No abstract

Purpose -The move towards "blended learning", consisting of a combination of online and face-to-face teaching, continues to gain pace in universities around the world. It is important, however, to question the quality of this learning. The OECD has made use of a model of "Readiness, Intensity and Impact" for investigating the adoption and use of eBusiness technologies. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework, based on this model and adapted for blended learning, to assess the readiness, intensity of adoption and impact on blended learning offerings. The framework is tested via a description of how one university has adopted and used blended learning, and investigates the quality of the learning from this approach. Design/methodology/approach -The framework is tested via a case study involving the assessment of a blended learning approach to the delivery of a first-year undergraduate accounting unit at Victoria University, Australia. Various approaches to delivery are assessed over a two-year period. The results are drawn from a survey specifically designed to identify students' attitudes towards blended learning. Findings -Despite having three new online options readily available for students to access, there was strong support for face-to-face delivery methods. In relation to the framework, the assessment suggested that certain aspects of the university's blended learning approach could be investigated further (particularly student readiness for different blended learning options and an overall assessment of the impact of a blended approach), to provide a more holistic view of the readiness to adopt and impact of the blended learning offerings. Originality/value -The value of this contribution lies in the development of a unique framework to assess the impact of blended learning approaches from the viewpoint of student readiness and intensity of separate delivery approaches -whilst maintaining the need to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning as an overall package.

This paper provides a new perspective of the realities faced by small tourism enterprises in the developing world. Given the well-recognised value of the Internet in tourism, we sought to identify how entrepreneurs mitigate Internet adoption obstacles such as the inadequate and unreliable telecommunications infrastructure, the cost of the technology, and a lack of knowledge and skills that characterise developing nations. A qualitative study was performed on small tourism enterprises in rural and metropolitan areas of Malaysia and Ecuador. We found that entrepreneurs established ways to overcome obstacles, with some applying quite innovative solutions. This paper helps to understand the role of entrepreneurs in innovation adoption and improve knowledge of Internet appropriation among small tourism enterprises in developing nations. A number of transferable lessons are identified.

Consumers are increasingly turning to the online environment to provide information to assist them in making purchase decisions related to travel products. They often rely on travel recommendations from different sources, such as sellers, independent experts and, increasingly, other consumers. A new type of online content, user-generated content (UGC), provides a number of legal and social challenges to providers and users of that content, especially in relation to areas such as defamation, misrepresentation and social embarrassment. This paper reports research that examined the level of trustworthiness of online travel information from these different sources. The study used a survey of Australian travel consumers (n=12,000) and results support the notion that there are differences in the level of trust for online travel information from different sources. Respondents 'tended to agree' that they trusted information provided by travel agents, information from commercial operators and comments made by travellers on third party websites. However, the highest level of trust was afforded to information provided on State government tourism websites. These results suggest that greater trust is placed in online travel comments when they are on a specific travel website than when they are on a more generic social networking website. However, respondents were 'not sure' that they trusted comments made by travellers on weblogs and on social networking sites. Some 88% of respondents that had not visited UGC websites (or were unsure if they had) indicated that they thought that UGC would be useful in the future -suggesting that they feel that any concerns they may have in relation to legal and social problems resulting from its use will be resolved.

Purpose -This paper aims to report on research that examined the recent scholarly literature to identify the information quality attributes associated with radio frequency identification (RFID)-based benefits across sectors of the retail supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -Reflecting the recent interest in RFID technology, the literature review was limited to scholarly articles published since the late 1990s when there appears to have been a surge in research and publishing activity. Moreover, the paper uncouples RFID-focused technology findings that are a feature of many previous publications and reports on the decision-making attributes associated with the perceived benefits of adopting the technology. Findings -Many RFID-based benefits were found to be associated with the distribution and transportation sectors of the supply chain, however, an emerging number are also apparent in the retail and post retail domains. The improved information value associated with RFID-derived benefits was embodied in quality attributes that included timeliness, currency, accuracy and completeness. The paper proposes an RFID information value chain that maps benefits and information attributes across the supply chain. The paper is also one of the first that attempts to relate RFID-derived information with aspects of organisational decision making. Research limitations/implications -This study identified information attributes associated with RFID adoption within the retail supply chain that have led to enhanced organisational responsiveness through improved decision-making capabilities. As exploratory research in a nascent and emerging area, this research should be viewed as a starting point in the examination and identification of RFID-derived benefits and information, rather than a prescriptive and/or definitive type of classification system for RFID. Practical implications -Practical examples of RFID-derived benefits distilled from the literature tend to provide important retail supply chain lessons for organisations that are currently piloting or expecting to trial RFID. The study highlights operational and strategic implications of adopting RFID technology discussing them from an information value perspective. Originality/value -The paper is one of the first that examines the information value of RFID-derived benefits across the organisational supply chain. Moreover, both benefits and information attributes are mapped to specific sectors of the retail and distribution supply chain.