In this article, the impact of strategic orientations on the use of digital marketing tactics and, subsequently, on the international business performance of small electronic retailers (e-retailers) in cross-border electronic commerce (e-commerce) is analysed. Furthermore, these relationships are compared between e-retailers originating in both developed and emerging e-commerce markets. Using a sample of 446 small business-to-consumer e-retailers from 20 European countries, we find that the deployment of digital marketing tactics has a positive effect on international business performance. Of the strategic orientations examined, foreign market orientation is most associated with the use of digital marketing tactics. Remarkably, growth orientation only has a positive effect on e-retailers from developed e-commerce markets, while customer orientation negatively affects e-retailers from emerging e-commerce markets. The differences between e-retailers from developed and emerging e-commerce markets are prominent and show that markets should not be considered as either uniform or generalisable.
Peer reviewed research paper SEFI Engineering Education congress 2018 Within higher engineering education, students have to learn to close knowledge gaps that arise in professional assignments, such as capstone projects. These knowledge gaps can be closed through simple inquiry, but can also require more rigorous research. Since professionals work under tight constraints, they face constant trade-offs between quality, risk and efficiency to find answers that are acceptable. This means engineers use pragmatic research tactics that aim for the highest chance to find answers that fit sufficiently to close knowledge gaps in order to solve the problem with optimal use of time and resources. The problem is that research and problem-solving literature richly supplies solid strategies suitable to plan the research in projects as a whole, but hardly supplies flexible tactics to search for information within a project. This paper reports pragmatic tactics that starting bachelor engineering professionals use to acquire sufficiently good answers to questions that arise in the context of their assignments. For this, we conducted semi-structured interviews among computer science engineers with three to five years of work experience. The study reveals three pragmatic tactics: concentric, iterative and probe-response. The ambition level of the project determines when questions are sufficiently answered, and we distinguish tree sufficiency levels: check for viable answer, boost critical demand and change the game. The aim of this research is to add a view that makes pragmatic research choices for novice engineers more open to discussion and realistic.
As smart solutions for healthcare (eHealth) are becoming increasingly widespread, apps and other digital devices may effectively complement various forms of psychotherapy. We point at children and adolescents in psychological therapy as a yet-underserved public for similar solutions. Moreover, a shared design sensibility between interaction designers, game designers, and therapists is still lacking. The Games 4 Therapy initiative was launched to address this problem space through practical design explorations. We illustrate its design research agenda, we call for more attention to children and adolescents as important recipients of digitally-mediated psychological therapies, and we offer actionable concepts and game design tactics for interaction designers and psychotherapists. Finally, we discuss our findings by "thinking through" a selection of conceptual design explorations, pointing at the characteristics and tactics we identified in our sketches.
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Dit onderzoek richt zich op het verbeteren van kwaliteit van leven in de palliatieve levensfase van mensen met kanker. Het onderzoeksvoorstel ABL-PC heeft als doel een verkenning van een interventie voor deze doelgroep. Uiteindelijk kan de inzet hiervan leiden tot vergroting van kennis van persoonlijke behoeftes en vragen van deze doelgroep en draagt zo bij aan verbetering van kwaliteit van de palliatieve zorg. MOTIEF: Er komt steeds meer aandacht voor het belang van de rol van zingeving als onderdeel van kwaliteit van de zorg (Huber et al, 2016; ZonMW, 2016), en ook in de zorg in de palliatieve levensfase (Medische Oncologie, nr 1., 2019). Er zijn richtlijnen ter verbetering van de palliatieve zorg (Kwaliteitskader palliatieve zorg Nederland, IKNL/Palliactief, 2017, O2PZ 2019) en er bestaat een overzicht van instrumenten voor zorgverleners (Goede Voorbeelden, Verbeterprogramma ZonMw 2016). Er ontbreken echter interventies rondom zingeving voor zorgvragers die praktisch zijn georiënteerd en theoretisch en empirisch zijn onderbouwd. RESULTATEN: 1) Een multidisciplinair netwerk vanuit de praktijk, kunsten, de medische en psychologische wetenschap voor het ontwikkelen van een innovatieve interventie, 2) Een opzet voor een praktische interventie voor zingeving vanuit persoonlijke vragen, 3) Een wetenschappelijk artikel over dit onderzoek 4) Inrichting van een grootschalig vervolgonderzoek. INHOUD: Het onderzoek is opgebouwd als een iteratief proces waarbij onderzoekers samen met de praktijk, een bestaande kunstkijk methode Art-Based Learning (ABL) (Lutters, 2012), door- ontwikkelen tot interventie voor de palliatieve zorg: Art-Based Learning-Palliative Care (ABL-PC). Deze interventie genereert door het aandachtig en op systematische wijze kijken naar kunst, nieuwe mentale ervaringen en bewustzijn, vanuit zingevingsvragen bij de doelgroep. PARTNERS: In dit ontwerpgericht onderzoek werken samen: Amsterdam UMC (AUMC/VUmc), de Nederlandse Federatie van Kankerpatiënten organisaties (NFK), ArtEZ, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (Lectoraat Kunst- en Cultuur Educatie), Universiteit Twente (Narratieve Psychologie), Museum Jan Cunen, Amsterdam Museum.
