The response of Health Professionals to the use of health information technology (IT) is an important

This research aims to investigate the current status and future direction of the use of Keywords: Supply chain management, information systems, logistics, South East Europe, policy making IntroductionThe globalisation market has stimulated the demand on the use of concepts, techniques, tools, systems, technologies, models and frameworks in enterprises for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM). This phenomenon is not surprising given that supply chain now has to compete with other supply chains (Koh et al, 2006). The chain-chain competition has started to take over the enterprise-enterprise competition, although many 2 enterprise-enterprise competitions do exist particularly in the less developed economies. Greece has been a member of the European Union since the beginning of the 1980s, its geographical location invokes a strong strategic link with the other South East European countries in order to collaboratively increase their regional competitiveness, and thus is also included in this study.Lack of information could have a negative impact on profit maximisation (Cherchye and Puyenbroeck, 2007). Various information systems and technologies could be used to manage a supply chain and logistical operations. It has been identified that the use of appropriate systems could lead to the creation of differential business value (Radhakrishnan et al, 2008). Unfortunately, little inter-country research could be identified that examines the adoption of these information systems and advanced technologies for supply chain and logistics management in South East Europe, and one that could lead to future policy making and strategic investment in the region. To this end, the study adopts the following aim and objectives. 4 2. Aim and objectivesThis research aims to investigate the current status and future direction of the use of information systems for LSCM in South East Europe. The objectives are threefold: (1) To identify major challenges and developments on the use of information systems for LSCM by enterprises, (2) To examine the actual level of satisfaction of current policy on LSCM, and (3) To reveal the actual need of enterprises in South East Europe on effective use of information systems for LSCM. Literature reviewThe supply chain concept is based on the formation of a value chain network consisting of individual functional entities committed to providing resources and information to achieve the objectives of efficient management of suppliers as well as the flow of parts (Lau and Lee, 2000). In the Business-to-Business (B2B) market, many suppliers have to be able to provide a level of delivery performance that is compatible with their corporate customers.Those suppliers that can provide such delivery performance could win the supply contract.The desired delivery performance can be achieved with effective and efficient use of an ERP system (Yusuf et al, 2004; Koh and Saad, 2006), which could provide better information flow in a supply chain under the conditions of skilled workforce (Dimitriadis and Koh...

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between economic resilience and entrepreneurship in City Regions. ‘Resilience’ is an emerging concept, which has been employed to examine economic performance and responsiveness to exogenous shocks, such as financial crisis and recession. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders in the Thessaloniki City Region, Greece, this article contributes to the emergent literature by examining the link between economic resilience and entrepreneurship. The article finds that entrepreneurship is integral to promoting the diversification and capacity building of city region economies, with the external shock of the Eurozone crisis and austerity challenging areas such as the Thessaloniki City Region to rethink their economic structure. The article concludes that entrepreneurship is critical to restructuring and adaption of city region economies before drawing a series of recommendations concerning the wider policy implications of the study.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the formation of social entrepreneurial intentions (SEIs) in postgraduate students in the South-East European region. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach (self-administered online questionnaire) is used to gather data. The total number of the questionnaires that were collected and analyzed through SPSS statistical suite was 115 from which 111 were valid. Findings From the proposed five hypotheses set in the literature, only the personality trait theory was totally rejected because it failed to predict social and commercial entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). The remaining hypotheses were found to be valid. The study’s key finding is that the chosen theory (Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB)), is able to predict both kinds of intentions. An alarming key finding is that tensions in mission focus seem to be present in the early shaped intentions of potential social entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications Research findings impose that major educational and policy efforts are needed to promote the theme of social entrepreneurship (SE). The results indicate that most of the postgraduates have not yet fully understood the mindset of SE as they were confused about the synergy of the goals (inherent in their social vs profit intentions). Originality/value This research contributes in three major ways to the literature. First, it shows that SEIs seem to be shaped similarly to EIs; determined mostly by two of the motivational factors of the TPB (personal attitude and perceived behavioral control). Second, it shows which factors seem to affect both constructs and third, it adds to the literature by showing that tensions in mission focus are evident early on in the intentions’ formation process, underlying the necessity of immediate educational and legislative precautions.

Although investment in healthcare technology is rapidly increasing, the readiness to use emerging technologies among healthcare professionals is still low. The present study relies on an integrated model derived from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the diffusion of innovation model to assess the factors that predicted healthcare professionals' intentions to use healthcare information systems. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, 105 healthcare professionals (M age = 41.06, standard deviation = 9.18; 49% consultants and General Practitioners (GPs); 56.2% females) from hospitals in England completed online structured questionnaires. One-way analysis of variance showed that there were no differences in healthcare information systems usage intentions, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and diffusion of innovation variables between consultants/GPs and non-medical staff (i.e. nurses and administration staff). Linear regression analysis demonstrated that the integrative model predicted 78.1 per cent (adjusted R 2 ) in intentions to use healthcare information systems, and variables from both unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the diffusion of innovation had significant effects. Moderated regression analysis further revealed that the interaction between voluntariness and effort expectancy, and voluntariness and social influence significantly predicted usage intentions on top of the main effects of the individual predictors. This poses direct implications for both practice and theory in this field. Future research should consider the predictive validity of integrative theoretical models of technology acceptance and utilization in healthcare settings. Keywordsdiffusion of innovation, health information systems, healthcare, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology