SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES ARE FUNDAMENTAL FOR THE PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS. HOWEVER, THE MOST PERTINENT ONES ARE NOT ALWAYS SELECTED DEPENDING ON THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE, WHICH COULD RESULT IN FAILED PROJECTS. IN FACT, SEVERAL REPORTS SHOW A HIGH RATE OF FAILURE IN SOFTWARE PROJECTS. THE TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY CHOSEN IS ONE IMPORTANT FACTOR WHEN DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN SUCCESSFUL FROM UNSUCCESSFUL PROJECTS. FOR EXAMPLE, IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT PROJECTS THAT USE AGILE PRACTICES HAVE A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF SUCCESS. HOWEVER, AGILE METHODOLOGIES ARE NOT NECESSARILY APPROPRIATE FOR ANY TYPE OF PROJECT. GIVEN THE ABOVE, A DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM PROTOTYPE WAS DEVELOPED, THAT ALLOWS GUIDING DEVELOPERS WITH LOW EXPERIENCE OR KNOWLEDGE TO SELECT MORE APPROPRIATE METHODOLOGIES ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT CRITERIA. THESE CRITERIA WERE OBTAINED FROM BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES AND THEN VALIDATED AND COMPLEMENTED THROUGH AN EMPIRICAL STUDY WHERE SURVEYS WERE APPLIED TO PROFESSIONALS OF COMPANIES THAT DEVELOP SOFTWARE IN CHILE.

THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR (TPB) HAS BEEN WIDELY USED TO PREDICT BEHAVIORAL INTENTION OF DIFFERENT KINDS. HOWEVER, THERE IS A LACK OF STUDIES THAT HAVE MEASURED THE FACTORIAL STRUCTURE OF THE TPB INSTRUMENT. IN ADDITION, FINDINGS THAT APPLY TO ONE CONTEXT MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS. THUS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON MEASUREMENT AND INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT ISSUES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THEORY BUILDING. BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 210 MANAGERS/OWNERS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES IN CHILE, THIS RESEARCH USES CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (CFA) AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING (SEM) TO TEST THE UNDERLYING FACTOR STRUCTURE AND ASSESS RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE TPB INSTRUMENT. THE RESULTS PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR A REVISED TPB MODEL WHICH EXPLAINS EIGHTY-ONE PERCENT OF THE VARIANCE IN INTENTION BY USING ATTITUDES, SUBJECTIVE NORMS, AND PERCEIVED BEHAVIORAL CONTROL VARIABLES. THUS, THE EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE USE OF AN ELEVEN-ITEM INSTRUMENT WHEN APPLYING THE TPB IN THIS INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT.

THIS STUDY AIMS TO EXAMINE THE CAPACITY OF THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR (TPB) TO EXPLAIN THE INTENTION TO USE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES BY OLDER PEOPLE IN TWO TIME PERIODS, BEFORE AND AFTER CONFINEMENT DUE TO THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC, AS WELL AS THE EVOLUTION OF EFFECTS (PATHS) OVER TIME OF TPB?S DETERMINANTS. BASED ON INTERVIEWS FROM SAMPLES OF 384 AND 383 ELDERLY CHILEAN ADULTS COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER CONFINEMENT, THE EVOLUTION OF THE EFFECTS (PATHS) WAS ANALYSED USING THE TPB MODEL APPLYING THE PLS-SEM TECHNIQUE. THE INTENTION TO USE SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THREE FACTORS WERE EVALUATED: ATTITUDE TOWARD THE BEHAVIOUR, SUBJECTIVE NORMS, AND PERCEIVED CONTROL OVER THE BEHAVIOUR. THE MODEL EXPLAINS THE INTENTION TO USE SOCIAL NETWORKS BY 27% BEFORE CONFINEMENT, INCREASING ITS MAGNITUDE TO 50% AFTER CONFINEMENT. AFTER THE PERIOD OF CONFINEMENT, THEIR ATTITUDES BECOME MORE SIGNIFICANT, THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL BECOME LESS IMPORTANT, AND SOCIAL PRESSURES REMAIN PERMANENT IN PREDICTING THE BEHAVIOUR. IN CONCLUSION, BETTER ACCESS AND GREATER USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS BY OLDER PEOPLE DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD INCREASED THE PREDICTIVE STRENGTH OF THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THESE TECHNOLOGIES.

