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This paper will use the latest research within the extended transaction models and replication methods to illustrate how to design distributed enterprise resource planning (ERP) software with high performance and availability. In a distributed ERP system, an e‐commerce server is an ordinary sales location with or without its own stock, and, therefore, the e‐commerce system is totally integrated in the ERP system. The author has cooperated with one of the major ERP software companies in analyzing how the company can design such a distributed version of their ERP system.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a step-by-step procedure, referred to as transaction formalism protocol (TFP) that the transaction development personnel will use to formalise transactions (communications) in the domain of infrastructure management. The protocol is developed at two levels of abstraction: TFP specification and TFP tool. This paper presents the TFP specification in detail and introduces the TFP tool briefly. The specific focus of this paper is on the development process of the protocol specification.

A four-step approach is used to develop the TFP; including, identify and select existing standards, benchmark standards, link and build on these standards, and develop TFP. To develop the protocol, the function modelling standard, integration definition function modelling (IDEF0) is used. The IDEF0 treats each step of the protocol as a function.

The TFP specification and TFP tool are developed using the proposed methodology. The TFP specification specifies inputs, controls, mechanisms, tools/techniques, and outputs required in each step, whereas the TFP tool defines forms for each step of the protocol that the transaction development personnel will use to define transactions in the domain of infrastructure management.

The development of the TFP would enable the transaction development personnel (including transaction analysts, transaction designers, software developers, process modellers, and industry experts) to formalise transactions effectively and efficiently for the development of ICT-based collaboration systems.

The proposed protocol incorporates shortcomings of existing standards. In contrast to other design standards that focus on either design or design cum implementation of the work processes and communications, the proposed TFP includes transaction monitoring and improvements in addition to the design and implementation of communications. Unlike other standards, the TFP is a detailed step-by-step procedure to ease its usability and understandability.

This paper aims to report on signs of public awareness and empowerment among the general public that are presumed to determine the viability of the smart contracting (SC) approach and identifies prevailing concerns regarding individual transactional experiences.

A mixed approach was followed to explore perceptions of self-regulation and transaction friendliness by using an interpretative multiple case study method and by presenting a descriptive summative analysis of the data.

On self-regulation, the study reveals spread awareness, empowerment, contractual competences and responsibility. Regarding transaction friendliness, subject matter influences transaction experiences the most, and trust and engagement are the most problematic factors. The findings support the viability of SC, endorsing the application of proactive perspectives in legal and managerial practice.

The study confirms the foundational assumptions of SC, identifies key transactional issues that should be further addressed to improve the functionality of digital trade environments and contributes to the consolidation of the legal design research field on transaction usability.

The findings point to the viability of SC. Organizations and practitioners are given indications on transaction upgrade priorities and invited to adopt and help disseminate the proposal.

The expansion of a collaborative transactional culture can reduce legal disputes, improving the legal environment of business and strengthening private governance regulatory models.

This is the first empirical study on the viability conditions of the SC-approach, identifying transactional usability testing and intervention priorities.

Classical transaction cost theory is not applicable to decisions on HRM or organizational design. This article overcomes such a fruitless situation. First on an operative level the two types of HRM and separately organizational transaction costs will be analyzed and then linked together in a substitutive or cumulative way. Second, transaction cost analysis is extended to the higher level of strategic HRM and organization design. There both types of transaction costs are linked again. Furthermore, they control types and size of HRM and organizational transaction costs on the operative level. As a decision base consequently both levels and both types of transaction cost should be analyzed and determined simultaneously.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an eight-step procedure – transaction formalism protocol (TFP) – in the area of infrastructure management. The proposed TFP is developed from two perspectives: TFP Specification (conceptual) and TFP Tool (application). This paper introduces the TFP Specification and discusses the TFP Tool in detail.

To develop the proposed TFP Tool, a five-step methodology was used: identify and select existing standards, benchmark standards, link and build on these standards, develop the proposed TFP Tool and validate the protocol.

The TFP Specification defines each step as a function for which inputs, controls, mechanisms, tools/techniques and outputs are specified. The TFP Tool comprises a set of forms and guidance that the transaction development personnel, including transaction analysts, transaction designers, software developers, process modellers and industry experts, will use to define transactions in infrastructure management domain.

The proposed TFP Tool enables transaction development personnel to define transactions effectively and efficiently for information and communication technology (ICT)-based solutions through defining information in a structured, consistent and easy way.

The TFP Tool was built on existing standards incorporating their shortcomings, including lack of a step-by-step procedure to help guide the personnel what to do next, lack of transaction monitoring and improvement steps and lack of standardised forms to collect information in a prescribed format for implementation in ICT-based collaboration systems. The proposed Tool was evaluated and found to be feasible, usable and useful.

