bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Social Shaping of Transformational Government
Authors: Homburg Vincent
Published: May 2011

Public Sector Transformation initiatives do not exist within a vacuum. This chapter analyzes how Public Service Transformation initiatives are intrinsically linked with the values, norms, informal rules, and taken for granted beliefs (in short: institutions) that characterize the context in which the initiatives are introduced. Using two case studies (describing the Criminal Justice System in the UK and social security in Belgium and The Netherlands) it is exemplified how Public Service Transformation initiatives sometimes transform institutions, whereas at the same time, institutions, through judicial and professional norms, and through power structures and path dependencies, shape ways in which technologies are designed and used in specific practices. The chapter argues for a better understanding of the working of institutions in specific Public Sector Transformation initiatives, in order to be better able to deal with the difficulties, contradictions, and sometimes mindboggling features of Public Sector Transformation.
Measurement of Transformational Government Strategies Using Balanced Scorecard Approach
Authors: Gueorguiev Ivaylo
Published: May 2011

This chapter puts forth some guidelines for transformational government strategy measurement using balanced scorecard. The complexity of transformational government strategy is rooted in the multistakeholder environment it is derived from. The citizens, the businesses, and the administration have different interests and finding the right balance of these interests would be a challenge for any initiative. Everyone is a stakeholder in the transformational government, since everyone participates in the decision making process through democratic elections, everyone contributes to the financing of the government by paying taxes, and finally everyone uses government services. In this multistakeholder environment the balanced scorecard methodology can provide tools for effective measurement and management of the transformation of public services. Planning and presenting the strategy in strategy maps and creating a system of performance measures in a number of perspectives can ensure a foundation for effective management system of the transformational government on the strategic level.
Affective Issues in Adaptive Educational Environments
Authors: Leontidis Makis , Halatsis Constantin
Published: May 2011

Research in computer science recently began to take emotions into account because their influence in perception, reasoning, decision-making and learning is considered catalytic. In learning the appropriate sentimental background constitutes a significant requirement in order to be effective. However, many designers of adaptive learning systems develop their systems without taking into consideration the emotional factors that are related to the mood and the personality of the student. This omission deprives the learning process from a very important pedagogical dimension. In this chapter, the focus is on affective factors that are involved in the learning process and can be considered in designing adaptive learning environments. We present first the basic theories and models for affective computer. We deal with methods of affective elicitation and representation of affective knowledge. We then present affective educational applications. Finally, we discuss issues and future trends of affective computing in relation to the learning.
Cognitive Learning Approaches to the Design of Accessible E-Learning Systems
Authors: Adams Ray , Granic Andrina
Published: May 2011

The creation of exciting, new, powerful and accessible e-learning systems depends upon innovations in cognitive science, human learning, e-learning implementation principles and derivative, technological e-learning solutions. The issues of user sensitive design and user diversity are central to such developments and so must be one of the focuses of any effective e-learning system. This chapter shows how a unique characterization of the interaction between e-learning requirements, accessibility and cognitive user modeling generates an inimitable set of solutions to current e-learning problems, through a simple and supportive conceptual framework. In so doing, the authors show how evidence and insights from diverse subjects such as cognitive science, computing science and social sciences can be integrated to provide a robust platform for the next generations of pedagogically enriched e-learning systems.
Collaborative Learning in a Web-Based Environment
Authors: Zhang Yin
Published: May 2011

Collaborative learning has long been proven to be an effective approach in the traditional classroom setting. Despite the discussion of the benefits and potential of collaborative learning in a Web-based learning environment, there has been a lack of empirical studies showing whether and how distance learning students may benefit from this learning experience, particularly in comparison to their oncampus peers and from their own perspectives. This chapter reports on a study that uses a comparative approach to evaluate the effectiveness of collaborative learning and related teaching and learning outcomes in both distance learning and on-campus settings. The major findings of this study suggest that distance learning students tend to have more positive perceptions of collaborative learning than their peers in the traditional classroom setting. In addition, distance learning students tend to embrace collaborative learning readily and early compared to their on-campus peers. In terms of student class performance, this study shows that distance learning students can achieve essentially the same learning goals as their on-campus peers. However, there are individual differences in student performance. An analysis of factors contributing to the individual performance differences suggests that engagement is closely correlated to student class performance. This study also shows that, overall, both distance learning and on-campus students provide similar course and instructor evaluations for teaching effectiveness for classes with collaborative learning. Finally, the implications of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Employing Innovative Learning Strategies Using an E-Learning Platform
Authors: Granic Andrina , Cukušic Maja , Tzanavari Aimilia , Papadopoulos George A.
Published: May 2011

