bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards Implementing a Nationwide Electronic Health Record System in Nigeria
Authors: Pantuvo Jerry S. , Naguib Raouf , Wickramasinghe N.
Published: October 2011

The World Health Organization identified inadequate Health Information Systems as a challenge in Nigeria. Many developed countries have either implemented or are in the process of implementing an Integrated Electronic Health Record (EHR) system because of its potential benefits. Pilot projects in many developing countries like Kenya, Malawi, Peru, and Haiti are demonstrating the viability of EHR in resource constrained areas. This study shows that the health system in Nigeria is pluralistic and complex with Federal, State and Local Governments, Health Related Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, private healthcare providers, patients, and researchers as the major stakeholders. The drivers for adoption of a nationwide EHR include the need to report data; improve patient safety, improve work place efficiency; comply with government reforms aimed at reducing the cost and increasing access to health services. Corruption, poor coordination among stakeholders, and lack of constant supply of electricity are some of the barriers to a successful implementation of a nationwide EHR. Factors considered critical to a successful implementation of a nationwide EHR include enforceable legislation, a trained and motivated workforce, and significant and sustainable funding.
Transformation of the Hospital Supply Chain
Authors: Mettler Tobias
Published: October 2011

Increased competition and market dynamics in healthcare have led to a stronger need for a strategy to amend customer relationships and for a clear understanding of how healthcare providers can improve their collaboration with key suppliers. Under the label of ‘supplier relationship management’, more research is conducted to study this phenomenon either on a social system or technical system perspective. In this paper, the author presents a maturity model that links metrics for both ‘worlds’ to prescribe the evolution of key practices, IT-services, and people skills. The proposed model can be used to examine the maturity of supplier relationship management of a particular hospital, identifying performance gaps and systematizing improvement initiatives. When used across a health system, it can be applied to benchmark the performance of the participating members, facilitating new ways for collaborative learning.
Innovation in ICT-Based Health Care Provision
Authors: Andersen Synnøve Thomassen , Jansen Arild
Published: October 2011

This paper describes a project redesigning psychiatric services for children and adolescents, introducing a new decentralized model into the ordinary structures of health care services in rural areas in Norway by using mobile phone technology. The authors apply a multilayer and dialectic perspective in the analysis of the innovation process that created the ICT solution that supports this treatment model. The salient challenges of the project were related to the contradictions between the existing, dominant power structures and the emergent structures in the different layers of the design structures. As a result of the development process, a new model emerged with a larger potential for creating a new innovation path than if it had been linked to existing structures. This paper contributes to the understanding of how user-driven innovation can break with existing power structures through focusing on different layers in the change processes.
Formal-Transfer In and Out of Stroke Care Units
Authors: Nadathur Shyamala G. , Warren James R.
Published: October 2011

The positive impact of stroke care units (SCUs) on patient outcome has been previously reported. In this study, long-term stroke patients that are formally admitted to teaching-hospitals are compared with and without SCUs. The authors focus on the patients’ experience with ongoing care or formal transfers following current care as this cohort is often high users of the system with associated high costs. Bayesian Networks were employed to analyze routinely collected public-hospital administrative data. The results illustrate that the teaching-hospitals with SCUs, while achieving shorter length of stay, in fact deal with younger patients with lower overall patient complexity than non-SCU teaching-hospitals. Other differences include SCUs predominantly treating subarachnoid hemorrhages whereas the non-SCUs treat more cerebral infarctions. This study illustrates the power of Bayesian Networks to expose the nature of caseload and outcomes recorded in hospital-administrative data as a means to gain insight on current practice and create opportunities for benchmarking and improving care.
Enhance Student Learning with PowerPoint Games
Authors: Fratto Victoria A.
Published: October 2011

Stakeholders encourage accounting educators to provide active learning opportunities, to integrate the creative use of technology into the curriculum, and to emphasize learning by doing. The principles of good teaching practice can use technology to promote active learning, to provide prompt feedback to students, to increase student time on task, and to make learning more effective and efficient for the student. Technological tools can permit students to become active participants and can improve student learning by giving students convenient access to review material with immediate feedback. This article describes the use and development of a PowerPoint game in an introductory accounting course (managerial accounting) that provides the student with immediate feedback and is designed to be accessed by the student outside of the classroom. This technological tool can be used in other undergraduate academic disciplines.
Simulation Followed by a Reflection and Feedback Session in Medical Education
Authors: Kumalasari Christiana D. , Caplow Julie A. , Fearing Nicole
Published: October 2011