OLDER ADULTS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (SNS). HOWEVER, SNS ARE NOT WITHOUT THE ACCESS GAP AMONG ELDERS. ASSUMING THAT THE DATA ARE HOMOGENOUS WITHIN THE SAME POPULATION MAY NOT BE PRECISE IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE HETEROGENEOUS NATURE OF OLDER PEOPLE? CONSIDERING THIS ISSUE AND THE LACK OF RESEARCH TO HELP REFLECT THE HETEROGENEITY OF ELDERLY USERS OF TECHNOLOGIES, THIS STUDY AIMS TO IDENTIFY SEGMENTS IN THE USE OF SNS BY THE ELDERLY. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM OLDER CHILEAN ADULTS. CLUSTER ANALYSIS SUGGESTED DIFFERENT PROFILES OF ADULT USERS REGARDING THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS INDEX. WE USED A HYBRID MULTIGROUP PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES-STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL, INCLUDING THE PATHMOX ALGORITHM, TO IDENTIFY SEGMENTS IN THE STRUCTURAL MODEL. BASED ON THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS PROFILES AND THE GENERATION, WE IDENTIFIED THREE SEGMENTS WITH DIFFERENT DETERMINANT EFFECTS TO EXPLAIN THE INTENTION TO USE SNS: INDEPENDENT ELDER, TECHNOLOGICAL-APATHETIC ELDER, AND TECHNOLOGICAL-EAGER ELDER. THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THIS STUDY ARE TRIPLE. FIRST, THIS STUDY HELPS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THE ELDERLY ADOPT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. SECOND, THIS STUDY COMPLEMENTS THE EXISTING CORPUS OF RESEARCH ON USING THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS INDEX IN THE ELDERLY POPULATION. THIRD, WE USED AN INNOVATIVE METHOD TO SEGMENT USERS IN THE ACCEPTANCE TECHNOLOGY MODEL.

THE STUDY OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION HAS RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION FROM RESEARCHERS IN THE IS COMMUNITY IN RECENT YEARS. WITH THE INCREASED USE OF THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB, BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS THAT E-COMMERCE CAN PROVIDE. HOWEVER, A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES HAVE NOT ADOPTED E-COMMERCE YET. THIS STUDY SURVEYED MANAGERS/OWNERS OF SMES TO IDENTIFY VARIABLES THAT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ADOPTERS AND NON-ADOPTERS OF E-COMMERCE. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT SMES MOST RECEPTIVE TO ADOPTING E-COMMERCE HAVE THE FINANCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES, SEE E-COMMERCE AS USEFUL FOR THEIR FIRMS, AND FEEL EXTERNAL PRESSURE TO INTEGRATE E-COMMERCE INTO THEIR ORGANIZATION.

SEVERAL FACTORS HAVE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO GUARANTEE COMPUTER USAGE. IN THIS STUDY, WE FOCUSED ATTENTION ON SOME OF THESE FACTORS AND CREATED A THEORETICAL MODEL TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPUTER LITERACY, ATTITUDES, PERCEIVED EASE OF USE, AND PERCEIVED USEFULNESS AS DETERMINANTS OF COMPUTER USAGE. ADDITIONALLY, WE EXAMINED THE IMPACT OF SOME EXTERNAL VARIABLES SUCH AS GENDER, INCOME, AND OTHERS ON COMPUTER LITERACY, PERCEIVED EASE OF USE, PERCEIVED USEFULNESS, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD COMPUTERS. WE STUDIED THESE RELATIONSHIPS AND INVESTIGATED HOW GENDER AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND MEDIATE THE HYPOTHESIZED RELATIONSHIPS. TO VALIDATE THE RESEARCH MODEL, WE COLLECTED DATA FROM 166 STUDENTS AT A REGIONAL MIDWEST UNIVERSITY. FINDING SUPPORT FOR THE PROPOSED MODEL IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT CAN MAKE BETTER DECISIONS WHEN FACING EMPLOYEE TRAINING ISSUES AND ALSO FOR SCHOLARS AND CURRICULUM ADMINISTRATORS. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT GENDER, TRADITIONAL VS. NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS CATEGORIES, EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND (BUSINESS VS. NON-BUSINESS), CLASSIFICATION (FULL-TIME VS. PART-TIME) WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN AFFECTING STUDENTS' COMPUTER USAGE. HOWEVER, INCOME, SELF-REPORTED MEASURE OF COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE, PERCEIVED EASE OF USE, PERCEIVED USEFULNESS, COMPUTER LITERACY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD COMPUTERS (POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE) WERE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS THAT IMPACTED STUDENTS' COMPUTER USAGE.

