Evolution of e-commerce Web sites: A conceptual framework and a longitudinal study

Before the 1990s, the digital exchange of information between companies was achieved using electronic data interchange (EDI) and needed agreement between the organizations. The early 1990s saw the commercialization of the Internet and the advent of open computer technology and connectivity became affordable for individuals as well as businesses. The consequence was the World Wide Web. As e-commerce activities extended across businesses, enterprises, and industries, a genre of Web sites emerged allowing the integrative management of business operations. Here, we provide an evolutionary perspective of e-commerce Web sites. We posited that there have been four eras. To chart the evolution of e-commerce Web sites, a conceptual framework was developed to characterize such sites. Based on the framework, we conducted a longitudinal study between 1993 and 2001. The result showed that the proposed four eras were clearly discernible.     

Towards a conceptual framework for assessing the effectiveness of digital game-based learning

In recent years, interest has grown in the systematic assessment of the effectiveness of digital game-based learning (DGBL). A conceptual framework describing what effectiveness means in the context of DGBL and which are its subcomponents has hitherto been lacking however. Hence, the goal of this paper is to propose a conceptualization and operationalization of effectiveness rooted in social-cognitive theory. In order to identify desired outcomes and be able to operationalize effectiveness, focus groups were organized with three stakeholder groups following a user requirements analysis methodology.Results indicate that three categories of desired outcomes can be distinguished: learning, motivational and efficiency outcomes. For the different outcomes, different subcomponents can be extracted which can be organized hierarchically. Learning outcomes that are seen as relevant to the effectiveness of DGBL are 1) increased interest in the subject matter, 2) improvement in objective performance (e.g., in a test), and 3) transfer, referring to the player's ability to apply acquired knowledge or skills to real-world situations. Relevant motivational outcomes concern 1) enjoyment, the extent to which playing the game evoked an enjoyable experience, and 2) increased motivation to learn using DGBL. Efficiency outcomes relevant to DGBL effectiveness, finally, are related to 1) time management and 2) cost-effectiveness. Overall, it can be stated that a DGBL intervention is effective when it achieves similar or higher scores compared to other instructional methods in relation to any of the above mentioned outcomes without significantly (in the common, not the statistical sense) diminishing any of the others.     

The methodological soundness of requirements engineering papers: a conceptual framework and two case studies

This paper was triggered by concerns about the methodological soundness of many RE papers. We present a conceptual framework that distinguishes design papers from research papers, and show that in this framework, what is called a research paper in RE is often a design paper. We then present and motivate two lists of evaluation criteria, one for research papers and one for design papers. We apply both of these lists to two samples drawn from the set of all submissions to the RE’03 conference. Analysis of these two samples shows that most submissions of the RE’03 conference are design papers, not research papers, and that most design papers present a solution to a problem but neither validate this solution nor investigate the problems that can be solved by this solution. We conclude with a discussion of the soundness of our results and of the possible impact on RE research and practice.     

On organizational robustness: A conceptual framework

Understanding robustness and how organizations can configure and adapt is fundamental for their survival. In this paper, we build on the general system theory to conceptualize the underlying mechanisms of organizational robustness. We propose a framework that defines the fundamental notions and typologies of robustness— instrumental, structural, and cognitive robustness. We define mechanisms for these three categories of robustness as strategical mechanisms, functional mechanisms, and infrastructure mechanisms, and we explain how these mechanisms enable proactive, structured, or agile organizational responses to predictable and unpredictable crises.     

High reliability leadership: A conceptual framework

Although it is assumed that leaders can be extremely important in enhancing safe operations, little is known about how they actually contribute to high reliability organizing. This study proposes a conceptual framework for leadership in High Reliability Organizations (HROs) based on theory and previous empirical research. It identifies leadership behaviours that contribute to six organizing facets in HROs, from which two leadership behavioural categories are extracted: leading expansion and leading reaction. Behaviours included in both categories might be potentially beneficial practices for leaders working in high‐hazard industries. The framework provides the basis for future theory development and debate.     

