bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Faculty Teaching of Research Methodology to Undergraduate Geography Students in a Nigerian University
Authors: Ololube Nwachukwu Prince , Ubogu Andrew Egba , Egbezor Daniel Elemchukwu , Nwachukwu Ugbomah
Published: April 2010

The effective ways of teaching research methods to students is a process closely connected to socializing students towards writing an effective research project before graduation and determines how successful and effective they are in conducting individualized research. Several factors apart from setting up a successful learning community are essential, but competencies determine faculty effectiveness. This paper appraises students’ evaluation of faculty (SEF). It evaluates students’ perception of competencies required by faculty in teaching research methodology to undergraduate geography students at the Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. Using a questionnaire to gather data for the study, the paper argues that by evaluating the performance of faculty members, their knowledge, expertise, skills, and by applying certain adaptation mechanisms in teaching, the experience and effectiveness of teaching students’ research methodology can be significantly improved. The authors use this medium to encourage colleges and universities, education planners and policy makers in Nigeria of the need to introduce and carry out SEF alongside other evaluation techniques in determining faculty performances and effectiveness.
Teachers and Technology
Authors: Blankson Joseph , Keengwe Jared , Kyei-Blankson Lydia
Published: April 2010

In addition to possessing content knowledge required to teach students, today’s teachers must be well equipped with appropriate technology skills and tools to guide and support student learning. The identification of this need has led teacher education programs to mandate all preservice teachers to enroll in technology courses as part of their teacher preparatory curriculum. Similarly, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established the National Education Technology Standards for teachers (NETS- T) to help promote teacher technology competencies. The purpose of the study was to evaluate preservice teachers’ self-assessed technology competency to determine whether preservice teachers perceived that their technology class enabled them to meet ISTE’s required standards. Specifically, this paper explores the extent to which an educational technology course at a participating midwest college helped to improve preservice teachers’ technology skills as well as to prepare them attain ISTE NETS- T.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Training among Lecturers in the South-South Zone in Nigeria by the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC)
Authors: Tiemo Pereware Aghwotu , Emiri O.T. , Tiemo Adobi Jessica
Published: April 2010

In order to bridge the digital gap and to facilitate the use of ICT in teaching and learning among lecturers and students in Nigeria universities, the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) organized a workshop to train lecturers in the use of ICT skill and knowledge. It was expected that 12,000 lecturers from various universities will be trained. It was discovered that the idea was welcomed since most of them find if difficult to integrate ICT in their academic work. As a result of this, the study seeks to find out the success achieved among participants and their perception toward the programme.
Enhancing Students' Loyalty to the Information Systems Major
Authors: Hunsinger D. Scott , Land Judy , Chen Charlie C.
Published: April 2010

Many colleges and universities face the problem of recruiting and retaining students in information systems related majors. The authors’ study proposes a model to identify the primary factors leading to the retention of existing Computer Information Systems (CIS) majors. They identify four factors leading to student intention to remain a CIS major or to refer others to become a CIS major: (1) expectations, (2) perceived service quality, (3) satisfaction, and (4) regret. They discover that certain factors play a significant role in influencing a student’s intention to remain a CIS major and/or to encourage others to major in CIS. By determining which factors impact students’ intentions to remain a CIS major and to encourage others to major in CIS, we can focus our resources on these areas instead of spending time and money on those services which are not influential.
The Impact of Personal Electronic Communications on Work-Life Balance and Cognitive Absorption
Authors: Mahatanankoon Pruthikrai
Published: April 2010

E-mail and instant messaging (IM) are essential ingredients of workplace communication. The study examines how the hedonic use of electronic communications influences worklife balance and cognitive absorption. Data collected from white-collar employees in the United States show that work-life balance mediates the relationship between personal e-mail and cognitive absorption, and that personal instant messaging has no impact on work-life balance but has a direct influence on employees’ cognitive absorption. The findings suggest that work-life balance may eventually increase cognitive absorption and reduce employees’ productivity. The findings provide insight into how different types of personal communication can influence work-life balance as well as into how to manage non-work-related electronic communications in the workplace.
Botswana's Novel Approaches for Knowledge-Based Economy Facilitation
Authors: Bwalya Kelvin Joseph
Published: April 2010

