bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Feature Based Affine Invariant Watermarking Robust to Geometric	Distortions
Authors: Hung Kuo Lung , He Shin-Wei
Published: December 2019

This work, proposes a robust digital watermarking scheme based on feature points as a defense against illegal user attacks, such as, rotating, scaling and translation. First of all, a Gaussian filter is first adopted to discover the invariant feature points. The local maximum and the local minimum values are then calculated from those feature points. The Affine Invariant Region (AIR) is then divided by combination the values: local maximum, local minimum values and the center of mass. The AIR region is then transformed using affine transform to a block image, called the normalized image, in which the size of the block image is predefined. The watermarks are then embedded into the normalized image. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can still extract the correct watermark, even after a geometric attack. The proposed method has a lower false positive rate and higher accuracy than Lu's [12] that making it a robust blind watermarking scheme.
The Monadic Second-order Logic Evaluation Problem on Finite	Colored Trees: a Database-theoretic Approach
Authors: Foustoucos Eugénie , Kalantzi Labrini
Published: December 2019

We model the monadic second-order logic (MSO) evaluation problem on finite colored trees in a purely database theoretic framework, based on the well-knownMSO-automata connection: we reduce the problem to an acyclic conjunctive query evaluation problem on the one hand and to a monadic datalog evaluation problem on the other hand. This approach offers the possibility to solve the MSO problem using optimized evaluation methods for relational algebra expressions and for datalog programs (such as Yannakakis algorithm [27] and the rewriting method using resolutionbased filtering referred to as "magic sets" method in [3]): we use these methods for evaluating our queries and giving estimates of their complexity. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a solution to the MSO evaluation problem related to relational algebra is given; furthermore, thanks to this reduction, we prove that the automata-based algorithm given in [8] constitutes a particular "instance" of Yannakakis algorithm. Besides the optimized database methods that we propose for solving the MSO evaluation problem, our results prove that MSO-definable queries over colored trees are datalog-definable; this result subsumes the corresponding result in [12] which states that unary MSO queries are monadic datalog-definable and it also subsumes the well-known result that any MSO-definable class of trees is monadic datalog-definable.
Autonomous Units to Model Interacting Sequential and Parallel	Processes
Authors: Hölscher Karsten , Kreowski Hans-Jörg , Kuske Sabine
Published: December 2019

In this paper, we introduce the notion of a community of autonomous units as a rulebased and graph-transformational device to model processes that run interactively but independently of each other in a common environment. The main components of an autonomous unit are a set of rules, a control condition, and a goal. Every autonomous unit transforms graphs by applying its rules so that the control condition is satisfied. If the goal is reached the resulting transformation process is successful. A community contains a set of autonomous units, an initial environment specification, and an overall goal. In every transformation process of a community the autonomous units interact via their common environment. As an example, the game Ludo is modeled as a community of self-controlled players who interact on a common board. The emphasis of the presented approach is laid on the study of the formal semantics of a community as a whole and of each of its member units separately. In particular, a sequential as well as a parallel semantics is introduced, and communities with parallel semantics are compared with Petri nets, cellular automata, and multiagent systems.
Instruction Sequences with Dynamically Instantiated Instructions
Authors: Bergstra Jan A. , Middelburg Cornelis A.
Published: December 2019

We study sequential programs that are instruction sequences with dynamically instantiated instructions. We define the meaning of such programs in two different ways. In either case, we give a translation by which each program with dynamically instantiated instructions is turned into a program without them that exhibits on execution the same behaviour by interaction with some service. The complexity of the translations differ considerably, whereas the services concerned are equally simple. However, the service concerned in the case of the simpler translation is far more powerful than the service concerned in the other case.
A Similarity Measure for Cyclic Unary Regular Languages
Authors: Dassow Jürgen , Martín Gema M. , Vico Francisco J.
Published: December 2019

A cyclic unary regular language is a regular language over a unary alphabet that is represented by a cyclic automaton. We propose a similarity measure for cyclic unary regular languages by modifying the Jaccard similarity coefficient and the Sørensen coefficient to measure the level of overlap between such languages. This measure computes the proportion of strings that are shared by two or more cyclic unary regular languages and is an upper bound of the Jaccard coefficient and the Sørensen coefficient. By using such similarity measure, we define a dissimilarity measure for cyclic unary regular languages that is a semimetric distance. Moreover, it can be used for the non-cyclic case.
Boosting Classifiers Built from Different Subsets of	Features
Authors: Janodet ean-Christophe , Sebban Marc , Suchier Henri-Maxime
Published: December 2019

