JAQM Volume 8, Issue 4 - December 30, 2013

Pdf Version

Contents

Does (Company) Size Matter? Differences in Social Media Usage for Business Purposes (p )
Mark VERHEYDEN, Katie GOEMAN

Ninety-nine percent of all companies in the European Union (E.U.) are small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Together, they provide employment for more than half of the European workforce. In its digital Agenda communications and JRC reports, the E.U. expressed high hopes regarding the expected positive impact of social media on employment, social inclusion and economic growth. These observations imply that the E.U. needs to focus on social media adoption if it wants to attain its targets as defined in the Europe 2020 strategy. A study by the International Data Corporation revealed a growing acceptance of social media in SMEs. (Bonagura, 2013) The question addressed in this dissertation is whether company size alters the nature and intensity of the adoption process. To this end an online survey was distributed in a knowledge-sharing network, yielding 182 responses, a 21 % response rate. Our survey covered four areas, which a McKinsey report (2012) identified as holding much potential for value creation, namely (1) internal communication, (2) external communication, (3) knowledge sharing and (4) recruitment. The analysis of our data showed that Social Network Sites (SNS) like Facebook or Linkedin are the most popular platforms and are mostly used to communicate with external stakeholders. Statistical significant differences related to company size were mainly found with regard to the use of internal social media, which are mostly adopted in large enterprises. A second interesting finding is that both SMEs and larger companies reported important benefits related to the adoption of social media. To conclude, a number of factors were identified as hampering the adoption process. All organizations seem to be in need of both tangible (money) and intangible (time, knowledge, skills) resources. Blocking access to social media seems to be the only challenge significantly more prevalent in large enterprises.

Specification Methods of Economic Processes (p )
Marian Pompiliu CRISTESCU, Ion IVAN, Laurentiu CIOVICA, Liviu CIOVICA

This paper present the stages by which we associate a formal language of a economic process. It proposes the use of a mathematical model, described as a graph, for the specification of business processes such as: investments, organization of production, activities of economic analysis. It deals with those economic problems that may be put into formal practice when there is no possibility of using one of the known techniques, or when we are modeling a business process, a manufacturing process etc.

Environmental Awareness and Disaster Factors in Bangladesh (p )
Mohammad Ohid ULLAH, Abu HASAN, Taj UDDIN

Environmental pollution is one of the important problems for the living beings. It interrupts to lead better life. The present study is an attempt to study the environmental awareness and behavior towards the environment of the students with environmental disasters factors in private universities in Sylhet, Bangladesh. To conduct this study, a questionnaire was designed and implemented on a sample of 200 students of four private universities in Sylhet city. Research findings show that global warming (66.5%) is the most important problem in the world and unplanned urbanization (32%) is the most important problem in Bangladesh. Research indicates that ‘Global warming’, ‘The conflict over the natural water resources’ and ‘The needs for other energy sources against petroleum’ are the most influential factors for environmental disaster. Most of the respondents believe that education of environmental awareness and use of bi-cycle for short distance in the city may solve environment pollution. Therefore, Government and non-government organizations should take initiative to prepare bi-cycle road aside foot-path as well as educational activities regarding healthy environment.

Addenda to Weibull distribution in MATLAB - definitions, code sources for functions, applications (p )
Ştefan Cristian CIUCU, Mihai REBENCIUC, Ionuţ Alexandru PETRE

In this paper we make a new presentation of the Weibull distribution. We will make some add-ons for the Statistics Toolbox in MATLAB with our functions for the form with scale and displacement of the distribution. Finally we will use these new functions on applications of the Weibull distribution.

Book Review on WEB SOCIAL SCIENCE - CONCEPTS, DATA AND TOOLS FOR SOCIAL SCIENTIST IN THE DIGITAL AGE by Robert ACKLAND (p )
Vasile Alecsandru STRAT

The goal of this book, as mentioned in the introductory part, is to provide a very usable instrument for everyone to understand the social, political and economical dimensions of the web and also their implications regarding the existence of the contemporary society. Following this goal, the book is structured into two main parts, the first concerned with presenting and describing the main methods used in social science when conducting research on the web, and the second provides examples of different aspects that can and should be investigated using the web by social scientists. The examples provided by Ackland in his book range from friendship formation to politics, government and commerce related aspects.

Book Review on SAMPLING AND CHOOSING CASES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: A REALIST APPROACH by Nick EMMEL (p )
Loredana MANASIA

Nick Emmel’s book, Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research. A realist approach, stresses and lightens an important issue in qualitative research conducted in social sciences: sampling or choosing cases.