bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance Enhancement of Team Retailing Through Six Sigma Applications
Authors: Rajagopal Amritanshu
Published: May 2010

The basic attributes of a good team include clear identification of goals, clarity of roles, common feeling, motivation, commitment and collaborative attitude (Rajagopal and Rajagopal, 2006a). The team selling approach is followed by many multinational companies for various products and services, which the customer faces as a firsttime buy and salespeople need to support such negotiations with comprehensive information needs. Team selling would also be advantageous when an account requires special treatment or a large number of people are involved in the process of buying decision. In addition, team selling is more likely to be employed when the potential sale is large for the representative firm and when the product is new to the product line of salespeople (Rajagopal, 2007). In a sales team each member of the group shows interest in the achievement and follows a systems approach which provides the framework or organizational principal for evaluating task in parts (Cummings, 1980). The members develop confidence, trust, and commitment to work in a team and rely on group communication on the given tasks and schedule.
Building Shopping Arousal Through Direct Marketing in Retail Environment
Authors: Rajagopal Dr.
Published: May 2010

This study attempts to analyze behavioral drivers which influence consumers’ leisure shopping behavior and measure customers’ value through empirical investigation in Mexico. The role of outsourced salespeople who act as sales promoters in stimulating arousal and satisfaction as behavioral drivers, which influence buying behavior of consumers and measures the extent of satisfaction, has been analyzed. Also, customer prospecting as direct marketing strategy through outsourced salespeople in swaying the leisure shopping and driving brand loyalty is discussed in the study.
Delivery of Retail Banking Services
Authors: Shah Mahmood , Clarke Steve
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this chapter is to outline the online revolution which occurred in the banking sector, mainly in the developed world. It will briefly cover the history of banking and how it evolved through the centuries into a service which touches many aspects of our life on a daily basis.
A Managerial View of E-Banking
Authors: Shah Mahmood , Clarke Steve
Published: May 2010

As discussed in the Chapter IV, e-banking is different from other forms of technological projects. It brings a different set of challenges for managers which are discussed in Section one of this chapter. It is widely acknowledged that complexityin the managerial environment has increased because e-services often require decisions that focus on integration of internal/external systems, adoption of new business models and frequent restructuring of existing business processes and structures. This chapter discusses some of those challenges and ways in which they can be met.
Problematic Issues in E-Banking Management
Authors: Shah Mahmood , Clarke Steve
Published: May 2010

Building on the previous chapters, this chapter will discuss some of the most common problematic issues in e-banking implementation and management. The main focus will be on those issues which pose considerable risks to e-banking projects and may prevent banks from achieving their desired e-banking relatedgoals. These include: traditional structures which some banks still have and which are unable to respond to agility required for e-banking, resistance from employees, legacy systems which are an obstacle to the integration of systems, security issues, new and complex regulatory issues, and project management problems.
American Electronic Constitution
Authors: Musella Fortunato
Published: May 2010

The chapter is dedicated at analyzing the strategic use of new technologies in the United States. An evident synergy has been noted between the digital policy projects and the neo-liberal ideology wave that has traced origin in the fiscal crisis of the State in the 1970s. About four decades have transformed some political directions in true imperatives: public sector downsizing, cost-cutting in public agencies, decision-making privatization, and the principle of efficiency as a measure of collective action. If new public management has been imposed as a dominant paradigm for administrative restructuring, ICTs programs sustain reform objectives by putting emphasis on the sure advantages of technological applications. In addition to this, administrative reforms seem to be in continuity with some American historical tradition, in reasserting a central role of private actor in public activities and realizing a significant “fusion of political and economic power”. Digital era seems to have added a new chapter to the American corporate liberalism history, with the difference – and the aggravating circumstance – that private organizations have now more powerful instruments to control and regulate society. New technological instruments seem to be used essentially to produce a neo-liberal interpretation of government activities.
The European Administrative Space and E-Government Policies
Authors: Amoretti Francesco , Musella Fortunato
Published: May 2010

