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Detailed Table of Contents
Preface.................................................................................................................. xv Section 1 Strategic Impact of Information Technology: Introduction The opening section of Technology Management in Organizational and Societal Contexts addresses the strategic impact of information technology in organizations. The first two articles share a common focus on enterprise wide systems, identified as enterprise systems (ES), enterprise information systems (EIS) and enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). The third article speaks to organizational strategy for firms in the Pakistan telecommunications industry. Chapter 1 The Influence of the Top Management Characteristics on the Success of the Enterprise Information System...............................................................................1 Abdullah Ibrahim Alkhuraiji, King Fahd Security College, Saudi Arabia The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the effect of top management characteristics on the overall success of enterprise information systems. It aims to offer an in-depth understanding of the necessary characteristics required for the implementation of an enterprise resources planning system. It applies a case study methodology of two contradictory government organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: one with successful implementation and the other with a complete failure. The results expose various characteristics such as those related to business leadership and abilities and technological cognition and awareness. The results can be developed into a strategy to enhance awareness as well as top management participation.
Chapter 2 Managing IT to Innovate and Strategize in the Higher Education Sector: Role of Enterprise Systems...........................................................................................27 Prithvi Jyoti Bhattacharya, Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE The current dynamic business landscape has compelled all organizations worldwide to innovate and strategize continually to remain competitive and achieve an edge in the market. Information technology has often made lofty promises to assist such endeavors. This chapter explores the management of large, integrated, and packaged software suites collectively called enterprise systems (ES) to enable innovation and strategic decision making in organizations. In particular, this chapter explains how a globally renowned and highly ranked university manages its enterprise-systemsbased IT platform to offer new services, develop new processes, and make astute strategic decisions – all in an attempt to retain and improve its position in the global higher education market. Chapter 3 Synergy for Sustainability in the Upcoming Telecommunications Revolution: The Case of a Developing Economy.....................................................................51 Abdul Rafay, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Pakistan Arsala Khan, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Pakistan This chapter examines the merger of two cellular companies (MOBILINK and WARID) for sustainability in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. During 2011-2013, WARID faced the news of the possible sales of the company due to falling revenues, constant poor network quality, and lower network coverage in rural areas. In 2014, all telecom players participated in the auction for 3G/4G licenses, but WARID did not participate due to its technology neutral license (TNL). Important decisions were taken in 2014 like launching of 4G/LTE services in major cities, US$500 million investment, increase of tower sites, opening of new regional sales offices. These decisions along with presence of TNL made WARID an attractive target for merger with MOBILINK. In 2016, the formal merger was finalized for benefits like synergies in CAPEX/OPEX, fastest 4G network, network reach to rural areas, roll-out of new services like the internet of things (IoT) and mobile banking. The merger proved successful. During the first quarter of 2017, the company generated PKR 38.7 billion in revenues, up from the same period a year before. Section 2 Innovation in Information Technology In this section of Technology Management in Organizational and Societal Contexts, our focus turns to how organizations can foster innovation through information technology. In particular the story of software developer PlantFactory addresses two important topics: home bias and the dynamics of competition.
Chapter 4 Home Bias in Innovation Ecosystems: Relying on Local Users for . Knowledge............................................................................................................78 Petra A. Nylund, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain Núria Arimany-Serrat, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain Xavier Ferràs-Hernández, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain José Antonio Corral-Marfil, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain Innovation ecosystems enable small- and medium-sized enterprises to compete with innovations that include the knowledge of others. Integrating external knowledge in innovation is however a complex process, and there are many pitfalls to consider. This chapter analyses a small company that leverages its innovation ecosystem to compete in a dynamic global industry characterized by rapid technological change. The company faces the challenge of creating and commercializing a breakthrough innovation for digital education, with educational content for teachers and easy-to-use authoring tools for modifying this content. As the company attempts to benefit from lead-user experiences, home bias towards knowledge from local users appears as an unexpected hurdle. The analysis of the case encompasses the firm, the industry, and the ecosystem levels, and indicates key concepts for innovation in ecosystem settings. Section 3 Security This section of Technology Management in Organizational and Societal Contexts has a single chapter devoted to information security. The number of chapters, however, does not represent the importance of the topic. Indeed, the promise of the digital revolution currently stands in peril due to security challenges by hackers and rogue governments. For the Internet to be a highway of information and payments, security challenges have to be overcome. In this chapter, Daya Sagar Guptaand and G. P. Biswas present a technical presentation on securing cloud storage using an algorithm with a homomorphic frame. Chapter 5 On Securing Cloud Storage Using a Homomorphic Framework.........................99 Daya Sagar Gupta, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad, India G. P. Biswas, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad, India In this chapter, a cloud security mechanism is described in which the computation (addition) of messages securely stored on the cloud is possible. Any user encrypts the secret message using the receiver’s public key and stores it. Later on, whenever the stored message is required by an authentic user, he retrieves the encrypted message
and decrypts it by using his secret key. However, he can also request the cloud for an addition of encrypted messages. The cloud system only computes the requested addition and sends it to the authentic user; it cannot decrypt the stored encrypted messages on its own. This addition of encrypted messages should be the same as the encryption of the addition of original messages. In this chapter, the authors propose a homomorphic encryption technique in which the above-discussed scenario is possible. The cloud securely computes the addition of the encrypted messages which is ultimately the encryption of the addition of the original messages. The security of the proposed encryption technique depends on the hardness of elliptic curve hard problems. Section 4 On Higher Education Applications This section of Technology Management in Organizational and Societal Contexts speaks to information technology applications in higher education. The scope of these six chapters speaks to tremendous potential for Information technology to transform and enhance higher education. Some of these chapters speak of the exploit of a particular technology while others speak to how education methods have been enhanced through information technology. Chapter 6 Learning in the Laboratory: Accessing Videos With Quick Response . Codes..................................................................................................................117 Marina Duarte, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal Andresa Baptista, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal Gustavo Pinto, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal Using QR codes to access videos in engineering laboratory classes might be a successful way of building a bridge from concrete to digital content. With QR codes placed on an apparatus, students know exactly which video to watch, allowing them to view the videos while performing the experiment or at home when writing the report. Low-cost videos do not require expensive equipment and software, and keeping them short assures a minimum download time for use with smartphones and tablets. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the importance undergraduate engineering students attribute to these videos and their reaction to the possibility of accessing them with QR codes scanned by a smartphone or a tablet, using access statistics and video viewings to support the findings. Results show students attributed some importance to the videos, and that the QR codes are very helpful as means to quickly and easily access the videos.
