Adoption Of Computing Technologies Research Articles

Effect of Computer Technology Adoption on Sales Volume in Selected Supermarkets in Kampala Central Division, Uganda

The study looked at the relationship between sales volume and the deployment of computer technology at a few specific supermarkets in Kampala's central division. The specific goal was to look at how the use of computer technology affected the amount of sales in supermarkets. The research used a cross-sectional approach. Approaches that combined quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Data was collected from a sample of 80 respondents in 20 supermarkets in the central division of Kampala using questionnaires and interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and regression techniques. The results suggested that adoption of computer technology boosts grocery sales. Conclusion: Adoption of computer technology improves operational efficiency, according to the respondents' responses. However, there were a few areas that needed improvement so that efficiency would actually increase. It was advised that the owners of supermarkets purchase and employ improved accounting software, as well as effective monitoring systems and systems that can identify impending expirations and obsolescence and report them early so that action can be taken to prevent losses from expirations.

Effect of Computer Technology Adoption on Sales Volume in Selected Supermarkets in Kampala Central Division, Uganda

Effect of Computer Technology Adoption on Sales Volume in Selected Supermarkets in Kampala Central Division, Uganda

Wear behaviour on a Pin-on-Disc setup for thermal spray of coating using ABAQUS: study and computational analysis

ABSTRACT The tribological simulation can be seen as a new study problem developed through modern information technology and computer simulation technology in combination with a variety of mathematical approaches in the field of tribology. There is a need to seek new conducts and means of in-depth study of the wear quantitative law, or else, it will become difficult for a fundamental breakthrough in the prevention and control of wear to be achieved. The tribological simulation research of the typical Pin-on-Disc sliding wear test system has been carried out by the adoption of computer technology and mathematical analysis methods to provide a new wear-analysis method for the simulation of the basic tribological contact problems. In the present research conduct, an attempt has been made to establish the wear simulation model considering multiple parameters based on experimental and theoretical facts. The parameters of the computational model have been determined through the experimental test data. The simulation model has been observed to reflect the basic relationship between input and output of the pin on the dry disc sliding wear test. Experiments performed have confirmed that, under the conditions analysed, the load effect on the wear rate is more critical than the other conditions. The wear rate varies linearly with the considered load conditions. The simulations have been conducted at the different angular velocities of 50, 60 and 70 rpm. These simulations have also revealed the effect of pin diameter on the depth of wear, and the deep insight into the increase of same with an increase in surface area.

Enhancing waqf management through fintech in Malaysia A Conceptual Framework on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

In Malaysia, academic studies on the mobilisation of cash waqf and enhancing its role as a mechanism for socio-economic development through the adoption of fintech (financial technology) is highly abound. Additionally, there are calls from stakeholders to adopt best practices fintech solutions in waqf practice to drive efficiency in waqf transactions management, ranging from fund mobilisation, investment and disbursement and connecting donors to fundraisers. This study aims to fill a knowledge gap by explaining the factors regarding the deployment of fintech related to the 4th Industrial Revolution to improve the collection and investment of cash waqf. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for expanding cash waqf collection and performance through fintech in response to the fourth industrial revolution wave study predicting computer technology adoption behaviour. The proposed model is based on a modified framework of Davis's technology acceptance model (TAM) method, which Wallace and Sheetz (2014) adopted in their study titled 'The Adoption of Software Measures: A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Perspective'. The model seeks to propose measurement for the independent variable of fintech awareness and knowledge, ease and usefulness of fintech, attitude towards fintech and finally, trust and confidence toward the adoption of fintech. Finally, this study will serve as a valuable guide and provide future research insights to explore this avenue further.

Development and applications of computer image analysis algorithmsforscoring of PD-L1 immunohistochemistry.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) have rapidly become integral to standard-of-care therapy for non-small cell lung cancer and other cancers. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of PD-L1 is currently the accepted and approved diagnostic assay for selecting patients for PD-L1/PD-1 axis therapies in certain indications. However, the inherent biological complexity of PD-L1 and the availability of several PD-L1 assays – each with different detection systems, platforms, scoring algorithms and cut-offs – have created challenges to ensure reliable and reproducible results based on subjective visual assessment by pathologists. The increasing adoption of computer technologies into the daily workflow of pathology provides an opportunity to leverage these tools towards improving the clinical value of PD-L1 IHC assays. This review describes several image analysis software programs of computer-aided PD-L1 scoring in the hope of driving further discussion and technological advancement in digital pathology and artificial intelligence approaches, particularly as precision medicine evolves to encompass accurate simultaneous assessment of multiple features of cancer cells and their interactions with the tumor microenvironment.