The challenge of convergence has become a core issue in the European agenda, as the existence of widely accepted administrative standards represents one of the most important preconditions to promote sociopolitical development and to reinforce the single Market. Indeed many initiatives have been launched by European institutions to ensure uniformity in terms of administrative action and structures, and several communications by the European Commission have considered the impact of new technologies in creating systems of integrated and interoperable administration in the Old Continent. In this chapter it will be investigated the role of communication and information technologies in the formation of an European administrative space, the process for which administrations become more similar and close to a common European model. The contribution will consider ICTs as a key element of Europe’s economic competitiveness agenda as well as the interconnection between e-government programs and the social dimension of development. In addition to this, in the final part of the chapter it will be also analyzed the nature and implications of the process of uniformity produced by the new digital infrastructures, a peculiar mix of attractiveness and imposition.
ICT Challenges and Opportunities for Institutionalizing Democracy in Ghana
Authors: Ofori-Dankwa Joseph , Ofori-Dankwa Connie
Published: May 2010

Several African countries have begun to introduce and implement Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies. In the context of such developing countries, it is important to assess the nature of research focus on the ongoing ICT revolution and its potential to stimulate institutionalization of democracy in Africa. This chapter reviews and integrates literature by scholars focusing on ICT in Africa in general and more specifically on Ghana. The authors incorporate several key points in their discussion. First, they provide a summary of ICT trends and policies in Ghana and their emphasis on helping to institutionalize democracy and its related free market system. Next, they provide a description of some of the major challenges to institutionalizing democracy that scholars writing about ICT in Ghana have identified. In addition, the authors discuss several opportunities for enhancing democracy that scholars writing about ICT in Ghana have highlighted. Finally, they make a few general recommendations for mitigating the potential problems and enhancing the opportunities of the ICT revolution for Ghana as well as the entire African continent.
Can Knowledge Management Assist Firms to Move from Traditional to E-Commerce
Authors: Samanta Irene
Published: May 2010

This chapter is to define the firm’s innovative core and create frameworks to integrate innovation throughout the management of knowledge by generating implementing ideas, strategies and plans applied that cultivate a thinking organization aims to associate innovation with business targets. It argues that companies which manage and transform the knowledge effectively reap the rewards of scientific and technological achievement in order to adopt innovation concept in their operation. Furthermore, the author hope that firms understanding the information received from the current global business world and transmit it to reap the rewards of scientific achievement will increase their competitiveness competition not only for sales, but also for technical know – how and skills. At the company level depends on the speed with which new products can be brought to the market place and on the importance of achieving new cost – saving improvements.
Application of Web 2.0 Technology for Clinical Training
Authors: Lau Adela , Tsui Eric
Published: May 2010

In clinical training, students plan, implement and evaluate their learning activities by themselves. They apply theories and concepts in a real clinical environment and learn through social interaction and reflective thinking to experience, conceptualize, apply and create new knowledge to solve clinical problems. Since students are sent to different clinical locations for training and are mentored on a one-to-one basis, it is difficult for students to share their knowledge, make enquiries or interact with their peers and mentors for social and reflective learning. Web 2.0 provides a collaborative and social interactive platform that allows learners to exchange, share, acquire, codify, distribute, and disseminate knowledge. Its functions and features are able to construct a virtual and distributed environment for learners to gather, filter and update the knowledge over different internet sources. This paper thus aims to discuss the functions and features of Web 2.0 technology and its applications to clinical training.
Support Networks for Rural and Regional Communities
Authors: Denison Tom
Published: May 2010

Using a case study approach, this chapter examines the role of organizational networks in the success and failure of information and communications technology projects. Within a framework informed by the literature of information systems failure, the diffusion of innovation and social network analysis; it argues that information systems projects must take into account the social context in which they are implemented. To be successful such networks require a mix of extended and locally based support networks, because they provide access to much needed resources, including innovations, strategic advice, training, and support at the appropriate level. It further argues that the people who are working in a regional setting felt themselves to be in an extremely disadvantageous situation because they typically lacked support from similar networks. The author hopes that highlighting the importance of such support networks will lead to a better understanding of systems failure and success, and will contribute to improved policy formulation and practice.
Methodologies for Active Knowledge Modeling
Authors: Krogstie John , Lillehagen Frank
Published: May 2010