The Vision 2016, which is a set of strategic plans desired to position Botswana at the completive edge of the socio-economic hierarchy in Africa, is being implemented with concerted efforts from both the private and the public sector, including ordinary citizens. One of the major motivations for drawing this strategy has been the desire to transform Botswana from a resource and industry-based (e.g. agriculture and diamond mining) to knowledge-based economy. This has come from the realisation that in order to compete favourably at a global scale, there is need to put in place efficient knowledge value chains. To this course, several initiatives have been devised and/or implemented by both the government and the public sector. This article surveys the fundamental concepts on which this paradigm shift is hinged and brings out the different issues, initiatives and policies (such as Information and Communications Technology development, nurturing of an appropriate human resource base by way of strategic human resource development plans, investment in intellectual capital, etc.) that have been done so far in Botswana. The article, however, does not claim that it offers a compendium of existing programs towards a knowledgebased economy initiated by Botswana. The article posits that although significant strides have been scored in Botswana’s efforts towards a knowledge-based economy, a lot more needs to be done if it were to compete favourably at an international stage.
Knowledge Management Solution to Challenges of Higher Education in South Africa
Authors: Mutula Stephen , Jacobs Daisy
Published: April 2010

This article presents challenges facing higher education in South Africa and how knowledge management can be applied to ameliorate the situation. Some of these challenges include internal and external pressures for accountability and transparency in the management of the institutions; declining state subsidies; stiff competition from global counterparts; low graduate throughput; declining enrolments; inadequate facilities (e.g. space, ICTs and equipment); ill-prepared graduates for the job market; limited partnership with industry and government; brain drain; bureaucracy and general poor service delivery. The authors submit that South African universities have largely not embraced knowledge management practices and argue that KM integration within the universities’ strategic processes and operations can help address the challenges facing them. The article is largely based on authoritative secondary and primary sources complemented by the authors’ experiences working within university environments in Southern Africa.
Digital Economy and Knowledge Economics
Authors: Khumalo Bhekuzulu
Published: April 2010

The digitization of information has been one of the greatest stories of the last two decades. This article seeks to explain the meaning of this process and how it affects already established models concerning trade and knowledge economics. This article is based on the simple premise that knowledge is the most important resource, without which nothing can be done. The article starts by looking at the competitive advantage theory that was largely promoted by Michael Porter whose works have greatly influenced the first part of this article. The article then discusses the ever more important role of knowledge due to competitive advantage theory and the digitalization of information. Finally the implications and discrediting the comparative advantage theory, this theory has no place in modern economic thinking. As we have more tools in our disposal, we must investigate the importance of wave theory as well as the true meaning of competition. It also looks into the greater role collaboration will play in the future. The article briefly discusses the effects that the digitization of information will have over time.
A Framework to Identify Best Practices
Authors: White Connie , Plotnick Linda
Published: April 2010

Social media is used in a variety of domains, including emergency management. However, the question of which technologies are most appropriate for a given emergency remains open. We present a framework of dimensions of emergencies that can assist in selecting appropriate social media for an emergency situation. Social media is not a panacea but can be used effectively given the proper functions available from the particular services provided by each of the Web 2.0 technologies available. The main objective of this article is to identify the best practices for social media to leverage its ability given the complexities that coincide with events. This is a conceptual article based on the results of preliminary studies involving group interactions with emergency professionals with various backgrounds. In addition, emergency management students who are professionals in the field followed by another interview soliciting information from information systems scientist were surveyed. We found that each situation called forth various dimensions where only sub phases of the stated dimension may be used given the task type derived from the event characteristics. This lays a foundation upon which a more formal approach can be taken to help tame the social media mania into a manageable set of ‘best practices’ from which emergencies can be managed more effectively given Web 2.0 technologies and social collaborative online tools.
Wiki Technology and Emergency Response
Authors: Raman Murali , Ryan Terry , Jennex Murray E. , Olfman Lorne
Published: April 2010

This article is about the design and implementation of a wiki-based knowledge management system for improving emergency response. Most organizations face difficult challenges in managing knowledge for emergency response, but it is crucial for response effectiveness that such challenges be overcome. Organizational members must share the knowledge needed to plan for emergencies. They also must be able during an emergency to access relevant plans and communicate about their responses to it. This study, which employed action research methods, suggests that wiki technology can be used to manage knowledge for emergency response. It also suggests that effective use of a knowledge management system for emergency response requires thorough training, a knowledge-sharing culture, and a good fit between emergency-response tasks and system capabilities.
The Anatomy of the ArchiMate Language
Authors: Lankhorst M.M. , Proper H.A. , Jonkers H.
Published: April 2010

