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Technological advances have spurred the development of Web‐based teaching. Today, a substantial body of research addresses the effectiveness of this new teaching medium. Results have been mixed, showing mostly no significant improvement over traditional methods. Examines a fundamental, yet often forgotten, element in designing Web‐based teaching materials: the user. Aims to draw a profile of the heaviest users of a course Web site and uncover the reasons why non‐users decide not to access supplemental materials on the Web. The results indicate that male students access the Web site more often than females. Higher GPA was also related to heavier use. The most important result seems to be the relationship between learning style and use, with assimilators paying more frequent visits to the Web site.

Fast‐paced, hyper‐competitive environments require organizations to use flexible resources and delegate decision making. This paper aims to examine the synergistic effects of operators' involvement in decision making (IIDM) and equipment reliability across operations on mix flexibility when speed is emphasized. A theoretical framework integrating strategic decision making and operations management theories is proposed to uncover the dynamics of such relationships.

Both objective and subjective data were collected at the individual level from different sources in a single organization. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the framework.

Results show that: an emphasis on speed and experience interact to predict IIDM; and IIDM and machine reliability have compensatory effects in predicting mix flexibility, i.e. greater operator IIDM results in a more varied output mix, but this effect wanes as machine reliability increases.

The use of a single research facility permitted extensive data collection and strengthened internal validity, but it also limited the generalizability of the results. Assuaging this concern is the fact that the results support well‐established theories.

Labor flexibility should be construed in terms of job enlargement and enrichment. For organizations, the study highlights the importance of a well‐trained workforce to support and exploit technological capabilities. It also sets parameters over which decision making is most effective.

This empirical study identifies individual, organizational, and job factors of the range‐number element of labor flexibility. Tenure and emotional stability are found to increase a worker's flexibility. Emphases on quality, speed, and flexibility (time) also have positive influences on labor flexibility. Finally, task complexity, joint responsibility for decision making, and automation require workers to expand their skill repertoire and therefore enhance their flexibility. This study focuses on a sound measurement of labor flexibility and proposes strategies to cultivate this capability.

The introduction of technology on the shop‐floor has often been depicted as a stressful experience for workers. Adopts a quasi‐experimental approach to determine whether the automated shopfloor remains a stressful environment when considerable time for technological changes to settle has elapsed. Automation does not seem to create additionalstress. However, computer numerical control (CNC) machine/robot operators and conventional machine operators face different sources of stress. CNC machine/robot operators are more affected by quantitative overload and psychological demands, whereas conventional machine employees are more subject to inadequate support and role ambiguity. Both groups exercised relatively low levels of control over their jobs. Provides suggestions to make the automated shopfloor a better workplace.