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Purpose – The author introduces the Eastern philosophy of wisdom, especially its epistemology of Yin-Yang Balancing as the Eastern cognitive frame, to shed light on the debates over the distinction and integration between research and practice as well as between qualitative and quantitative methods so as to solve the problems of relevance-rigor gap as well as complexity-simplicity gap. The author also applies the frame of Yin-Yang Balancing to the development of a novel method of case study.

Methodology/Approach – This is a conceptual article.

Central theme – The Eastern philosophy of wisdom is better at an open-minded exploration of open-ended issues by emphasizing relevance and complexity, while the Western philosophy of science is better at a closed-minded exploitation of close-ended issues by emphasizing rigor and simplicity. A geocentric integration of both Eastern and Western philosophies is needed.

Research and practical implications – Management research is far behind the need for theoretical insights into practical solutions largely due to the increasing gaps between relevance and rigor as well as between complex problems and simple solutions. The root cause of the two gaps lies in the overreliance on the Western philosophy of science, so a new light can be found in the Eastern philosophy of wisdom, and the ultimate solution is a geocentric integration of Eastern and Western philosophies. A novel method of case study can be built by applying the Eastern philosophy.

Originality/Value – The author highlights the urgent needs for the Eastern philosophy of wisdom and its integration with the Western philosophy of science toward a geocentric meta-paradigm. As a specific application of the geocentric meta-paradigm, the author proposes a novel method of case study called Yin-Yang Method.

Is there an electronic banking (e‐banking) revolution in the USA? Millions of Americans are currently using a variety of e‐banking technologies and millions more are expected to come “online.” However, millions of others have not or will not. This paper explores factors that affect the of adoption or intention to adopt three e‐banking technologies and changes in these factors over time. Using a Federal Reserve Board commissioned data set, the paper finds that relative advantage, complexity/simplicity, compatibility, observability, risk tolerance, and product involvement are associated with adoption. Income, assets, education, gender and marital status, and age also affect adoption. Adoption changed over time, but the impacts of other factors on adoption have not changed. Implications for both the banking industry and public policy are discussed.

This paper aims to explore whether internal context – decision-makers’ perception of characteristics of the information content – might predict the variation in adoption rates of different types of content, and whether innovation adoption theory might represent important factors of this decision-making process Corporate management decides what types of environmental information content to disclose/adopt.

Actual adoption rates of 13 information content categories are computed using content analysis of annual reports for 62 listed companies. Each content category is seen as an innovation the company decides to adopt or not. Interviews with management in several companies illustrate the decision process of disclosure, and help predict adoption rates. Predicted and actual adoption rates are compared.

Adoption rates vary considerably among the 13 types of content. The absolute level of adoption rates is affected by company size and environmental risk. However, those content categories that have either relatively high or low adoption rates are consistent among the subsamples, regardless of these corporate characteristics. This consistent variation in adoption rates seems to be predicted well by innovation adoption theory and its focus on the five attributes of the information itself: compatibility, trialability, complexity, observability and relative advantage.

The theoretical framework allows for different or changing internal and general contexts, and should be applicable to other settings, even though the particular predictions for adoption rates in this paper may not be applied as such.

The level of analysis is changed from company level, which dominates previous research, to information content (individual content categories). Perceived attributes of the information content itself and innovation adoption theory are used for the first time to explain reason for the reporting practice, and are considered fruitful tools to predict consistent variations in adoption rates among different types of content. This approach provides new insight into the driving forces of supply of disclosure.

This paper aims to create and validate a scale that will serve to measure the construct “organic structure”, currently of great utility for the competitive analysis of firms. On the basis of the literature, eight dimensions, corresponding to the parameters technical system, formalization, centralization, structural complexity, planning and control systems, training, information flows, and culture, form this construct. To verify the reliability and the validity of this measuring instrument we used a sample of 150 large Spanish firms.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to map and analyze existing complexity typologies and (2) to develop a framework for characterizing complexity-based approaches.

This study was conducted in three stages: (1) initial identification of typologies related to complexity following a structured procedure based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol; (2) backward and forward review to identify additional relevant typologies and (3) content analysis of the selected typologies, categorization and framework development.

Based on 17 selected typologies, a comprehensive overview of complexity studies is provided. Each typology is described considering key concepts, contributions and convergences and differences between them. The epistemological, theoretical and methodological diversity of complexity studies was explored, allowing the identification of the main schools of thought and authors. A framework for characterizing complexity-based approaches was proposed including the following perspectives: ontology of complexity, epistemology of complexity, purpose and object of interest, methodology and methods and theoretical pillars.

This study examines the main typologies of complexity from an integrated and multidisciplinary perspective and, based on that, proposes a novel framework to understanding and characterizing complexity-based approaches.

Customization by segmenting within human–computer interaction is an emerging phenomenon. Appealing graphical elements that cater to user needs are considered progressively important, as the way a graphic is visually represented can greatly contribute to the interaction. However, aesthetic perceptions are subjective and may differ by target group. Understanding variations in user perceptions may aid in design processes; therefore, we set out to investigate the effects of demographic differences relating to perceptions of graphical user interface (GUI) element (i.e. game app icon) aesthetics.

The authors employed a vignette experiment with random participant (n = 513) assignment to evaluate 4 icons from a total of 68 pre-selected mobile game icons using semantic differential scales. This resulted in a total of 2052 individual icon evaluations. Regression analyses were performed with the effects of age, gender and time using graphical user interfaces (i.e. app stores) and the interactions of these variables relating to perceptions of GUI element aesthetics.

The results indicate that, overall, demographic factors have relatively little effect on how icons are perceived. Significant relations suggest that experienced users, younger audiences and women are more critical in their perception of aesthetic excellence, and that perceptions change for younger women. The implications of the findings are discussed via adaptive decision-making theory.

In the context of graphical user interface element aesthetics, demographic differences have received minimal attention as moderating variables regardless of their relevance in design and development. Hence, it merits further research.

The purpose of this paper is to apply Mowen’s (2000) meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits to deeper understand consumer behaviour towards online purchase of mass-customised apparel products.

For the current study, the meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits proposed by Mowen (2000) were adapted to use in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products. Appropriate and significant constructs and relationships were identified in the four levels of the hierarchy of needs, specifically: one trait in the first level (surface traits), five specific traits in the second level (situational traits), three broader traits in the third level (compound traits), and finally, eight traits in the fourth level (elemental traits).

This research allowed the identification of pertinent personality traits in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products and the comprehension of the relationships among these constructs using a hierarchical framework.

The originality and value of the current approach is the use of a hierarchical structure of traits to understand the relationship among personality traits in the mass-customisation field, which, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has proposed. Theoretical and methodological contributions to the field derive from the current proposal.

Many criticisms have been made about the ability of traditional evaluation measures to provide genuinely useful information. They rarely tell the trainer anything he does not already know, and investigation of their objectivity suggests that they frequently do little more than reinforce in the trainer's mind the answers he wishes to hear.

The purpose of this paper is to provide background and context on the need for a new interlibrary loan (ILL) system interoperability standard, describe the basic purpose and structure of ISO 18626, information and documentation – interlibrary Loan Transactions – and outline steps for the new standard’s development and implementation.

The author’s paper is based on her expertise as a member of the working group TC46/SC4/WG14 Interlibrary Loan Transactions, charged with development, implementation and promotion of the ISO 18626 standard.

The ISO 18626 standard is needed to replace the outdated standard ISO 10160/10161. It consists of simple messages, namely, a request message; a supplying library message; and a requesting library message. Messages are encoded using XML. Balloting on the draft standard was unanimously approved in December 2013, and a fully developed ISO 18626 standard is expected to be in production in one to two years.

This paper reports on a developing standard that will impact ILL systems used by libraries around the globe.As the world shrinks and user’s demands grow, sending interlibrary loan (ILL) requests to other libraries, especially if multiple computer systems or catalogs are involved, has not simplified correspondingly. Even as individual ILL processes have become more streamlined, the need to interact with libraries – and the ILL systems they use – around the globe has dramatically increased. While an international standard, ISO 10160/10161, has been available for 20 years, the minimal acceptance and use of the standard has not provided the interoperability that we had hoped for and need. Work is currently underway to remedy this situation – a standard for the twenty-first century. This paper will provide the context in which this new standard emerged and was written, as well as outline what the new standard will look like and the next steps once the standard has been approved.