This research study examines surgical residents’ perception of their learning after participation in a simulation followed by a reflection and feedback session. Eight first-year surgical residents participated in this study. A survey was administered prior their participation in the simulation, and individual interviews were conducted with all participants after the reflection and feedback session. Results of this study indicated that surgical residents make connections between prior knowledge and experiences while engaged in actions during the simulation and upon reflection after the simulation. Also, three areas of perceived learning were identified: (1) dealing with complexity; (2) dealing with distractions; and, (3) improvement of teamwork skills. The residents indicated that they were able to learn new strategies to address these complexities, distractions and improve teamwork for future, similar situations.
Fostering Meaningful Student Learning Through Constructivist Pedagogy and Technology Integration
Authors: Keengwe Jared , Onchwari Grace
Published: October 2011

While national statistics cite a remarkable improvement in technology tools and access to the Internet in most schools across the nation, many teachers are not integrating these tools into their instruction in ways that support and maximize student learning. Additionally, many teachers entering the workforce are far more likely to use computers for personal purposes rather than in the classroom (Keengwe, 2007; Keengwe & Onchwari, 2009). Consequently, there is need to motivate, train, and equip teachers with the skills, knowledge, and pedagogical framework to effectively teach with technology tools. This article reviews the constructivist pedagogical framework and the critical issues related to technology integration in schools. This article advocates the need for teachers to embrace constructivist teaching strategies to enhance meaningful teaching and learning in modern technology-rich classrooms.
ICT, Enterprise Education and Intercultural Learning
Authors: Austin Roger
Published: October 2011

Little attention has been paid to the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in enabling schools to work together in joint enterprise partnerships. This article reports on a school-based enterprise initiative which involved both primary and secondary school teachers working across an international frontier. The main findings of this research show that when ICT was used to link schools, it enabled a wide range of enterprise work to be carried out, particularly in the development of ‘soft’ skills. In primary schools, the ease of linking enterprise to the curricula in two different jurisdictions by teachers in well-established school partnerships led to high use of communication tools and strong collaborative learning. In secondary schools, in spite of timetabling difficulties and lack of prior experience between partners, links were made between a range of business studies courses and ICT helped to make enterprise far more than an academic subject. Overall, the evidence suggests that when students were working closely in teams across a national boundary, they developed a wide range of inter-personal skills that have been identified as important characteristics in enterprise work (Man & Yu, 2007) and for intercultural understanding (Deuchar, 2004).
Contribution of Information and Communication Technologies to Malaria Control in Tanzania
Authors: Mushi Restituta T. , Chilimo Wanyenda
Published: October 2011

The term Information Communication Technology (ICT) includes any communication device or application. In malaria control, ICTs can ease communication, improve doctors’ training, and increase access to information by individuals and groups that are historically unaware of malaria. Successful malaria vector control depends on understanding causes, prevention, and treatment. This paper examines the possibilities of using ICTs to eradicate malaria in Tanzania. It also explores the coverage of the malaria subject related to Tanzania on various electronic databases and e-journals. This paper concludes that Tanzania’s Ministry of Health must put forth more effort on ICT management and be more active in their approach of disseminating malaria information.
Empowerment of SMEs Through Open Innovation Strategies
Authors: Rahman Hakikur , Ramos Isabel
Published: October 2011

Adoption of innovation strategies in entrepreneurship is an age old phenomenon, but inclusion of open innovation or collaborative innovation strategies in the business processes is a newly evolved concept. By far, most research reveals that the majority of successful global ventures are adopting open innovation strategies in their business proceedings. However, despite their contribution to entrepreneurship and national economy, the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) are well below the expectation level in terms of acquiring this newly emerged trend of doing business. Moreover, not much research is being conducted to investigate SMEs potencies, expectations, delivery channels and intricacies around the adoption, nourishment and dissemination of open innovation strategies. This research proposes a contextual framework leading to an operational framework to explore the lifecycle of open innovation strategy management activities focusing technology transfer (inbounds or outwards). It discusses a few issues on future research in empowering SMEs through utilization of open innovation strategies.
A Quasi-Experiment on Computer Multimedia Integration into AIDS Education
Authors: Tsai Chia-Wen , Shen Pei-Di , Lin Yen-Ting
Published: October 2011