We focus on the adaptation of boosting to representation spaces composed of different subsets of features. Rather than imposing a single weak learner to handle data that could come from different sources (e.g., images and texts and sounds), we suggest the decomposition of the learning task into several dependent sub-problems of boosting, treated by different weak learners, that will optimally collaborate during the weight update stage. To achieve this task, we introduce a new weighting scheme for which we provide theoretical results. Experiments are carried out and show that ourmethod works significantly better than any combination of independent boosting procedures.
A Decidable Probability Logic for Timed Probabilistic	Systems
Authors: Lanotte Ruggero , Beauquier Danièle
Published: December 2019

In this paper we extend the predicate logic introduced by Beauquier et al. in order to deal with Markov decision processes. We prove that with respect to qualitative probabilistic properties, model checking is decidable for this logic applied to Markov decision processes. Furthermore we apply our logic to probabilistic timed transition systems using predicates on clocks. We prove that results on Markov decision processes hold also for probabilistic timed transition systems. The interest of this logic lies in particular on the fact that some important properties are expressible in this logic but not expressible in pCTL.
The new SIMD Implementation of the Smith-Waterman Algorithm on	Cell Microprocessor
Authors: Rudnicki Witold R. , Jankowski Aleksander , Modzelewski Aleksander , Piotrowski Aleksander , Zadrożny Adam
Published: December 2019

Algorithms for estimating similarity between two macromolecular sequences are of profound importance for molecular biology. The standard methods utilize so-called primary structure, that is a string of characters denoting the sequence of monomers in hetero-polymer. These methods find the substrings of maximal similarity, as defined by the so-called similarity matrix, for a pair of two molecules. The problem is solved either by the exact dynamic programming method, or by approximate heuristic methods.

The approximate algorithms are almost two orders of magnitude faster in comparison with the standard version of the exact Smith-Waterman algorithm, when executed on the same hardware, hence the exact algorithm is relatively rarely used. Recently a very efficient implementation of Smith- Waterman algorithm utilizing SIMD extensions to the standard instruction set reduced the speed advantage of heuristic algorithms to factor of three. Here we present an improved implementation of the Smith-Waterman algorithm on the Cell processor.

Implementation presented here achieves execution speed of approximately 9 GCUPS. The performance is independent on the scoring system. It is 4 to 10 times faster than best Smith-Waterman implementation running on a PC and 1.5 to 3 times faster than the same implementation running on Sony PlayStation 3. It is also 5 times faster than the recent implementation of the Smith- Waterman utilizing Nvidia GPU.

Our implementation running on Sony PlayStation 3 has performance which is directly comparable with that of BLAST running on PC, being up to 4 times faster in the best case and no more than two times slower in the worst case. This performance level opens possibility for using the exact Smith-Waterman algorithm in applications, where currently approximate algorithms are used.
Semi-GAPS: A Semi-supervised Clustering Method Using Point	Symmetry
Authors: Saha Sriparna , Bandyopadhyay Sanghamitra
Published: December 2019

In this paper, an evolutionary technique for the semi-supervised clustering is proposed. The proposed technique uses a point symmetry based distance measure. Semi-supervised classification uses aspects of both unsupervised and supervised learning to improve upon the performance of traditional classification methods. In this paper the existing point symmetry based genetic clustering technique, GAPS-clustering, is extended in two different ways to handle the semi-supervised classi- fication problem. The proposed semi-GAPS clustering algorithmis able to detect any type of clusters irrespective of shape, size and convexity as long as they possess the point symmetry property. Kdtree based nearest neighbor search is used to reduce the complexity of finding the closest symmetric point. Adaptive mutation and crossover probabilities are used. Experimental results demonstrate practical performance benefits of the methodology in detecting classes having symmetrical shapes in case of semi-supervised clustering.
On the Borel Complexity of MSO Definable Sets of Branches
Authors: Bojańczyk Mikołaj , Niwiński Damian , Rabinovich Alexander , Radziwończyk-Syta Adam , Skrzypczak Michał
Published: December 2019

An infinite binaryword can be identified with a branch in the full binary tree. We consider sets of branches definable in monadic second-order logic over the tree, where we allow some extra monadic predicates on the nodes. We show that this class equals to the Boolean combinations of sets in the Borel class Σ $^0_2$ over the Cantor discontinuum. Note that the last coincides with the Borel complexity of ω-regular languages.
Properties of Almost All Graphs and Generalized Quantifiers
Authors: Dawar Anuj , Grädel Erich
Published: December 2019

