Search results

Sharding of blockchains consists of partitioning a blockchain network into several sub-networks called “shards,” each shard processing and storing disjoint sets of transactions in parallel. Sharding has recently been applied to public blockchains to improve scalability through parallelism. The throughput of sharded blockchain is optimized when the workload among the shards is approximately the same. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of balancing workload of account-based blockchains such as Ethereum.

Two known consensus-based distributed load-balancing algorithms have been adapted to sharded blockchains. These algorithms migrate accounts across shards to balance transaction processing times. Two methods to predict transaction processing times are proposed.

The authors identify some challenging aspects for solving the load-balancing problem in sharded blockchains. Experiments conducted with Ethereum transactions show that the two load-balancing algorithms are challenged by accounts often created to process a single transaction to optimize anonymity, while existing accounts sparsely generate transactions.

Tests in this work have been conducted on transactions originating from a blockchain platform rather than using artificially generated data distributions. They show the specificity of the load-balancing problem for sharded blockchains, which were hidden in artificial data sets.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for further understanding the risks embedded in co-creation services in high-contact service transactions. It delineates behavioral and economic perspectives focusing on agency costs, risk behavior, compensation structure and provides a context in which information is processed.

Following an extensive review of the literature, propositions are advanced that relate an agent’s risk behavior to information processing, compensation and the propensity to engage in co-creation. These propositions provide a complementary context for understanding risks in the co-creation process.

The propositions detail how a service agent’s information processing can be enhanced if the customer’s expected utility from transactions is maximized by managing the agent’s risk behavior and earnings potential. A compensation structure that balances fixed base and variable pay can motivate risk-taking and the agent’s propensity to engage in co-creation.

This paper extends the understanding of agency risks in the co-creation of hospitality services that integrates economic and behavioral perspectives with information processing. Theoretical implications include a broader context of the risks underlying co-creation. Practical implications relate to how earnings potential could be maximized by considering the agent’s risk behavior and the expected utility arising from such transactions.

In traditional point‐of‐sale (POS) systems, an in‐house database server processes all sales transactions it receives from local client computers. Such systems incur high costs because of operational requirements, such as professional maintenance, the sophisticated server hardware required, and scalability requirements. For small retailers that want to use POS systems but have relatively limited financial resources, these expensive operational requirements are big obstacles. Considering these issues, the purpose of this paper is to suggest a POS system that is adequate for small businesses.

Using a simulation method, the authors tested and compared the operational performance of POS systems in two different environments, i.e. the remote server‐client environment and the local server‐client environment.

One possible solution is for a group of small retailers to use a shared, remote database server, but such servers often have reliability and performance issues. To resolve these issues, the authors suggest a POS system that utilizes local data tables embedded in each client's computer. This system consists of a remote database server and a group of client POS computers with off‐line data‐handling capabilities. The results indicated that it is possible for small businesses to obtain significant benefits from an affordable POS system based on a remote client‐server model that utilizes a local data cache.

The results of this study indicated that small businesses may obtain significant benefit from the affordable POS systems based on a remote client‐server model that utilizes a local data cache.

The literature lacks studies on small businesses' accessibility to POS systems. The study fills this literature gap and shows a technological solution to provide affordable POS systems to small businesses, which have not been paid much attention by POS vendors.

The present study seeks to refine the findings and theory on the impact that enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations have had on management accounting. Specifically, the purposes of this paper are to analyze the changes that ERP implementations have had on performance measures, management accounting techniques, activities of management accountants, and the use of non‐financial information.

The controllers of 13 major Canadian firms were interviewed as part of a multiple case study. Open‐ended questions were used.

The research assesses how ERP implementations through more computational power, relational databases, standardized state‐of‐the‐art transaction processing, and extended chart of accounts change management accounting. The enhanced computing power and overall standardization lead to more accurate and timely information. The standardized transaction processing and the charts of accounts have increased the availability of information from units and products previously deficient of information, and ensured a consistency of information across all units and products. The standardization and automation of transaction processing has reduced the amount of data entry done by management accountants. Performance measures have been standardized, expanded to more units and products, increased in accuracy, and produced more quickly. Management accounting techniques have become more efficient and effective. Management accountants are less involved with data entry, thus allowing them to undertake more analyses. Non‐financial information is more extensive.

This research provides new insights or contributions to understanding how ERP systems impact management accounting and management accountants. First, ERP system implementations affect management accounting. Second, the three part lens or conceptual framework – physical, transactional, and information – explicates the impact of ERP systems on management accounting and management accountants. Third, understanding the impact is further guided by recognizing the expanded chart of accounts inherent with ERP systems.

This study aims to give a glimpse of the existing blockchain applications across industries and add to a complete knowledge of the blockchain’s properties.

Systematic literature review is used as the research strategy for this investigation and other aspects of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework have been incorporated to create a scholarly publications evaluation of the blockchain-based application in the financial arena and its future. The research looks at 86 studies published between 2018 and 2022.

There has been a steady but noticeable increase in the study of blockchain’s potential in many application domains over the past few of years. This rising tendency illustrates the newness and potential of blockchain technology, as well as the increasing attention from academics. According to the findings, blockchain is an appropriate solution for processing transactions using cryptocurrencies; nevertheless, it still has significant technical issues and limits that require to be exploring and solving before it can be considered a viable option. It is therefore, necessary to have a high level of reliability for payments and confidentiality, in addition to maintaining the anonymity of nodes, to stop assaults and efforts to disrupt transactions in the blockchain.

This study has several important theoretical and practical implications. First, it adds to the body of knowledge on blockchain and Fintech, focusing on the transaction side. While much blockchain research has focused on how the technology may affect strategic choices, this study has shed light on its potential from the perspective of financial reporting. Second, by highlighting the importance of the demand for the prompt identification of losses, this work adds to the body of knowledge on the factors that influence transaction frauds involving paper money. Additionally, by establishing the link between transparency and virtual transactions, the author backs up the asymmetric responses of investors to different investment possibilities. It looks at the evolution of financial technology (Fintech) and shows how it can be used to take the advantage of unique opportunities.

The study is different and novel from the previously published literature on this topic mainly because of its comprehensiveness, as it revolves around all industrial and commercial areas. The three main lines of research have been outlined, namely, classifying the many blockchain-based innovations that will alter the financial landscape in many industries; identifying whether these industries are a good fit for blockchain’s wealth creation potential; and directing researchers by outlining prospective study pathways.

There is a substantial lack of the need for adopting interface between accounting systems of companies and banks in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to bring out the benefits and lacunas in the adoption of interface for companies as well identify the factors that possibly could be crucial in making the interface adoption a success or failure.

The study is set in the context of case analysis and has adopted a mixed method approach. In this study, a contrast between successful adopters of interface and non-adopters of interface is discussed to identify the motivating factors for interface as well as the factors which form the barriers for non-adopters.

By conducting a case study-based analysis for intensive data comparison of two companies as interface adopters and two as non-adopters in Vietnam, it is found that the success of the interface adoption is influenced by inter-related factors such as the manager characteristics, industrial environment, company characteristic and innovation characteristics. Particularly, the effectiveness of the interface can be well demonstrated by cost saving, manpower reduction, data consistency, accuracy, and speed of the process.

The impact on the banker is not analyzed. Furthermore, this research only focuses on the effects of interface on the electronic banking system and accounting modules in the form of electronic payment, while in reality, banks provide a variety of services which can also be explored by other researchers.

This is one of the first studies in the context of Vietnam. This study is highly relevant in the current context, given the significant growth in the number of industries and export markets in Vietnam.

An issue that tends to be ignored in information retrieval is the issue of updating inverted files. This is largely because inverted files were devised to provide fast query service, and much work has been done with the emphasis strongly on queries. This paper aims to study the effect of using parallel methods for the update of inverted files in order to reduce costs, by looking at two types of partitioning for inverted files: document identifier and term identifier.

Raw update service and update with query service are studied with these partitioning schemes using an incremental update strategy. The paper uses standard measures used in parallel computing such as speedup to examine the computing results and also the costs of reorganising indexes while servicing transactions.

Empirical results show that for both transaction processing and index reorganisation the document identifier method is superior. However, there is evidence that the term identifier partitioning method could be useful in a concurrent transaction processing context.

There is an increasing need to service updates, which is now becoming a requirement of inverted files (for dynamic collections such as the web), demonstrating that a shift in requirements of inverted file maintenance is needed from the past.

The paper is of value to database administrators who manage large‐scale and dynamic text collections, and who need to use parallel computing to implement their text retrieval services.

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.

During the 1970s we became thoroughly accustomed to the use of “plastic money”; the volume of UK based credit card transactions rose from 10m in 1971 to over 100m by 1979. Today there are over 13m credit cards in circulation, and this excludes other cards issued by department stores and multiples. But this proliferation of plastic creates its own problems. Control needs to be exercised over excessive spending by card‐holders; the unit costs of processing card‐based transactions needs to be contained; and of course the possibility of fraudulent use must be safeguarded against. The transaction telephone is one way in which these problems can be tackled. Already commonplace in the US, they are now being used by some major department store groups in the UK. The first part of this article reviews the range of technological issues which have so far determined the way credit card automation has developed. It also discusses how other technological factors may influence the different kinds of service delivery packages for retailers and ultimately card holders. The second part, to be published in our next issue, will discuss aspects of market strategy development for both the larger and smaller card issuing organisations.