Digital heritage interpretation: a conceptual framework

‘Heritage Interpretation’ has always been considered as an effective learning, communication and management tool that increases visitors’ awareness of and empathy to heritage sites or artefacts. Yet the definition of ‘digital heritage interpretation’ is still wide and so far, no significant method and objective are evident within the domain of ‘digital heritage’ theory and discourse. Considering ‘digital heritage interpretation’ as a process rather than as a tool to present or communicate with end-users, this paper presents a critical application of a theoretical construct ascertained from multiple disciplines and explicates four objectives for a comprehensive interpretive process. A conceptual model is proposed and further developed into a conceptual framework with fifteen considerations. This framework is then implemented and tested on an online platform to assess its impact on end-users’ interpretation level. We believe the presented interpretive framework (PrEDiC) will help heritage professionals and media designers to develop interpretive heritage project.     

Multi-stage negotiation support: a conceptual framework

This article presents a multi-stage model for bilateral negotiation support. It continues from the work of Lim and Benbasat [L.H. Lim, I. Benbasat, A theoretical perspective of negotiation support systems, Journal of Management Information Systems 19(3) (1992) 27-44], in which a two-dimensional approach to negotiation support is advocated. Based on that approach, the current work identifies generic types of DSS and communication tools necessary to support the requirements and strategic analyses. An actual system built based on this conceptualisation, is then described.     

Visual requirements analytics: a framework and case study

For many software projects, keeping requirements on track needs an effective and efficient path from data to decision. Visual analytics creates such a path that enables the human to extract insights by interacting with the relevant information. While various requirements visualization techniques exist, few have produced end-to-end value to practitioners. In this paper, we advance the literature on visual requirements analytics by characterizing its key components and relationships in a framework. We follow the goal–question–metric paradigm to define the framework by teasing out five conceptual goals (user, data, model, visualization, and knowledge), their specific operationalizations, and their interconnections. The framework allows us to not only assess existing approaches, but also create tool enhancements in a principled manner. We evaluate our enhanced tool support through a case study where massive, heterogeneous, and dynamic requirements are processed, visualized, and analyzed. Working together with practitioners on a contemporary software project within its real-life context leads to the main finding that visual analytics can help tackle both open-ended visual exploration tasks and well-structured visual exploitation tasks in requirements engineering. In addition, the study helps the practitioners to reach actionable decisions in a wide range of areas relating to their project, ranging from theme and outlier identification, over requirements tracing, to risk assessment. Overall, our work illuminates how the data-to-decision analytical capabilities could be improved by the increased interactivity of requirements visualization.     

STP technology: An overview and a conceptual framework

Today's capital market and security industry are rapidly changing. With the rising of trading volume in stock markets and the US security industry moving to compress the settlement time from T + 3 (3 days settlement) to T + 1 (same day settlement), a fully automated global approach, based on straight through processing (STP) technology seems the only choice. STP involves moving electronically through a trading process from initiation through post-execution and final settlement without manual intervention. Despite the benefits that have been materialized by early adopters of STP, there are problems and risks involved in implementing STP, one of which being the confusion about the concept of STP itself. The objective of this short research note is to clarify the concept and characteristics of STP and propose an integrated conceptual and theoretical STP framework. Such a framework can facilitate a widespread understanding of STP and provide useful guidance to STP implementations.     

Collaborative conceptual design: A large software project case study

During software development, the activities of requirements analysis, functional specification, and architectural design all require a team of developers to converge on a common vision of what they are developing. There have been remarkably few studies of conceptual design during real projects. In this paper, we describe a detailed field study of a large industrial software project. We observed the development team's conceptual design activities for three months with follow-up observations and discussions over the following eight months. In this paper, we emphasize the organization of the project and how patterns of collaboration affected the team's convergence on a common vision. Three observations stand out: First, convergence on a common vision was not only painfully slow but was punctuated by several reorientations of direction; second, the design process seemed to be inherently forgetful, involving repeated resurfacing of previously discussed issues; finally, a conflict of values persisted between team members responsible for system development and those responsible for overseeing the development process. These findings have clear implications for collaborative support tools and process interventions.     