India is the third most HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) /AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) -infected country in the world. The behavior of adolescents puts them at an increased risk for HIV and other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). Additionally, their knowledge about HIV/AIDS is often inadequate. A quasi experiment was designed to be conducted at four high schools with a random sampling of 451 students. Two high schools used computers and other multimedia methods to promote AIDS education while two other schools used traditional lectures. Each school had two class-hours of AIDS education. Findings determined a gap in knowledge, attitude and behavior about HIV/AIDS issues within these different groups. The implications for current teaching approaches are discussed in this study.
The Role of Market Information in Adoption of Agricultural Seed Technology in Rural Uganda
Authors: Kiiza Barnabas , Pederson Glenn , Lwasa Stephen
Published: October 2011

In this paper, the authors evaluate the impact of access to ICT-based market information on prices received by farmers and the intensity of adoption of improved hybrid and composite maize varieties. Propensity score matching is applied to cross-sectional survey data from farmers whose major cash crop is maize. Results indicate that adoption of improved maize has a positive and significant effect on maize yields, gross maize revenue per acre, and gross margins. The authors find that access to ICT-based market information has a positive and significant impact on the level of output prices received and the intensity of adoption of improved maize. Access to ICT-based market information implies better prices and this positively affects the intensity of adoption of improved seed. The implication is that improving food security and farm incomes should consider both the promotion of yield-augmenting agricultural technologies and improved access to ICT-based market information.
Use of Information and Communication Tools and Services by Rural Grain Traders
Authors: Okello Julius Juma
Published: October 2011

Poor access to agricultural market information is a major factor constraining the performance of agricultural markets in developing countries. The search for new strategies for resolving this constraint has led to several ICT-based market information service (MIS) projects in developing countries. At the same time, the rapid penetration of new generation ICT tools (especially mobile phones) has resulted in wider application of these tools in agriculture. This paper examines the use of ICT tools and ICT-based services by rural grain traders in Kenya. It is based on data collected from 204 traders in Western and Rift Valley regions of Kenya. The study finds widespread use of ICT tools by grain traders. It also finds that the tools are used by grain traders to obtain market information, including information on price, volume, and where to source and sell grains, among others. The implications of these findings are that market development agents must focus on removing constraints limiting the use of ICT tools in rural areas. Spurring greater use of ICT tools has the potential to reduce transaction costs and improve the performance of rural agricultural markets.
Web 2.0
Authors: Roodt Sumarie , Viola Roberto
Published: October 2011

With the emergence of Web 2.0, new online trends and technologies will continually emerge and play an increasingly important role in the way businesses operate. As Web 2.0 has revolutionised the internet by shifting from a published web to a user centric, user-generated web, businesses needed to understand how to change and adapt in order to benefit from these changes. This paper analyses organisations across a variety of industries, in order to determine how Web 2.0 is influencing the way companies conduct business – how they benefit, and what the advantages and disadvantages are. The authors will try to determine whether the traditional business models are changing or simply evolving through the utilisation of Web 2.0 technologies. This research contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the use of social media in commercial organisations.
Construction of Domain Ontologies
Authors: Kim Jongwoo , Storey Veda C.
Published: October 2011

As the World Wide Web evolves into the Semantic Web, domain ontologies, which represent the concepts of an application domain and their associated relationships, have become increasingly important as surrogates for capturing and representing the semantics of real world applications. Much ontology development remains manual and is both difficult and time-consuming. This research presents a methodology for semi-automatically generating domain ontologies from extracted information on the World Wide Web. The methodology is implemented in a prototype that integrates existing ontology and web organization tools. The prototype is used to develop ontologies for different application domains, and an empirical analysis carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the research.
Wireless Sensor Node Placement Using Hybrid Genetic Programming and Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Tripathi Arpit , Gupta Pulkit , Trivedi Aditya , Kala Rahul
Published: October 2011

The ease of use and re-configuration in a wireless network has played a key role in their widespread growth. The node deployment problem deals with an optimal placement strategy of the wireless nodes. This paper models a wireless sensor network, consisting of a number of nodes, and a unique sink to which all the information is transmitted using the shortest connecting path. Traditionally the systems have used Genetic Algorithms for optimal placement of the nodes that usually fail to give results in problems employing large numbers of nodes or higher areas to be covered. This paper proposes a hybrid Genetic Programming (GP) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) for solving the problem. While the GP optimizes the deployment structure, the GA is used for actual node placement as per the GP optimized structure. The GA serves as a slave and GP serves as master in this hierarchical implementation. The algorithm optimizes total coverage area, energy utilization, lifetime of the network, and the number of nodes deployed. Experimental results show that the algorithm could place the sensor nodes in a variety of scenarios. The placement was found to be better than random placement strategy as well as the Genetic Algorithm placement strategy.
An Intelligent Operator for Genetic Fuzzy Rule Based System
Authors: Rani C. , Deepa S. N.
Published: October 2011