Despite the benefits of the widespread deployment of diverse Internet-enabled devices such as IP cameras and smart home appliances - the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) has amplified the attack surface that is being leveraged by cyber criminals. While manufacturers and vendors keep deploying new products, infected devices can be counted in the millions and spreading at an alarming rate all over consumer and business networks. The objective of this project is twofold: (i) to explain the causes behind these infections and the inherent insecurity of the IoT paradigm by exploring innovative data analytics as applied to raw cyber security data; and (ii) to promote effective remediation mechanisms that mitigate the threat of the currently vulnerable and infected IoT devices. By performing large-scale passive and active measurements, this project will allow the characterization and attribution of compromise IoT devices. Understanding the type of devices that are getting compromised and the reasons behind the attacker’s intention is essential to design effective countermeasures. This project will build on the state of the art in information theoretic data mining (e.g., using the minimum description length and maximum entropy principles), statistical pattern mining, and interactive data exploration and analytics to create a casual model that allows explaining the attacker’s tactics and techniques. The project will research formal correlation methods rooted in stochastic data assemblies between IoT-relevant measurements and IoT malware binaries as captured by an IoT-specific honeypot to aid in the attribution and thus the remediation objective. Research outcomes of this project will benefit society in addressing important IoT security problems before manufacturers saturate the market with ostensibly useful and innovative gadgets that lack sufficient security features, thus being vulnerable to attacks and malware infestations, which can turn them into rogue agents. However, the insights gained will not be limited to the attacker behavior and attribution, but also to the remediation of the infected devices. Based on a casual model and output of the correlation analyses, this project will follow an innovative approach to understand the remediation impact of malware notifications by conducting a longitudinal quasi-experimental analysis. The quasi-experimental analyses will examine remediation rates of infected/vulnerable IoT devices in order to make better inferences about the impact of the characteristics of the notification and infected user’s reaction. The research will provide new perspectives, information, insights, and approaches to vulnerability and malware notifications that differ from the previous reliance on models calibrated with cross-sectional analysis. This project will enable more robust use of longitudinal estimates based on documented remediation change. Project results and methods will enhance the capacity of Internet intermediaries (e.g., ISPs and hosting providers) to better handle abuse/vulnerability reporting which in turn will serve as a preemptive countermeasure. The data and methods will allow to investigate the behavior of infected individuals and firms at a microscopic scale and reveal the causal relations among infections, human factor and remediation.
Being diagnosed with incurable cancer often leads to experiences of contingency and to existential concerns when patients struggle to search for meaning. The aims of this project are to (1) investigate how Art-Based Learning(ABL) – an art education method for experiencing art – has the potential to affect meaning-making processes of cancer patients in palliative care; (2) to investigate how to integrate this in (patient) education programs; (3) to enable health and art professionals to extent their capabilities to care for PC patients. This project builds on previous research on contingent experiences and narrative meaning-making, and on a pilot-study regarding the feasibility of carrying out ABL in PC. Aims and questions have been developed in a long-lasting process of problem analysis with PC and art education professionals, patients, and researchers. We will a) conduct participatory research to make an inventory of considerations that play a role in designing an art exhibition for the purpose of ABL among patients with advanced cancer, resulting in a manual to be used in future practice and research; b) conduct an explorative study and evaluate which factors hinder and promote patients’ meaning- making processes in online/on-site interventions; c) conduct a formal analysis of patients’ experiences with regards to meaning-making; d) formally compile a full list of conclusion and advices and embed the result in a new educational program for PC and art education professionals. This project is led by the professorship Art education as Critical Tactics(ArtEZ University of the Arts) and is carried out by a consortium of experts and complementary partners: University of Amsterdam and University of Twente (research partners); Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam Museum, Museum Arnhem, Museum Jan Cunen, Leren van Kunst (public institutional partners); Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Radboud University, Story Lab-University Twente (knowledge experts); Living with Hope, SPKS, NFK(experience experts/patients advocacy).
