This research examines the influence of usability and flow on user satisfaction of mobile gaming. Two structural equation models test the influences resulted from usability and flow and compare differences between two main types of mobile games, the RPG/adventure and causal/puzzle types preferred most in Taiwan. The results show that the integrative model of usability and flow explains user mobile satisfaction well. Accordingly, this paper discusses strategies for enhancing user mobile satisfaction by achieving usability and flow experience through collaboration among three important complementary mobile players: game vendors, mobile phone manufactures, and mobile network operators.

Research and development (R&D) project performance is traditionally evaluated using cost-benefit analysis. However, external effects beyond managerial control often create advantageous or disadvantageous biases during evaluation. In this study, we used a three-stage data envelopment analysis method to evaluate R&D efficiency and Tobit regressions, removing the external effects of technology type, accumulative experience, international linkage, and group diversity. This study examined these external factors by using 39 academic projects constituting the Taiwan National Telecommunication Program. Technology type and accumulative experience enabled R&D projects to be advantageously implemented in the human resource department, whereas group diversity was disadvantageous and created superfluous repetition in human resources. International linkage was disadvantageous because of slack subsidies. After external effects were removed, most projects shifted from a state in which returns decreased to a state in which returns increased. Finally, we discussed the implications of these findings for project management and governmental subsidy policies that are implemented to evaluate performance and allocate resources.

The purpose of this research is to explore the fitting models for cross-border e-commerce by developing localized business strategies tailored to cultural factors. The study adopts Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions along with Sheth et al.’s five consumption value dimensions. A canonical correlation analysis is employed to identify the fitting relationships between cultural dimensions and consumer values. The targeting samples focus on the rapidly growing Southeast Asian economy. The results indicate differences in cultural dimensions among countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar. The canonical correlation analysis reveals fitting combinations for each region: Taiwan’s higher individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation align with demands for functional, conditional, and emotional values in e-commerce. Vietnam’s high risk-taking propensity fits demands for conditional and epistemic values. Malaysia and Indonesia, with similar cultural profiles, are highly correlated with consumer demands in functional and emotional values, with Malaysia additionally emphasizing epistemic value. Myanmar’s high masculinity and long-term orientation correlate with demands for functional, emotional, and conditional values, while its low power distance links to demands for social and epistemic values. Overall, the study shows that there is no fixed correspondence between cultural dimensions and consumption values in e-commerce. Optimal configurations vary, emphasizing the importance of tailored strategies to promote e-commerce development across different regions.

Background: According to the lead user theory, lead users at the front of a market, benefiting significantly from new products, usually have more innovation intension than general users. However, little research depicts the entrepreneurship motivations that drive innovators to become businesspeople. Hence, this study investigates Taiwanese entrepreneurs to fill this gap in the research. Method: This study examines motivations for becoming an entrepreneur from small- and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan. A multiple regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between lead user inclination and entrepreneurial motivations as well as to test the moderating effect of community involvement. Results: The research results summarise entrepreneurial motivations into five categories: product knowledge advantage, industry expertise, inducements to innovation, career expectations, and benchmarking and indicate the positive moderating effect of community involvement on the association between innovators and entrepreneurs. Conclusions: Additional research is suggested to catalyse motivations to aspire lead users to pursue business success as well as to enhance entrepreneurship education policy. This study contributes to understanding the inclination of lead users towards becoming entrepreneurs and, especially, to emphasise the role of community involvement, which increases the likelihood of innovators to be entrepreneurs.

By embedding marketing tools in systems, this study investigates the effect of user engagement on the innovation and diffusion of online games. The associated marketing tools are related sets of toolkits, which are basic building units that empower users to operate interfaces efficiently, thus making the interfaces user-friendly. The distinct types of engaging toolkits (trial-and-error, solution-space, user-friendly, module library, translation and diffusion) promote online performance by enhancing word-of-mouth (WOM) reputation and versioning speed. A widely used social networking website in Taiwan dedicated to online games, www.gamer.com.tw, is investigated in this study. The results indicate that WOM reputation is higher for online games that have engaged players by providing more module-library, translation and diffusion marketing toolkits compared to those with fewer toolkits. Moreover, versioning speed was higher for online games embedded with more trial-and-error, solution-space, user-friendly and translation toolkits compared to those with fewer toolkits. These results reveal the unequal efficacy of embedded marketing tools for user engagement in the online context and have implications for research and practice related to online product development and Internet service marketing strategies. These results can be referenced in strategies for creating interfaces that facilitate user-generated creativeness, innovations and communications.