Distributed environment: A conceptual framework using objects

We present a conceptual framework for a distributed office system using concepts inherent to object-oriented formalism. The functions of the active object and the procedure servers are described. So are the attributes of the objects stored in these two servers. In order to endow the individual workstations with as much autonomy as possible, we develop a coarse-grained algorithm for active and procedural object distribution. An office model should have a high level of evolvability. To accommodate this phenomenon we devise a mechanism to enable the model to transit one state to another with a minimum level of perturbation.     

Integrating expert systems and operations research: A conceptual framework

Expert System technologies can provide significant benefits if integrated with operations research (OR) applications, either by using free-standing systems or by integrating them into existing OR tools. This paper first distinguishes between physical and functional integration, and then focuses on aspects of the latter. Process and technique-oriented functional integration are defined, and several conceptual issues reviewed. These include the need for and resources necessary for such integration, difficulties associated with achieving successful integrated ES-OR applications, and the integration's impact on operations researchers and their organizations.     

Adaptation in virtual environments: conceptual framework and user models

When interacting in a virtual environment, users are confronted with a number of interaction techniques. These interaction techniques may complement each other, but in some circumstances can be used interchangeably. Because of this situation, it is difficult for the user to determine which interaction technique to use. Furthermore, the use of multimodal feedback, such as haptics and sound, has proven beneficial for some, but not all, users. This complicates the development of such a virtual environment, as designers are not sure about the implications of the addition of interaction techniques and multimodal feedback. A promising approach for solving this problem lies in the use of adaptation and personalization. By incorporating knowledge of a user’s preferences and habits, the user interface should adapt to the current context of use. This could mean that only a subset of all possible interaction techniques is presented to the user. Alternatively, the interaction techniques themselves could be adapted, e.g. by changing the sensitivity or the nature of the feedback. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for realizing adaptive personalized interaction in virtual environments. We also discuss how to establish, verify and apply a user model, which forms the first and important step in implementing the proposed conceptual framework. This study results in general and individual user models, which are then verified to benefit users interacting in virtual environments. Furthermore, we conduct an investigation to examine how users react to a specific type of adaptation in virtual environments (i.e. switching between interaction techniques). When an adaptation is integrated in a virtual environment, users positively respond to this adaptation as their performance significantly improve and their level of frustration decrease.     

Towards an adaptive human-centric computing resource management framework based on resource prediction and multi-objective genetic algorithm

The complexity, scale and dynamic of data source in the human-centric computing bring great challenges to maintainers. It is problem to be solved that how to reduce manual intervention in large scale human-centric computing, such as cloud computing resource management so that system can automatically manage according to configuration strategies. To address the problem, a resource management framework based on resource prediction and multi-objective optimization genetic algorithm resource allocation (RPMGA-RMF) was proposed. It searches for optimal load cluster as training sample based on load similarity. The neural network (NN) algorithm was used to predict resource load. Meanwhile, the model also built virtual machine migration request in accordance with obtained predicted load value. The multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) based on hybrid group encoding algorithm was introduced for virtual machine (VM) resource management, so as to provide optimal VM migration strategy, thus achieving adaptive optimization configuration management of resource. Experimental resource based on CloudSim platform shows that the RPMGA-RMF can decrease VM migration times while reduce physical node simultaneously. The system energy consumption can be reduced and load balancing can be achieved either.     

Some thoughts on systems integration: A conceptual framework

This article presents a conceptual framework for systems integration in the area of computing systems. The framework identifies a hierarchical structure of concepts and methods that allows us to discuss the different elements of systems integration. The kernel of this approach is the concept of an integration architecture, specifying the general layout of the integration framework. Such an integration architecture is based on enabling technologies, like networking, and forms the basis for global integration activities. These global integration activities are targeted to preserve a common universe of discourse for the user of the integrated architecture and to agree upon a conceptual model of the application domain. Based on these prerequisites, two models for managing the process of systems integration, the post factor approach and the phased top-down approach, are discussed.     

The accessibility of Saudi Arabia government Web sites: an exploratory study

This study is intended to provide an exploratory evaluation of Saudi Arabia government Web sites based on the Web Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 provided by the W3C. The results indicate that the Saudi government Web sites have made many of the accessibility mistakes as predicted. In the light of the study findings, this paper will present some recommendations for improving Saudi government Web sites, as well as discuss future implications.