In current business practice, an integrated approach to business and IT is indispensable. In many enterprises, however, such an integrated view of the entire enterprise is still far from reality. To deal with these challenges, an integrated view of the enterprise is needed, enabling impact/change analysis covering all relevant aspects. This need sparked the development of the ArchiMate language, which was developed with the explicit intention of becoming an open standard, and as such has been designed such that it is extendable while still maintaining a clear and orthogonal structure. This article is concerned with documenting some of the key structures and design principles underlying the ArchiMate language. ArchiMate is designed as an architecture description language (ADL) for enterprise architectures. The authors will start by discussing the challenges facing the design of an architecture description language. Consequently we discuss how the design principles of the ArchiMate language aim to tackle these challenges. They then continue with a discussion of the modelling concepts needed. In this, we make a distinction between concepts needed to model domains in general, the modelling of dynamic systems, and the modelling of enterprise architectures.
Resource Analysis and Classification for Purpose Driven Value Model Design
Authors: Johannesson Paul , Andersson Birger , Weigand Hans
Published: April 2010

Business and IT systems are today facing an ever more complex environment characterised by openness, variety, and change. In order to cope with this environmental complexity, organisations need effective instruments for managing their knowledge. Essential among these instruments are enterprise models, i.e. computational representations of the structure, processes, information, resources, and goals of organisations. When using enterprise modeling for analysing and designing business scenarios and networks, the reasoning should not start from business processes and activities but from notions at a higher level of abstraction. This can be done by focusing on the business motivation behind processes and expressing it in value models, i.e. models focusing on high level and business oriented objects like resources, actors, resource conversions, and resource exchanges. The declarative orientation of value models make them attractive for a number of different purposes, including profitability analysis, marketing analysis, process design, and service analysis. As value models can be used for many different purposes, there is a risk that they will become overloaded, complex, and difficult to understand. Therefore, when designing a value model, its purpose should be explicitly stated in order to focus the analysis. The goal of this article is to show how the purpose of a value model should influence its design. The approach builds on an analysis and classification of resources, resource conversions, and resource exchanges.
A New Soa Security Model to Protect Against Web Competitive Intelligence Attacks by Software Agents
Authors: Amouzegar Hamidreza , Tarokh Mohammad Jafar , Hidaji Anahita Naghilouye
Published: April 2010

This article presents an automata SOA based security model against competitive intelligence attacks in e-commerce. It focuses on how to prevent conceptual interception of an e-firm business model from CI agent attackers. Since competitive intelligence web environment is a new important approach for all e-commerce based firms, they try to come in new marketplaces and need to find a good customer-base in contest with other existing competitors. Many of the newest methods for CI attacks in web position are based on software agent facilities. Many researchers are currently working on how to facilitate CI creation in this environment. The aim of this paper is to help e-firm designers provide a non-predictable presentation layer against CI attacks.
Clustering Obsolete Computers to Reduce E-Waste
Authors: Lynar Timothy M. , Simon  , Herbert Ric D. , Chivers William J.
Published: April 2010

Personal computers contribute significantly to the growing problem of electronic waste. Every computer, when finished with, must be stored, dumped, recycled, or somehow re-used. Most are dumped, at a huge cost to health and the environment, as their owners succumb to the desire to keep up with the ever-increasing power of new computers. Supercomputers and computer clusters provide more power than ordinary desktop and laptop computers, but they too are subject to rapid obsolescence. The authors have built a cluster of obsolete computers and have found that it easily outperforms a fairly standard new desktop computer. They explore how this approach can help to mitigate e-waste, and discuss the advantages and limitations of using such a system.
Industry-Wide Supply Chain Information Integration
Authors: Henningsson Stefan , Hedman Jonas
Published: April 2010

Experiences from enterprise-wide integration initiatives during more than four decades indicate that industry-wide information integration could render substantial benefits. Two ways in which industry-wide integration differs from enterprise-wide integration are that there is no common management level and the economic units in the integration are the constituent units, not the industry. Management involvement has been emphasized as perhaps the most critical success factor for enterprise-wide information integration. The common economic unit enables increased costs in one part of the organization to lower the total cost in the company as a whole. In this article the authors address which consequence these two differences have for the development of information integration in four industry-wide supply chains. The authors find the existing methods for enterprise-wide information integration, such as BPR, virtually impossible to apply on industrywide information integration and that the disjoint economic responsibility is a hampering aspect in reaching potential benefits of industry-wide information integration.
Simulation of Inventory Control System in a Supply Chain Using RFID
Authors: Al Kattan Ibrahim , Al Khudairi Taha
Published: April 2010