This paper proposes a modified form of operator based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for designing Genetic Fuzzy Rule Based System (GFRBS). The usual procedure of velocity updating in PSO is modified by calculating the velocity using chromosome’s individual best value and global best value based on an updating probability without considering the inertia weight, old velocity and constriction factors. This kind of calculation brings intelligent information sharing mechanism and memory capability to Genetic Algorithm (GA) and can be easily implemented along with other genetic operators. The performance of the proposed operator is evaluated using ten publicly available bench mark data sets. Simulation results show that the proposed operator introduces new material into the population, thereby allows faster and more accurate convergence without struck into a local optima. Statistical analysis of the experimental results shows that the proposed operator produces a classifier model with minimum number of rules and higher classification accuracy.
Software Effort Estimation
Authors: Deng Jeremiah D. , Purvis Martin , Purvis Maryam
Published: October 2011

Software development effort estimation is important for quality management in the software development industry, yet its automation still remains a challenging issue. Applying machine learning algorithms alone often cannot achieve satisfactory results. This paper presents an integrated data mining framework that incorporates domain knowledge into a series of data analysis and modeling processes, including visualization, feature selection, and model validation. An empirical study on the software effort estimation problem using a benchmark dataset shows the necessity and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Implementing Social Media in Crisis Response Using Knowledge Management
Authors: Jennex Murray E.
Published: October 2011

Social media is being used by individuals during a crisis to alert rescuers to their location, status others on their condition or on environmental conditions, warn of issues, and so forth. However, organizations have been slower to adopt social media for crisis response. This paper explores issues affecting social media adoption by organizations for crisis response and proposes the use of knowledge management strategy as a process for mitigating these issues and guiding organizations in adopting social media into their crisis response plans.
Managing Crises in the Healthcare Service Chain
Authors: Constantinides Panos
Published: October 2011

This paper explores the strategic importance of information systems for managing such crises as the H1N1 outbreak and the Haiti earthquake in the healthcare service chain. The paper synthesizes the literature on crisis management and information systems for emergency response and draws some key lessons for healthcare service chains. The paper illustrates these lessons by using data from an empirical case study in the region of Crete in Greece. The author concludes by discussing some future directions in managing crises in the healthcare service chain, including the importance of distributive, adaptive crisis management through new technologies like mashups.
Experience Report
Authors: Hertzler Brianna Terese , Frost Eric , Bressler George H. , Goehring Charles
Published: October 2011

The events of September 11, 2001, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 awakened American policymakers to the importance of the need for emergency management. This paper explains how a cloud computing environment can support social networks and logistical coordination on a global scale during crises. Basic cloud computing functionality is covered to show how social networks can connect seamlessly to work together with profound interoperability. Lastly, the benefits of a cloud computing solution is presented as the most cost-effective, efficient, and secure method of communication during a disaster response, with the unique capability of being able to support a global community through its massive scalability.
Cell Phone Use with Social Ties During Crises
Authors: Kavanaugh Andrea , Sheetz Steven D. , Quek Francis , Kim B. Joon
Published: October 2011

Many proposed technological solutions to emergency response during disasters involve the use of cellular telephone technology. However, cell phone networks quickly become saturated during and/or immediately after a disaster and remain saturated for critical periods. This study investigated cell phone use by Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff during the shootings on April 16, 2007 to identify patterns of communication with social network ties. An online survey was administered to a random sample pool to capture communications behavior with social ties during the day of these tragic events. The results show that cell phones were the most heavily used communication technology by a majority of respondents (both voice and text messaging). While text messaging makes more efficient use of bandwidth than voice, most communication on 4/16 was with parents, since the majority of the sample is students, who are less likely to use text messaging. These findings should help in understanding how cell phone technologies may be utilized or modified for emergency situations in similar communities.
RimSim Response Hospital Evacuation
Authors: Campbell Bruce , Weaver Chris
Published: October 2011

To aid emergency response teams in training and planning for potential community-wide emergency crises, two coordinated research teams centered in King County, Washington have developed software-based tools to provide cognitive aids for improved planning and training for emergency response scenarios. After reporting the results previously of using the tools in pilot studies of increasing complexity, the implementation teams have been searching out community-wide emergency response teams working on emergency response plans that might benefit from use of the tools. In this paper, the authors describe the tools, the application of them to a countywide hospital evacuation scenario, and the evaluation of their value to emergency responders for improving situation awareness and insight generation.
Ontological Description and Similarity-Based Discovery of Business Process Models
Authors: Belhajjame Khalid , Brambilla Marco
Published: October 2011

