A colony of social insects has many tasks to complete for the good of the colony. The tasks, such as brood care, feeding, foraging and building, could be split among its members (implying specialization). Alternatively, ants could just freely switch between tasks, either doing whatever needs to be done or whatever tasks they come into contact with. If individuals switch from one task to another, they may incur costs, including a time cost. So far, research has yet to quantify such task switching costs. To learn more about switching cost, specifically quantifying the cost in terms of time, videos of Temnothorax rugatulus were observed for specific tasks, such as brood care, feeding, foraging and building. The switching costs were measured in two ways depending on whether the non-switching time or switching time were being measured. For the non-switching time between bouts of the same task, the interval time started when the ant stopped touching the brood item and ended when the ant started touching the brood item. For the switching time between two different tasks, time began when the ant stopped one task and ended when the ant began a second task. The interval time was calculated by recording the time, using the timeline on the video, that the ant stopped one task (or bout of one task) and moved on the next. The data collected from the videos were analyzed using a Welch Two-Sample T-test. Through the study, it was discovered that there was, in fact, no significant delay when Temnothorax rugatulus switch from one task to another.

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Technology innovation is one of the defining attributes of the 21st century. The banking sector amongst other key sectors has embraced the use of new technologies to offer electronic banking (e-banking) services. E-banking has been introduced in various economies of the world as a way of delivering effective and efficient banking services. Despite the several benefits of e-banking technologies, many individual bank customers in Nigeria have not adopted most of the available channels. ATM has remained the most patronized compared to other channels such as the point of sales (POS), online banking and the mobile banking. Promotional offers and various publicity for these platforms by commercial banks as well as the introduction of the cash policy which made the use of these platforms mandatory have not yielded substantial outcome. Therefore, the researcher set out to carry out two interrelated studies in a bid to explore the levels of e-banking adoption by individual bank customers in Nigeria. Firstly, a comparative analysis of the starting conditions of e-banking in Nigeria and the UK was carried out using secondary sources of data. The second part of the study examined the significance of an extended model of Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT) on e-banking adoption in Nigeria. This extended model entails the addition of "cost variables" to the mix of Rogers’s five attributes of innovation diffusion (i.e. Relative Advantage, Complexity, Compatibility, Trialability and Observability). Cost variables according to this study are the three types of switching costs, the available complementary assets and the usefulness of available services. Based on this DIT extended model, adoption levels of five e-banking platforms: ATM; POS; Online banking; Mobile banking and telephone banking services were investigated. Data for this study were obtained from both the service providers (the commercial banks) and the service users (individual customers). NVivo 10 was used to analyse the qualitative data while ordinal regression modelling was utilised to analyse the quantitative data obtained. According to the findings of this research, the security of the platforms, need for a strategic enlightenment campaign as well as infrastructural development (i.e. internet and electricity) are the three key factors that are fundamental to increase adoption of e-banking platforms in Nigeria. Findings also reveal the peculiarity of each of the e-banking platforms as different variables significantly predict uptake of individual platforms while Compatibility, Observability, Gender and Education emerged as significant predictors of ATM. Compatibility, Trialability Procedural Switching Cost and Gender predict POS patronage. For online banking, Compatibility, Procedural Switching Cost, Gender and Education emerged as significant predictors of this platform while Financial Switching Cost, Relational Switching Cost, Age and Education significantly predict the use of mobile banking. Telephone banking is not currently available to individual bank customers in Nigeria and as such further discussions on the quantitative output were discontinued. Following the expert witness feedback of these key findings, the researcher concludes that it is imperative to critically assess the availability of the enabling mechanisms/structure before introducing an innovation such as e-banking. The importance of this assessment is to evaluate and carefully direct the approach to that which fits such innovation. Underestimating or ignoring the impact of these fundamental structures usually have a negative impact on adoption as evident in the findings of this research which pointed that the current level of infrastructure of the country does not support the uptake of this innovation. This study also concludes that, the security of the platforms, the development of e-banking enlightenment campaign and infrastructural inadequacies should be addressed. Furthermore, attempts to unify or adopt a singular approach to increase e-banking patronage will not yield a significant result because each platform is unique. Thus, subsequent governmental policies and the CBN dictates on e-banking adoption should be formulated or modified based on the consideration of the enabling mechanism. Banks should adopt specific strategies towards increasing the patronage each platform.

