If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.A comparative analysis and review of JIT 39Additionally, JIT and the role of culture in successful JIT implementation is discussed. A brief discussion of the background information on JIT implementation follows. Just-in-timeOne of the major problems in the literature is the lack of consensus concerning the interpretation and meaning of JIT implementation. The term has often been used quite loosely. The interpretation and meanings of JIT has varied based on the author's background and the different collection of features. The meaning of JIT ranges from an emphasis on inventory reduction and elimination of waste, to a new vocabulary of "pull" versus "push" systems. Additionally, some will call JIT "common sense" (something we already know) and in the same breath say that JIT is a "complicated philosophy" which goes beyond work organization, and a full understanding requires a knowledge of the mystique of Japanese culture[3]. The one major consensus among researchers and practitioners is that the implementation of JIT is a "good thing" as exemplified by Japan's success. The major cause of confusion seems to be the broad nature of the meaning and interpretation of JIT implementation in the literature. The majority of the researchers who have addressed JIT implementation state that it will eliminate the waste from all aspects of business, people involvement, improve quality in all areas, continuous improvement throughout the business, and maintenance in all things. Role of culture in JIT implementationJapanese culture is one which imbues the individual always to strive to achieve a goal which is within reach but requires a great deal of discipline and development of a higher level of commitment to achieve.Many researchers argue that culture is the most critical element to the successful JIT implementation by Japanese[4-6]. These researchers have classified Japanese culture issues into two broad categories: worker related and management related. Japanese workers are totally committed to their work and the company. They are loyal, co-operative, flexible and willing to work long hours when needed. Japanese management is characterized by life-time employment, approaching decision making from the...

The decision to outsource applications development and support to a foreign vendor involves not only the myriad issues pertinent to outsourcing in general. but a host of additional risks and challenges unique to firms operating in different legal and cultural environments. Careful assessment of these issues helps determine whether offshore outsourcing will realize its potential to reduce costs, improve software quality, and achieve economies of scale in skills acquisition. S~~\ I ) I~R R L \ I A M P Uis ussistdnl professor af C I S u t fhr Uniwrsity a{Sewdo, Keno. hlOSICA 1. I',\R%ISCER is an instructor oflT munugea r s t of Christian Hrothrrs University irt ,Memphis. AUCUSI'ISIIA. IADO is un us~islunl professor of sfrulegic rnunugcment of ClnelundSfatr University.ORlSlCN OU'I'SOUKCING I-IAS reccntly bccn transforrncd from a curious idca tn a major crazc, largcly as ;I result of growing pressures t o reducc costs. resolvc personnel problems, and increasc comixtitivcness. Many US con~panics that view outsourcing as an effcctivc way of lcveraging rcsourccs and managing costs are increasingly shifting at least somc of tlicir IS activities. especially applications dc\doprncnt and support, t o forcign sitcs in countries such as Ireland, India, and Argentina.~\ltliougli forcign outsourcing has somc bencfits, it also has many drawbacks. This article esamincs the forcign outsourcing phenorncnon from :an applications devclopmcnt pcrspective. particularly the risks, benefits, and issues involvcd in making the decision to usc a forcign vendor. FOREIGN OUTSOURCING DEFINEDIn its 1,roadcst context, forcign or offsliorc outsourcing is t h c sharing or transferring of rcsponsihility for some or all IS serviccs to a third-party x d o r wlio opcrates from a foreign country. Foreign vc~iclors rangc from small opcmtors to large multi~lationals. Thc) offcr the following Ixoxl spectruni of services: 0 Dota entry and simplc processing. Data-entry and processing functions Ii;~ve h c c~i outsourced to forcign vendors sincc t11c early 1960s. 0 Fuciliti~s managenzcrlt. /\ f;lcilitics illmlagcmcnt agrccmcnt givcs thc ve~ldor rcsponsildity for operation and support of a systcm or d:~ta centcr functions, includi~lg softw;~rc.h;~rdwarc, networking. and pcrsonncl. 0 Controct progrunitnir~g. Contract progralnming arr:mgemcnts addrcss software dcvelopmcnt and maintenancc facilities, including systems :~nalysis. design. progr:lmming, tcsting, implanentation. and mnintenancc.0 Systems integratior~. Outsourccd systcms intcgration involves the dc\~elopmcnt of a fully integrated systcm from design through implcmcntation. Undcr a typical, onc-timc basis contract, the \,endor turns thc system over to the customer following implemcnt;~ti~m. 0 h'laintenance/scr\~ice of support opcr:~tions and provision of specialty serviccs, These services include i1clp desk operations and disastcr recowry services.Many govcrlimcnts and world organizations that rccognizc tllc economic potential of the software industry are tnking actions to liclp

Past research suggests that problem solving and/or decision behavior can be altered and improved by the changes in the way information is accessed and displayed. Also, researchers have found that the usefulness of different information display formats are contingent on the characteristics of the problem task. This research investigated the impact on problem solving when accessing and using information from linear and nonlinear systems. Also, the research investigated problem-solving performance of linear and nonlinear systems when applied to different combinations of problem tasks. In a laboratory setting, linear and nonlinear systems were developed to conduct this experiment. This experiment used 64 graduate business students in a two-factor repeated-measures design employing a multivariate analysis of variance to analyze the data. Repeated measures were conducted to analyze the experimental group under both linear and nonlinear treatments. The findings from the study support the notion that the nonlinear system resulted in superior problem solving and higher levels of user satisfaction than the linear system. Specifically, the nonlinear system enabled users to make faster and more accurate decisions on perceptual problem tasks than did the linear system. For analytical problem tasks, users performed faster with the nonlinear system; however, there was no significant difference in accuracy. User satisfaction was higher with the nonlinear system under both perceptual and analytical tasks.*The authors would like to thank Iris Vessey for allowing us to use the experimental tasks from her previous work. We also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers, the Special Focus Editor (Kenneth E. Kendall), Mark Simkin, and Mike Thomas for their excellent insightful comments and guidance provided in making the manuscript more readable.

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