Project repositories are a central asset in software development, as they preserve the knowledge gathered in past development activities. Locating relevant information in a vast project repository is problematic, because it requires manually tagging projects with accurate metadata, an activity which is time consuming and prone to errors and omissions. Just like any other artifact or web service, business processes can be stored in repositories to be shared and used by third parties, e.g., as building blocks for constructing new business processes. The success of such a paradigm depends partly on the availability of effective search tools to locate business processes that are relevant to the user purposes. A handful of researchers have investigated the problem of business process discovery using as input syntactical and structural information that describes business processes. This work explores an additional source of information encoded in the form of annotations that semantically describe business processes. Business processes can be semantically described using the so called abstract business processes. These are designated by concepts from an ontology which additionally captures their relationships. This ontology can be built in an automatic fashion from a collection of (concrete) business processes, and this work illustrates how it can be refined by domain experts and used in the discovery of business processes, with the purpose of reuse and increase in design productivity.
A Longitudinal Study of Fan-In and Fan-Out Coupling in Open-Source Systems
Authors: Mubarak Asma , Counsell Steve , Hierons Robert M.
Published: October 2011

Excessive coupling between object-oriented classes is widely acknowledged as a maintenance problem that can result in a higher propensity for faults in systems and a ‘stored up’ future problem. This paper explores the relationship between ‘fan-in’ and ‘fan-out’ coupling metrics over multiple versions of open-source software. More specifically, the relationship between the two metrics is explored to determine patterns of growth in each over the course of time. The JHawk tool was used to extract the two metrics from five open-source systems. Results show a wide range of traits in the classes to explain both high and low levels of fan-in and fan-out. Evidence was also found of certain ‘key’ classes (with both high fan-in and fan-out) and ‘client’ and ‘server’-type classes with high fan-out and fan-in, respectively. This paper provides an explanation of the composition and existence of such classes as well as for disproportionate increases in each of the two metrics over time. Finally, it was found that high fan-in class values tended to be associated with small classes; classes with high fan-out on the other hand tended to be relatively large classes.
Towards Method Component Contextualization
Authors: Kornyshova Elena , Deneckère Rébecca , Claudepierre Bruno
Published: October 2011

Method Engineering (ME) is a discipline which aims to bring effective solutions to the construction, improvement and modification of the methods used to develop Information Systems (IS). Situational Method Engineering (SME) promotes the idea of retrieving, adapting and tailoring components, rather than complete methodologies, to the specific context. Existing SME approaches use the notion of context for characterizing situations of IS development projects and for guiding the method components selection from a repository. However, in the reviewed literature, there is no proposed approach to specify the specific context of method components. This paper provides a detailed vision of context and a process for contextualizing methods in the IS domain. This proposal is illustrated with three case studies: scenario conceptualization, project portfolio management, and decision-making.
CbSSDF
Authors: Du Xiaofeng , Munro Malcolm , Song William
Published: October 2011

Web services as a new distributed system technology have been widely adopted by industries in the areas, such as enterprise application integration (EAI), business process management (BPM), and virtual organization (VO). However, lack of semantics in the current Web service standards has become a major barrier in service discovery and composition. To tackle the semantic issues of Web services, this paper proposes a comprehensive semantic service description framework – CbSSDF and a two-step service discovery mechanism based on CbSSDF—to help service users to easily locate their required services. The authors give a detailed explanation of CbSSDF, and then evaluate the framework by comparing it with OWL-S to examine how the proposed framework can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service discovery and composition. The evaluation is carried out by analysing the different proposed solutions based on these two frameworks for achieving a series of tasks in a scenario.
Information Privacy
Authors: White Garry L. , Mediavilla Francis A. Méndez , Shah Jaymeen R.
Published: October 2011

In the Web dependent world, companies must respect and protect individuals’ information privacy. Companies develop and implement corporate information privacy policies to comply with the domestic and international information privacy laws and regulations. This paper investigates: (a) the approach used by multinational and domestic companies to develop and implement corporate information privacy policies; and (b) the perception of corporate managers/professionals toward information privacy legislation and secondary use of personally identifiable information (PII) that organizations collect. A survey was conducted to collect data from corporate CEOs, managers, and technical professionals of national and multinational companies. Findings indicate the following: 1) Views regarding the practicality and effectiveness of information privacy legislations are similar for respondents from the national and multinational companies. 2) Respondents are undecided about whether the privacy laws of the United States and foreign countries are equally restrictive. 3) Multinational companies do not favor developing and implementing uniform information privacy policies or different information privacy policies across countries of operations. 4) Respondents strongly agreed that unauthorized secondary use of personal information is unacceptable.
A Mark-Up Language for the Specification of Information Security Governance Requirements
Authors: Sengupta Anirban , Mazumdar Chandan
Published: October 2011