Este trabalho analisa a magnitude dos custos de mudança no mercado de prestação de serviços do setor bancário brasileiro. Custos de mudança, ou switching costs, são custos percebidos pelos agentes econômicos quando eles trocam seus fornecedores. São a principal causa de lock-in (captura) dos clientes, podendo conferir certo grau de poder de mercado às firmas, com implicações importantes para a competitividade do mercado. A forte associação com a assimetria de informação sugere a relevância dos custos de mudança particularmente para o setor bancário. As estimativas obtidas neste trabalho, utilizando-se as informações contábeis dos bancos entre 2009 e 2011, sugerem que os custos de mudança são relevantes no mercado de depósitos. As evidências sugerem ainda que estes custos tendem a ser menores para os clientes dos bancos maiores, para as duas metodologias testadas. Também há indicação de que é significativa a parcela da participação de mercado de um banco que se deve à continuidade do relacionamento entre o banco e o cliente ao longo dos trimestres (efeito lock-in). / This study examines the switching costs\' empirical importance for the Brazilian banking services industry. Switching costs are costs economic agents sustain when they change suppliers. These are the leading cause for customer lock-in, in that they may grant the institutions some level of market power, thus carrying major implications for market competitiveness. The strong link with information asymmetry suggests how relevant switching costs are, especially for the banking industry. The estimates obtained in this study--by using the banks\' accounting information collected from 2009 to 2011--indicate there are substantial switching costs in the deposit market. The evidence, under both tested methodologies, also suggests that these costs tend to be lower for customers of larger banks. Additionally, there is indication that much of a bank\'s market share is due to its continued relationships with customers over the quarters (lock-in effect).

<p>Bakgrund: I och med den rådande lågkonjunkturen har konsumenter i allmänhet blivit alltmer prismedvetna och konkurrensen inom försäkringsbranschen har hårdnat mer och mer. Det har dessutom visat sig att såväl privatkunder som företagskunder har blivit alltmer missnöjda med försäkringsbolag och är inte lika lojala som för några år sedan. </p><p>Syfte: Syftet är att utreda vad kundlojalitet bygger på för att därefter utarbeta förslag på åtgärder så att befintliga kundrelationer kan bli mer långvariga och kunderna mer lojala hos företag inom försäkringsbranschen. </p><p>Genomförande: För att uppfylla syftet har data samlats in dels genom intervjuer med anställda på vårt fallföretag, If Skadeförsäkring i Norge, och dels genom en enkätundersökning gjord på företagets kunder. I det här fallet småföretagskunder. </p><p>Resultat: För att få lojala kunder krävs det att försäkringsbolag i likhet med andra företag skapar en nära relation till sina kunder. En fungerande kommunikation blir därför en viktig faktor så att kunden får mer kunskap om själva försäkringarna. Det gäller att kunderna får en annan inställning till försäkringsbolag och detta skulle kunna göras genom att försäkringsbolagen visar mer på att de hjälper till att förebygga skador. Vidare gäller det att på bästa möjliga sätt skapa värde för kunden, det vill säga se till varje enskild kunds behov. Ju fler unika kundfördelar som kan erbjudas desto svårare blir det för kunden att byta försäkringsbolag. Dessutom är det viktigt att företaget bemöter kunden på det sätt som efterfrågas av vederbörande oavsett om kunden har råkat ut för en skada eller inte.</p>

Bakgrund: I och med den rådande lågkonjunkturen har konsumenter i allmänhet blivit alltmer prismedvetna och konkurrensen inom försäkringsbranschen har hårdnat mer och mer. Det har dessutom visat sig att såväl privatkunder som företagskunder har blivit alltmer missnöjda med försäkringsbolag och är inte lika lojala som för några år sedan. Syfte: Syftet är att utreda vad kundlojalitet bygger på för att därefter utarbeta förslag på åtgärder så att befintliga kundrelationer kan bli mer långvariga och kunderna mer lojala hos företag inom försäkringsbranschen. Genomförande: För att uppfylla syftet har data samlats in dels genom intervjuer med anställda på vårt fallföretag, If Skadeförsäkring i Norge, och dels genom en enkätundersökning gjord på företagets kunder. I det här fallet småföretagskunder. Resultat: För att få lojala kunder krävs det att försäkringsbolag i likhet med andra företag skapar en nära relation till sina kunder. En fungerande kommunikation blir därför en viktig faktor så att kunden får mer kunskap om själva försäkringarna. Det gäller att kunderna får en annan inställning till försäkringsbolag och detta skulle kunna göras genom att försäkringsbolagen visar mer på att de hjälper till att förebygga skador. Vidare gäller det att på bästa möjliga sätt skapa värde för kunden, det vill säga se till varje enskild kunds behov. Ju fler unika kundfördelar som kan erbjudas desto svårare blir det för kunden att byta försäkringsbolag. Dessutom är det viktigt att företaget bemöter kunden på det sätt som efterfrågas av vederbörande oavsett om kunden har råkat ut för en skada eller inte.

In this paper, I examine the existence and roles of state dependence and switching costs in the mass transition from MySpace to Facebook during the 2007-2008 time period. Using a dataset that compiles individual browsing behavior and a discrete multinomial logit model, I find precise, yet extremely small amounts of state dependence for users of only MySpace, of only Facebook, and users of both MySpace and Facebook. Positive state dependence directly implies the existence of switching costs for each firm. While there is an abundance of literature regarding switching costs in the brick and mortar setting with tangible products and services, my work extends similar analysis to the relatively new online, social networking industry by studying consumer usage trends of the two networking powerhouses: MySpace and Facebook.

