Suchergebnisse

This article studies strategies of representation of the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, in India's English print media and the construction of this crisis as a 'natural disaster' through an 'outbreak narrative'. This article will demonstrate the similarities in the use of the outbreak narrative between US public health discourse and representations of the global financial crisis. This similarity appears because both conditions face similar problems of representation and visualization.However, there are crucial differences between both representation strategies due to the different ideological contexts within which both discourses arose. Further, it studies the political economy of newspaper reportage about the impact of the crisis in India, through an examination of the ideological context of its construction and the frames through which it was appropriated by different political forces like the UPA government, representatives of capital and representatives of the left. This article argues that there was homogeneity in the appropriation of the outbreak narrative by representatives of the state, capital and left, who each positioned themselves as critiques of American neoliberalism, and saviours of the economy from the impacts of the global financial crisis.

Part 1: IS Success and Failure ; International audience ; Agriculture is an important economic activity and is a primary driver of economic growth of many developing countries. Improving the performance and profitability of agricultural markets will lead to the growth of the agricultural sector. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based Agricultural Market Information Systems (AMIS) is a development initiative which promises to empower the stakeholders of the agricultural supply chain with information and aid the development of the agricultural sector. Many attempts have been made by governments in a number of developing countries to provide AMIS, with a poor success rate. It is important to understand the factors that determine the success or failure of these systems. In this paper we take the theoretical lens provided by Bartels' theory of market separations in order to define the success of AMIS. Using a technical/rational view, we conduct a two level analysis of market separations – those in agricultural markets and those in AMIS services markets. We find that information separation is a strong feature that exists in agricultural markets and AMIS provide good means of reducing this separation. Success of AMIS is defined by the reduction of market separations at both these levels. Later we go beyond technical rationality and note that socio-political issues limit the utilization of market information provided by AMIS. Thus we state that socio-political separation of agricultural markets must also be tackled in order to successfully implement AMIS. A comprehensive policy environment in a region can help reduce these separations.

International audience ; This paper presents a case analysis of a failed e-government implementation in a developing country context. The project involved constructing a large system for a central government department in India. After seven years and a few million rupees in costs, the project was terminated. Prior research in failed information systems implementations has highlighted many issues, most of which are now part of software project management literature. With e-government systems, though scientific project management is diligently applied, failure rates are very high, particularly in developing countries. The analysis in this paper suggests that though issues of lack of user involvement, inadequate delegation, and improper planning are responsible, the important causes are the rituals that management enacted, that had overt rationality but buried agendas.

PurposeThis paper aims to show that the meaning of development influencing the design of ICT for development (ICT4D) projects is important in deciding what purpose they will eventually serve.Design/methodology/approachThrough a review of the literature on development and technology studies, the paper shows how different meanings of development guide technology usage and policy choice for land reforms. A case study of a land records computerization project in India is used to reinforce this claim.FindingsBy explaining alternative manifestations of interlinkages between development and technology, the paper demonstrates that the design choice, especially the content and service delivery model, for an ICT4D project gets influenced by the development context within which it is set.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus of the paper has been restricted to a limited context of information and communication technology usage – to land reforms as a development objective, in a relatively better‐off province of India. Future research will include ICT4D projects in other domains and in different socio‐economic settings.Practical implicationsThe findings will encourage ICT4D policy makers and project designers to broaden their perspectives of what constitutes development and explicitly acknowledge the importance of development contexts in influencing the outcomes of ICT4D projects.Originality/valuePrior research in ICT4D has not looked explicitly at the influence of development contexts in informing technology design. The paper attempts to fill this gap by tracing design choices to the contexts of technology use created through alternative understanding of the objectives of development. This can be of help to researchers looking at issues of technology use for societal development and for policy makers and project designers entrusted with the choice of technology.

Examines issues related to the successes and failures of Internet businesses. Recent literature has stressed the value of microeconomic models of markets to analyze e‐business models and strategy. The concepts of transaction costs, switching costs, network externalities and product versioning are especially useful in understanding business strategy in the new information economy. These concepts are reviewed and analyzed. A deeper assessment of Internet‐based businesses, both successes and failures, reveals a number of other constructs that are relevant for analysis, viz. infrastructure investment models, user experience models and models of revenue generation. These constructs reveal the inherent complexity of the electronic medium for conducting business and point to the subtle issues that determine success or failure. Case studies and examples are used to illustrate the usefulness of these constructs.