We study 0-1 laws for extensions of first-order logic by Lindström quantifiers. We state sufficient conditions on a quantifier Q expressing a graph property, for the logic FO[Q] – the extension of first-order logic by means of the quantifier Q – to have a 0-1 law. We use these conditions to show, in particular, that FO[Rig], where Rig is the quantifier expressing rigidity, has a 0-1 law. We also show that extensions of first-order logic with quantifiers for Hamiltonicity, regularity and self-complementarity of graphs do not have a 0-1 law. Blass and Harary pose the question whether there is a logic which is powerful enough to express Hamiltonicity or rigidity and which has a 0-1 law. It is a consequence of our results that there is no such regular logic (in the sense of abstract model theory) in the case of Hamiltonicity, but there is one in the case of rigidity. We also consider sequences of vectorized quantifiers, and show that the extensions of first-order logic obtained by adding such sequences generated by quantifiers that are closed under substructures have 0-1 laws. The positive results also extend to the infinitary logic with finitely many variables.
Arrow Index of a Fuzzy Choice Function
Authors: Georgescu Irina
Published: December 2019

The Arrow index of a fuzzy choice function C is a measure of the degree to which C satisfies the Fuzzy Arrow Axiom, a fuzzy version of the classical Arrow Axiom. The main result of this paper shows that A(C) characterizes the degree to which C is full rational. We also obtain a method for computing A(C). The Arrow index allows to rank the fuzzy choice functions with respect to their rationality. Thus, if for solving a decision problem several fuzzy choice functions are proposed, by the Arrow index the most rational one will be chosen.
Separating Multi-Color Points on a Plane with Fewest Axis-Parallel Lines
Authors: Majumder Subhashis , Nandy Subhas C. , Bhattacharya Bhargab B.
Published: December 2019

In this paper, we deal with the problem of partitioning a set of coplanar points of more than one colors into monochromatic cells using minimum number of axis-parallel straight lines. It is first shown that the problem is NP-hard. A fast heuristic is then presented to solve this problem. Experimental results on randomly generated instances indicate that the proposed method is much faster than the existing techniques, with minor degradation in the cost of the partition.
Set-theoretical Constructions of Boolean Functions and theirs	Applications in Logic Synthesis
Authors: Rytsar Bohdan , Romanowski Piotr , Shvay Adrian
Published: December 2019

In this paper a creation of new numerical set-theoretical constructions of Boolean functions with their properties has been presented. The parted conjuncterms and decomposition clones which can be used for realization of different optimization logic synthesis of digital devices and systems have been proposed. Set theoretical operations and procedures with these constructions have been considered. Examples which illustrate simplicity of their practical realization have been presented. Moreover, the paper includes the comparison of new results obtained on the basis of the proposed approach with the results obtained by means of commercial software Quartus II of Altera.
An Interface Group for Process Components
Authors: Bergstra Jan A. , Middelburg Cornelis A.
Published: December 2019

We take a process component as a pair of an interface and a behaviour. We study the composition of interacting process components in the setting of process algebra. We formalize the interfaces of interacting process components by means of an interface group. An interesting feature of the interface group is that it allows for distinguishing between expectations and promises in interfaces of process components. This distinction comes into play in case components with both client and server behaviour are involved.
Bounded Number of Parallel Productions in Scattered Context	Grammars with Three Nonterminals
Authors: Masopust Tomáš
Published: December 2019

Scattered context grammars with three nonterminals are known to be computationally complete. So far, however, it was an open problem whether the number of parallel productions can be bounded along with three nonterminals. In this paper, we prove that every recursively enumerable language is generated by a scattered context grammar with three nonterminals and five parallel productions, each of which simultaneously rewrites no more than nine nonterminals.
Local Verification Using a Distributed State Space
Authors: Abid Chiheb Ameur , Zouari Belhassen
Published: December 2019

This paper deals with the modular analysis of distributed concurrent systems modelled by Petri nets. The main analysis techniques of such systems suffer from the well-known problem of the combinatory explosion of state space. In order to cope with this problem, we use a modular representation of the state space instead of the ordinary one. The modular representation, namely modular state space, is much smaller than the ordinary state space. We propose to distribute the modular state space on every machine associated with one module. We enhance the modularity of the verification of some local properties of any module by limiting it to the exploration of local and some global information. Once the construction of the distributed state space is performed, there is no communication between modules during the verification.
Computer Algebra Technique for Coxeter Spectral Study of Edge-bipartite Graphs and Matrix Morsifications of Dynkin Type $\mathbb{A}_n$
Authors: Felisiak Mariusz
Published: December 2019

