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As the deployment of ICT and the Internet especially increases all around the world, the urgency of providing access to the “have-nots” appears at least diminished, with new issues and urgencies at the forefront. However, studies show that even when the best conditions for access are established, not everyone uses their digital devices for the same purposes, even when sharing the same goals, or when participating in the same experiences.

To explore potential explanations of these phenomena, this study examines survey data from students from a private university in Peru regarding their backgrounds and expertise with ICT. We use the twin concepts of social and cultural capital to establish a connection between their larger lifeworld experiences and their use of digital media. For this purpose, we analyze the data using polychoric correlations to explore patterns resulting from self-perception of access and skills, as well as processes related to social capital such as differentiated media use.

Findings indicate that there are differentiated processes of capital accrual using ICTs, but, at the same time, the productive and leisure dimensions of ICT use must be considered.

This paper examines the depth, erudition, and rigor of contemporary research on knowledge management as a causal factor that influences the ultimate outcome of multinational corporation (MNC) expansion, bounded by the confines of information and communication technology (ICT) competences identified as behavioral, business, and technological. Through discussion highlighting the dominant knowledge management (KM) research themes within the milieu of the global firm, readers will gain definitive and practical insight into relevant topics that may be used to stimulate development of growth strategies for the firm.

Social pension and security systems worldwide are experiencing difficulties in maintaining the financing required to provide promised benefits. Despite their economic and political difficulties, many Latin American countries have arguably been more proactive and innovative with the implementation of social security reform than other regions of the world. Suggestions for reform of the Social Security system in Venezuela are provided by integrating many of the same concepts found in other restructurings in Latin America. It is the conclusion of this analysis that, given the political and economic instability of the region, a major overhaul of the existing system is not politically feasible. An incremental approach with minimal disruption is more attainable given the circumstances.

The purpose of this research is to pursue two major objectives. First, to identify the key design variables for building successful transactional SME (Small Medium Enterprises) websites. Second, the transactional relevance of each key design variable is tested in order to establish priorities.

The present paper is developed through seven consumer focus groups. Two approaches were used: an ethnographic summary of each focus group (qualitative approach) and a systematic coding procedure (quantitative approach).

The findings indicate that a transactional website should have three main strong points: it must be secure; price information should be provided; and a wide range of images should be shown. But not all these factors are equally important.

These results lead one to recommend that managers should expend more effort to make the website more secure and detailed in terms of content. Second, even e‐services have not obtained the highest relevance but this does not mean that service quality is less important.

Most studies to date have focused on dealing with different design elements in isolation. In this framework, the role of website security or navigability has been the most studied element in the literature. However, comparison between the different design elements is still lacking, especially from a qualitative research perspective. This work tries to cover that gap, by providing a hierarchy of website design factors based on their capacity to stimulate SME sales.