As enterprises become dependent on information systems, the need for effective Information Security Governance (ISG) assumes significance. ISG manages risks relating to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, and its supporting processes and systems, in an enterprise. Even a medium-sized enterprise contains a huge collection of information and other assets. Moreover, risks evolve rapidly in today’s connected digital world. Therefore, the proper implementation of ISG requires automation of the various monitoring, analysis, and control processes. This can be best achieved by representing information security requirements of an enterprise in a standard, structured format. This paper presents such a structured format in the form of Enterprise Security Requirement Markup Language (ESRML) Version 2.0. It is an XML-based language that considers the elements of ISO 27002 best practices.
On the Security of Self-Certified Public Keys
Authors: Lee Cheng-Chi , Hwang Min-Shiang , Liao I-En
Published: October 2011

Many cryptosystems have been developed to solve the problem of information security, and some approaches are based on the self-certified public key proposed by Girault. In Girault’s scheme, the public key is computed cooperatively by both the system authority (SA) and the user. One of the advantages is that the public key is able to implicitly authenticate itself without any additional certificates. Another advantage is that the SA is not able to forge a public key without knowing the user’s secret key. Despite the advantages of Girault’s system, in this paper, the authors demonstrate that the system still suffers from two main weaknesses. As a result, the authors propose a slight improvement on Girault’s system.
An Integrated Security Governance Framework for Effective PCI DSS Implementation
Authors: Nicho Mathew , Fakhry Hussein , Haiber Charles
Published: October 2011

This paper analyses relevant IT governance and security frameworks/standards used in IT assurance and security to propose an integrated framework for ensuring effective PCI DSS implementation. Merchants dealing with credit cards have to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) or face penalties for non-compliance. With more transactions based on credit cards, merchants are finding it costly and increasingly difficult to implement and interpret the PCI standard. One of the top reasons cited for merchants to fail PCI audit, and a leading factor in data theft, is the failure to adequately protect stored cardholder data. Although implementation of the PCI DSS is not a guarantee for perfect protection, effective implementation of the PCI standards can be ensured through the divergence of the PCI standard into wider information security governance to provide a comprehensive overview of information security based not only on security but also security audit and control. The contribution of this paper is the development of an integrated comprehensive security governance framework for ‘information security’ (rather than data protection) incorporating Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and ISO 27002.
A Query-based Approach for Semi-Automatic Annotation of Web Services
Authors: Asswad Mohammad Mourhaf AL , de Cesare Sergio , Lycett Mark
Published: October 2011

Semantic Web services (SWS) have attracted increasing attention due to their potential to automate discovery and composition of current syntactic Web services. An issue that prevents a wider adoption of SWS relates to the manual nature of the semantic annotation task. Manual annotation is a difficult, error-prone, and time-consuming process and automating the process is highly desirable. Though some approaches have been proposed to semi-automate the annotation task, they are difficult to use and cannot perform accurate annotation for the following reasons: (1) They require building application ontologies to represent candidate services and (2) they cannot perform accurate name-based matching when labels of candidate service elements and ontological entities contain Compound Nouns (CN). To overcome these two deficiencies, this paper proposes a query-based approach that can facilitate semi-automatic annotation of Web services. The proposed approach is easy to use because it does not require building application ontologies to represent services. Candidate service elements that need to be annotated are extracted from a WSDL file and used to generate query instances by filling a Standard Query Template. The resulting query instances are executed against a repository of ontologies using a novel query execution engine to find appropriate correspondences for candidate service elements. This query execution engine employs name-based and structural matching mechanisms that can perform effective and accurate similarity measurements between labels containing CNs. The proposed semi-automatic annotation approach is evaluated by employing it to annotate existing Web services using published domain ontologies. Precision and recall are used as evaluation metrics. The resulting precision and recall values demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach.
Actability Criteria for Design and Evaluation
Authors: Goldkuhl Göran
Published: October 2011