By applying computer algebra tools (mainly, Maple and C++), given the Dynkin diagram $\Delta = \mathbb{A}_n$ , with n ≥ 2 vertices and the Euler quadratic form $q_\Delta : \mathbb{Z}^n \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}$ , we study the problem of classifying mesh root systems and the mesh geometries of roots of Δ (see Section 1 for details). The problem reduces to the computation of the Weyl orbits in the set $Mor_\Delta \subseteq \mathbb{M}_n(\mathbb{Z})$ of all matrix morsifications A of qΔ, i.e., the non-singular matrices $A \in \mathbb{M}_n(\mathbb{Z})$ such that (i) qΔ(v) = v · A · vtr, for all $v \in \mathbb{Z}^n$ , and (ii) the Coxeter matrix CoxA := −A · A−tr lies in $Gl(n,\mathbb{Z})$ . The Weyl group $\mathbb{W}_\Delta \subseteq Gl(n, \mathbb{Z})$ acts on MorΔ and the determinant det $A \in \mathbb{Z}$ , the order cA ≥ 2 of CoxA (i.e. the Coxeter number), and the Coxeter polynomial $cox_A(t) := det(t \centerdot E \minus Cox_A) \in \mathbb{Z}[t]$ are $\mathbb{W}_\Delta$ -invariant. The problem of determining the $\mathbb{W}_\Delta$ -orbits $\cal{O}rb(A)$ of MorΔ and the Coxeter polynomials coxA(t), with $A \in Mor_\Delta$ , is studied in the paper and we get its solution for n ≤ 8, and $A = [a_{ij}] \in Mor_{\mathbb{A}}_n$ , with $\vert a_{ij} \vert \le 1$ . In this case, we prove that the number of the $\mathbb{W}_\Delta$ -orbits $\cal{O}rb(A)$ and the number of the Coxeter polynomials coxA(t) equals two or three, and the following three conditions are equivalent: (i) $\cal{O}rb(A) = \mathbb{O}rb(A\prime)$ , (ii) coxA(t) = coxA′(t), (iii) cA · det A = cA′ · det A′. We also construct: (a) three pairwise different $\mathbb{W}_\Delta$ -orbits in MorΔ, with pairwise different Coxeter polynomials, if $\Delta = \mathbb{A}_{2m \minus 1}$ and m ≥ 3; and (b) two pairwise different $\mathbb{W}_\Delta$ -orbits in MorΔ, with pairwise different Coxeter polynomials, if $\Delta = \mathbb{A}_{2m}$ and m ≥ 1.
A Resolution Calculus for First-order Schemata
Authors: Aravantinos Vincent , Echenim Mnacho , Peltier Nicolas
Published: December 2019

We devise a resolution calculus that tests the satisfiability of infinite families of clause sets, called clause set schemata. For schemata of propositional clause sets, we prove that this calculus is sound, refutationally complete, and terminating. The calculus is extended to first-order clauses, for which termination is lost, since the satisfiability problem is not semi-decidable for nonpropositional schemata. The expressive power of the considered logic is strictly greater than the one considered in our previous work.
Decomposition and Approximation of Loopy Bayesian Networks
Authors: Dong Jianwu , Chen Feng , Huo Yanyan , Liu Hong
Published: December 2019

This paper proposes a new method, conditional probability table (CPT) decomposition, to analyze the independent and deterministic components of CPT. This method can be used to approximate and analyze Baysian networks. The decomposition of Bayesian networks is accomplished by representing CPTs as a linear combination of extreme CPTs, which forms a new framework to conduct inference. Based on this new framework, inference in Bayesian networks can be done by decomposing them into less connected and weighted subnetworks. We can achieve exact inference if the original network is decomposed into singly-connected subnetworks. Besides, approximate inference can be done by discarding the subnetworks with small weights or by a partial decomposition and application of belief propagation (BP) on the still multiply-connected subnetworks. Experiments show that the decomposition-based approximation outperforms BP in most cases.
On the Validation of Invariants at Runtime
Authors: Kosiuczenko Piotr
Published: December 2019

The paradigm of contractual specification provides a transparent way of specifying object-oriented systems. In this paradigm, system consistency is specified using so-called invariants. Runtime validation of invariants is a complex problem. Existing validation methods require either exhausting validation of an invariant for all objects of the corresponding class or the use of restrictive type systems. In this paper a non-exhaustive method of invariant validation is proposed. It is proved that the method is sound and an implementation of this method is discussed. It is shown also how to extract context free languages corresponding to OCL-invariants.
Safety and Soundness for Priced Resource-Constrained Workflow Nets
Authors: Martos-Salgado María , Rosa-Velardo Fernando
Published: December 2019

We extend workflow Petri nets (wf-nets) with discrete prices, by associating a price to the execution of a transition and to the storage of tokens. We first define the safety and the soundness problems for priced wf-nets. A priced wf-net is safe if no execution costs more than a given budget. The soundness problem is that of deciding whether the workflow can always terminate properly, where in the priced setting “properly” also means that the execution does not cost more than a given threshold. Then, we study safety and soundness of resource-constrained workflow nets (rcwf-nets), an extension of wf-nets for the modeling of concurrent executions of a workflow, sharing some global resources. We develop a framework in which to study safety and soundness for priced rcwf-nets, that is parametric on the cost model. Then, that framework is instantiated, obtaining the cases in which the sum, the maximum, the average and the discounted sum of the prices of all instances are considered. We study the decidability and the complexity of these properties, together with their relation.
Process Discovery and Conformance Checking Using Passages
Authors: van der Aalst W.M.P. , Verbeek H.M.W.
Published: December 2019