This paper employs a simulation model in a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system. This study is one of the first to present simulation model of inventory control system in supply chain management using barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The main objective of this model is to compare two inventory systems in a supply chain, one using RFID, versus the barcode. The model will help company to consider moving from a barcode system to the RFID application. A quantitative analysis based on a simulation model is developed. The model runs for both systems using ARENA simulation software with a comparison between the two systems. Furthermore, the simulation model is tested by applying three different types of demand for both scenarios. The results have shown that regardless of demand distribution pattern and customer order rate, the outcomes of the model are consistent and provide promising RFID technology adoption to improve inventory control of the entire supply chain system. The installation and unit cost of RFID implementation were estimated and considered to be the main barrier. Such model can offer the policymakers insight into how RFID might improve SCM system performance. Additional test has been conducted for demand with normal and triangular distributions using real data provided by ABC-Dubai Company. The results obtained from running the two models for these distributions are consistent with the original results.
Connect Time Limits and Performance Measures in a Dial-Up Modem Pool System
Authors: Schikora Paul F. , Godfrey Michael R. , Neureuther Brian D.
Published: April 2010

Managing customer service is critical for both nonprofit and for-profit dial-up modem Internet service providers. When system operators face excess demand, they can either add capacity or adapt their management techniques to deal with their limited resources—this article considers the latter. We examine system configuration options and the resultant effects on customer service levels in a simulated dial-up modem pool operation. Specifically, we look at a single pool operation and examine the effects of imposing time limits in a seriously overloaded system. We analyze the results on several key customer service measures. The results show that imposing these limits will have a distinct, nonlinear impact on these measures. Customer productivity and actual system load are shown to have major impacts on the performance measures. Interactions between several system and environmental parameters are also discussed.
ICT Usage by Greek Accountants
Authors: Emmanouilidis Efstratios C. , Economides Anastasios A.
Published: April 2010

This study investigates Greek accounting offices use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Initially, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed. It contains 35 questions with multiple answers and 2 open questions tailored to the accountants. One hundred accountants’ offices in a Greek county answered the questionnaire. The findings present their current ICT infrastructure and their use of ICT and accounting e-services. Greek accounting offices have made improvements in adopting new technology in their everyday work. All use email, antivirus software, and the Web. Most submit VAT (Value Aided Tax), Taxation Statements, and APS (Analytical Periodic Statement) via Internet. However, most are not cautious about backing up their data daily; they do not create electronic files for all their documents; they do not update their software via Internet; and they do not use advanced software applications. Finally, they expect the government and the Accountants’ Chamber to finance their ICT infrastructure.
A Research Journey into Enterprise Governance of IT, Business/IT Alignment and Value Creation
Authors: Van Grembergen Wim , De Haes Steven
Published: April 2010

Enterprise governance of IT is a relatively new concept in literature, and is gaining more interest in the academic and practitioner’s world. Enterprise governance of IT addresses the definition and implementation of processes, structures and relational mechanism that enable both business and IT people to execute their responsibilities in support of business/IT alignment and the creation of value from IT-enabled business investments. This article introduces important theories and practices around Enterprise governance of IT based on joint research and practical experience of the authors (and editors-in-chief of this journal) within the Information Technology Alignment and Governance (ITAG) Research Institute (University of Antwerp Management School). The article is based on the authors’ 8-year journey into Enterprise Governance of IT and aims to outline the core themes of interest of this new International Journal on IT/Business Alignment and Governance. In this way, this introductory article paves the way for many more research initiatives within this challenging research domain.
Analysing the Impact of Enterprise Governance of IT Practices on Business Performance
Authors: De Haes Steven , Van Grembergen Wim
Published: April 2010

Enterprise governance of IT (EGIT) is about the definition and implementation of processes, structures and relational mechanisms that enable both business and IT people to execute their responsibilities in support of business/IT alignment and the creation of business value from IT-enabled business investments. In this field, practice-oriented guidance like COBIT and Val IT are often promoted as broad frameworks to implement enterprise governance of IT, but very little academic research is available that empirically supports the assumption that implementing EGIT practices, as defined by COBIT and Val IT, improve business performance. This article explores the relationship between Enterprise Governance of IT practices and business performance, and finds little support to identify a direct link between EGIT practices and business performance. However, clear empirical evidence is revealed demonstrating that the implementation of EGIT practices impacts the achievement of specific IT goals, which in turn impacts the achievement of specific business goals. A three-layered cascade is proposed to demonstrate the impact of EGIT practices, through IT goals, on business performance.
Structuring SOA Governance
Authors: Niemann Michael , Miede André , Johannsen Wolfgang , Repp Nicolas , Steinmetz Ralf
Published: April 2010

