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Although relevant literature investigates the economic value of online sales channel (OSC) from the perspective of the stock market, knowledge on this topic remains insufficient or unclear because existing studies are conducted under an extremely turbulent market environment and have not considered different aspects. This study aims to examine the topic by focusing on the market reactions to OSC investment from three aspects (namely, the innovativeness, business model and goods types) in a relatively stable market environment to fill in the research gap. Empirical results, obtained using 69 firm-level OSC announcements from October 2002 to September 2007, show that the stock market reacts positively to OSC investment by firms. Additionally, the stock market reactions to OSC investment mainly depend on two key characteristics, namely investment innovativeness and business model applied.

E-business is rapidly spreading in service industries. Firms that adopt this innovative way to sell or deliver services and manage customer relationships must make technological and strategic changes. Firms in the same industry adopt e-business at different rates. Why do some firms actively implement e-business, and others take a more cautious attitude? Drawing on several research streams (innovation adoption research, institutional theory, strategic orientation theory, and upper-echelon theory), this article proposes a multi-level model to explain e-business adoption by service firms. The model was empirically tested using survey and interview data from travel agencies in Taiwan. External competitive pressure, innovation orientation, financial slack, and IT resources were found to be associated with two measures of e-business adoption. CEO risk-taking propensity and firm size also had an interaction effect on e-business adoption. Interviews with CEOs indicate that most travel agencies in Taiwan are not yet ready to apply mobile technologies in their daily business. The slow progress of mobile e-business was largely attributed to the limited capacity of mobile devices and the misfit between travel product characteristics, consumer behavior, and current mobile solutions.

The widespread use of information technology (IT) has changed the nature of supply chain management. However, it is still unclear whether different IT infrastructure design may affect supply chain capabilities and firm performance. In this study, we investigated the impacts of a supply chain’s IT architecture, which could be integration-based or standardization-based, on supply chain capabilities and firm performance. We also examined the effects of lean and agile supply chain strategies. We tested our research model against data collected from 162 companies, 97 based in China and 65 in Taiwan. Our findings indicate that firms with different supply chain strategies focus on different aspects of IT architectures. In addition, supply chain capability is an enabler to enhance supply chain performance through well-suited supply chain IT. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol10/iss1/4/

The importance of job shop scheduling as a practical problem has attracted the attention of many researchers. However, most research has focused on special cases such as single machine, parallel machine, and flowshop environments due to the \"hardness\" of general job shop problems. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm based on an integration of a genetic algorithm and heuristic rules is proposed for a general job shop scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setups (Jm|sjk|Cmax). An embedded simulator is employed to implement the heuristic rules, which greatly enhances the flexibility of the algorithm. Knowledge relevant to the problem is inherent in the heuristic rules making the genetic algorithm more efficient, while the optimization procedure provided by the genetic algorithm makes the heuristic rules more effective. Extensive numerical experiments have been conducted and the results have shown that the hybrid approach is superior when compared to recently published existing methods for the same problem. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

This paper incorporates cones on virtual multipliers of inputs and outputs into DEA analysis. Cone DEA models are developed to generalize the dual of the BCC models as well as congestion models. Input-output data and/or numbers of DMUs for BCC models are inadequate to capture many aspects where judgments, expert opinions, and other external information should be taken into analysis. Cone DEA models, on the other hand, offer improved definitions of efficiency over general cone and polyhedral cone structures. The relationships between cone models and BCC models as well as those between cone models and congestion models are discussed in the development. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate our findings. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

In this information age, business leaders who are able to access more information and make use of it will likely be the winners in the marketplace. Among the different information sources and media, the Internet is a leading technology which facilitates information exchange internationally. Furthermore, the World Wide Web (WWW) is the most popular application on the Internet, used for many diversified business purposes including direct sales, advertisement, customer support, etc. The astonishing growth of WWW users is clear evidence of this. This study investigates how far electronic commerce, and in particular business use of the WWW has actually progressed in Hong Kong. The correlation between companies' business types and their purposes of using Web pages through the WWW are also studied. By physically visiting the Web sites of Hong Kong's commerce, a survey is conducted and the results are summarized.

DHL, an international air‐express courier, has been operating in Hong Kong for many years. In 1998, the new international airport located at a site considerably distant from the old location opened in Hong Kong (HK). Other airport‐related infrastructure facilities have also been developed or are being developed, resulting in major changes in transport structure as well as a shift in customer demand. In this paper a multiyear distribution network is designed for DHL(HK) using an integrated network design methodology, which consists of a macro model and a micro model. The macro model, a mixed 0–1 LP, determines in an aggregate manner the least‐cost distribution network. The micro model, a simulation, evaluates the operational viability and efficacy of the network according to its service coverage and service reliability. We also illustrate how coverage and reliability can be improved via the integrated use of the two models. Extensive discussion on relevant planning and operational issues of an air‐express courier are included. The methodology has been successfully implemented at DHL(HK). It has been used to design the network, to test strategic decisions, and to update the network.

Attitudes toward the Internet/World Wide Web among US, France and Hong Kong students are examined. Results indicate that US students, in general, have a more positive attitude toward the Internet/WWW than subjects from Hong Kong and France.