Determinants of RFID adoption intention by SMEs: an empirical investigation

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been considered as one of the 10 technologies that will transform firm across industries. However, the adoption and use of the technology has been slower than predicted, mainly because of technological, organisation and environment factors related to RFID. This study develops a conceptual model that explores the role that technological, organisational, environmental and managerial characteristics of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) play in their intention to adopt RFID technology. To test the model, a web-based survey was administered to 453 SME managers from the USA, the UK, Australia and India. Logistic hierarchical regression is used to test the proposed model. Implications for RFID technology research, theory and practice are discussed.     

Combining monotonicity and strong equity: construction and representation of orders on infinite utility streams

This paper studies the nature of social welfare orders (SWO) on infinite utility streams, satisfying the efficiency principle known as monotonicity and the consequentialist equity principle known as strong equity. It provides a complete characterization of domain sets for which there exists such a SWO which is in addition representable by a real valued function. It then shows that for those domain sets for which there is no such SWO which is representable, the existence of such a SWO necessarily entails the existence of a non-Ramsey set, a non-constructive object.     

Hybrid organization deconstructed: A bibliographic investigation into the origins,development, and future of the research domain

Research on hybrid organization (HO) has grown rapidly over recent decades, yet the conceptualization and research structure remain fragmented. In this paper, we employ a combination of bibliometric analysis and a structured review of recent influential articles to evaluate the domain of HO. As part of the bibliometric analysis, we analysed 676 documents containing 51,014 references by applying citation, co-citation, and social network analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on our analysis, we identified the 108 most influential works shaping the domain and explored the linkages between them to uncover the intellectual structure of the domain. Specifically, we observed five different clusters that depicted the intellectual structure of the HO domain. Our result further clarified the overall centrality features of the HO research network. Further, the structured review resulted in the identification of six different themes: impact of organizational actors on HO, impact of the external environment on HO, hybridization process and organizational response, organizational structure and governance, organizational strategy, and organizational performance. Building on our results, we propose a framework and explicate the gaps for future HO research.     

Development of Dose‐Response Models to Predict the Relationship for Human Toxoplasma gondii Infection Associated with Meat Consumption

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that is responsible for approximately 24% of deaths attributed to foodborne pathogens in the United States. It is thought that a substantial portion of human T. gondii infections is acquired through the consumption of meats. The dose‐response relationship for human exposures to T. gondii‐infected meat is unknown because no human data are available. The goal of this study was to develop and validate dose‐response models based on animal studies, and to compute scaling factors so that animal‐derived models can predict T. gondii infection in humans. Relevant studies in literature were collected and appropriate studies were selected based on animal species, stage, genotype of T. gondii, and route of infection. Data were pooled and fitted to four sigmoidal‐shaped mathematical models, and model parameters were estimated using maximum likelihood estimation. Data from a mouse study were selected to develop the dose‐response relationship. Exponential and beta‐Poisson models, which predicted similar responses, were selected as reasonable dose‐response models based on their simplicity, biological plausibility, and goodness fit. A confidence interval of the parameter was determined by constructing 10,000 bootstrap samples. Scaling factors were computed by matching the predicted infection cases with the epidemiological data. Mouse‐derived models were validated against data for the dose‐infection relationship in rats. A human dose‐response model was developed as P (d) = 1–exp (–0.0015 × 0.005 × d) or P (d) = 1–(1 + d × 0.003 / 582.414)^?1.479. Both models predict the human response after consuming T. gondii‐infected meats, and provide an enhanced risk characterization in a quantitative microbial risk assessment model for this pathogen.     

Professionalization and Hybridization Dynamics of Social Enterprises

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Most of the extant studies on social enterprises have taken a static view of institutional complexity and assumed conflict...