The invention of personal computers (PCs) brings a lot of convenience for many people¡¦s life. For a PC, its essential core is the operation system (OS) which is the most basic as well as important information system (IS). Because operation system is a requisite for each PC, many software companies have striven to develop and promote their own OSs. As well known, Microsoft is the most powerful company of OS and it dominated the market in the world. Microsoft is keeping designing new PC¡¦s OSs and promoting them with all its strength. It develops new version OS to fit the trade of information technology standard and users¡¦ requirements in specific product life cycle. In past, when Microsoft announced new OS version, they are quickly accepted and replaced to old ones. However, there is a strange situation for its latest OS Win 7 recently. Win 7 isn¡¦t quickly accepted to replace old version OS Win XP. The number of PC users whose platform is Win XP is still very large, and most of them have little willing to upgrade. It is a big problem for an OS company. However, this is also an interesting phenomenon and worth studying in academic. The issue is: why users would not like to upgrade a newer and more effective OS? This study focuses on the issue and tries to discover factors affecting upgrading intention and behavior. According to related research and actual observation, several critical constructs are applied such as switching costs, product qualities of relative advantages and over performance, and compatibilities. Moreover, environment factors like social influence and after-sales services expectations, and fashion effects. Demographic variables are included into the research model at the same time. Hypotheses are proposed after reviewing related studies and empirical survey. To verify this model and prove these hypotheses, PLS is applied to analyze and explain the result. On the other hand, discriminant analysis is also used to view the Win XP group and Win 7 group. The key discriminant function is made to distinguish and forecast these two kinds of groups. This study empirically validated and confirmed our research model by PLS and discriminant analysis. Furthermore, the relationships of factors those affecting upgrading intentions and behavior are verified and integrated. The findings are able to support OS suppliers to actually implement their product design. In academic, this study complement the field of IS switching about vertical upgrade to certain IS.

Basically, to evaluate the operational performances of online auction is according to seller¡¦s transaction and investment in the auction website. Thus, how to maintain good relationship with the existing seller switching and attract new seller is the most attention and major care for auction service provider. However, there were few prior researches focused on the topic of online auction switching and examined from real case. In this study, we tried to develop a measuring model and explore the factors that relate to auction seller¡¦s switching. In July 2006, Yahoo! Kimo auction, the largest auction website in Taiwan, announced a new fee scheme which would charge 3 percent transaction handling fee on its sellers from Aug. 10. Many users expressed objection to the new charge scheme. During the same period, Ruten, a new joint venture auction website that combined eBay and Taiwanese portal operator PChome is nearly ready and makes some responding strategic approaches to attract new user. Many sellers of Yahoo! Kimo auction thought to switch auction provider. Base on the background, the study aim to explore auction seller¡¦s switching behavior through switching costs, including procedure costs, financial costs, and relational costs. Moreover, we examined how website quality, fee, anti-lock-in, and anti-switching affect switching intention and behavior. A total of 292 usable questionnaires were gathered through online surveys from auction discussion board and BBS. The data were analyzed by partial least squares (PLS) to test the hypotheses. We find that switching costs, website quality, fee have negative effect on seller¡¦s switching intention. Anti-lock-in and anti-switching have moderating effect in the model. According to the finding, we provide useful guidance for auction seller and auction service provider.

Este trabalho analisa a magnitude dos custos de mudança no mercado de prestação de serviços do setor bancário brasileiro. Custos de mudança, ou switching costs, são custos percebidos pelos agentes econômicos quando eles trocam seus fornecedores. São a principal causa de lock-in (captura) dos clientes, podendo conferir certo grau de poder de mercado às firmas, com implicações importantes para a competitividade do mercado. A forte associação com a assimetria de informação sugere a relevância dos custos de mudança particularmente para o setor bancário. As estimativas obtidas neste trabalho, utilizando-se as informações contábeis dos bancos entre 2009 e 2011, sugerem que os custos de mudança são relevantes no mercado de depósitos. As evidências sugerem ainda que estes custos tendem a ser menores para os clientes dos bancos maiores, para as duas metodologias testadas. Também há indicação de que é significativa a parcela da participação de mercado de um banco que se deve à continuidade do relacionamento entre o banco e o cliente ao longo dos trimestres (efeito lock-in). / This study examines the switching costs\' empirical importance for the Brazilian banking services industry. Switching costs are costs economic agents sustain when they change suppliers. These are the leading cause for customer lock-in, in that they may grant the institutions some level of market power, thus carrying major implications for market competitiveness. The strong link with information asymmetry suggests how relevant switching costs are, especially for the banking industry. The estimates obtained in this study--by using the banks\' accounting information collected from 2009 to 2011--indicate there are substantial switching costs in the deposit market. The evidence, under both tested methodologies, also suggests that these costs tend to be lower for customers of larger banks. Additionally, there is indication that much of a bank\'s market share is due to its continued relationships with customers over the quarters (lock-in effect).