PURPOSE THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER IS TO DETERMINE DIFFERENCES IN CUSTOMERS? PERSONAL DISPOSITION TO ONLINE SHOPPING. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH THE RESEARCH MODEL WAS PROPOSED BASED ON TWO TYPES OF PURCHASES (HEDONIC VS UTILITARIAN) AND ON PERSONAL TRAITS OF INDIVIDUALS AGAINST TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS INDEX (TRI) 2.0. GENERATION AND GENDER WERE CONSIDERED TO EVALUATE THEIR IMPACT ON THE TYPE OF PURCHASES. CONSUMERS? DATA WERE COLLECTED IN CHILE THROUGH 788 FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS. THE PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES APPROACH WAS USED TO TEST THE RESEARCH MODEL. FINDINGS THE FINDINGS SHOW THAT OPTIMISM AND DISCOMFORT INFLUENCE ONLINE SHOPPING. MOREOVER, GENERATION AND GENDER MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIMENSIONS OF THE TRI AND ONLINE PURCHASES. ORIGINALITY/VALUE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS STUDY ARE THREEFOLD. THE ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL TRAITS AND THE TYPE OF PURCHASES CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXISTING LITERATURE ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND E-COMMERCE, AND PROVIDE SOME INSIGHTS FOR MARKETERS TO IDENTIFY SEGMENTATION STRATEGIES BY ANALYZING THE GENDER AND GENERATION OF INDIVIDUALS. SECOND, THIS STUDY CONTRIBUTES TO EXAMINING THE STABILITY AND INVARIANCES OF THE TRI 2.0 INSTRUMENT, WHICH HAS NOT BEEN FULLY REVISED IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. THIRD, THIS STUDY ADDS TO THE EXISTING BODY OF RESEARCH THAT ARGUES THAT DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION BY INDIVIDUALS BY INCLUDING PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES.

IN THIS PAPER, WE PROPOSE A COGNITIVE SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE USER EXPERIENCE IN SEARCHING FOR ACADEMIC INFORMATION WITH A CHATBOT. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SEARCH SYSTEMS AND THE PROPOSED COGNITIVE SYSTEM IS TO IMPROVE THE USER EXPERIENCE (UX) THROUGH OPTIMIZATION FACTORS SUCH AS RESPONSE TIME, EASE OF USE, FRIENDLY INTERFACE, AND USER INTERACTION THROUGH COGNITIVE SERVICES CLOUD COMPUTING. THIS CAN GO BEYOND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN A CHATBOT AND HUMAN SINCE THE USER EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT AND CAN DEFINE THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF A SYSTEM. VALIDATION OF THE PROPOSED COGNITIVE SYSTEM WAS MADE WITH POTENTIAL USERS OF A PERUVIAN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION THROUGH A CHATBOT PROTOTYPE. VALIDATION CONSISTED OF OBTAINING RESULTS AND USER OPINIONS OF THE CURRENT SEARCH SYSTEM OF THE INSTITUTION AND COMPARED THEM WITH RESULTS AND USER OPINIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROTOTYPE CHATBOT. THE RESULTS SHOWED AN 89.5% REDUCTION IN THE AVERAGE RESPONSE EXPECTED AND ACCEPTANCE LEVEL OF 63.2% WITHIN THE TARGET POPULATION.

CURRENTLY, THE DETECTION OF STUDENTS WHO MAY DROP OUT FROM AN ACADEMIC PROGRAM IS A RELEVANT ISSUE FOR UNIVERSITIES, SO THERE ARE EFFORTS TO EXAMINE THE VARIABLES THAT DETERMINE STUDENTS DROP OUT. DROP OUT IS DEFINED IN DIFFERENT WAYS, HOWEVER, ALL THE STUDIES CONVERGE IN THAT FOR A STUDENT TO DROP OUT A COURSE OF STUDY, SOME VARIABLES MUST BE COMBINED. THIS STUDY PRESENTS A COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS OF THE CURRENT DROP OUT MODEL OF THE UNIVERSIDAD DEL BÍO-BÍO (UBB), WHICH IS BASED ON LOGISTIC REGRESSION TECHNIQUE AND IT IS COMPARED WITH A NEW MODEL BASED ON DECISION TREES. THE NEW MODEL IS OBTAINED THROUGH DATA MINING METHODOLOGIES AND IT WAS IMPLEMENTED THROUGH THE SAP PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS TOOL. TO TRAIN, VALIDATE, AND APPLY THE MODEL, REAL DATA FROM THE UBB DATABASES WERE USED. THE COMPARISON SHOWS THAT THE PREDICTION OF STUDENT´ DROP OUT OF THE PROPOSED MODEL OBTAINS AN ACCURACY OF 86%, A PRECISION OF 97% WITH AN ERROR RATE OF 14%, BETTER INDICATORS THAN THE CURRENT VALUES DELIVERED BY THE MODEL BASED ON LOGISTIC REGRESSION. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE PREDICTION MODEL OBTAINED WAS OPTIMIZED CONSIDERING OTHER VARIABLES, IMPROVING EVEN MORE THE PREDICTION INDICATORS. HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE VARIABLES THAT EXPLAIN THE MOST THE PHENOMENON OF STUDENT S DROP OUT TO IMPROVE THE RETENTION OF THEIR STUDENTS.