The two most prominent process mining tasks are process discovery (i.e., learning a process model from an event log) and conformance checking (i.e., diagnosing and quantifying differences between observed and modeled behavior). The increasing availability of event data makes these tasks highly relevant for process analysis and improvement. Therefore, process mining is considered to be one of the key technologies for Business Process Management (BPM). However, as event logs and process models grow, process mining becomes more challenging. Therefore, we propose an approach to decompose process mining problems into smaller problems using the notion of passages. A passage is a pair of two non-empty sets of activities (X, Y) such that the set of direct successors of X is Y and the set of direct predecessors of Y is X. Any Petri net can be partitioned using passages. Moreover, process discovery and conformance checking can be done per passage and the results can be aggregated. This has advantages in terms of efficiency and diagnostics. Moreover, passages can be used to distribute process mining problems over a network of computers. Passages are supported through ProM plug-ins that automatically decompose process discovery and conformance checking tasks.
Relationships Between Length and Coverage of Decision Rules
Authors: Amin Talha , Chikalov Igor , Moshkov Mikhail , Zielosko Beata
Published: December 2019

The paper describes a new tool for study relationships between length and coverage of exact decision rules. This tool is based on dynamic programming approach. We also present results of experiments with decision tables from UCI Machine Learning Repository.
Relationships between Average Depth and Number of Misclassifications for Decision Trees
Authors: Chikalov Igor , Hussain Shahid , Moshkov Mikhail
Published: December 2019

This paper presents a new tool for the study of relationships between the total path length or the average depth and the number of misclassifications for decision trees. In addition to algorithm, the paper also presents the results of experiments with datasets from UCI ML Repository [9] and datasets representing Boolean functions with 10 variables.
Petri Net-Based Collaborative Simulation and Steering of Biochemical Reaction Networks
Authors: Herajy Mostafa , Heiner Monika
Published: December 2019

Computational steering is an interactive remote control of a long running application. The user can adopt it, e.g., to adjust simulation parameters on the fly. Simulation of large-scale biochemical networks is often computationally expensive, particularly stochastic and hybrid simulation. Such extremely time-consuming computations necessitate an interactive mechanism to permit users to try different paths and ask “what-if-questions” while the simulation is in progress. Furthermore, with the progress of computational modelling and the simulation of biochemical networks, there is a need to manage multi-scale models, which may contain species or reactions at different scales. In this context, Petri nets are of special importance, since they provide an intuitive visual representation of reaction networks. In this paper, we introduce a framework and its implementation for combining Petri nets and computational steering for the representation and interactive simulation of biochemical networks. The main merits of the developed framework are: intuitive representation of biochemical networks by means of Petri nets, distributed collaborative and interactive simulation, and tight coupling of simulation and visualisation.
Boundaries, Borders, Fences, Hedges
Authors: Polkowski Lech , Semeniuk-Polkowska Maria
Published: December 2019

In this essay, we analyze various often semantically identified notions of separating things. In doing this, we contrast the set–theoretical approach based on the notion of an element/point with the mereological approach based on the notion of a part, hence, pointless. We address time aspect of the notion of a boundary and related notions as well as approximate notions defined in the realm of rough (approximate) mereology.
The concept of continuing education for organizations and its effects
Authors: Somunoğlu Sinem , Ofluoğlu Gökhan
Published: December 2019

Currently, while considering the responsibilities of organizational activities, it is observed that there is a fast change in the present environment of organizations, the technology they exploit, the speed of the society's expectations. The nature of the change compels the organizations to acquire a more dynamic structure, to improve the skills that can be adapted to the surrounding area, to promote the quality of their staff, and to search ways to improve their operations. All these undertakings bring together the necessity of continuous learning in the organizations. Organizations acquire the structure of a learning organization by apprehending the value of knowledge, accessing knowledge, and enhancing knowledge, at the point where they begin giving importance to education and development. In order to maintain its existence with the knowledge it has acquired, a learning organization is concerned with the ability to conform the organizational behaviour, to adopt learning as a manner of life, and to maintain continuing education activities. The learning organization ultimately learns from past experiences, solves the problems and adopts new approaches. This study covers continuing education in the organizations, concept of learning organization, the contribution of continuing education to the learning organization process, overall characteristic of the learning organization.
Lessons for strategic organizational growth – performance challenges for U.S. automakers
Authors: Kumar Sameer , Spence Wendell , Swartzer Philip
Published: December 2019

