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I am pleased to present the Proceedings of the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the Western Decision Sciences Institute. This CD-ROM contains the papers that were submitted in camera-ready version for the Proceedings.

I am pleased to present the Proceedings of the Forty-First Annual Meeting of the Western Decision Sciences Institute. This CD-ROM contains the papers that were submitted in camera-ready version for the Proceedings.

This year, we have 16 tracks, 53 sessions, and about 270 submissions with authors from Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates, as well as many colleagues from different states in USA. All the submissions were blind- reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers under the supervision of the track chairs and program chair. Finally, there are 199 quality papers accepted for presentation and inclusion into the proceedings.

Organizing a conference of this magnitude requires the unyielding efforts of countless volunteers. The 2012 WDSI Annual Meeting was supported by a Program Planning Committee consisting of Track Chairs and Country Contacts. I would like to thank each member of the Committee for his/her efforts in managing the review process, organizing sessions, and assisting in the planning of the conference. Thanks to all who submitted papers for consideration. Thanks to all who served as reviewers, for the good review process cannot go forward without your efforts.

Several individuals provided valuable assistance and support to the organization of this conference. In particular, the current WDSI Board members gave me assistance that made completing my responsibilities joyful and possible. I thank each of them, especially Richard Jenson, Krishna S. Dhir, Keong Leong, Mahyar Amouzegar, Nafisseh Heiat, John Davies, and Sheldon Smith. I am also deeply indebted to Cecily Raiborn and Abbas Heiat for the assistance with conference registration and web update & download. It is truly a team effort to organize a successful meeting.

I am also grateful for the support of our sponsors: National Chung Cheng University (Department of Accounting and IT and Department of Information Management), National Oceanic University (Pacific Star Group Educational Foundation), and Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science in Taiwan; Beijing Jiao Tong University and Macau University of Sciences and Technology in China, and Chapman University, CSU- Long Beach, Cal. Poly. - Pomona, Miami University (OH) and Woodbury University in US. Special thanks also extend to Cengage Learning for their kind support and Bootleg Enterprise for their help with physical arrangements and the production of the printed program and the CD Proceedings.

On behalf of WDSI President, John Davies; the president-elect, Sheldon Smith; the Board of WDSI; and the 2012 Program Planning Committee, I extend a warm welcome to the participants of this Forty -First Annual Meeting. We trust you will enjoy the meeting and that you will find the venue exciting. Again, welcome to Big Island, Hawaii! And welcome to Hilton Waikoloa Village.

David C. Yen - Vice-President for Programs and Program Chair

Farmer School of Business, Miami University (OH)