Chapter 7 Microblogging Case Study in Higher Education: Edmodo in Finland...............139 Vasileios Paliktzoglou, University of Eastern Finland, Finland Jarkko Suhonen, University of Eastern Finland, Finland Recent research indicates that even though social media networking sites are commonly used in higher education, very little empirical evidence is available concerning the impact of social media use on student learning and engagement. In this chapter, the experience of using Edmodo is analysed as learning aid to support group work in comparison with the level of familiarity, engagement, and frequency of use of social media technologies among university-level computer science students in Finland. The specific focus of the chapter is to examine the reception of the students towards the Edmodo platform. The data was collected through a social media familiarity questionnaire, Edmodo experience questionnaire, and interviews. The main findings are that the cohort was not very familiar with social media at the beginning of the course. This chapter provides experimental evidence that microblogging social networking sites and, more specifically, Edmodo can be used as an educational tool to help engage students more in the use of social media networking sites. Chapter 8 An App to Manage Grammar Level Tests in Language Schools........................169 Antonio Sarasa, University Complutense Madrid (UCM), Spain A typical task in language schools is to assign a level of skill to the students with respect to the language they are going to study. For this, the students are evaluated through a set of level tests that measure the student’s competence. Normally, the assessment consists of an oral competency test, a written competency test, and a listening comprehension test. A characteristic of this type of test is the possibility of evaluating them remotely (usually they are tests with questions where every question has associated a set of possible answers where only one of the answers is correct) without the necessity of the presence of any evaluator. For this reason, it is possible to create computer applications that automate the evaluation and management of test results. This chapter presents a computer application that has been created with the aim of automating the process of management and evaluation of level tests for students of Spanish as a foreign language. The application has been tested at the University of Zaragoza.
Chapter 9 Analysis of a Learning Management System by Using Google Analytics: A Case Study From Turkey.....................................................................................198 Zeki Özen, İstanbul University, Turkey Elif Kartal, İstanbul University, Turkey İlkim Ecem Emre, Marmara University, Turkey Changes and developments in technology are also reflected in user behavior. Therefore, companies that monitor and analyze user behavior to gain competitive advantage will be one step ahead of others. Google Analytics is one of the most popular web analytics tools that perform this function. This chapter observes changes in user habits between 2011 and 2017 by using the Google Analytics data of Enocta Academic Education Platform (EAEP) that offers course content and learning management system (LMS) services for organizations and universities in Turkey. Thus, it advises to LMS providers in terms of improving their software considering changes in user habits. In addition, different approaches of improving e-learning services are discussed. This case study shows that Google Analytics, one of the web analytics tools, can provide useful information for e-learning platform or LMS providers in order to understand behaviors and needs of the visitors as well as their own strengths and weaknesses. Chapter 10 Value of Adaptation of Methodologies Between Different Knowledge Areas: As Applied in the Context of Project-Based Learning.......................................221 Eduardo Manchado-Pérez, University of Zaragoza, Spain Ignacio López-Forniés, University of Zaragoza, Spain Luis Berges-Muro, University of Zaragoza, Spain Project-based learning (PBL) is a powerful tool for teaching that helps students to get the best in terms of ratio effort/learning outcomes, especially in studies with a very practical basis, such as university degree studies in engineering. A way of getting even more out of this is by means of the adaptation of methodologies from different knowledge areas, because this allows the launch of innovative ways of working with certain guarantees of success from the very first moment, and at the same time to integrate skills from different fields within a shared context. Furthermore, it helps to put into practice some transversal competences, which are very useful for future professionals. The chapter also includes some case studies on the successful adaptation of different methodologies coming from different fields such as graphic design, biology, and social sciences in the context of a university engineering degree in industrial design and product development.
Chapter 11 Students Skills in a Blended Learning Environment: A Qualitative . Research..............................................................................................................249 Ana Mª Pinto-Llorente, University of Salamanca, Spain Mª Cruz Sánchez-Gómez, University of Salamanca, Spain Francisco José García-Peñalvo, University of Salamanca, Spain The objective of this chapter is to determine participants’ perceptions about the characteristics that students must have to be successful in a blended learning environment. The authors adopted a qualitative approach in which 91 learners participated. Data collection was carried out through guided interviews over three months. The results of the research emphasized the need to have a good level of English and new digital skills as essential requirements to study an English degree in a blended learning modality. Participants were strongly aware of the necessity to master synchronous and asynchronous technological tools to communicate online with their virtual classmates, and to do assessment and self-assessment e-activities. Learners also considered that it was essential to be mature enough to be able to reflect and evaluate their own learning. Results showed that students must be organised and tenacious, and must have the ability to innovate and collaborate inside the created e-learning community. Related References............................................................................................ 281 Compilation of References............................................................................... 320 About the Contributors.................................................................................... 356 Index................................................................................................................... 363
