While the global emergence of e-commerce has led businesses to take advantage of the technologies available to them to enhance their use of e-commerce, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are known for not adopting information technology to create jobs. Due to the dearth of studies of SME adoption of technology in transitioning European countries such as Slovakia, (Saffu, Walker, and Mazurek 2012), it is imperative to understand the factors that differentiate SME e-commerce adopters from non-adopters. Adoption and nonadoption factors of 230 Slovakian SMEs were empirically examined using logistic regression. Compatibility and Organizational Readiness, Decision and Operational Aids, and External Pressure were significant for discerning e-commerce adoption. Practical, policy, and research implications are presented. This study goes beyond the determinants of e-commerce adoption and contributes to the understanding of factors that distinguish between adopters and non-adopters of e-commerce for Slovakian SMEs.

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) analysis is a method for the monetization of a population's preference for a particular medication and may be determined using a bidding game where participants are asked if they would be willing to pay a particular amount, starting with a pre-determined value and oscillating between a series of new WTP amounts based on their previous answer. Starting point bias has been previously reported in the literature. The objective of the present study was to ascertain if any bias was introduced by applying higher or lower starting values to a bidding game. An online survey was presented to members of the general public in Ontario, Canada, who were presented with two treatment delivery options (inhaler vs. injection) for a treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Participants who selected the inhaler were randomly assigned a starting value (CAD$1, $2 or $5) and were asked to identify their WTP in terms of additional monthly insurance premiums. The minimum and maximum bidding game values were set at CAD$0.01 and CAD$50.00; participants who agreed to pay CAD$50.00 were allowed to input a higher WTP explicitly, as desired. The Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric test was applied to explore the differences in mean WTP associated with each starting value. Eighty-six participants reported a mean WTP of CAD$43.15 for the inhaler in additional monthly insurance premium. The mean WTP were CAD$37.55, CAD$49.36 and CAD$40.31 for participants who were assigned to a starting point of CAD$1, $2 or $5, respectively. No significant difference in WTP values was observed between the groups. The starting value did not appear to introduce a bias in the bidding game.

This article examines the link between the determinants of a Perceived Strategic Value construct and an Adoption construct for e-commerce in Slovakian small and medium-sized enterprises. Results indicate that three factors—Organizational Support, Managerial Productivity, and Decision Aids—comprise the Perceived Strategic Value construct. For the Adoption construct, four factors—External Pressure, Ease of Use, Readiness and Compatibility, and Perceived Usefulness—were revealed. Canonical correlation analysis showed a positive link between these constructs. Theoretical, practical, and policy implications are presented. This study enhances the understanding of the Perceived Strategic Value and of the adoption of e-commerce for Slovakian small and medium-sized enterprises.

Background: Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness and visual disability. Few studies have examined persistence and adherence with topical medications in glaucoma patients.