Web-based learning environments have become an integral part of learning. The way that they are employed in the learning process, or in other words the learning strategy followed in that respect, is an important issue that has to be carefully thought of, deciding upon topics such as suitable pedagogical approaches and appropriate assessment techniques for a given context. The chapter deals with this exact issue by visiting the relevant literature on the subject, describing selected learning strategies that have been employed in the use of an innovative eLearning platform in schools in Europe and finally outlining and comparing two real case studies from two European countries.
Sequential Localization with Inaccurate Measurements
Authors: Fang Jia , Duncan Dominique , Morse A. Stephen
Published: May 2011

The sensor network localization problem with distance information is to determine the positions of all sensors in a network given the positions of some sensors and the distances between some pairs of sensors. In this chapter the authors present a sequential algorithm for estimating sensor positions when only inaccurate distance measurements are available, and they use experimental evaluation to demonstrate network instances on which the algorithm is effective.
Theory and Practice of Signal Strength-Based Localization in Indoor Environments
Authors: Elnahrawy Eiman , Martin Richard P.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses radio-based positioning. It surveys and compares several received signal strength localization approaches from two broad categories: point-based and area-based. It also explores their performance and means to improve it. It describes GRAIL - a sample positioning system. It finally concludes with a brief discussion of sensor applications that utilize location information.
Evaluation of Localization Algorithms
Authors: Allen Michael , Baydere Sebnem , Gaura Elena , Kucuk Gurhan
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a methodological approach to the evaluation of localization algorithms. The chapter contains a discussion of evaluation criteria and performance metrics followed by statistical/ empirical simulation models and parameters that affect the performance of the algorithms and hence their assessment. Two contrasting localization studies are presented and compared with reference to the evaluation criteria discussed throughout the chapter. The chapter concludes with a localization algorithm development cycle overview: from simulation to real deployment. The authors argue that algorithms should be simulated, emulated (on test beds or with empirical data sets) and subsequently implemented in hardware, in a realistic Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) deployment environment, as a complete test of their performance. It is hypothesised that establishing a common development and evaluation cycle for localization algorithms among researchers will lead to more realistic results and viable comparisons.
Accuracy Bounds for Wireless Localization Methods
Authors: McGuire Michael L. , Plataniotis Konstantinos N.
Published: May 2011

Node localization is an important issue for wireless sensor networks to provide context for collected sensory data. Sensor network designers need to determine if the desired level of localization accuracy is achievable from their network configuration and available measurements. The Cramér-Rao lower bound is used extensively for this purpose. This bound is loose since it uses only information from measurements in its calculations. Information, such as that from the sensor selection process, is not considered. In addition, non-line-of-sight radio propagation causes the regularity conditions of the Cramér-Rao lower bound to be violated. This chapter demonstrates the Weinstein-Weiss and extended Ziv-Zakai lower bounds for localization error which remain valid with non-line-of-sight propagation. These bounds also use all available information for bound calculations. It is demonstrated that these bounds are tight to actual estimator performance and may be used determine the available accuracy of location estimation from survey data collected in the network area.
Molecular Biology of Protein-Protein Interactions for Computer Scientists
Authors: Schönbach Christian
Published: May 2011

Advances in protein-protein interaction (PPI) detection technology and computational analysis methods have produced numerous PPI networks, whose completeness appears to depend on the extent of data derived from different PPI assay methods and the complexity of the studied organism. Despite the partial nature of human PPI networks, computational data integration and analyses helped to elucidate new interactions and disease pathways. The success of computational analyses considerably depends on PPI data understanding. Exploration of the data and verification of their quality requires basic knowledge of the molecular biology of PPIs and familiarity with the assay methods used to detect PPIs. Both topics are reviewed in this chapter. After introducing various types of PPIs the principles of selected PPI assays are explained and their limitations discussed. Case studies of the Wnt signaling pathway and splice regulation demonstrate some of the challenges and opportunities that arise from assaying and analyzing PPIs. The chapter is concluded with an extrapolation to human systems biology that offers a glimpse into the future of PPI networks.
Discovering Lethal Proteins in Protein Interaction Networks
Authors: Tew Kar Leong , Li Xiao-Li
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces state-of-the-art computational methods which discover lethal proteins from Protein Interaction Networks (PINs). Lethal proteins are an interesting subject in understanding the minimal condition for cellular development and survival. A dysfunctional research subject or absence of a lethal protein would result in fatality of the cell. Biological experiments have been conducted to systematically detect such proteins. However, such processes are time consuming and requires huge amount of effort to conduct. The researchers have developed a series of computational methods which take advantage of the network properties of individual proteins to detect lethal proteins in PINs. In this chapter, each computational method is studied in depth with an analysis on its pros and cons. Finally, a discussion on the possible further research directions will conclude the chapter.
Network Querying Techniques for PPI Network Comparison
Authors: Fionda Valeria , Palopoli Luigi
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is that of analyzing and comparing network querying techniques as applied to protein interaction networks. In the last few years, several automatic tools supporting knowledge discovery from available biological interaction data have been developed. In particular, network querying tools search a whole biological network to identify conserved occurrences of a query network module. The goal of such techniques is that of transferring biological knowledge. Indeed, the query subnetwork generally encodes a well-characterized functional module, and its occurrences in the queried network probably denote that this function is featured by the associated organism. The proposed analysis is intended to be useful to understand problems and research issues, state of the art and opportunities for researchers working in this research area.
Leadership in Technology Project Management
Authors: Müller Ralf
Published: May 2011

This chapter addresses project managers’ leadership styles, mainly from the perspective of technology projects. It starts by defining and outlining the need for leadership, and then describes the historical schools and the recent schools of leadership theory. Subsequently the focus turns to current leadership research in project management, and its related theories. Subsequently, the personality profiles of successful project managers in different types of projects are presented. The chapter ends with some managerial and theoretical implications, as well as scholarly challenges for further research and future developments in this area.
Managing ICT Based Service Innovation
Authors: Bygstad Bendik , Lanestedt Gjermund
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a framework for technology project implementation in systems where the human is an integral element of the completed project. Unlike logically devised software codes and performance tested hardware components, human responses can be unpredictable when faced with the combined stressors of technological and organizational change, which occur when management dictates a technological upgrade. As such, the human interface is a dynamic system component that has the ability to degrade or disable system performance in ways unlike other subsystems. This leads to the idea that integrating employee preparation and participation into the design process from concept development through system deployment improves technology adoption and thereby overall system performance and acceptance of the technological enhancements. An analysis of peer-reviewed literature combined with the author’s industrial experience provides a ten-step process for converting an existing manual system to an automated or computerized version with emphasis on integrating the human element.
A Needle in a Haystack
Authors: Cray Chad J.
Published: May 2011

Considering the high failure rate of information technology (IT) projects over the last 40 years, project managers should use all the tools at their disposal in order to make their project a success; however, more than half of all project managers fail to use a powerful tool that is readily available – a development methodology. A development methodology provides structure to a project, which facilitates communication, establishes expectations, enhances quality and promotes consistency. One potential reason project managers do not employ a development methodology is that selecting the correct methodology from among the hundreds available can be an overwhelming task. For this reason, understanding the decision-making process, and identifying those factors that influence it, is a worthwhile endeavor. While empirical research in this area is lacking, a review of the extant literature reveals several factors that are important when choosing a development methodology. In this chapter, many of these factors are identified, a model for categorizing them is proposed, and a model for selecting a methodology is presented.
Post-Processing for Rule Reduction Using Closed Set
Authors: Liu Huawen , Sun Jigui , Zhang Huijie
Published: May 2011

In data mining, rule management is getting more and more important. Usually, a large number of rules will be induced from large databases in many fields, especially when they are dense. This, however, directly leads to the gained knowledge hard to be understood and interpreted. To eliminate redundant rules from rule base, many efforts have been made and various efficient and outstanding algorithms have been proposed. However, end-users are often unable to complete a mining task because there are still insignificant rules. Thus, it becomes apparent that an efficient technique is needed to discard useless rules as more as possible, without information lossless. To achieve this goal, in this paper we propose an efficient method to filter superfluous rules from knowledge base in a post-processing manner. The main character of our method lies in that it eliminates redundancy of rules by dependent relation, which can be discovered by closed set mining technique. Their performance evaluations show that the compression degree achieved by our proposed method is better and its efficiency is also higher than those of other techniques.
Digital Technologies and the Intensification of Economic and Organisational Mechanisms in Commercial Sport
Authors: Forster John J.H.
Published: May 2011