Companies’ IT Systems are confronted with constantly changing market conditions, new competitive threats and a growing number of legal regulations. The service-oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm provides a promising way to address these challenges at the level of a company’s IT infrastructure. These challenges, as well as the management of the newly introduced complexity and heterogeneity, are targeted by SOA Governance approaches. In recent years, a number of concrete frameworks for SOA Governance addressing these issues have been proposed. There is no holistic approach considering all proposed elements, consolidating them in order to form a universally applicable model. In this contribution, we motivate SOA Governance, investigate and compare different approaches, identify common concepts, and derive a generic model for governance of Service-oriented Architectures.
Questioning the Key Techniques Underlying the Iterative and Incremental Approach to Information Systems Development
Authors: Yu Angus G.
Published: April 2010

The iterative and incremental development (IID) approach is widely adopted in information systems development (ISD) projects. While the IID approach has played an important role the management of many ISD projects, some of the key techniques have not received critical appraisal from the academic community. This paper aims to fill the gap and examines three such techniques through a case study. First of all, the gap between the theory of user participation and the reality of user’s lack of real influence on design and development is explored. The author proposes the concept of “participatory capture” to explain the side effect of user participation. Secondly, the assumption that evolutionary prototyping converges to a successful design is questioned. Thirdly, the side effect of the timeboxing technique is considered. The paper suggests that the IID approach represents the learning approach as categorized in Pich et al. (2002) and it might be ineffective in dealing with the significant uncertainties in ISD projects.
Older Adults and Diffusion of Assistive Web-Base Technologies
Authors: Fernando Senaka , Money Arthur , Elliman Tony , Lines Lorna
Published: April 2010

Recent surveys show that the number of people over the age of 65 is increasing worldwide and there is a considerable discussion about the scope of improving the older adults’ autonomy and independence, using recent developments in information technology. One of such development is web services and it is rapidly becoming a major means of accessing healthcare in the community and many government services for the older adults. However several researchers argue that age-related cognitive impairments have a detrimental effect on use of such web services by older adults. However, little and systematic applied research has been conducted on how age related cognitive impairments might affect the usage of web services by older adults. Undoubtedly, understanding the relationship between the cognitive changes that accompany aging and their impact on older adults’ usage of web services will be beneficial for designing web services for this group. The article demonstrates how such understanding has been employed to develop an assistive technology to improve older adults’ interaction with online forms (e.g. state benefit application form). However, the article acknowledges that this new assistive technology does not guarantee that people with age-related cognitive impairments accept it, as diffusion of innovation research shows that getting a new technology adopted, even when it has noticeable advantage, is often very difficult. Consequently, the article identifies critical factors that need to be considered when adopting this new assistive technology, drawing on Rogers’s theory of Diffusion of Innovations.
Implementing Electronic Invoicing in a Textile and Cleanliness Company – Impacts on Buyer-Seller Relationships
Authors: Penttinen Esko , Hallikainen Petri , Salomäki Tuija
Published: April 2010

In this paper, we examine the effects of the implementation of electronic invoicing on buyer-seller relationships. We apply the framework by Cannon and Perreault (1999) to analyze the changes in the relationship connectors between the two parties. Drawing on qualitative interview data from a single case study, we find that the implementation of electronic invoicing has a strong impact on the information exchange component as well as on the operational linkages component. In addition, we find that both parties have made adaptations due to the implementation of electronic invoicing. It was also concluded that the switching costs have increased and the commitment improved between the seller and its customers. While the investments in electronic invoicing usually reduce costs for the buyers, the sellers benefit from the implementation of electronic invoicing in creating long-lasting relationships and even dependence between the two parties.
Applying Cognitive Theories to Evaluate Conceptual Models in Systems Analysis
Authors: Rockwell Stephen , Bajaj Akhilesh
Published: April 2010

Conceptual models have been evaluated along the dimensions of modeling complexity (how easy is it to create schemas given requirements?) and readability (how easy is it to understand the requirements by reading the model schema?). In this work, we update COGEVAL, a propositional framework based on cognitive theories to evaluate conceptual models. We synthesize work from cognitive literature to develop the framework, and show how it can be used to explain earlier empirical results as well as existing theoretical frameworks. We illustrate how COGEVAL can be used as a theoretical basis to design an empirical test of readability of a conceptual model. Unlike much of the earlier empirical work on readability, our approach isolates the effect of a model-independent variable (degree of fragmentation) on readability. From a practical perspective, our findings will have implications for both creators of new models and practitioners who use currently available models to create schemas.
Towards Knowledge Evolution in Software Engineering
Authors: Wautelet Yves , Schinckus Christophe , Kolp Manuel
Published: April 2010

This article presents an epistemological reading of knowledge evolution in software engineering (SE) both within a software project and into SE theoretical frameworks principally modeling languages and software development life cycles (SDLC). The article envisages SE as an artificial science and notably points to the use of iterative development as a more adequate framework for the enterprise applications. Iterative development has become popular in SE since it allows a more efficient knowledge acquisition process especially in user intensive applications by continuous organizational modeling and requirements acquisition, early implementation and testing, modularity,… SE is by nature a human activity: analysts, designers, developers and other project managers confront their visions of the software system they are building with users’ requirements. The study of software projects’ actors and stakeholders using Simon’s bounded rationality points to the use of an iterative development life cycle. The later, indeed, allows to better apprehend their rationality. Popper’s knowledge growth principle could at first seem suited for the analysis of the knowledge evolution in the SE field. However, this epistemology is better adapted to purely hard sciences as physics than to SE which also takes roots in human activities and by the way in social sciences. Consequently, we will nuance the vision using Lakatosian epistemology notably using his falsification principle criticism on SE as an evolving science. Finally the authors will point to adaptive rationality for a lecture of SE theorists and researchers’ rationality.
Testable Theory Development for Small-N Studies
Authors: Smith Matthew L.
Published: April 2010

Theory testing within small-N research designs is problematic. Developments in the philosophy of social science have opened up new methodological possibilities through, among other things, a novel notion of contingent causality that allows for contextualized hypothesis generation, hypothesis testing and refinement, and generalization. This article contributes to the literature by providing an example of critical realist (one such new development in the philosophy of social science) theory development for a small-N comparative case study that includes hypothesis testing. The article begins with the key ontological assumptions of critical realism and its relation to theory and explanation. Then, the article presents an illustrative example of an e-government comparative case study, focusing on the concept of trust, which follows these ontological assumptions. The focus of the example is on the nature and process of theory and hypothesis development, rather than the actual testing that occurred. Essential to developing testable hypotheses is the generation of tightly linked middle-range and case-specific theories that provide propositions that can be tested and refined. The link provides a pathway to feed back the concrete empirical data to the higher level (more abstract) and generalizable middle-range theories.
The Standards War Between ODF and OOXML
Authors: Egyedi Tineke M. , Koppenhol Aad
Published: April 2010

A strong belief exists that competition between de facto standards stimulates innovation and benefits consumers because it drives down the costs of products. The tenability of this belief, and its preconditions and limits, has been widely scrutinized. However, little has been written about competition between negotiated, de jure (i.e., committee) standards. Are competing de jure standards a good thing? Blind (2008) equals de jure to de facto standards and concludes that competition between de jure standards increases social welfare. In this article we argue that it is important to distinguish between de jure and de facto standards; therefore, that Blind’s basic assumption is incorrect. We illustrate our argument with the same example as Blind, that is, the standards war between the document formats of ODF and OOXML. In our view, the implications of condoning—and even encouraging—competition between de jure standards will have far-reaching consequences for public IT-procurement. It will hinder innovation and counteract supplier-independent information exchange between government and citizens.
Usability Methodologies for Real-Life Voice User Interfaces
Authors: Kouroupetroglou Georgios , Spiliotopoulos Dimitris
Published: April 2010

This paper studies the usability methodologies for spoken dialogue web interfaces along with the appropriate designer-needs analysis. The work unfolds a theoretical perspective to the methods that are extensively used and provides a framework description for creating and testing usable content and applications for conversational interfaces. The main concerns include the design issues for usability testing and evaluation during the development lifecycle, the basic customer experience metrics and the problems that arise after the deployment of real-life systems. Through the discussion of the evaluation and testing methods, this paper argues on the importance and the potential of wizard-based functional assessment and usability testing for deployed systems, presenting an appropriate environment as part of an integrated development framework.
SWAMI
Authors: Kilfoil Mark , Ghorbani Ali
Published: April 2010

The rapid growth of the World Wide Web has complicated the process of Web browsing by providing an overwhelming wealth of choices for the end user. To alleviate this burden, intelligent tools can do much of the drudge-work of looking ahead, searching and performing a preliminary evaluation of the end pages on the user’s behalf, anticipating the user’s needs and providing the user with more information with which to make fewer, more informed decisions. However, to accomplish this task, the tools need some form of representation of the interests of the user. This article describes the SWAMI system: SWAMI stands for Searching the Web with Agents having Mobility and Intelligence. SWAMI is a prototype that uses a multi-agent system to represent the interests of a user dynamically, and take advantage of the active nature of agents to provide a platform for look-ahead evaluation, page searching, and link swapping. The collection of agents is organized hierarchically according to the apparent interests of the user, which are discovered on-the-fly through multistage clustering. Results from initial testing show that such a system is able to follow the multiple changing interests of a user accurately, and that it is capable of acting fruitfully on these interests to provide a user with useful navigational suggestions.
Using Knowledge Management to Create Self-Reliant Communities in Thailand
Authors: Chantarasombat Chalard , Srisa-ard Boonchom , Kuofie Matthew H.S. , Jennex Murray E.
Published: April 2010

Many look at knowledge management as an organizational initiative. However, can KM also be used to assist low technology situations such as rural villages? This paper describes the application of KM to the creation of a self-reliant community in Thailand. Changing demographics are threatening the ability of rural villages to sustain their viability as traditional methods of passing knowledge from one generation to the next are circumvented by the movement of the young to more urbanized areas of Thailand. KM is seen as a way of changing the traditional knowledge transfer process to something that assists those who remain in the villages. The KM approach investigated consisted of five stages: 1) Preparation, 2) Create motivation, awareness, promote participation, 3) Develop the KM plan, 4) Implement the KM plan, and 5) Evaluation. The approach was assessed and found to be successful by using eight organizations over an 8-month period.
Meta-synthesis Knowledge System
Authors: Jifa Gu
Published: April 2010

Meta-synthesis knowledge system (MSKS) is based on the meta-synthesis system approach and knowledge science. This article introduces the basic theory of meta-synthesis knowledge system like DMTMC system, model integration, opinion synthesis, consensus building and expert mining. Similar MSKS systems are illustrated. Case studies and examples are also explored in this article.
Multimedia Databases and Data Management
Authors: Chen Shu-Ching
Published: April 2010

The exponential growth of the technological advancements has resulted in high-resolution devices, such as digital cameras, scanners, monitors, and printers, which enable the capturing and displaying of multimedia data in high-density storage devices. Furthermore, more and more applications need to live with multimedia data. However, the gap between the characteristics of various media types and the application requirements has created the need to develop advanced techniques for multimedia data management and the extraction of relevant information from multimedia databases. Though many research efforts have been devoted to the areas of multimedia databases and data management, it is still far from maturity. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the existing techniques, methodologies, and tools addressed relevant issues and challenges to enable a better understanding in multimedia databases and data management. The focuses include: (1) how to develop a formal structure that can be used to capture the distinguishing content of the media data in a multimedia database (MMDB) and to form an abstract space for the data to be queried; (2) how to develop advanced content analysis and retrieval techniques that can be used to bridge the gaps between the semantic meaning and low-level media characteristics to improve multimedia information retrieval; and (3) how to develop query mechanisms that can handle complex spatial, temporal, and/or spatio-temporal relationships of multimedia data to answer the imprecise and incomplete queries issued to an MMDB.
A Model-Based Approach to Analysis and Calibration of Sensor-Based Human Interaction Loops
Authors: Eslambolchilar Parisa , Murray-Smith Roderick
Published: April 2010

The dynamic systems approach to the design of continuous interaction allows designers to use analytical tools such as state-space modeling and Bode diagrams to simulate and analyse the behaviour and stability of sensor-based applications alone and when it is coupled with a manual control model of user behaviour. This approach also helps designers to calibrate and tune the parameters of the sensor-based application before the actual implementation, and in response to user action. In this article the authors introduce some term definitions from manual control theory for the analysis of the continuous aspects of the interaction design and human behaviour. Then we provide a theoretical framework for specification, analysis and calibration of a sensor-based zooming and scrolling application on mobile devices including the user in the interaction loop. It is especially topical and interesting for guiding design of sensor-based applications on mobile devices. We test our framework with a tilt-controlled speed-dependent automatic zooming application on a PDA.
Organization-Oriented Chemical Programming of Distributed Artifacts
Authors: Matsumaru Naoki , Hinze Thomas , Dittrich Peter
Published: April 2010

The construction of molecular-scale machines requires novel paradigms for their programming. Here, we assume a scenario of distributed devices that process in-formation by chemical reactions and that communicate by exchanging molecules. Programming such a distributed system requires specifing reaction rules as well as exchange rules. Here, we present an approach that helps to guide the manual construction of distributed chemical programs. We show how chemical organization theory can assist a programmer in predicting the behavior of the program. The basic idea is that a computation should be understood as a movement between chemical organizations, which are closed and self-maintaining sets of molecular species. When sticking to that design principle, fine-tuning of kinetic laws becomes less important. We demonstrate the approach by a novel chemical program that solves the maximal independent set problem on a distributed system without any central control—a typical situation in ad-hoc networks. We show that the computational result, which emerges from many local reaction events, can be explained in terms of chemical organizations, which assures robustness and low sensitivity to the choice of kinetic parameters.
Entering the Clubhouse
Authors: Kafai Yasmin B. , Fields Deborah A , Burke William Q.
Published: April 2010

Previous efforts in end-user development have focused on facilitating the mechanics of learning programming, leaving aside social and cultural factors equally important in getting youth engaged in programming. As part of a 4-month long ethnographic study, we followed two 12-year-old participants as they learned the programming software Scratch and its associated file-sharing site, scratch.mit.edu, in an after-school club and class. In our discussion, we focus on the role that agency, membership, and status played in their joining and participating in local and online communities of programmers.
The Open System for Master Production Scheduling
Authors: Lee Hyoung-Gon , Schuster Edmund W. , Allen Stuart J. , Kar Pinaki
Published: April 2010

Commonly provided by ERP vendors, master production scheduling (MPS) systems often strive to meet the needs of a large user base while limiting software functionality. Subsequently, business process reengineering becomes the means for firms to adapt to MPS software packages. This article develops a flexible approach for MPS delivery as an alternative to packaged software. The article examines the general case of open system architecture to deliver a specific master scheduling model to end-users. The open system approach fulfills a goal to standardize and speed the process of modeling in practice by creating a supply network for mathematical models that is searchable across the Internet with precision. The value lies on quickly putting state-of-the-art modeling in the hands of many users with no local computer implementation other than downloading an Excel spreadsheet.
Numerical Studies on Reformulation Techniques for Continuous Network Design with Asymmetric User Equilibria
Authors: Ferris Michael , Liu Henry X.
Published: April 2010

In this article, we aim to find the most effective reformulation techniques to solve the MPCC (mathematical program with complementarity constraints) model that we proposed recently for continuous network design problems under asymmetric user equilibria. The MPCC model is based on a link-node nonlinear complementarity formulation for asymmetric user equilibria. By applying various reformulation techniques for the lower level nonlinear complementarity, the original bilevel formulation can be converted to a single level nonlinear programming problem. We show that certain reformulations are more effective than others to solve the proposed MPCC model. Recommendations are thus provided on how to choose a reformulation of the continuous network design problem that can be solved effectively and/or efficiently.
A Note on the Connection Between the Primal-Dual and the A* Algorithm
Authors: Ye Xugang , Han Shih-Ping , Lin Anhua
Published: April 2010

The primal-dual algorithm for linear programming is very effective for solving network flow problems. For the method to work, an initial feasible solution to the dual is required. In this article, we show that, for the shortest path problem in a positively weighted graph equipped with a consistent heuristic function, the primal-dual algorithm will become the well-known A* algorithm if a special initial feasible solution to the dual is chosen. We also show how the improvements of the dual objective are related to the A* iterations.
The Impact of Agile Methodologies on the Quality of Information Systems
Authors: Kendall Kenneth E. , Kong Sue , Kendall Julie E.
Published: April 2010

Systems developers and IT project managers who apply agile methods for developing information systems (IS) subscribe to a set of values and principles. This adherence to a set of values and principles, along with a passion or fervor surrounding the agile philosophy, made us question whether the adoption of agile methodologies has an effect on information systems built, and in particular, the quality of the IS developed. In this paper we construct a conceptual model, conduct a survey of software developers, and analyze our results, which support our hypotheses about the importance of the strategic selection of a development methodology. We conclude that practicing project managers should consider the decision to use certain methodologies as part of the strategic process.
Using Decision Sciences to Enhance Entrepreneurial Foresight
Authors: Acar William , Anokhin Sergey , Troutt Marvin D.
Published: April 2010

The theoretical simplicity of contrasting the notion of energetic search of Baron and Fiet with that of alertness (without search) of Kirzner have been winning over more complex yet more actionable formulations. In contrast, this paper introduces a less dogmatic and more actionable integrated framework that could be viewed as either passive search or active alertness. By investigates how the thinking and methods of decision sciences can assist with capturing alertness, the paper shows how foresight can be implemented in practice through a newer form of causal mapping, Acar’s Comprehensive Situation Mapping (CSM). This is an enhanced form of causal mapping that lends itself to dialectical debate and assumption analysis. It also possesses computational properties that allow it to devise and compute change scenarios. Bringing CSM into the field of entrepreneurship augments the latter’s analytical capability for opportunity recognition and contributes an actionable approach to entrepreneurial strategy selection.