PurposeThe goal of this paper is to examine the link between consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and the attitudes of two consumer groups to a buy local campaign in a transitioning economy, Slovakia.Design/methodology/approachUsing a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 211 non‐students at shopping malls in Banská Bystrica (non‐student group) and from 209 students at the University of Matej Bela, Banská Bystrica (student group) in Slovakia. Ethnocentrism was measured using the consumer ethnocentric tendencies scale (CETSCALE) while attitudinal statements were used to measure the attitudes toward locally made products and a buy local campaign. The attitudinal data were factor analysed and the correlations between the CETSCALE and the attitudinal statements were examined. Summative scales based on the factor analysis results were also developed.FindingsA significant finding of this paper is the role of the government and industry in encouraging Slovakians to buy local. The nonstudent consumers to be less ethnocentric than the student group are found. The attitudinal statements of both groups toward Slovakian products are generally similar.Originality/valueThis research was designed to contribute to the discussion of CE by linking it to attitudes to a buy local campaign in a transitioning country.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the per patient and overall cost of illness of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Colombia from Ministry of Health and societal perspectives. METHODS: A published Markov transition model was adapted for Colombia, using the clinical expertise of a Colombian endocrinologist. Transition probabilities for the model were derived from an international literature review. A model was run for a time horizon of 42 years. Direct resources (drugs, laboratory, medical, hospital, other health care) were identified and cost was ascertained by using national price lists, international health care guidelines, and other Colombian studies or data from other countries. Indirect costs (work time lost) were calculated by using the human capital approach. Annual and lifetime direct and indirect costs, in 2007 U.S. dollars with a 5% discount rate, were determined on a per patient basis and projected to the overall Colombian population. Costs were clustered according to treatments and outcomes. RESULTS: The estimated annual cost was $2.7 billion from the societal perspective and $921 million from the Ministry of Health perspective. The annual direct cost per patient was $288, and the indirect cost was $559 (total = $847). This cost was distributed across disease outcomes as follows: diabetes treatment (drugs), 47%; cardiac and coronary disease, 24%; stroke, 15%; amputation, 9%; nephropathy, 3%; retinopathy, 2%. Macrovascular complications made up 86% of the annual direct costs and 95% of the annual indirect costs of T2DM. CONCLUSIONS: We estimated the annual cost of T2DM for Colombia from societal, Ministry of Health, and Colombian Health System perspectives. We also estimated annual direct cost per patient and the cost of treating diabetes and macrovascular complications. The economic burden is substantial and comparable to results for other countries. The model showed a logical disease progression.OBJETIVO: Determinar el costo de la enfermedad, total y por paciente, de la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 (DM2) en Colombia desde las perspectivas de la sociedad y del Ministerio de Salud. MÉTODOS: A partir de la experiencia clínica de un endocrinólogo colombiano se adaptó para Colombia un modelo de transición de Markov ya publicado. Las probabilidades de transición para el modelo se tomaron de una revisión de la literatura internacional. Se elaboró un modelo para un horizonte temporal de 42 años. Se identificaron los recursos directos (por medicamentos, laboratorio, médicos, hospitalización y otros servicios de salud) y se estableció su costo a partir de la lista nacional de precios, las directivas internacionales de atención, y otros estudios colombianos o de otros países. Los costos indirectos (tiempo de trabajo perdido) se calculó mediante el enfoque de capital humano. Los costos directos e indirectos -tanto anuales como por toda la vida- se determinaron en dólares estadounidenses (US$) de 2007 con una tasa de descuento de 5%, tanto para un paciente como su proyección para toda la población colombiana. Los costos se agruparon según el tratamiento y el curso de la enfermedad. RESULTADOS: El costo estimado anual fue de US$ 2 700 millones desde la perspectiva de la sociedad y de US$ 921 millones desde la perspectiva del Ministerio de Salud. Los costos directos anuales por paciente fueron de US$ 288, mientras que los indirectos fueron US$ 559 (total = US$ 847). Estos costos se distribuyeron según el curso de la enfermedad de la siguiente manera: 47% por el tratamiento de la diabetes (medicamentos); 24% por enfermedades cardíacas y coronarias; 15% por accidentes cerebrovasculares; 9% por amputaciones; 3% por nefropatías; y 2% por retinopatías. Las complicaciones macrovasculares constituyeron 86% de los costos directos anuales y 95% de los indirectos. CONCLUSIONES: Se estimó el costo anual de la DM2 para Colombia según las perspectivas de la sociedad, el Ministerio de Salud y el Sistema de Salud de Colombia. También se estimaron los costos directos anuales por paciente y el costo del tratamiento de la diabetes y sus complicaciones macrovasculares. La carga económica es considerable y comparable a la informada en otros países. El modelo mostró una progresión lógica de la enfermedad.

BACKGROUND:Between July 1997 and April 1998, Canadian public health agencies switched from the whole cell vaccine to the acellular vaccine for pertussis immunization. The acellular vaccine provided better efficacy and fewer adverse events than the whole cell vaccine did. OBJECTIVE:To determine the economic impact of replacing the whole cell vaccine with an acellular vaccine in Canada. METHODS:A decision analytic model was developed comparing costs and outcomes of pertussis vaccination for Canadian children born in the years 1991-2004. Effectiveness was measured as number of avoided pertussis cases as well as the number of avoided hospital admissions. Incremental costs per avoided pertussis case and per avoided hospital admission were calculated for Ministry of Health (MoH) and societal (SOC) perspectives. Various one-way sensitivity analyses as well as a Monte Carlo simulation were performed by varying key model parameters. RESULTS:The switch in immunization programs resulted in an incremental cost to the MoH of CAD $108 per pertussis case avoided (CAD $0.96 per child-year). From the SOC perspective, there was a savings of CAD $184 per pertussis case avoided (CAD $0.13 per child-year). The one-way sensitivity analyses provided incremental cost-effective ratios (ICERs) ranging from an incremental cost of CAD $1034 per avoided pertussis case from the MoH perspective to a saving of CAD $1583 per avoided case from the SOC perspective. The Monte Carlo simulation confirmed the robustness of these results. CONCLUSIONS:Pertussis vaccination with AcE was cost-saving from the societal perspective and cost-effective from the Ministry of Health perspective.

OBJECTIVE:To determine the per patient and overall cost of illness of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Colombia from Ministry of Health and societal perspectives.METHODS:A published Markov transition model was adapted for Colombia, using the clinical expertise of a Colombian endocrinologist. Transition probabilities for the model were derived from an international literature review. A model was run for a time horizon of 42 years. Direct resources (drugs, laboratory, medical, hospital, other health care) were identified and cost was ascertained by using national price lists, international health care guidelines, and other Colombian studies or data from other countries. Indirect costs (work time lost) were calculated by using the human capital approach. Annual and lifetime direct and indirect costs, in 2007 U.S. dollars with a 5% discount rate, were determined on a per patient basis and projected to the overall Colombian population. Costs were clustered according to treatments and outcomes.RESULTS:The estimated annual cost was $2.7 billion from the societal perspective and $921 million from the Ministry of Health perspective. The annual direct cost per patient was $288, and the indirect cost was $559 (total = $847). This cost was distributed across disease outcomes as follows: diabetes treatment (drugs), 47%; cardiac and coronary disease, 24%; stroke, 15%; amputation, 9%; nephropathy, 3%; retinopathy, 2%. Macrovascular complications made up 86% of the annual direct costs and 95% of the annual indirect costs of T2DM.CONCLUSIONS:We estimated the annual cost of T2DM for Colombia from societal, Ministry of Health, and Colombian Health System perspectives. We also estimated annual direct cost per patient and the cost of treating diabetes and macrovascular complications. The economic burden is substantial and comparable to results for other countries. The model showed a logical disease progression.

PurposeThis paper sets out to examine the relationship between the perceptions of the strategic value of e‐commerce and e‐commerce adoption among 107 owners/managers of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in a transitional economy, Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe membership of the top 100 Ghanaian businesses, called the Ghana Club 100 (GC 100), and non‐traditional exporters (NTEs) was surveyed using a structured questionnaire in face‐to‐face interviews. Principal axis factoring with varimax rotation was employed to identify and estimate the constructs in the model, followed by an exploratory factor analysis to test for the inclusion of all items in the model. Finally, canonical analysis was employed to study the interrelationships among the sets of multiple dependent and multiple independent variables. By so doing control for moderator effects existing among various variables was effected.FindingsOrganizational support was the strongest predictor on the perceived strategic value (PSV) construct, followed by managerial productivity, and decision aids. Perceived usefulness, compatibility, external pressure and organizational pressure were found to be statistically significant determinants of e‐commerce adoption. These findings are consistent with prior studies. Additionally, it was found that ease of use was also influential in the e‐commerce adoption decision of Ghanaian SMEs.Originality/valueThe study shows the value that SME owners/managers in a transitional economy place on e‐commerce, and the role envisaged for it. The study also provides an insight into the e‐commerce adoption in a transitional economy context. Owners/managers of SMEs in other developing countries may find the study useful in making decisions relating to e‐commerce adoption. The impact of the perceptions of e‐commerce and e‐commerce adoption on firm performance in transitional economies is a worthy area for future research. Replication of the study in other transitional economies is therefore warranted.

OBJECTIVES:Glaucoma is a fairly common disease, however, little is known about the costs associated with prostaglandin analogues (PAs). The costs between the three available PAs (Lumigan (bimatoprost), Xalatan (latanoprost) and Travatan (travoprost)) were compared as monotherapy and when adjunctive therapy was used.METHODS:From the Québec drug claims database, all patients who used these drugs for 1 full year were identified. From the Ministry of Health (MoH) perspective, the average cost for all reimbursed costs (drug costs and pharmacist fees) were calculated. Those costs plus the patient out-of-pocket copayments were used for the payer + user (PU) perspective.RESULTS:Data from 4,653 patients were analysed (3,606 on monotherapy and 1,047 on combination treatment with adjunctive therapy), 59.7% were females, and the average age was 72.6 +/- 10.4 years. MoH perspective costs were $410 +/- $167 for bimatoprost, $381 +/- $145 for latanoprost and $298 +/- $121 for travoprost (all differences p<0.001), for patients on monotherapy. Costs of combination treatment with adjunctive therapy were $786 +/- $416, $686 +/- $313, and $623 +/- $521, respectively (travoprost significantly lower than each of the other two p<0.001, others=not significant). Results from the PU perspective were comparable.CONCLUSIONS:Travoprost had the lowest cost, both as monotherapy and in conjunction with other glaucoma treatments. Further comparative pharmacoeconomic evaluation is warranted.