One of the major forces shaping modern sport is the application of digital technology. This is transforming the mass consumption, distribution, production, and organisation of sport. A set of frameworks, theories and models for understanding these forces and transformations is presented. Nonetheless, digitisation did not create modern sport. Instead it follows a series of forces and adoptions that have already occurred. Consequently, its impacts can be regarded as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Three associated aspects of modern sport are examined in this chapter. These are: the phenomenon of superstars; the consumption of sport entertainment in the household; and the competition for the attention of consumers. The events that preceded digitisation are described and analysed, especially in the area of home entertainment, but also in the structures of sports competition, such as leagues and tournaments.
Video-Based Motion Capture for Measuring Human Movement
Authors: Quah Chee Kwang , Koh Michael , Ong Alex , Seah Hock Soon , Gagalowicz Andre
Published: May 2011

Through the advancement of electronics technologies, human motion analysis applications span many domains. Existing commercially available magnetic, mechanical and optical systems for motion capture and analyses are far from being able to operate in natural scenarios and environments. The current shortcoming of requiring the subject to wear sensors and markers on the body has prompted development directed towards a marker-less setup using computer vision approaches. However, there are still many challenges and problems in computer vision methods such as inconsistency of illumination, occlusion and lack of understanding and representation of its operating scenario. The authors present a videobased marker-less motion capture method that has the potential to operate in natural scenarios such as occlusive and cluttered scenes. In specific applications in sports biomechanics and education, which are stimulated by the usage of interactive digital media and augmented reality, accurate and reliable capture of human motion are essential.
Virtual Digital Olympic Museum
Authors: He Gaoqi , Pan Zhigeng , Pan Weimin , Liu Jianfeng
Published: May 2011

Virtual reality and the Olympic Games Museum are used to create a virtual digital Olympic museum (VDOM). This is available solely through the medium of digital technology. VDOM extends in a comprehensive way the main functionalities of the traditional physical Olympic museum. Thus virtual reality technologies and the Olympic Games motivate the researchers. Three characteristics, namely sports, humans, and entertainment/ education, are crucial for the development of the VDOM. In developing the VDOM, the four major concerns were data storage and retrieval oriented to the Olympics task; modeling and rendering of the digital museum; the virtual demonstration of sports with virtual humans; and virtual reality based sports simulation. Appropriate solutions to these problems are proposed. Finally, a prototype of the VDOM using these technologies is demonstrated. This validates the efficiency of the proposed methods.
Afterword
Authors: Naidu Som
Published: May 2011

Many teachers commonly use assessment as the starting point of their teaching activities because they believe that assessment drives learning and teaching activities. Hence students tend to organise their learning activities around these prescribed assessment tasks. These beliefs and practices have the potential to detract from promoting effective, efficient, and engaging learning. Teachers, in using assessment tasks to orchestrate their teaching activities send out a message to their learners which minimises the importance of the learning experience. Not only does this constrain learners from taking full advantage of the designed learning experience, but with an explicit focus on assessment tasks by teachers, learners tend to adopt coping mechanisms that focus on the assessment task itself, and little else.
Modeling Variant User Interfaces for Web-Based Software Product Lines
Authors: Lee Suet Chun
Published: May 2011

Software product line (SPL) is a software engineering paradigm for software development. A software product within a product line often has specific functionalities that are not common to all other products within the product line. Those specific functionalities are termed “variant features” in a product line. SPL paradigm involves the modeling of variant features. However, little work in SPL investigates and addresses the modeling of variant features specific to user interface (UI). Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the de facto modeling language for object-oriented software systems. It is known that UML needs better support in modeling UIs. Thus, much research developed UML extensions to improve UML support in modeling UIs. Yet little of this work is related to developing such extensions for modeling UIs for SPLs in which variant features specific to UI modeling must be addressed. This research develops a UML extension -Web User Interface Modeling Language (WUIML) to address these problems. WUIML defines elements for modeling variant features specific to user interfaces for Web-based SPLs. The model elements in WUIML extend from the metaclass and BasicActivity of the UML2.0 metamodel. WUIML integrates the modeling of variant features specific to user interfaces to UML. For example, in a Web-based patient registration software product line, member products targeting British users may use British date format in the user interface, while member products targeting United States users may use United States date format in the user interface. Thus, this is a variant feature for this product line. WUIML defines a model element, XOR, to represent such exclusive or conditions in a product line user interface model. WUIML would reduce SPL engineers’ efforts needed in UI development. To validate the WUIML research outcome, a case study was conducted. The results of this empirical study indicate that modeling UIs for Web-based SPLs using WUIML is more effective and efficient than using standard UML.
Web Data Warehousing Convergence
Authors: Le D. Xuan , Rahayu J. Wenny , Taniar David
Published: May 2011

This paper proposes a data warehouse integration technique that combines data and documents from different underlying documents and database design approaches. The well-defined and structured data such as Relational, Object- oriented and Object Relational data, semi-structured data such as XML, and unstructured data such as HTML documents are integrated into a Web data warehouse system. The user specified requirement and data sources are combined to assist with the definitions of the hierarchical structures, which serve specific requirements and represent a certain type of data semantics using object-oriented features including inheritance, aggregation, association and collection. A conceptual integrated data warehouse model is then specified based on a combination of user requirements and data source structure, which creates the need for a logical integrated data warehouse model. A case study is then developed into a prototype in a Web-based environment that enables the evaluation. The evaluation of the proposed integration Web data warehouse methodology includes the verification of correctness of the integrated data, and the overall benefits of utilizing this proposed integration technique.
Critical Success Factors for ICT Development
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

If organizations were good at ICT planning there would not be as many information systems failures. There is a definite need for improved communication and collaboration between individual employees, i.e. for electronic mail, task and meeting scheduling, group decision support or video-conferencing. The functional departments & business units can collaborate to change the business focus of the organization, i.e. for just-in-time manufacturing, identifying cross-selling options or standardising the customer interface. The first stage of ICT planning is referred to as strategic information technology planning (SITP). SITP can refer to a process of searching for strategic information systems (SIS) applications that enable an organization to gain a competitive advantage (Turban et al. 2004). The typical reason a firm might develop a strategic information system is to help the organization enter a new market, gain or maintain market share, or improve the service to customers (Jessup & Valacich, 2006).
Drivers and Barriers for ICT Development
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

The Internet Cultural Era (ICE) has driven many Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and Ghana to adopt ICT technology. This competition is particularly fierce in the logistic providers and tourism service industry. (Azumah et al, 2005) The drivers for ICT development in Gripple (Sheffield) Ltd UK are to be able to improve the operating efficiency in administration, stock keeping and order received. They have a kind of ERP system to deal with production planning. They plan to be able to integrate their system with their suppliers. However, the barriers are that their suppliers are not ready and do not have the technology for integration. (Pavic et al, 2006).
Developing a Telecommunication Operation Support Systems (OSS)
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened competition in the telecommunications market in the U.S. and forced the incumbent telecommunications companies to open both their physical and logical infrastructure for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). In this case study we focus on the problems that face a CLEC with regard to designing an information system and getting a back office system, called an Operations Support Systems (OSS), operational in a highly competitive, complex, fast-paced market in a compressed time frame when a change in a critical telecommunications network component, namely the central office switch, is made after 75% of the system implementation was completed. This case deals with the factors that led to this change in central office switches, its impact on the IT department, its impact on the company, and the alternatives considered by the IT department as possible solutions to the many problems created by this change.
Nazar Foods Company
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

Nazar Group of Companies has been a leading producer and distributor of cookies, crackers, cakes, chocolate, and other products in Turkey for more than 40 years. This case is about the group’s management roles in transforming the companies into a more consumer-focused orientation using supply chain management philosophy as a strategic framework. Descriptions of supporting business systems were summarized along with the challenges and problems facing managers in effective utilization of these systems in practice.
Process-Aware E-Government Services Management
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

E-government is becoming a reality rather than a theoretical ambition; however, achieving the e-government anticipated benefits is still illusive, which is exacerbated by the continuous and ever changing business processes, IT, and user requirements. This article outlines the current state of e-government research and the challenges emerging from the need to integrate citizen, business, and technology into seamless e-government solutions and services. In addition, the article proposes a semioticsinformed framework for process-oriented e-government services, modeling, and management, which is used and tested on laboratory-based case studies.
Knowledge Protocols
Authors: Oztemel Ercan , Tekez Esra Kurt
Published: May 2011