Information systems actability theory builds on a communicative action perspective on IS. Information systems are seen as instruments for technology mediated work communication. Human actors are communicating (i.e. sending and/or receiving messages) through an information system. Information systems actability emphasises pragmatic dimensions of information systems. The paper presents 19 actability criteria divided into three groups: 1) criteria concerning user-system interaction, 2) criteria concerning user-through-system-to-user communication, and 3) criteria concerning information system’s contribution to workpractice processes. These actability criteria should be possible to use in design and evaluation of information systems.
Scale Economies in Indian Commercial Banking Sector
Authors: Sahoo Biresh K. , Gstach Dieter
Published: October 2011

Two alternative estimation models, i.e., a translog cost function and data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on a cost model are compared and contrasted in revealing scale economies in the Indian commercial banking sector. The empirical results indicate that while the translog cost model exhibits increasing returns to scale for all the ownership groups, the DEA model reveals economies of scale only for foreign banks, diseconomies of scale for nationalized banks, and both economies and diseconomies of scale for private banks. The divergence of the results obtained from these two estimation models should concern model builders. From an empirical perspective the definition of scale economies through a constant input mix is very restrictive. The DEA cost model is much more flexible in this respect: It neither requires the restrictive assumptions that the unit factor prices are always available with certainty, nor that these prices are exogenous to the firms. However, the very volatile nature of the banking industry might question the validity of the empirical estimates in this deterministic setting. Therefore, further research is required to examine the bank performance behavior using both SFA and chance constrained DEA for the comparison in a stochastic setting.
Solving Vehicle Routing Problems Using Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation in a Metaheuristics Framework
Authors: Guimarans D. , Herrero R. , Ramos J. J. , Padrón S.
Published: October 2011

This paper presents a methodology based on the Variable Neighbourhood Search metaheuristic, applied to the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem. The presented approach uses Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation methods in order to improve algorithm’s efficiency. The complete problem is decomposed into two separated subproblems, to which the mentioned techniques are applied to obtain a complete solution. With this decomposition, the methodology provides a quick initial feasible solution which is rapidly improved by metaheuristics’ iterative process. Constraint Programming and Lagrangean Relaxation are also embedded within this structure to ensure constraints satisfaction and to reduce the calculation burden. By means of the proposed methodology, promising results have been obtained. Remarkable results presented in this paper include a new best-known solution for a rarely solved 200-customers test instance, as well as a better alternative solution for another benchmark problem.
Supply Chain Management Practices of Indian Automobile Industry
Authors: Sahay B. S. , Sharma Vikram , Sardana G. D.
Published: October 2011

The automobile industry is a major contributor to India’s economy. The Indian automobile manufacturers face stiff international competition in the wake of all major US and European car manufacturers entering the Indian market. In the contemporary scenario, supply chain management practices can be adopted to improve operational efficiency and profits. This paper presents the current status of Indian automotive supply chains. For this, data was collected by conducting a nationwide survey. The paper highlights some major problems plaguing the Indian automotive supply chains and finally, presents some recommendations that are potentially useful to bring Indian automotive supply chains at par with global industry leaders.
Reconfiguring Supply Chains for a Global Automotive Industry
Authors: Hiraoka Leslie S.
Published: October 2011

As the industrial landscape is altered by emerging markets like China and India and the bankruptcy of Detroit automakers and their parts suppliers, motor vehicle firms are reconfiguring their supply chains in order to be cost-competitive on a global basis. Backup capacity and cross-docking are being incorporated into just-in-time delivery systems in an attempt to keep car prices affordable for first-time buyers. This will entail a rebuilding of the global alliances between automakers and key component suppliers that lead to stringent quality standards, adhered-to-delivery schedules, and productivity increases which are needed to keep operating, procurement, and distribution costs under control.
Development of Holistic Framework Incorporating Collaboration, Supply-Demand Synchronization, Traceability and Vertical Integration in Agri-Food Supply Chain
Authors: Sharma Sanjay , Patil Sanjaysingh Vijaysingh
Published: October 2011

Successful implementation of food supply chains in improving the productivity and operational efficiency by some companies made many other firms and researchers courteous about this fast developing field. For successful strategies, organizations in agri-food business are aiming to bring all its stakeholders in close cooperation. The agri-food supply chain aims at optimal warehousing and location design, supply-demand synchronization, checking price variations and ultimately minimizing waste and improving productivity at every stage leveraging Information Technology (IT). This research reviews the supply chain status in agri-food sector, categorizes available literature, assesses the influential articles, and proposes the holistic framework in agri-food supply chain. From the literature review, it is observed that the research articles have addressed agri-food supply chain up to a certain point and confined to the apt ideas of supply projections, demand projections, supply-demand disparity, traceability, collaborations etc. There is a need for extensive research to reconsider warehouse and location design, supply-demand projections and gap analysis, transshipment strategies and traceability in an integrated manner. The present study proposes holistic framework addressing the issues of supply-demand synchronization, warehouse design, transportation optimization, traceability, vertical integration and farmer’s credit facility.
Modeling of Hybrid Production Systems with Constant WIP and Unreliable Equipment
Authors: Savsar Mehmet
Published: October 2011