E-COMMERCE IS A STRATEGY FOR RAPID GROWTH, ESPECIALLY BY SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES (SMES). HOWEVER, THE ADOPTION RATE OF E-COMMERCE BY SMES IN LATIN AMERICA IS STILL UNDERSIZED. THE AUTHORS COMPARE THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR (TPB) AND THE THEORY OF REASONED ACTION (TRA) USING STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING TO DETERMINE WHICH IS BETTER AT PREDICTING E-COMMERCE ADOPTION INTENTIONS AMONG 210 SME MANAGERS/OWNERS IN CHILE. CONTRARY TO PREVIOUS RESEARCH WITH AMERICAN RESPONDENTS, THE STUDY DOES NOT FIND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO THEORIES. THUS, ACADEMICS SHOULD SELECT THE MORE PARSIMONIOUS MODEL (TRA) TO STUDY E-COMMERCE ADOPTION ISSUES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

DESPITE THE BENEFITS OF ERP SYSTEMS IN THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADOPT THEM, THE LITERATURE HAS NOT BEEN CATEGORICAL IN DETERMINING WHETHER THESE SYSTEMS GENERATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, PARTICULARLY IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SMES). AS A WAY TO CONTRIBUTE IN THIS MATTER, THIS STUDY IN PROGRESS AIMS TO VALIDATE A RESEARCH MODEL BASED ON THE RESOURCE-BASED THEORY (BARNEY, 1991) THAT INTENDS TO EXPLAIN THE IMPACT THAT ERP SYSTEMS HAVE ON THE CAPACITY OF INTEGRATION AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SMES. THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS, OBTAINED FROM 89 MEXICAN SMES, INDICATE THAT IT AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES PRESENT IN THE COMPANIES ARE IMPORTANT TO GENERATE A GREATER CAPACITY FOR BUSINESS INTEGRATION THROUGH ERP SYSTEMS, WHICH DIRECTLY INFLUENCES THE OBTAINING OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. A PESAR DE LOS BENEFICIOS QUE PRESENTAN LOS SISTEMAS ERP EN LAS ORGANIZACIONES QUE LOS ADOPTAN, LA LITERATURA NO HA SIDO CATEGÓRICA EN DETERMINAR SI ESTOS SISTEMAS GENERAN VENTAJA COMPETITIVA, PARTICULARMENTE EN LAS PEQUEÑAS Y MEDIANAS EMPRESAS (PYMES). COMO UNA FORMA DE APORTAR EN ESTA MATERIA, ESTE ESTUDIO EN PROGRESO TIENE POR OBJETIVO VALIDAR UN MODELO DE INVESTIGACIÓN BASADO EN LA TEORÍA DE RECURSOS Y CAPACIDADES (BARNEY, 1991) QUE INTENTA EXPLICAR EL IMPACTO QUE PRODUCEN LOS SISTEMAS ERP EN LA CAPACIDAD DE INTEGRACIÓN Y VENTAJA COMPETITIVA DE LAS PYMES. LOS RESULTADOS PRELIMINARES, OBTENIDOS A PARTIR DE 89 PYMES MEXICANAS, INDICAN QUE LOS RECURSOS TI Y ORGANIZACIONALES PRESENTES EN LAS EMPRESAS SON IMPORTANTES PARA GENERAR UNA MAYOR CAPACIDAD DE INTEGRACIÓN DEL NEGOCIO A TRAVÉS DE LOS SISTEMAS ERP, LO CUAL INFLUYE DIRECTAMENTE EN LA OBTENCIÓN DE VENTAJA COMPETITIVA.

WEB SYSTEMS DESIGN AND ONLINE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TAKES AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TOWARD SYSTEMS DESIGN IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT BY PROVIDING AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CONSUMERS BEHAVE WHILE SHOPPING ONLINE AND HOW CERTAIN SYSTEM DESIGN ELEMENTS MAY IMPACT CONSUMERS' PERCEPTIONS, ATTITUDE, INTENTIONS, AND ACTUAL BEHAVIOR. THIS BOOK CONTAINS THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH FROM EXPERT SCHOLARS IN A NUMBER OF AREAS INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS, PSYCHOLOGY, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS. THIS BOOK PROVIDES AN INTEGRATED LOOK AT THE SUBJECT AREA AS DESCRIBED ABOVE TO FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE LINKAGE AMONG VARIOUS DISCIPLINES INHERENTLY CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.