Manufacturing enterprises continuously have to cope with changing markets that are unpredictable and diverse; manufacturing industry is facing international competitiveness and globalization. This obviously requires industrial organizations to manage different components of their organizations by integrating and coordinating them into a highly efficient, effective, and responsive system in order to maintain and improve their competitiveness. This chapter presents a knowledge exchange procedure for creating an integrated intelligent manufacturing system. The basic features of proposed scheme are introduced and the approach is supported through a case study.
Semantic Web and Adaptivity
Authors: Gómez Jorge Marx , Memari Ammar
Published: May 2011

The chapter aims at proposing a model that gives an abstraction to the functionalities and data involved in adaptive applications for the Semantic Web. As the quantity of provided information on the Web is getting larger, the need for adaptation in software is getting more and more necessary in order to maximize the productivity of individuals, and more issues are emerging that have to be considered in the new generation of hypertext systems. With the advent of Semantic Web, adaptation can be performed autonomously and in runtime, making the whole process of information adapting transparent to the user.
Social Impact of Collaborative Services to Maintain Electronic Business Relationships
Authors: Klink Stefan , Weiß Peter
Published: May 2011

This chapter looks at the impact and opportunities of semantic technologies and Web services to business relationships and how social Semantic Web techniques foster e-business and collaborative networks in many dimensions. For this the authors follow the vision to support collaborative services for business relationship management within semantic services. Based on a newly approach for business partner management with ontologies in large business communities, the chapter elaborates the conceptual framework for the design and implementation of collaborative services. The often postulated adaptiveness and intelligence of novel collaborative structures, foremost collaborative networks, require new approaches to deal with the increasing difficulty to cope with the resulting complexity of relational ties in communities and business networks. This research strives to leverage the capabilities to deal with large number of business relationships. The chapter formulates a vision based on three stages developing digital business ecosystems. Semantic Web technologies, mainly modelling business partner profiles (BPP) with ontology, combined with sound techniques of information retrieval and selected concepts and methods of social network analysis build the conceptual framework. On this basis, a newly approach is elaborated which offers support for communication processes and complex interactions of business entities in collaborative spaces.
CRISS
Authors: Nicholson John , Kulyukin Vladimir
Published: May 2011

Limited sensory information about a new environment often requires people with a visual impairment to rely on sighted guides for showing or describing routes around the environment. However, route descriptions provided by other blind independent navigators, (e.g., over a cell phone), can also be used to guide a traveler along a previously unknown route. A visually impaired guide can often describe a route as well or better than a sighted person since the guide is familiar with the issues of blind navigation. This chapter introduces a Collaborative Route Information Sharing System (CRISS). CRISS is a collaborative online environment where visually impaired and sighted people will be able to share and manage route descriptions for indoor and outdoor environments. It then describes the system’s Route Analysis Engine module which takes advantage of information extraction techniques to find landmarks in natural language route descriptions written by independent blind navigators.
Technical Outline of a W3 Spatial (Decision Support) Prototype
Authors: Negreiros João , Painho Marco , Aguilar Fernando J. , Aguilar Manuel A.
Published: May 2011

The present research focuses on the first software to offer spatial autocorrelation and association measures, spatial exploratory tools, variography and Ordinary Kriging spatial interpolation in the World Wide Web. Exploiting IE® (Internet Explorer), ASP® (Active Server Pages), PHP® (Hypertext Preprocessor) and IIS® (Internet Information Server) capabilities, SAKWeb© (Spatial Autocorrelation and Kriging Web) was designed in an attractive and straightforward way for any GIS user. Hence, this chapter concentrates on the technical development and design of this Internet application. The differences between server and client side techniques are emphasized in the preamble section while the following one discusses the controversial debate between GIS (Geographical Information System) and SDSS (Spatial Decision Support System) concepts. The opening prospect given by the Internet platform is presented in section three. The next section fully reviews the main technological software used for its construction. References are made to their use within SAKWeb©. Some particular capabilities as an end-user were not forgotten, as well. The conclusion section leads to some future hints regarding its potential.
Prerequisites for the Implementation of E-Collaboration
Authors: Blecker Thorsten , Liebhart Ursula
Published: May 2011

E-collaboration refers to a task-oriented cooperation between individuals by using electronic technologies. In the company’s practice, e-collaboration mainly describes each form of collaboration between two or more locations and/or organizations via electronic channels in order to support electronic commerce and supply chain transactions.
Government Funding of E-collaboration Research in the European Union
Authors: Kock Ned , Antunes Pedro
Published: May 2011