Interpersonal relationships, digital technologies, and innovation in entrepreneurial ventures

Innovation research has not presented an integrated model of how knowledge sources emerging from managers' interpersonal relationships facilitate innovation within new ventures. Further, it remains unclear how such knowledge transfer may be shaped by the advance of digital technologies. This study examines how these knowledge sources and the context of the digital technologies in which they are produced influence the quality of knowledge developed by entrepreneurial ventures. Our results show that parent firm and co-inventor innovativeness significantly impact venture knowledge quality, with this benefit significantly enhanced when parents possess superior information technology systems. We also find that geographically proximate innovations provide similar benefits, though they are mitigated in regions with greater adoption of computer technologies. We test our predictions on a sample of 632 biotechnology ventures founded over a ten-year period, tracking their innovations over a subsequent ten-year period. We contribute to research on entrepreneurship, geographic location, and knowledge creation.

Do Computers Follow Rules Once Followed by Workers?

Do Computers Follow Rules Once Followed by Workers? Bjorn Westergard (bio) In his 2014 paper “Polanyi’s Paradox and the Shape of Employment Growth,” economist David Autor puts forward a very general historical thesis (emphasis added): When a computer processes a company’s payroll, alphabetizes a list of names, or tabulates the age distribution of residents in each U.S. Census enumeration district, it is “simulating” a work process that would, in a previous era, have been done by humans using nearly identical procedures. The principle of computer simulation of workplace tasks has not fundamentally changed since the dawn of the computer era. But its cost has. … This remarkable cost decline creates strong economic incentives for firms to substitute ever-cheaper computing power for relatively expensive human labor, with attendant effects on employers’ demand for employees. How could a historian of computing adjudicate this claim? How can we determine whether the procedures used by humans and computers are similar, let alone “nearly identical”? Part and parcel with this framing of the issue is Autor’s assertion that the inability of workers to articulate the rules they follow when carrying out a task constitutes an impediment to writing software to automate it and his suggestion that this impediment might be overcome with machine learning techniques, which putatively infer these “tacit rules” from a wealth of examples. Underwriting this view is a theory—henceforth, “the ALM theory”—first laid out by Autor, Levy, and Murnane in The Skill Content Content of Recent Technological Change (2003) and The New Division of Labor (2004), which builds upon Michael Polanyi’s epistemology and attendant conceptions of rule following. The ALM theory was developed in response to an economic literature that argued that adoption of computer technology—at the level of the industry, firm, or worksite—increases demand for the labor of those with a postsecondary education at the expense of those without. It was thought that in the race between education (supplying computer-complementary skills) and technology (creating demand for them), technology had and would prevail, driving up the wage premia of more educated workers.1 This “canonical model” of “skills-biased technical change” employed a binary classification scheme of “more-and less-skilled workers, often operationalized as college-and non-college-educated workers.” As the 1990s wore on economists found slowing growth in the college wage premium and nonmonotonic inequality growth difficult to account for in this framework. Subtler distinctions needed to be drawn.2 For these, economists pursuing the “task approach” looked to databases of job descriptions, such as the Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles and its successor O*NET, to “[measure] the tasks performed in jobs rather than the educational credentials of workers performing those jobs.”3 They would conclude, contrary to the existing skill-biased technical change literature, that beginning in the late 1970s, computerization had issued in “job polarization” or “the simultaneous growth of high-education, high-wage and low-education, low-wages jobs.”4 The task approach drops the assumption that educational attainment determines work activity in favor of two production functions: one characterizing how labor and computer capital inputs combine to perform tasks, another characterizing how task performances combine to produce outputs (i.e., goods, services). The firm is taken to be a locus of task assignment and execution in which managers play a key role in “organizing tasks into jobs.”5 The heart of the ALM theory, which is meant to provide an interpretation of the data collected using the “task approach,” is the “ALM hypothesis”:6 (1) that computer capital substitutes for workers in carrying out a limited and well-defined set of cognitive and manual activities, those that can be accomplished by following explicit rules (what we term “routine tasks”); and (2) that computer capital complements workers in carrying out problem-solving and complex communication activities (“nonroutine tasks”). [End Page 5] In addition to being “routine” or “nonroutine,” tasks are also either “manual” or “cognitive.” Example classifications include record keeping, calculation, repetitive customer service (routine cognitive), medical diagnosis, legal writing, managing others (nonroutine cognitive), picking/sorting, repetitive assembly (routine manual), janitorial work, truck driving, and removing paper clips from documents7 (nonroutine...