Material flow in production systems can be controlled by a purely push-pull (just-in-time), or by a hybrid push-pull control mechanism. One type of push-pull production control can be implemented by controlling only the last stage during part withdrawals to trigger the production at the first stage. While the final stage is operated according to a pull mechanism, intermediate stages are operated according to a push system of control in order to keep the work-in-process (WIP) at a constant level. Since the WIP levels are limited in hybrid systems, production output rate is very susceptible to equipment failures. In order to establish suitable WIP capacities between the stages of production, it is essential to analyze the production line using appropriate models and tools. This paper develops a discrete iterative model to study and analyze behavior of a push-pull system with unreliable equipment at any stage. The model is utilized to optimize WIP capacities at intermediate stages and number of kanbans at the last stage. Furthermore, an experimental design is set up to analyze effects of various maintenance policies, line design parameters, and operational factors on line performance measures by using simulation results from the model.
The Impact of Location-Aware Systems in Hospitals
Authors: Lee Lorraine S. , Fiedler Kirk D.
Published: October 2011

This paper focuses on the impact of information systems providing real-time or near real-time knowledge of location, described as location-aware systems. The study utilizes a qualitative, interview-based approach to guide our understanding of the benefits associated with the increased information transparency made available with location-aware information systems. The goal of this study is to examine the benefits of location-aware information systems on managing mobile assets in the hospital context. The Swanson’s tri-core model of innovation is used as the theoretical framework. The tri-core model provides a framework for understanding the role innovations play in administrative, technical and operational effectiveness. This distinction is important for the regulatory intensive environment of hospitals.
A Simulation Study to Derive the Optimal Cycle Length for Feeder Transit Services
Authors: Chandra Shailesh , Shen Chung-Wei , Quadrifoglio Luca
Published: October 2011

This paper presents a simulation study to evaluate the capacity and the optimum service cycle time of a demand responsive transit “feeder” service within the colonia of El Cenizo, TX. Demand data are taken from a survey questionnaire conducted to evaluate the existing travel patterns and the potential demand for a feeder service. Results showed that a single shuttle would be able to comfortably serve 150 passengers per day and that a fleet of 7-8 vehicles would be needed to serve the residential area. The optimal cycle length between consecutive departures from the terminal should be between 11-13 minutes for best service quality. This exploratory study can serve as a first step towards improving transportation services within these growing underprivileged communities, but also other residential areas, especially those with demographics and geometry similar to our target area of El Cenizo.
A Consumer Perception Research on the Subject of a New Technology in a Developing Dynamic Market
Authors: Atici Bünyamin , Bati Ugur
Published: October 2011

The amount of demand for new products like 3G is related to adoption and spread of innovations. Research suggests that innovativeness is related to consumer behavior and characteristics. Research shows that new technologies like 3G are not evaluated by only its functional sides in the consumer perception. Consumers also perceive symbolic sides to this type of technology. This study measures the interests of the population that live in the urban area of Turkey and economically active and working for the 3G technology, their product purchasing criteria, product using habits, brand recognition levels, brand preferences, and tendencies for purchasing products and services in the near future. The research is performed with the participation of 612 persons in 12 provinces. The demographic characteristics belonging to the consumers who participate in the survey study, the reliability analysis results concerning the scale, t test, factor analysis, frequency analysis, correlation analysis, and variance analyses are performed in this chapter of the research. Findings show that the dynamic Turkish consumer gives significant importance to this new technology as functional and symbolic.
The Adoption of Open Source Desktop Software
Authors: Ven Kris , Van Kerckhoven Geert , Verelst Jan
Published: October 2011

More organizations are currently migrating toward open source desktop software (OSDS). However, such migration is complex. More insight into the process will assist decision makers in making a well-informed decision on whether or not to migrate to OSDS and in building a strong business case to support this decision. In this paper, the authors present the results of a qualitative study in seven Belgian organizations and report on why these organizations have adopted OSDS and how the migration was undertaken. These cases represent challenging adoptions of OSDS. Results indicate that providing added value for users can positively influence user perceptions. In addition, the authors found strong empirical support for the guidelines with respect to the migration to OSDS that have been proposed in academic literature.