THIS STUDY ANALYZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF E-VOTING IN A SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION LITTLE INVESTIGATED. THE UTAUT MODEL IS USED AS A THEORETICAL BASIS, TO WHICH TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY IS ADDED AS A PRECEDENT OF THE INTENTION TO USE E-VOTING. PERCEPTIONS OF PRIVACY AND SECURITY ARE ESTABLISHED AS DETERMINANTS OF TRUST TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY. THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT WITH STUDENTS OF A CHILEAN UNIVERSITY THROUGH AN ONLINE SURVEY. ALL THE PROPOSED CONSTRUCTS SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCE THE INTENTION TO USE E-VOTING, WITH SOCIAL INFLUENCE BEING THE FACTOR THAT INFLUENCES THE MOST, FOLLOWED BY TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY. GENDER ACTS AS A MODERATING VARIABLE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND THE INTENTION TO USE EVOTING, BEING STRONGER FOR MEN THAN FOR WOMEN. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS ARE STATED, AND FUTURE RESEARCH WORKS ARE PROPOSED.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO IDENTIFY QUALITIES THAT DEFINE A SUCCESSFUL CIO, BASED ON ORGANIZATIONAL COGNITION, AND CONTINGENT ON CONTEXT AND ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY. A QUALITATIVE APPROACH IS USED BASED ON THE THEORY OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS AND THE COGNITIVE MAPPING TOOL CALLED REPERTORY GRID. THREE DIMENSIONS OF QUALITIES WERE IDENTIFIED, PROMINENT AMONG THEM THE PERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL TYPE. THE STUDY CONFIRMS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF ASSUMPTIONS, VALUES, EXPECTATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS IN THE INTERPRETATION AND MEANING OF CONSTRUCTS RELATED TO THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ORGANIZATION.

THIS STUDY COMPARED INSTRUCTORS' PERCEPTIONS OF ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST ONLINE TEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH KOREA AND EXAMINED THE IMPACT OF SELECTED DEMOGRAPHICAL VARIABLES ON THESE PERCEPTIONS. RESULTS SHOWED THAT AMERICAN AND KOREAN INSTRUCTORS HAD SIMILAR PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ONLINE TEACHING. HOWEVER, THE TWO GROUPS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERED ON THE EXTENT OF AGREEMENT OR DISAGREEMENT WITH THE STATEMENTS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. SEVERAL OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES THAT WERE EXAMINED IN THE STUDY HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON PARTICIPANTS'R ESPONSES.

TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE STRATEGIC VALUE THAT E-BUSINESS APPLICATIONS BRING TO COMPANIES, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE A CLASSIFICATION MODEL BASED ON A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. THIS STUDY AIMS TO PROPOSE A CLASSIFICATION MODEL OF E-BUSINESS APPLICATIONS BASED ON PORTERS VALUE CHAIN AND ON DATA COLLECTED FROM CORPORATE PORTALS OF LARGE COMPANIES THAT DO BUSINESSES IN CHILE. FOR THIS PURPOSE A LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS WAS CARRIED OUT, A SUBSET OF THE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL THAT IS USED TO FIND SEGMENTS IN MULTIVARIATE CATEGORICAL DATA AND THAT RELATES A SET OF OBSERVED VARIABLES WITH A SET OF LATENT VARIABLES. THE RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS INDICATE EIGHT AREAS WHERE THE MAIN E-BUSINESS APPLICATIONS ARE LOCATED: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION, FINANCIAL AND CORPORATE STRUCTURE, DETAIL OF THE PRODUCT AND SERVICE OF THE COMPANY, PRODUCTS OR SERVICE MARKETING, ORGANIZATIONS GEOGRAPHIC DATA, AFTER-SALES SERVICE CHANNELS, ORGANIZATION LOCATION, AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION GATHERING. IN ADDITION TO ESTABLISHING A NEW CLASSIFICATION OF E-BUSINESS APPLICATIONS, THE MAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY REFERS TO THE INDICATION OF PATTERNS WHERE COMPANIES CAN FOCUS THEIR EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ORGANIZATIONAL AREAS THAT LACK AUTOMATION AND GENERATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES.