, from a company perspective. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate, through a management perspective, the changes brought about by implementing an innovative TBSS system in Swedish supermarkets, and its effect on the competitiveness of the company. This is done by presenting and linking the theoretical framework and empirical study in the research. The theoretical framework of the paper includes the following topics: role and importance of innovation in a business context and TBSS as innovation as well as product life cycle connected to innovation; competitive advantage theory and complementary concepts, value chain theory, and finally the importance of customer relationship management in the ‘new’ self-service economy. The empirical study consists of two Swedish supermarkets in the city of Linköping, Coop Forum and ICA Maxi. Results of the research paper mainly include the following: Changes brought about by implementing technology-based self-service systems in supermarkets must be discussed in the view of short-term and long- term perspectives separately. Changes involve the value creating activities of supermarkets and include increased quality of services to customers. It has been further found that TBSS can add to the competitiveness of supermarkets. However, positive financial results can only be expected in the long-term which in the case of Swedish supermarkets offering TBSS services is not yet apparent. The empirical findings have shown that Coop Forum and ICA Maxi had to carry out changes and make adjustments to their value activities and customer relationship management in order to operate TBSS checkouts successfully. Competitiveness between them has been also affected due to the TBSS service offering.

Purpose – The growing importance of use of Internet banking as another service delivery channel by banks to their customers lead to a number of supposition and deductions been made on the value creation of Internet banking and its extent of use. In the light of this, a profound and comprehensive study was conducted with the aim to first, determine the extent of use of Internet banking in Sweden, second, to validate the conjecture and the anecdote inferences that Internet banking provides values to both the bank and its customers. Design/Methodology/approach - To test the validity of the conjecture and the anecdote inferences made over the years, the author use data collected in two folds. One set was collected from financial institution “the big four banks” and the other set from 60 bank customers out of the 90 questionnaires administered. Findings - The results provide first, evidence of the high rate of adoption of Internet banking in Sweden, second, the values the banks and its customers have enjoyed since the advent of Internet banking. Research limitations/implications - Although this exploratory study approach may have validated the proposed model, further research into other cities is required to generalize these findings as this study has the limitation of using only Stockholm and the number of respondents used. Originality/value - The findings contribute and support several other studies that pointed to the fact that use of Internet banking channel of delivery is on the increase, and its value creation far exceed all other service delivery channels; provide critical implications for managers of financial institutions, Internet service providing firms, government and highlight directions for future research. Keywords Internet banking, Online banking, Service delivery channels, Technology-based, Enabled-service, Product-service Continuum

Dialogical communication is considered to be the most ethical way of practicing public relations. Especially social medias’ potential for engaging in dialogue is mostly not exploited to its full potential. This study aims to shed light on new technology-based firms’ use of dialogical communication on Twitter. The focus hereby is on the formal side of dialogue and not on its content. Moreover possible explanations for the presence or absence of dialogue are taken into consideration. To be able to classify the results they are discussed in the context of the Fortune 500 companies’ use of Twitter. In order to do so a content analysis of both the Twitter profiles and tweets of 89 new technology-based firms was undertaken. The results showed that the Fortune 500 companies were communicating more dialogically than the new technology-based firms did. Bigger companies engaged in dialogue more often. The performance was furthermore improved by listening rather than posting. An implication is that a profound knowledge of communication is necessary in order to use the social medium successfully. A pure knowledge of technology was not found to be beneficial for this public relations practice.

Visuomenės pokyčiai, nesustabdoma technologijų plėtra ir įvairovė verčia šiandien naujai žvelgti į mokymą kaip visuotinį procesą. Kinta mokymo koncepcijos, pedagoginės nuostatos, tikslai bei mokymo metodai. Šiuolaikines informacines priemones ir technologijas skatinama vartoti visuose mokomojo proceso lygmenyse, mokant ir besimokant įvairių dalykų. Informacinės ir komunikacinės technologijos taikomos ugdymo procese siekiant, kad ir mokymas, ir mokymasis kokybiškai pakistų, kad iš esmės pagerėtų mokyklų, mokytojų ir mokinių edukacinės veiklos efektyvumas, o pats mokymo procesas taptų patrauklesnis besimokančiajam, suteiktų daugiau galimybių. Atliekant, Utenos pagrindinių mokyklų mokytojų kompiuterizuoto mokymo metodų taikymo edukacinėje praktikoje, tyrimą buvo nustatyta, kokius kompiuterizuoto mokymo metodus mokytojai taiko, įvertintas šių metodų taikymo edukacinėje praktikoje veiksmingumas, palyginti mokyklų vadovų ir mokytojų požiūriai į kompiuterizuoto mokymo metodus, atskleidžiant jų privalumus ir įvardijant pagrindines problemas. Apibendrinant tyrimo rezultatus paaiškėjo, kad mokytojai dažniausiai taiko kompiuterizuotus informacinius teikiamuosius ir atgaminamuosius bei operacinius praktinius metodus, o silpniausiai mokytojų įvaldyti ir mažiausiai naudojami yra kompiuterizuoti kūrybiniai metodai, kurie formuoja savarankišką ir kūrybingą asmenybę. Taikydami kompiuterizuoto mokymo metodus ugdyme, mokytojai kompiuterį vertina, kaip mokymo priemonę, o kompiuterizuoti mokymo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Changes in society, variety of technology tools force us to look at teaching process differently. Teaching concepts, pedagogical preferences, teaching goals and methods have been changing during the years. Modern information technologies are very important for effective learning and efficient education services and they have to be integrated into educational system. It is widely acknowledged that information and communication technologies are providing new ways of education in order to improve quality of teaching and learning. It is important that educational process itself would become more attractive and provide more possibilities to learners. The research was carried out in Utena basic schools in order to find out what technology-based teaching methods are used in educational process. Effectiveness of computer-aided learning was evaluated, technology-based teaching methods from the standpoints of headmasters’ and teachers’ were compared, the main advantages and disadvantages were discussed in this work. Research has indicated that teachers commonly apply computer-based rendering, recall and practical methods, meanwhile computer-based creative methods that focus on exploring ideas, generating possibilities and encouraging independent thinking are used less. According to teachers, computer-based methods are effective to render, model and review teaching resources as well as apply gained knowledge in new situations. Both headmasters and teachers agree that computer-based... [to full text]

To draw up an intellectual property management strategy is one of the most important tasks to do when starting up technology-based companies, which play a very important role in the knowledge-based economies. IP management due to protection must be regarded as a strategic asset aimed at improving the competitive advantages, increasing the revenue of a technology-based start up company and encouraging to continue to develop new technologies, by securing a technological platform for a future development, preventing competitors from gaining access to emerging markets, creating retaliatory power against competitors and preventing innovative products from being plagiarized. Through this study the aim is forming a guide including why and how an IP management strategy develop and implement to a new technology-based start up company. Beside these it is proved that from the properties that characterize the start-up configuration of a high-tech firm there can be derived three organizational archetypes of firms each of which requires different IP management strategies.

Digitaliseringens framväxt har förändrat hur tjänster erbjuds på marknaden. Det blir allt vanligare att kunder interagerar med teknologi i servicemöten istället för med servicepersonal, en teknologi som benämns self-service technology (SST). Tidigare forskare har beskrivit flera övergripande anledningar till att företag väljer att implementera SST, exempelvis; reducerade kostnader, ökad produktivitet, ökad kundnöjdhet och lojalitet samt för att nå nya kundsegment. Tidigare forskning har bedrivits kring vilka faktorer som påverkar attityder till och tillfredsställelse med SST i olika kontexter, vilka visat sig föregå användning av SST. Förekomsten av SST inom casual dining-restauranger är dock en relativt ny företeelse, där forskning kring konsumenters attityder och tillfredsställelse saknas. Restauranger av casual dining-karaktär kan definieras som en typ av restaurang som ligger mellan snabbmatsrestaurang och finrestaurang.  Syftet med denna studie är att utvidga den befintliga forskningen inom self-service technology (SST) till casual dining-restauranger. Mer specifikt är syftet att undersöka applicerbarheten av tidigare SST-forskning på en relativt ny och unik restaurangkontext, för att kartlägga vilka faktorer som påverkar konsumenters attityder till och tillfredsställelse med SST i denna kontext. Vidare är syftet att undersöka om det finns betydande skillnader mellan hur faktorerna påverkar attityd respektive tillfredsställelse. Att sammantaget kartlägga detta kan ge praktisk användbar information till chefer för casual dining-restauranger som står inför beslutet att utforma och implementera liknande SSTs i sina verksamheter. Studiens syfte mynnade ut i följande frågeställning:  Vilka faktorer påverkar konsumenters attityder till, och tillfredsställelse med, self-service technology i casual dining-restauranger?  För att besvara forskningsfrågan genomfördes en fallstudie av restaurangkedjan Pinchos. Totalt 20 hypoteser formulerades kring valda faktorers eventuella påverkan på restaurangbesökares attityd till och tillfredsställelse med SST i casual dining-restauranger. För att undersöka dessa hypoteser genomfördes en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en internetdistribuerad enkät. Totalt 169 respondenter besvarade enkäten. Enkla och multipla linjära regressionsanalyser genomfördes därefter för att analysera empirin.  Resultatet visar att faktorerna: användbarhet, enkelhet vid användning, nöje, pålitlighet samt support vid behov uppvisar ett signifikant positivt samband med såväl attityd till som tillfredsställelse med SST i casual dining-restauranger när de studeras enskilt. Studien visar vidare att faktorerna behov av interaktion med personal samt avsaknad av personlig service uppvisar ett signifikant negativt samband med såväl attityd till som tillfredsställelse med SST i denna kontext. Studien visar således att samtliga faktorer påverkar både attityd och tillfredsställelse. Faktorerna ekonomisk kompensation och technology readiness visade inget signifikant samband med varken attityd eller tillfredsställelse när de studerades enskilt. Faktorn kontroll analyserades ej då enkätfrågorna relaterade till denna faktor uppvisade för låg intern konsistens.

O sucesso alcançado pela indústria de Private Equity e Venture Capital (PE/VC) no fomento ao empreendedorismo e na dinamização do setor empresarial norte-americano encorajou diversos países a importar este modelo vencedor de intermediação financeira. Este trabalho busca analisar como as empresas de PE/VC realizam suas avaliações de potenciais investimentos e tomam suas decisões de investimento através da identificação junto à literatura das principais variáveis utilizadas e a verificação de como as mesmas se manifestam nas empresas pesquisadas. Na pesquisa sobre o perfil da indústria de PE/VC mineira podemos citar três fatores que nos permitem prever grande crescimento e desenvolvimento da mesma: i) existência de uma rede que contempla todos os ciclos do processo de investimento; ii) a grande presença de empresas atuando nos estágios iniciais do ciclo de investimento; e iii) boa margem de sucesso nos investimentos. Como principal conclusão da pesquisa do como as empresas pesquisadas avaliam possíveis investimentos, podemos citar o fato das empresas pesquisadas focarem muito mais os fatores intangíveis como a equipe, a estratégia e o mercado potencial do que os fatores tangíveis como os aspectos financeiros, tamanho de mercado já existente e planos de negócios. / The outstanding success achieved by Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) in fostering the U.S. enterprising sector has encouraged several countries to import this winner financial model. The objective of this work is to analyze how the PE/VC Companies make the analysis of the potential investment in PE/VC and take the investment decision through the identification in the literature of the most important variables and the verification of how it works in the analyzed organizations. In the study of the profile of the industry of PE/VC from Minas Gerais, Brazil, we can identify three factors that allows to foresee a great growth and development of this industry: i) existence of a net that contemplates all the cycles of the investment process; ii) the great presence of companies acting in the initial periods of training of the investment cycle; and iii) good percentage of success in the investments. As main conclusion of the study of the evaluation variables we can quote the fact of the searched organizations focus much more in the intangible factors as the team, strategy and potential market than in the tangible ones as the financial aspects, the size of the actual market and the business plans.

O estudo trata da descentralização de políticas públicas de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (CT&I) do governo federal para os municípios. As políticas públicas de CT&I são, cada vez mais, essenciais para o desenvolvimento economicamente viável e sustentável de uma nação. Assim, governos ao redor do mundo investem em empresas e sistemas de inovação como forma de manter a competitividade em uma economia cada vez mais global. Paradoxalmente, apesar da crescente relevância política, social e econômica das cidades no mundo, seu papel tem sido subestimado nas políticas nacionais de CT&I no Brasil. No plano teórico, o presente estudo apoia-se em duas vertentes temáticas: o desenvolvimento regional na economia do conhecimento e a descentralização federativa. Nesse contexto, o estudo interroga sobre como inserir o município nas políticas nacionais de CT&I. O estudo busca evidências empíricas nas relações intergovernamentais da descentralização e em dois estudos de caso, nas cidades brasileiras de Porto Alegre e São Leopoldo, ambas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, escolhidas pelos bons resultados na promoção de sistemas empresariais de inovação. A pesquisa chegou a alguns resultados como: (a) a mobilização dos governos em torno de políticas públicas em CT&I continua sendo crucial para o desenvolvimento de empresas e sistemas empresariais de base tecnológica; (b) os municípios mostram capacidade de criar políticas públicas de CT&I, como marcos regulatórios, estruturas organizacionais, mecanismos de incentivo e sistemas de governança; (c) a descentralização via municípios pode melhorar a capilaridade e a eficácia de programas nacionais, fortalecendo sistemas regionais de inovação e complementando políticas federais de CT&I; (d) os municípios são entes federados plenos que têm poder político e econômico para influir e promover ajustes nas políticas públicas federais de CT&I. / This thesis discusses decentralization of national public policies on Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) from the federal to the city government. Governments around the world have been supporting companies and innovation systems because of their relevance to economic viability and national sustainable development. However, despite the increasing political, social and economic relevance of cities worldwide, their role has been underestimated in national ST&I policies. In this context, this study considers how municipal decentralization of national ST&I policies enhances capillarity, efficiency and the strengthening of regional systems of innovation. The study offers empirical evidence of intergovernmental relationships of decentralization through the case studies of two Brazilian cities: Porto Alegre and São Leopoldo, which were selected because of their comparatively good results in promoting companies and systems of innovation in comparison to other Brazilian cities. The main conclusions of the study are: (a) federal government public policy promotion in ST&I remains crucial to the development of entrepreneurial technologically-based systems; (b) municipalities are capable of mobilizing resources, structuring incentive mechanisms, articulating actors, and organizing governance systems; (c) decentralization via municipalities can improve capillarity and effectiveness, strengthening regional innovation systems and consequently complementing national ST&I policies; (d) increased political and economic power of city governments can promote improvements in federal policies of ST&I.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aqruivototal.pdf: 1587788 bytes, checksum: 2ee4dec236adface549580477a1a2e5d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Along the rise of the knowledge society, the classical factors of production are being overtaken by the information as the most important asset of organizations. Due to this growing importance, ensure information security is crucial for organizations to succeed. In this context, technology-based companies that develop Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions are of great importance. The objective of this research is characterized by investigating how the technology-based companies proceed to ensure information security and verify if knowledge sharing is the primary mean by which individuals attempt to ensure information security. Also are objectives of this research, investigating the knowledge that individuals associated with these companies have about standards and best practices in information security, besides the technological means used by them. To achieve our goals, we selected the participating companies from Farol Digital, and conducted semi-structured interviews with employees for data collection. Content analysis was the chosen approach to infer conclusions. As conceptual models we used Choo&#8223;s (2006) knowledge cycle in organizations and the model of factors that influence knowledge sharing developed by Ipe (2003). We found that the information security procedures are developed informally. We also found that knowledge sharing is quite frequent in organizations, except when the knowledge is about information security. We explain this by the fact that the information security is a critical issue, where sharing wrong information can lead to harmful consequences for the sharer because the main advantage for sharing knowledge is the prestige acquired. Thus, they avoid sharing knowledge related to information security fearing that his image can be damaged, passing the responsibility of the security decisions to leaders and project managers. / Com a evolução da sociedade do conhecimento, os fatores clássicos de produção estão sendo superados pela informação como o ativo mais importante das organizações. Devido a essa crescente importância, garantir a segurança da informação é crucial para que as organizações obtenham sucesso. Nesse contexto, empresas de base tecnológica que desenvolvem soluções em Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação são de grande relevância. O objetivo desta pesquisa se caracteriza por investigar como as empresas de base tecnológica procedem para garantir a segurança da informação e verificar se o compartilhamento de conhecimento é o principal meio pelo qual os indivíduos tentam garantir a segurança da informação. Também são objetivos desta pesquisa, investigar o conhecimento que os indivíduos associados a estas empresas têm sobre normas e melhores práticas de segurança da informação, além dos meios tecnológicos utilizados por eles. Para atingir os objetivos, foram escolhidas as empresas participantes do Farol Digital, nas quais foram realizadas entrevistas com seus funcionários utilizando-se de roteiros de entrevistas semi-estruturados como meio de coleta de dados. A análise de conteúdo foi a abordagem escolhida para inferir as conclusões. Utilizou-se como modelos conceituais o modelo de ciclo do conhecimento nas organizações elaborado pro Choo (2006) e o modelo de fatores que influenciam o compartilhamento de conhecimento elaborado por Ipe (2003). Verificou-se que os procedimentos de segurança da informação são desenvolvidos informalmente. Encontrou-se que o compartilhamento de conhecimento geral é constante nas organizações, mas quando o conhecimento é sobre segurança da informação, há muito pouco compartilhamento. Isso é explicado pelo fato do tema segurança da informação ser crítico, de forma que uma informação equivocada que foi compartilhada pode gerar consequências danosas para quem compartilhou, pois a principal vantagem relativa ao compartilhamento de conhecimento é a boa reputação que adquire que compartilha. Desta forma, eles evitam compartilhar conhecimentos relativos à segurança da informação temendo que a sua imagem possa ser negativada e deixam a responsabilidade das decisões de segurança para os líderes e gerentes de projeto.