Maximizing Healthcare Professionals’ Use of New Computer Technologies in a Small, Urban Hospitalʼs Critical Care Unit

INTRODUCTIONThe past decade has witnessed a tremendous increase in technology use in hospitals and healthcare centers, due, in part, to a 2004 federal mandate calling for nationwide electronic health record (EHR) adoption (Kirkley & Stein, 2004). According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 2014 was the last year for eligible providers and hospitals to initiate their participation in the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. In 2015, adjustments to reimbursements began for those that are not meaningful users of EHR technology as defined by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (CMS, 2016).Health professionals-nurses, medical assistants, and allied health professionals for the purposes of this article-must understand that converting to EHRs is not a choice but a necessity an issue that is still prevalent in some small, urban hospitals. Healthcare staff members are expected to use new computer technologies to better serve their patients, increase productivity, and generate proper reimbursement for their organizations (Blumenthal &, Tavenner, 2010; Fetter, 2009). Their positive contributions to EHR implementation sharpen the focus of the entire organization on patient care (Kirkley & Stein, 2004).Transitioning from paper to EHRs is slow in most healthcare institutions because it requires resources, availability, and workforce training (George, Garth, Fish, & Baker, 2013). Haughom, Kriz, and McMillan (2011) state that new computer technology implementation in any organization has its problem points, especially in settings with hundreds of physicians and healthcare professionals. Moreover, they note that users' attitudes, perceptions, and satisfaction with new technologies influence implementation more than the technologies' design or efficiency does. George et al. (2013) point to the importance of leaders in making sure staff understand the organizational, social, and technological issues related to using new technologies. Meibner and Schnepp (2014) note that equipment availability in the patient care units and technical functionality of the equipment are important factors in the implementation of new technology. Lack of technical support, malfunctioning equipment, and unspecific issues regarding general maintenance matters may increase feelings of frustration and uncertainty in using new technology and therefore delay implementation (Meibner & Schnepp, 2014).Despite the increase in new computer technologies in healthcare and the pressure from the federal government to change from paper to electronic documentation (Huryk, 2010), few studies have been conducted on effective ways to engage staff in the implementation of new computer technologies, particularly in a critical care unit (CCLI) of a small, urban hospital-the focus of this article, CCLIs have unique challenges regarding technology implementation because they are, by nature, data intense (De Georgia, Kaffashi, Jacono, & Loparo, 2015).COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION CHALLENGES IN CCUsTo frame the present study, Davis's (1989) technology acceptance model was used, as it remains a valid means to explain how CCU healthcare professionals perceived usefulness and ease of use of new technologies. The CCU at the small, urban hospital under study has a capacity of 260 acute care beds and approximately 85 healthcare professionals on staff. The unit needs to begin participating in the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. At present, some computer systems in the CCU are designed to save staff time by eliminating phone calls. For example, requests for beds, transporters, housekeeping, maintenance, radiology, and so forth are entered in the hospital's main computer. When received by the designated department, the requested tasks are delegated, thus avoiding the need to make phone calls to different departments. Another computer system enables staff to print forms. …

The “Peter Pan Syndrome” in Emerging Markets: The Productivity-Transparency Trade-off in IT Adoption

Firms invest in technology to increase productivity. Yet in emerging markets, where a culture of informality is widespread, information technology (IT) investments leading to greater transparency can impose a cost through higher taxes and the need for regulatory compliance. The tendency of firms to avoid productivity-enhancing technologies and remain small to avoid transparency has been dubbed the “Peter Pan Syndrome.” We examine whether firms make the trade-off between productivity and transparency by examining IT adoption in the Indian retail sector. We find that computer technology adoption is lower when firms are motivated to avoid transparency. Specifically, technology adoption is lower when there is greater corruption, but higher when there is better enforcement and auditing. So, firms have a higher productivity gain threshold to adopt computers in corrupt business environments that suffer from patchy and variable enforcement of the tax laws. Not accounting for this motivation to hide from the formal sector underestimates productivity gains from computer adoption. Thus, in addition to their direct effects on the economy, enforcement, auditing, and corruption can have indirect effects through their negative impact on adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies that also increase operational transparency.

The 'Peter Pan Syndrome' in Emerging Markets: The Productivity-Transparency Tradeoff in IT Adoption

Firms make investments in technology to increase productivity. But in emerging markets, where a culture of informality is widespread, information technology (IT) investments leading to greater transparency can impose a cost through higher taxes and need for regulatory compliance. This tendency of firms to avoid productivity-enhancing technologies and remain small to avoid transparency has been dubbed the “Peter Pan Syndrome.” We examine whether firms make the tradeoff between productivity and transparency by examining IT adoption in the Indian retail sector. We find that computer technology adoption is lower when firms have motivations to avoid transparency. Specifically, technology adoption is lower when there is greater corruption, but higher when there is better enforcement and auditing. So firms have a higher productivity gain threshold to adopt computers in corrupt business environments with patchy and variable enforcement of the tax laws. Not accounting for this motivation to hide from the formal sector underestimates productivity gains from computer adoption. Thus in addition to their direct effects on the economy, enforcement, auditing and corruption can have indirect effects through their negative impact on adoption of productivity enhancing technologies that also increase operational transparency.

A Qualitative Inquiry of Organizational Commitment on the Relationship between Technology Characteristics and Technology Adoption

A number of studies that have bearing on Technology Characteristics and Adoption have been conducted. However, very scanty ones relate these concepts to organizational variables. This paper set out to have an empirical look at the mediating effects of organizational commitment (OC) on the relationship between technology characteristics (complexity and perceived usefulness) and computer technology adoption (CTA). To achieve the objective of this study, a model was proposed and two propositions were formulated (1. OC mediates the relatioship between complexity and CTA; 2. OC mediates the relatioship between usefulness and CTA). In addition to the literature reviewed, relevant data were gathered by interviewing ten employees of different SMEs; and qualitative analysis was carried out using content analysis respectively. It was found that OC mediates the relationship between Technology characteristics and CTA. Among the implications of this paper are the extension of the frontier of the exiting literature and helping practitioners plan using the proposed framework.

The World Wide Web of Surveillance: The Internet and Off-World Power-Flows

The rapid growth of the Internet has provided many new opportunities for surveillance, understood as the garnering of personal data for a variety of uses. Modern surveillance systems developed in discrete spheres of the workplace, government administration and the military, generally for specific and limited purposes. The adoption of computer technologies since the 1960s has vastly increased. . .

Assessing the status of library information systems security

This study proposes an instrument to assess the current information system security status in libraries. The instrument is based on a model named LISSAM (library information systems security assessment model), which comprises five components: technological security foundation, information security policy, procedures and control, administrative tools, methods, and awareness creation. The instrument was pilot-tested with 50 respondents responsible for information systems or information technology in their libraries. All components received Cronbach alpha scores of <0.60 and were found to be reliable and acceptable. Findings revealed that over 95% of libraries have a high level of technological implementation but 54% scored poorly on organizational measures, especially on the lack of security policies, procedures, and user training. High scores on technological implementation were found to be correlated to sufficient financial support and early information and computer technology adoption.

Guest editorial note. Introduction to the contributions of the thematic issue

In 2003, Autor, Levy and Murnane (hereafter ALM) proposed a nuanced view on how the adoption of computer technology alters the tasks that workers perform at their jobs and hence human skill demand. The main idea of the so-called «task-approach» is to ask what tasks computers are best suited to accomplish and how these qualities complement or substitute for human job skills.

Building Bankomat: The Development of On-Line, Real-Time Systems in British and Swedish Savings Banks, c.1965-1985

The massification of retail finance in the 1980s relied on the successful deployment of automated teller machines (ATM) and on-line real-time (OLRT) computing during the 1960s and 1970s. We document how the deployment of ATM networks interweaved with the adoption of OLRT computing in Sweden and the UK (alongside a running comparison of similar developments in the USA). Low transaction volume and small retail bank networks facilitated the early adoption of OLRT by savings banks in America. Although they started their computerisation rather ‘late’, British savings banks benefited from adopting ‘tried and tested’ technology while overtaking clearing banks. Meanwhile, Swedish savings banks spearheaded technological change in Europe. In documenting cases of organizational change in Sweden and the UK, we depart from predominant view that considers the development of OLRT in a single move. We put forward the idea that there are specific conditions inside banking organisations that require considering on-line (OL) and on-line real-time (OLRT) as two distinct stage of development in adoption of computer technology. As a result, we show how in the process of diffusion of OLRT computing enabled the transformation of cash dispensers into ATM at the same time that European financial intermediaries were active in shaping technological change.

Engineering Change in Mexico: The Adoption of Computer Technology at Grupo ICA (1965-1971)

This article documents the adoption of computer technology by a civil engineering services and construction company in Mexico at the time that it became the first Mexican multinational enterprise. Computerization took place independently of cross border growth. The challenges, failures and successes of computerization attest to the transformation in the use of computer applications from the mechanization of routine procedures to the creative use of these applications. In line with company policy, the latter lead to the establishment of the computer centre as a standalone, profit generating business unit. However, this policy responded to ‘laissez faire’ and fiscal (i.e. minimizing tax payments) rather than strategic considerations. To little surprise computer services never grew to be a significant income stream.

Experiences with the Implementation of Computerized Tools in Health Care Units: A Review Article

Demands for improved patient care as well as improved efficiency in the delivery of health care have increased dramatically in recent years. New technologies, including computers, are expected to play an important role in meeting these demands. The aim of this review is to identify the main challenges to the introduction of computer technology in health care and to identify what kinds of factors may promote or hamper the implementation process. A systematic search of relevant databases resulted in 299 hits related to implementation of computer technology in health care, of which 17 met all criteria for inclusion in this review. The following barriers to the adoption of computer technology were identified: negative attitudes, lack of knowledge, role adjustment related to the disruption of traditional work habits, and changes in established work roles. The dual needs to both assess and change attitudes were identified as crucial factors in allowing for the successful implementation of these new technologies. The challenges for future clinical work and research will be to influence the behavior and intentions of health care personnel, to focus on the benefits of introducing computer technology (CT) in health care units, and to make certain that the institution's leadership is fully supportive of the change. Furthermore, this review showed that if the introduction of computerized tools is going to succeed, an adequate training program is imperative.

Regional Analysis of Production Practices and Technology Use in the U.S. Nursery Industry

The National Nursery Survey has been conducted four times at 5-year intervals (1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003) by a multistate research committee on economics and marketing to help fill the void of publicly available information on management characteristics of the nursery industry. For the first time in 2003, the National Nursery Survey was conducted using a standard sampling methodology with 15,588 total firms representing 44 states. The objective of this study was to provide a regional analysis of nursery production practices, because production practices and technology use may differ across regions in response to varying economic and environmental conditions. From analysis of the 2485 returned surveys, firms in the northern and interior regions of the country with more seasonal activity made greater use of temporary labor. Containerized growing systems were the predominant system throughout the United States; however, firms in the Southeast, South Central, and Pacific coast regions used this system to a greater degree, whereas firms in other regions also commonly used bare root and balled and burlapped systems. Nurseries in the Southeast region, with a warmer climate, used Integrated Pest Management practices more prevalently. Most regions had a significant share of total production from native American plants, approaching or exceeding 20% of total sales, except the Pacific region. In some regions, forward-contracting accounted for a significantly higher share of total sales, perhaps indicating greater aversion to market risk. The Mountain region stood out for its high level of adoption of computer technologies for production, marketing, and management. Data on water use and irrigation technology did not indicate any clear pattern with respect to regional differences in relation to water scarcity.

Gender and Decision-Making in Technology Adoption among Youth

Computer adoption is tested by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that theorises how users come to accept and use a technology. The sample for the study consisted of 172 trainees (102 females, 70 males; mean age 21.34 years), enrolled in a one-year diploma course in computer applica-tions and multilingual desktop publishing from three computer training centres in Mumbai. Data was collected after six weeks of computer training using standard psychological scales. Results of multiple regression analyses indicate that compared to the West, TAM offers limited explanation for adoption of computer technology by Indian youth. The article highlights the reasons for this in the light of constraints in resource availability and cultural differences. It is suggested that TAM has to be sensitive to the nature of the sample, nature of the technology and the cultural context of adoption to improve its predictive power. Perceived usefulness and subjective norm are the key factors in predicting future computer use. Hence, a model accounting for technology adoption in India should include a strong normative component to supplement the effect of usability. The gender comparisons indicate that TAM is a better predictor of computer adoption for females than males. Women make a balanced analysis of the technology that includes both productivity aspects and influence of significant others. However, what attitudes and cognitive dimensions work in the Indian men to adopt computer technology remains to be further researched.

Mechanization in libraries and information retrieval: punched cards and microfilm before the widespread adoption of computer technology in libraries

In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries a range of important new technologies of information emerged in response to the growth and increasing complexity of organizations and their operations. One such technology was the punched-card machine, a direct forerunner of the computer in terms of the information management function in organizations. Punched-card technology first appeared in libraries in the 1930s, in the United States; and was taken up by libraries in the United Kingdom after the Second World War. Although it could be found in public libraries, the technology's greatest take-up appears to have been in special libraries and documentation/information centres. In the 1930s and 1940s, anticipating later developments in online services, ideas were put forward to link microfilm and punched-hole technologies to produce machines for rapid and universal information retrieval. However, in the 1950s these ideas became redundant with the deployment of the first computers in organizations, a development which also led to the demise of punched-card machines in library operations.