Changes in market and production profiles require a more flexible concept in manufacturing. Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) describes an integrative concept for joining business and manufacturing islands. In this context, database technology is the key technology for implementing the CIM philosophy. However, CIM applications are more complex and thus more demanding than traditional database applications such as business and administrative applications. Systematically analyses the database requirements for CIM applications including business and manufacturing tasks. Special emphasis is given on integration requirements due to the distributed, partly isolated nature of CIM applications developed over the years. An illustrative sampling of current efforts in the database community to meet the challenge of non‐standard applications such as CIM is presented.

Drawing on the dynamic managerial capability perspective and the dynamic capability perspective of business model (BM) literature, this paper aims to investigate how top management team internal social capital (TISC) promotes BM design and how such effects are moderated by market dynamics (i.e. demand uncertainty and competitive intensity).

The proposed hypotheses were tested by a questionnaire-based survey. The empirical study was conducted on a sample of 210 firms in China. The model was tested via hierarchical regression analysis.

TISC has a positive effect on BM efficiency but an inverted U-shaped effect on BM novelty. The effects of TISC on BM efficiency and novelty are contingent on demand uncertainty and competitive intensity in different ways. Specifically, this study finds that demand uncertainty strengthens the inverted U-shaped effect of TISC on BM novelty. This study also finds that competitive intensity strengthens the positive effect of TISC on BM efficiency but weakens the inverted U-shaped effect of TISC on BM novelty.

The conclusion contributes to the dynamic capability perspective of BM literature in two ways. First, it offers a dynamic managerial capability perspective for understanding the antecedents of BM design. It highlights TISC, a root of dynamic managerial capability, as an important internal antecedent of BM design. Second, it provides a more nuanced understanding of the role of TISC in BM design. The findings show the distinct effects of TISC on BM efficiency and novelty. This study also discusses the contingency role market dynamics play in the TISC–BM design relationship.

The article presents a methodology that can be used to analyze data from the transaction log of EBSCO Discovery Service searches recorded in Google Analytics. It explains the steps to follow for exporting the data, analyzing the data, and recreating searches. The article provides suggestions to improve the quality of research on the topic. It also includes advice to vendors on improving the quality of transaction log software.

Case study

Although Google Analytics can be used to study transaction logs accurately, vendors still need to improve the functionality so librarians can gain the most benefit from it.

The research is applicable to the usage of Google Analytics with EBSCO Discovery Service.

The steps presented in the article can be followed as a step-by-step guide to repeating the study at other institutions.

The methodology in this article can be used to assess how library instruction can be improved.

This article provides a detailed description of a transaction log analysis process that other articles have not previously described. This includes a description of a methodology for accurately calculating statistics from Google Analytics data and provides steps for recreating accurate searches from data recorded in Google Analytics.

This study aims to investigate how contract design influences supplier performance. This study synthesises three theoretical views (efficiency, relational, contingency) and provides empirical support on how effective contract design improves supplier performance.

This study reviewed contract design literature and uncovered 18 factors that may impact supplier performance. Multi-criteria, decision-making analysis examined the impact of contract factors on three supplier groups: average-, over- and under-performers. Procurement experts working with a large multinational company dealing with hundreds of procuring contracts, yearly, provided their judgement on the impact of these factors on supplier performance. Semi-structured interviews with experts and other evidence were used for data and method triangulation.

Results show that contracting with under- and over- performers presents significant differences: in the case of over-performers, contracts have a dual, yet discrete, efficiency and relational role: at transaction level, they emphasise formality, protect from opportunism and include both liquidated damages and legal action clauses. At relational level, they focus on relational learning and incentivising suppliers. However, in the case of under-performers, contracts appear to focus on contingency factors, which can be a source of ambiguity, particularly in complex environments, and trust, which has a negative impact on supplier performance.

Improving contract design can help reduce partner opportunism, reduce inter-firm conflicts and avoid disputes that can bear a social cost. This study demonstrates that companies can use advanced analytical tools to reflect upon their own decision-making process of contact design in making transparent supplier performance assessments.

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study using decision-making techniques to enhance supplier performance by improving the contract design process.

This paper demonstrates an approach to address the unique control and security concerns in database environments by using audit modules embedded into application programs. Embedded audit modules (EAM) are sections of code built into application programs that capture information of audit significance on a continuous basis. The implementation of EAMs is presented using INGRESS a relational database management system. An interface which enables the auditor to access audit-related information stored in the database is also presented. The use of EAMs as an audit tool for compliance and substantive testing is discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of employing EAMs in database environments and future directions in this line of research are discussed.