Government funding of e-collaboration research in both the US and EU seems to be growing. In the EU, a key initiative to promote governmental investment in e-collabo-ration research is the Collaboration@Work initiative. This initiative is one of the EU’s Information Society Technologies Directorate General’s main priorities. In the US, government investment in e-collaboration research is channeled through several gov-ernment branches and organizations, notably the National Science Foundation. There are key differences in the approaches used for government funding of e-collaboration research in the EU and US. Some of these differences are discussed here, as well as related implications.
Collaborative Technologies, Applications, and Uses
Authors: Oiry Ewan
Published: May 2011

Is it still possible to draw up a state of arts about collaborative technologies? For 20 years now, reflections on these technologies have become the subject of ascientific discipline in its own right: computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). Since this term was fashioned in 1984 by Irene Greif and Paul M. Cashman, research scientists of extremely diverse disciplinary origins (i.e., ergonomics, psychology, linguistics, sociology, etc.) have invested in research which has been presented in a large number of conferences (the main one being the biannual “CSCW” conference which spawned a “sister” conference in Europe called “ECSCW”), in a specialist magazine (CSCW), in dozens of books, and hundreds of articles. CSCW covers a wide range of works whose state of arts begins to be a bit difficult to draw. In spite of all those works, uses of collaborative technologies continue to be a major issue in developing electronic human resource management (e-HRM). In fact, developing cooperation among employees is often an objective of e-HRM, but, as in other domains of firms, those technologies are generally under-used in comparison with what is waiting before their implementation. In this article, we develop the idea that a better understanding of how we can precisely define “uses” and how they appear—or not—is necessary to understand this phenomenon of under-use. In the first part of this article, we will precise the main dimensions of the collaborative technologies field. In a second part, we will present the most recent development of this reflection, which can be considered as one major basis for future works in this discipline.
Issues, Limitations, and Opportunities in Cross-Cultural Research on Collaborative Software in Information Systems
Authors: Zhang Dongsong , Lowry Paul Benjamin
Published: May 2011

Globalization has led to the increasing use of organizational teams comprising individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds. Existing research suggests that collaborative software may benefit multicultural teams. However, most prior studies are limited by their focus on U.S. and Western cultures. We explore this issue by comprehensively examining the literature on cultural effects on collaborative software use. This article makes several contributions by providing common nomenclatures and theoretical perspectives that are essential to promoting scientific progress in this area. It focuses mainly on empirical collaborative software studies in which culture is a key conceptual construct. We discuss underlying cultural theories, research methodologies, and findings of major collaborative software studies on the impact of culture. This article provides insights into various issues surrounding this line of research and highlights future research opportunities.
The Role of E-Collaboration Systems in Knowledge Management
Authors: Cox Sharon A. , Perkins John S.
Published: May 2011

Since knowledge retrieval takes place at the interface between social interaction and technology (Gammelgaard & Ritter, 2005) successful systems of ecollaboration intended to manage knowledge involve the effective integration of both their technical and social components. Alongside technical developments, the standardisation of communication protocols has provided the realistic prospect of universal interconnection of businesses. The ubiquity of technology is not, however, reflected in the way that people, using the collaborative infrastructure, make sense of the data that emerges from the collaboration and go on to construct meaning from it. This is mediated not only by technology but by local culture, most explicitly represented by the recurrent activities that represent practice carried out by local communities of workers (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Brown & Duguid, 1996; Wenger, 1998). This interplay of technology, working practice, organisational structure and people traditionally lies at the heart of socio-technical systems (Leavitt, 1965) applied to leverage the skills of knowledge workers. This article examines the role and contribution of e-collaboration systems in inter-organizational knowledge management. The processes underlying this interplay are viewed from three perspectives: communication, collaborative practice and community, opportunities for the future development of e-collaboration systems are then proposed.
E-Research Collaboration, Conflict and Compromise
Authors: Deepwell Frances , King Virginia
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we consider two multi-institution, multinational education research projects in Europe that used a variety of technology to facilitate online collaboration as virtual communities of practice. While judged as successes by their funding bodies, the projects both exhibited symptoms of conflict that were subsequently resolved. We apply a personal inquiry technique and draw on situational analysis to identify and explore the conflict resolution processes associated with issues of leadership, organization, and technology in e-research. We contend that the communication technologies themselves must support the development of a collaborative community; and that the social, technical, and cultural facets of electronic collaboration evolve integrally over time. We conclude by proposing strategies that may assist colleagues in setting up a successful e-research project.
Coordination, Learning, and Innovation
Authors: Fink Lior
Published: May 2011