The aim of this study is to understand the current consumer perceptions and to attempt to identify any recent trends that could assist U.S. automakers in repositioning themselves through appropriate integrated manufacturing and business strategies in the automobile manufacturing market after the recent economic recession which ended in June 2009. Data for this study was collected from government and private sources, as well as, a consumer survey. This data was assessed using regression, advanced forecasting, game theoretic modeling and analysis of data from survey. The industry system analysis suggests that there is a growing consumer preference for foreign automobiles. This trend appears to be continuing into the near future, a notion that will be less than comforting to U.S. automobile manufacturers. This study is valuable to academics and executives in the auto industry affected by current and future market trends. If this research was to endure, authors would focus on other countries such as China and Korea using the same analytical framework applied in this study. Their automobiles' growing popularity may have an impact on the current automobile manufacturing industry. This was a real project, with real problems and solutions that can be acted upon.
The dynamics of inequality in James Martin's 21st century
Authors: Singer Alan E.
Published: December 2019

James Martin has predicted growing impoverishment of the poorest 4th world alongside eco-affluence in other regions, including the emergence of trans-human life forms. The present paper places Martin's analysis in the context of other perspectives, frameworks and studies. Together, these suggest a solid consensus about the problems that humans will collectively face in the 21st century. It is then suggested that the predicted growth of poverty and inequality involves several self-reinforcing processes that are likely to accelerate that growth unless remedial action is taken.
Complexity theory and change: A case study of professional Rugby Union
Authors: O'Shea Michelle , Alonso Abel Duarte , Morton Harry
Published: December 2019

Different developments, including economic crises or costs of compliance have significantly changed the way organisations operate, and impacted their ability to thrive and achieve long-term success. In this complex scenario, professional sport organisations are also exposed to every-day pressures and demands. Using the case of one professional Australian Rugby Union organisation, the present study examines the complexity posed by contemporary changes, including competition and technology, and the way these developments have impacted this sport. Moreover, the study investigates the how and why of organisational change in complex times. Interviews were conducted among Rugby administrators, who hold managerial and marketing roles. The findings emphasise a state of change being implemented within the studied Rugby organisation. Further, differences are noticed between how change is conceptualised and enacted by administrators. The study discusses the implications of the findings for the sport organisation and for professional Rugby in Australia.
Adaptive to customers: The roles of learning climate and customer knowledge
Authors: Wang Mei-Ling
Published: December 2019

Based on the theory of organizational socialization, the present study evaluates the effect of learning climate on salespeople's adaptive selling behaviors by reviewing and incorporating their knowledge of customers. The study also explores the mediating role of customer knowledge for learning climate and adaptive selling behaviors. A total of 350 salespeople in 35 consumer electronics and appliances stores located in Taiwan were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), producing results that support the proposed model. More specifically, learning climate was positively related to customer knowledge and adaptive selling behaviors, and customer knowledge was directly related to adaptive selling behaviors. In addition, learning climate was associated with adaptive selling behaviors through customer knowledge. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing the learning climate and salespeople's customer knowledge to enable retailing organizations to improve salespeople's adaptive selling behaviors.
Authenticity shortage of corporate social responsibility
Authors: Busse Ronald , Sun Linyan , Zhu Valerie
Published: December 2019

Has corporate social responsibility (CSR) ever been authentic, and if not, is that bad? This paper critically extends the lively debate on domestic versus overseas CSR in four ways: First, it identifies CSR to be a trouble spot in the global strategy field. Second, it amplifies the scope of a motive-related view on CSR. Third, it offers three disputable answers to the question if CSR cuts into profits. Fourth, it gets an interdisciplinary perspective on the so far rather management-focused board of the CSR boat. The article propels to advance CSR research as it shifts the agreed-upon spotlight of attention to advocate a less mainstream perspective: Does the driving force behind CSR matter?
A multi-criteria process to resolve conflict in the composition of aspectual requirements
Authors: Amroune Mohamed , Zarour Nacereddine , Laouar Mohamed Ridda , Eom Sean B. , Bendjenna Hakim
Published: December 2019

The requirements composition is an important activity in Aspect-Oriented Requirements Engineering (AORE). This activity is used to define functionalities of the future system. It consists of the composition of aspectual requirements with base requirements. This composition may raise conflicting situations between aspectual requirements. However, a conflict appear when two or more aspectual requirements (aspect) that contribute negatively to each other and have the same degree of importance must to be composed together to define functionalities of the future system. This conflict need to be identified and resolved. In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria process to resolve conflicts in the context of AORE. This process use fuzzy measure and Choquet integral to take into account the interaction between these criteria when they are not mutually independent.
Management development: A principles framework and critical skills approach
Authors: Cai Houqing
Published: December 2019

