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The paper examines the level of information technology (IT) application in university libraries in Iran. As a background, an attempt was made to present current status of IT application in the libraries. In this study the whole population of 79 university libraries under the jurisdiction of two ministries: Culture and Higher Education (MCHE) and Health, Treatment and Medical Education (HTME), was surveyed. The significant difference between the level of IT application in two library groups, i.e. MCHE and HTME, and the relationship between the level of IT application and the number of computers in use and the annual expenditure on IT, have also been discussed. The paper concluded that the automation of Iranian university libraries is a continuous exercise.

On 21st July 1994 the Trade Marks Act 1994 received the Royal Assent. It introduces the most radical overhaul of British trade mark law for over 50 years and replaces the current regime set out in the Trade Marks Act 1938 as amended. The reforms reflect the increased significance of trade marks in modern commerce and the concerns of business that the current law was increasingly anachronistic.

Organizations worldwide are adopting software as a service (SaaS) applications, where they pay a subscription fee to gain access rather than buying the software. The extant models on software acquisition processes, several of which are based on organizational buying behavior, do not sufficiently explain how SaaS application acquisition decisions are made. This study aims to investigate the acquisition process organizations follow for SaaS software, the changes to the roles of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the business user and also looks at the impact of SaaS on the proliferation of unauthorized software systems.

The authors used exploratory research using the grounded theory approach based on 18 in-depth interviews conducted with respondents who have studied with enterprise software delivered on-premise and as SaaS in different roles such as sales, consulting, CIO, information technology (IT) management and product development.

The authors identified a need to classify the SaaS software and developed a framework that uses software specificity and its strategic importance to the organization to classify SaaS applications. The aforementioned framework is used to explain how software evaluation processes have changed for different kinds of SaaS applications. The authors also found that the CIO’s and the business users’ have changed substantially in SaaS application evaluations and found evidence to show that shadow IT will be restricted to some classes of SaaS applications.

By focusing on the changes to the roles and responsibilities of the members of the buying center, this paper provides unique insights into how the acquisition process of SaaS is different from the extant models used to explain enterprise software acquisitions. An understanding of how information search is conducted by the business users will help software vendors to target business users better.

The quest for service excellence and competitive edge by firms result in the constant search for effective process and information systems management methods. The recent emergence of the application service provision (ASP) business model has promised firms remote‐access to industry robust business processes and “best of breed” enterprise applications on a rental basis. This paper examines how the ASP business model facilitates business process and information systems improvements in firms through effective process management. This is pursued through a review of relevant literature and empirical evidence gathered from a case study‐based investigation in six firms in the UK. By examining the features of remote application and business process outsourcing in the context of business process management, this paper outlines how firms can improve their business and IT performance. Findings from empirical evidence are used to substantiate the arguments and suggest areas for future research.

Despite the recognition that supply chain (SC) learning is important for competitive advantage, little is known how to enable such learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of information technology (IT) application on different types of SC learning (i.e. internal, customer and supplier learning) and service performance.

This study applies structural equation modeling to test the conceptual model based on data collected from 213 manufacturing firms in China.

Although strategic application has a direct and negative relationship with all three dimensions of SC learning, it indirectly and positively improves SC learning through tactical and operational application. The authors observe that tactical application is positively related to all three dimensions of SC learning, while operational application improves internal and customer learning only. The authors also notice that internal and customer learning are positively related to service performance.

This study classifies IT application into strategic, tactical and operational dimensions, which may not adequately cover the entire set of IT application portfolio.

The findings suggest managers to use corresponding IT application to improve SC learning and service performance.

This study provides a new framework to understand the relationships between IT application, SC learning and service performance.

This paper aims to examine and analyze the findings of an empirical survey of the productivity of guest‐related IT applications and perceptions of hotel managers on IT competency in upscale hotels in Turkey.

The data is collected via a structured questionnaire from 122 upscale hotels in Turkey.

The findings of this study show that hotel managers view guest‐related IT applications as highly productive and appreciate IT's benefits. It seems there is a strong relationship between guest‐related IT applications and productivity in the lodging industry.

This study reflects the perception of hotel managers working in a specific country, i.e. Turkey (and only upper class hotels).

This study provides a useful insight for hoteliers to understand the productivity dimensions of guest‐related IT applications. This understanding will shape the patterns of decision makers when considering the adoption of certain technologies or when preparing IT capital budgets. The results will also assist hoteliers to adopt the most beneficial technologies and formulate more appropriate strategies around customer preferences.

Changes in customer preferences and new innovations leave some technology applications outdated or useless. This study provides a new perspective on the productivity of guest‐related IT applications. The findings of this paper can be used as a guide for hoteliers deciding on which IT applications to be implemented to meet customer expectations while maximizing the benefits of a hotel property.

Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

As the complexity and uncertainty of megaprojects make it difficult for traditional management models to address the difficulties, this paper aims to design a performance incentive contract through IT applications, thereby promoting the formation of an information-based governance mechanism for megaprojects and facilitating the transformation and upgrading of the construction management model of megaprojects to informatisation.

This paper introduced IT applications into the performance assessment and used the proportion of IT applications replacing traditional manual management as a variable. It analysed different replacement ratios to obtain the optimal solution for the change of contractors behaviours and promote the optimal performance incentive for the informatisation in megaprojects.

The results show that under the condition of the optimal replacement ratio, achieving the optimal state of a mutual win-win situation is possible for the benefit of both sides. The counter-intuitive finding is that the greater the replacement ratio is not, the better, but those other constraints are also taken into account.

This study enriched the research of the performance configuration incentive from a practical perspective. It extended the research framework of IT incentive mechanisms in the governance of megaprojects from a management theory perspective. It clarified the role of IT applications in incentive mechanisms and the design process of optimal incentive contracts under different performance incentive states. The incentives made the contractors work harder to meet the owner's requirements, and it could improve the efficiency of megaprojects, thus better achieving megaproject objectives.

In this work, the authors present a review of mobile applications for event management available for smartphones with the iOS operating system. The objective of the work is to carry out an analysis of these applications, offering an educational point of view and filling a gap in the doctrine, as the authors are dealing with an academically still new subject.

First, the authors conducted a literature review regarding the impact of technology on event organizations. Second, the authors analysed mobile applications for event management, the results of which are presented in this paper. Particularly, its main characteristics, strengths and weaknesses are analysed. Finally, the authors present the design of an activity with one of the beforehand analysed applications, in order to see its contribution to event management education.

It has been possible to improve learning and acquire specific skills related to the subject of study. Specified event management applications offer a wide range of advantages to facilitate the planning and management of events.

The study provides practical implications for managers in the hospitality industry.

This study provides a deeper insight into the functionalities and usefulness of event management mobile applications.

This study explores the benefits from, and determinants of IT application success among Taiwanese manufacturing companies. Findings from a survey with a sample of 89 firms indicate that on average, these firms had benefited from increasing their level and scope of IT applications. Multiple regressions were used to explore the potential causes of different success in IT applications. On the whole, the results provided support for the oftmade claim in the Western literature that IT applications should not be treated as mere technical changes that can be delegated to functional experts in the area. Rather, successful IT application requires cognizance of its integral link to organizational processes and systems, such that concomitant changes in the latter are required for the full benefits of IT applications to be realized. To the extent that workers in Taiwan have a Chinese‐based work‐related culture, this study’s findings can help to increase the success of IT implementations in the Greater China context.