The weighted ℓp or ℓk,p norm is used to model travel distances in road networks. The parameters k and p are computed from a sample of actual road distances taken from the geographical area of interest. During the computation, a goodness-of-fit criterion is computed and minimized when the best-fit values of k and p have been determined. Greatly improved results are obtained when the coordinate axes are rotated to account for any rectangular bias in the road network. In this paper, an examination of 17 diverse geographical areas shows that in every case, within a rotation arc of 90°, there are two points where the goodness-of-fit function is minimized. These two rotation points are approximately 45° apart; one results in a best-fit p value in the interval (1, 2) and the other results in a best-fit p value in the interval (2, ∞). This paper thus empirically confirms the double-bottom phenomenon which was hypothesized in a previous work. The superiority of the weighted ℓp norm as a distance predictor is also demonstrated.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the link between the determinants of perceived strategic value (PSV) of e‐commerce and e‐commerce adoption among Ghanaian small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), defined as businesses that employ a maximum of 200 employees.Design/methodology/approachThe authors randomly sampled SME owners/managers from the membership of the Ghana Club 100 (GC 100) and non‐traditional exporters (NTEs). Established databases are not the norm in Ghana, and GC 100 and NTEs had membership databases that were accessible to the local co‐author. Investigating e‐commerce adoption issues among these companies was warranted. The authors used a structured instrument developed and validated in prior studies to collect the data in a face to face interview. A pilot study was conducted to ascertain the clarity and reliability of the questionnaire. Of the SME owners/managers: 200 were contacted; 112 agreed to participate in the study; 107 responses were obtained – representing a 53.5 per cent response rate. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 14.FindingsFactor analysis demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity and construct reliability. PSV construct resulted in four factors: Strategic Decision Support (SD), Information Management (IM), Organizational Support (OS) and Decision Aids (DA). This finding is both consistent and inconsistent with prior research. The adoption construct yielded five factors: Perceived Usefulness (PU), Ease of Use (EU), Compatibility (C), Organisational Readiness (OS) and External Pressure (EP). There was more congruence between our results and those of prior research.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations stem from small sample size, the population and locale from which the sample was drawn.Practical implicationsThe study has research and practical implications, and these are discussed fully in the paper.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the knowledge of perceived strategic value and adoption of e‐commerce by SMEs in an under‐researched part of the world.

Researchers have been exhorted to test the psychometric properties of instruments used in cross cultural studies and ascertain their validity and reliability in order to make the results emanating from the use of such instruments generalisable. This study answers such a call for rigorous evaluation of the psychometric properties of cross-national measures that are valid and reliable. The study reports the findings of an assessment of the psychometric properties of the consumer ethnocentric tendencies scale (CETSCALE) in the developing West African country of Ghana. More specifically, the study explores CETSCALE's unidimensionality, internal consistency, and discriminant validity. The findings of our study are both consistent and inconsistent with the extant literature. In particular, while our analysis indicates that the CETSCALE is internally consistent and exhibits discriminant validity, it is not unidimensional as has been reported in earlier studies. Marketing and research implications of the study are suggested. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ethnocentrism of Ghanaian consumers and their attitudes toward a "buy local" campaign. Two hundred and thirty three consumers were interviewed in Cape Coast, the capital city and administrative centre of the Central region of Ghana. Data for the study were collected through interviewing using the mall intercept approach and factor analysed. Our findings show a relationship between ethnocentrism and attitudes of Ghanaian consumers toward the "buy local" campaign. Furthermore, the factor analysis results indicate that the attitudes of the Ghanaian consumers to the buy locally-made products can be characterized as protectionist, nationalistic, and self-interest. Implicitly, the consumers will buy Ghanaian-made products where they are of comparable quality and price as foreign-made products. This requires companies to ensure that their products are of high quality and prices are commensurate with quality. This study contributes to the ethnocentrism and country of origin literature pertaining to the African region, which is sorely under-researched. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Objective: Pertussis is a frequent cause of cough illness in adolescents. In Canada, immunization against pertussis in public programs has been restricted to children under 7 years of age. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the health and economic impact of an additional booster dose of the acellular vaccine in adolescents in Québec.

Distance predicting functions have a number of uses when objects in space can be represented as points. When a predicted distance between two points is determined by a distance predicting function, the unknown distance between the points may be overestimated or underestimated due to the statistical nature of distance predicting functions. Since an analyst may desire a measure of the accuracy of the predicted distance, we have developed a procedure for calculating confidence intervals for unknown distances. The procedure utilizes information that is provided by the sample Pearson coefficients.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of the weighted l(p) norm as a distance measure when axis rotation is included to obtain the best fit. We compare the weighted l(p) and Euclidean norms in an empirical study of 18 major country and city road networks. A substantial improvement in accuracy is obtained with the weighted l(p) norm for networks with a significant component of rectangular travel. We show that the weighted l(p) norm, and by inference other multi-parameter distance estimators, are justified in practice provided the reference axes are oriented properly to model the directional bias inherent in the network.

This paper applies a single-facility location model to the distribution network covered by the Brantford, Ontario branch of Thibodeau-Finch Transport Ltd. The model is used to determine whether or not the present terminal location should be maintained for the current demand structure and for a projected demand structure. Optimal locations are obtained for both demand structures using a distance function that is tailored to the actual road network over which the firm's vehicles travel. It is found that the transportation costs associated with the optimal locations are sufficiently close to those with the present location to conclude that Thibodeau-Finch should not consider relocation among its strategic options. The paper includes relevant data for verifying the conclusions drawn in support of the status quo.