Management development absorbs vast amounts of investment each year, however, its effectiveness has not been verified rigorously. This paper explores the aim and method of management development from a management principles framework and critical skills perspective. Management theory is essentially principles, that is, guidelines for management practice; it must be highly abstract, and cannot represent practice approximately as common-type knowledge-by-representation does, hence it cannot solve real problems directly as medical knowledge does. Therefore, critical management skills – conceptual skill, human skill and technical skill – are of great importance. Among these three skills, conceptual skill is the most important. When it reaches the level of designing complex systems, supplemented with proper human and technical skills, it enables management staff, under the guidance of management principles, to solve real management problems rationally. Enhancement of three critical skills is determined by the strength of management staff's personal willpower and organization motivation policy. Therefore, management development should firstly aim at forming a framework of management principles, then, building suitable motivation mechanism, facilitating management staff learning in action, transforming their mind-sets, and enhancing their critical management skills.
Own culture-based integral education for a viable human future
Authors: Hiwaki Kensei
Published: December 2019

The present article takes up a normative/theoretical framework for a life-long Integral Education that is expected to promote personal, societal and global amenities for a viable and bright human future. Such an Integral Education may conduce over time to a steady shift to a “decent and sustainable” paradigm from the prevailing “explosive and unsustainable” paradigm. This article begins with a brief and critical discussion of the prevailing global conditions, by delving into the characteristics of the modern mind, civilization and democracy. In this regards, the rapid “modernization” by means of modern education in Japan, along with the biased Japanese interpretations of modern concepts, is briefly dealt with as a typical example antithetical to the Integral Education. This brief discussion is to set the stage for the theoretical presentation of dynamic social value system, personal-and-societal development, life-long education and long-lasting happiness. All these presentations based on the respective diagrammatic frameworks reveal the importance of constantly enriched holistic culture (“Culture”), social value system and educational innovations for the Integral Education. This article also suggests the required collaborative endeavors of social constituents at large for the Integral Education that conduces to a long-lasting happiness and Sustainable Development.
Systems and cybernetics: a methodology for human systems management
Authors: Brix V.H.
Published: December 2019

Social sciences have so far failed to provide the busy executive, administrator or engineer with really useful models for analysing the day to day human problems arising in bureaucracies. An alternative system of concepts based almost exclusively on Systems and Cybernetics is suggested. This already provides fresh insights into old pathologies.
What is humanomics?
Authors: Loebl Eugen
Published: December 2019

The existing economic theories perceive the economy as a system of commodities and aggregates while applying the methodology of natural sciences. Humanomics perceives the economy as a system of thinking humans, consequently as a creation of humans. The theory of Humanomics as well as its methodology are being derived from this specific subject matter which is different in every respect from the subject matter natural sciences are dealing with. Humanomics is concerned with the problem of orientation of the socio-economic system towards humane goals.
A logic for strategic management
Authors: Mitroff Ian I. , Mason Richard O.
Published: December 2019

Organizations, in our view, are epistemological systems, bodies of knowledge which are the accumulation of past debates with regard to goals, purposes, and beliefs. Policies, plans and strategies are current dialogues intended to change that corpus of knowledge. Consequently, a theory of argumentation is a requisite paradign for studying organizations and for solving their problems. This paper explores this point of view. The question, “How can we uncover policy arguments and assess their structure, strengths and weaknesses?” is posed and, drawing on recent developments in logical theory, some preliminary answers are provided. In summary, we see stakeholders as the basic logical entities of organizations. Assumptions are made about the status and behavior of these entities and these assumptions are treated as claims in an argument. The support for a claim is provided by data and warrents which are either stated explicitly or derived through the logical process of retroduction. The resulting collection of claims, data and warrants generally contain inconsistencies which may, in turn, be studied by means of plausibility analysis. The paper develops a logic adequate to carry out this perspective and identifies a series of research questions. The outcome is a new approach to policy and planning.
Making management useful: The foundations of meaningful action research
Authors: Duncan W. Jack
Published: December 2019

This paper attempts to facilitate the transfer of management theory to practice by surveying the contemporary philosophical foundations of administrative science. Attention is directed toward three key dimensions of the problem. First, the assumptions and value matrix of management research and practice is examined. The importance of basic assumptions about the moral nature of human beings in organizations and the rationality premise are reviewed. Next, the feasibility of applying scientific methods to management and the possibility of operationalizing currently ambiguous concepts and terms are analyzed. Finally, some basic issues in research design strategies are presented. It is concluded that the present state of management theory and research is sufficiently flexible to encourage more applied endeavors and the cooperative spirit necessary for meaningful action oriented research.
The provision of goods and services by community groups: a theoretical approach
Authors: Badelt Christoph
Published: December 2019