This article develops an organizational view of the roles and impacts of e-collaboration. Drawing upon the dynamic capabilities perspective, e-collaboration is conceptualized as a change-oriented capability that enables a firm to identify, integrate, and apply its knowledge assets to meet competitive demands. Therefore, e-collaboration potentially has three organizational roles—coordination, learning, and innovation—that are associated with either efficiency impacts or competitive impacts. The main argument of this article is that firms in less dynamic business environments need e-collaboration for operational purposes, emphasizing the coordination role, whereas firms in high-velocity business environments need e-collaboration for strategic purposes, emphasizing the learning and innovation roles. An analysis of the way in which business environment characteristics interact with media characteristics serves to demonstrate the importance of strategic characteristics—in addition to media and task characteristics—in determining the success of e-collaboration.
Leadership Challenges in Communities of Practice
Authors: Tarmizi Halbana , de Vreede Gert-Jan , Zigurs Ilze
Published: May 2011

Organizations have the potential to achieve advantage through communities of practice (COPs) initiatives. However, establishing and sustaining COPs is a challenging task. Facilitation is needed to help COPs overcome difficulties throughout their life stages. Facilitators take on leadership roles within these virtual communities, yet little is known about the challenges related to their roles. This paper contributes in helping to improve leadership in COP by highlighting challenges in facilitating COP and by providing potential solutions addressing those challenges. A recent survey of facilitators reveals challenges faced by facilitators in performing their tasks within COPs. The issue of participation was identified as the main concern in COP facilitation. Several design and technology initiatives are discussed for their potential to help facilitators in coping with the participation issue and providing essential leadership roles within communities of practice.
Business Process Management Systems for Supporting Individual and Group Decision Making
Authors: Deokar Amit V. , El-Gayar Omar F.
Published: May 2011

The complexities involved in managing intrafunctional as well as interfunctional activities have triggered many organizations to deploy large information technology (IT) systems such as ERP and CRM. While such systems have focused mainly on providing solutions to problems such as enterprise-wide application integration and customer driven revenue management, one of the prime issues of managing coordination among activities in organizational processes has not gained adequate attention and support. Business process management (BPM) systems have emerged as a key technology primarily in the past two decades with a goal of providing process support to organizations and supporting better decision making. This article focuses on highlighting this role of BPM systems while discussing some of the recent advances and approaches from a decision making standpoint, both for supporting individual and collaborative decision making activities.
The World Wide Web and Cross-Cultural Teaching in Online Education
Authors: Chorney Tatjana Takševa
Published: May 2011

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the properties of the online environment in general are inherently suited to help educators reconceptualize their role and engage in constructive cross-cultural communication. This is due to the new technologies’ potential to enable collaborative teaching in an environment of diverse users and to support multiple learning styles. At the same time, the presence of collaborative technology itself does not guarantee that successful cross-cultural communication and learning will take place. The disembodied nature of online communication can sometimes add to the inherent challenges that accompany face-to-face cross-cultural communication. Instructors who teach in cross-cultural contexts online will need to engage with the new technologies in a more purposeful way and apply that engagement to program design and teaching practice. They will need to devote some time to designing for interaction and collaboration in order to overcome common challenges in cross-cultural communication. A more systematic study of the open-ended and interaction- enabling properties of the World Wide Web would help those who design for diversity in online educational environment. The open-ended and interactive nature of the World Wide Web, as the main platform for online crosscultural teaching, can serve as a conceptual model to help teachers overcome common challenges in cross-cultural communication.
Listserv Implementation and Sense of Community
Authors: Blanchard Anita
Published: May 2011

This study examines how a listserv affects its members’ sense of community (SOC) with the sponsoring organization. It was expected that the listserv would increase members’ knowledge about and participation in the sponsoring organization department, which, in turn, would increase their SOC. The study examined listserv members and non-members before and after implementation of the listserv. As expected, listserv membership increased knowledge and face-to-face activity, and knowledge and face-to-face activity increased a sense of community. However, ironically, there was no effect of listserv membership on sense of community. These findings challenge previous theories about the development of sense of community while nonetheless demonstrating the positive effects of listserv membership.