Both politicians and social scientists are gradually realizing that the dichotomy between the public and the private sectors as exclusive suppliers of goods and services in an economy does not hold. Production of goods and services is not the exclusive domain of this well researched set of institutions; a considerable value of economic activities is organized in non-profit organizations, voluntary associations and also in small grass-root community groups, not to mention the productive elements of household behavior, as for example the various ‘self-service’ activities. All these forms of activities are now regarded as part of a ‘third sector’ in an economy, a sector which deserves careful analysis and observation. Recently, the importance of the ‘third sector’ has been increasing, mainly because of the difficulties in financing public sector deficits and the growing interest in ‘alternative’ lifestyles. This paper concentrates on a subset of the ‘third sector’. It hypothesizes that also smaller (grass-root) community groups provide a considerable amount of goods and services; a hypothesis that is substantiated by a list of concrete examples. However, the central point of the paper is to demonstrate how much established economic theory can contribute to a theoretical explanation of the behavior of community groups. By analyzing three examples of the traditional approach it is shown that traditional economic theory can at best describe only certain aspects of the subject under discussion; the main elements of a socio-economic theory of community groups remain tasks for future research.
Solar energy – the challenges and opportunities
Authors: Glaser Peter E.
Published: December 2019

Solar energy is the renewable energy source that could meet a major portion of future energy demands required to sustain a global civilization. The potential of solar energy as a global resource is outlined and a rationale for solar energy use is presented based on the development of technology to convert solar energy into heat, power or electricity. The contributions of solar technologies to the US energy economy are projected. The status of promising distributed and centralized solar technologies is summarized and the influences on solar energy applications based on the actions of the public, industry and government are considered. Applications involving distributed and centralized solar technology for both developed and developing nations are discussed. The conclusion is presented that the development of solar technologies is a prerequisite for the inevitable transition to the global use of renewable energy resources.
Scientific revolution and inter-paradigmatic dialogue
Authors: Mushakoji K.
Published: December 2019

The paper defines the scientific revolution which is taking place in the contemporary world as a search for alternative paradigms to the technocratic normal science. It is argued that a holistic and pluralistic approach to science is indispensable to grasp the problematique of the contemporary society. Such a scientific revolution cannot succeed without the organization of a dialogue among different paradigms. This dialogue should include a new methodology based on the recognition of the political dimensions of scientific inquiry. The contribution of non-western models, such as the tripolar approach and tetralemma are proposed as valuable alternatives to the formalistic approach of western science.
Cognitive style, EEG waveforms and brain levels
Authors: Schkade Lawrence L. , Potvin Alfred R.
Published: December 2019

Studies of brain lateralization and cognitive style have related the hemispheres of the outer brain and occupational choice. EEG analysis of accountants and artists in our study shows sharply different hemisphere activity by the two groups and supports the validity of the Herrmann Learning Profile Survey Form [2] employed in selecting experimental subjects. The most complete model of human information processing appears to require use of MacLean's triune brain concept – cerebral, limbic, and reptilian. The application of a multiple brain level approach holds significant implications for personnel assessment, training, and placement in industry and education.
Negotiation and command: Managing in the public domain
Authors: Kozminski Andrzej K. , Tropea Joseph L.
Published: December 2019

This article relates the subversion of public goals, marginalization of performance, and parasitic and inflationary relations to the structuring of public institutions in both capitalist and socialist societies. These outcomes are associated with a “game dynamics”. These relationships are structured by institutions' enabling conditions and their method of securing resources. Cases are provided to illustrate such relationships within informal but stable networks; administration is seen to have a symbiotic relationship with such networks. The authors suggest dissolution of centralized control of public institutions as the only realistic means of coping with the problems addressed.
The decision group: ways to improve the quality of meetings and decisions
Authors: Tropman John E.
Published: December 2019

In spite of a negative image, the committee, or decision making group, performs a range of essential functions in modern society, and will increasingly be called upon to do so. Crucial here is that the quality of decisions be improved; many approaches to improving meetings rely on improving the quality of interpersonal relationships within the group. The suggestion here is to improve the quality of information the committee receives, and the time it receives the information. Five rules are suggested: (1) the rule of the agenda; (2) the rule of the clock; (3) the rule of halves; (4) the rule of three quarters; and (5) the rule of thirds. Each of these rules helps to organize and present information; this, in turn, will help improve decisions. A second portion of the article deals with roles (rather than rules) and focuses upon the role of chair, member, and staffer.
Scanning the organizational environment: Some empirical results
Authors: Nishi Kenyu , Schoderbek Charles , Schoderbek Peter P.
Published: December 2019

Organizations acquire information concerning environmental changes through their scanning operations. Different types of environments are expected to call forth different scanning activities. This paper presents the analysis of an empirical investigation of the scanning process. The analysis is based on proposed relationships between different environmental states (dynamic and stable) and scanning behaviors (surveillance and search) of the executives. Analytical considerations are also given to hierarchical levels of executives (upper and lower) and to the functional specialities of the managers (marketing, technology, government, etc.). This study is unique in that it is one of the first to focus on scanning behavior in Japanese industries. Its value lies in its concern for a vital corporate need—the need of organizations to know where and how they acquire information.