Innovative design is the most important competitive factor for global engineering and manufacturing. Critical challenges include cutting lead times for new products, increasing stakeholder involvement, facilitating life-cycle knowledge sharing, service provisioning, and support. Current IT solutions for product lifecycle management fail to meet these challenges because they are built to perform routine information processing, rather than support agile, innovative work. Active Knowledge Modeling (AKM) provides an approach, methodologies, and a platform to remedy this situation. This chapter describes the AKM-approach applied by manufacturing industries and consultants to implement pragmatic and powerful design platforms. A collaborative product design methodology describes how teams should work together in innovative design spaces. How to configure the AKM platform to support such teams with model-configured workplaces for the different roles is described in the visual solutions development methodology. The use of this approach is illustrated through a case study and is compared with related work in the enterprise modeling arena to illustrate the novelty of the approach.
Data Modeling and Functional Modeling
Authors: Shoval Peretz , Last Mark , Yampolsky Avihai
Published: May 2010

In the analysis phase of the information system development, the user requirements are studied, and analysis models are created. In most UML-based methodologies, the analysis activities include mainly modeling the problem domain using a class diagram, and modeling the user/functional requirements using use cases. Different development methodologies prescribe different orders of carrying out these activities, but there is no commonly agreed order for performing them. In order to find out whether the order of analysis activities makes any difference, and which order leads to better results, a comparative controlled experiment was carried out in a laboratory environment. The subjects were asked to create two analysis models of a given system while working in two opposite orders. The main results of the experiment are that the class diagrams are of better quality when created as the first modeling task, and that analysts prefer starting the analysis by creating class diagrams first.
Business Process Simulation
Authors: Elliman Tony , Hatzakis Tally , Serrano Alan
Published: May 2010

This paper discusses the idea that even though information systems development (ISD) approaches have long advocated the use of integrated organisational views, the modelling techniques used have not been adapted accordingly and remain focused on the automated information system (IS) solution. Existing research provides evidence that business process simulation (BPS) can be used at different points in the ISD process to provide better integrated organisational views that aid the design of appropriate IS solutions. Despite this fact, research in this area is not extensive; suggesting that the potential of using BPS for the ISD process is not yet well understood. The paper uses the findings from three different case studies to illustrate the ways BPS has been used at different points in the ISD process. It compares the results against IS modelling techniques, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages that BPS has over the latter. The research necessary to develop appropriate BPS tools and give guidance on their use in the ISD process is discussed.
Examining the Quality of Evaluation Frameworks and Metamodeling Paradigms of Information Systems Development Methodologies
Authors: Berki Eleni
Published: May 2010

Information systems development methodologies and associated CASE tools have been considered as cornerstones for building quality in an information system. The construction and evaluation of methodologies are usually carried out by evaluation frameworks and metamodels - both considered as meta-methodologies. This chapter investigates and reviews representative metamodels and evaluation frameworks for assessing the capability of methodologies to contribute to high-quality outcomes. It presents a summary of their quality features, strengths and weaknesses. The chapter ultimately leads to a comparison and discussion of the functional and formal quality properties that traditional metamethodologies and method evaluation paradigms offer. The discussion emphasizes the limitations of both methods and meta-methods to model and evaluate software quality properties such as computability and implementability, testing, dynamic semantics capture, and people’s involvement. This analysis along with the comparison of the philosophy, assumptions, and quality perceptions of different process methods used in information systems development, provides the basis for recommendations about the need for future research in this area.
Further Directions in Cognitive Rehabilitation in Community- and Home-based Daily Trainings in Clients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Fujii Masako
Published: May 2010

Community- and home-based daily intense cognitive rehabilitation (CR) of traumatic brain injury (TBI) clients was initiated on the basis on knowledge mentioned in Chapter 17. In the CR, statistically significant changes were demonstrated in attention and reading abilities in sixteen severe TBI clients by one-year daily CR. Improvement of memory and executive functions required more training periods as shown later. The temporary minimum scores of four neuropsychological tests required for social reentry, namely, 50 in TEA, 15 in RBMT, 80 in BADS and 40 in JART, were determined as a goal of our CR. In addition to the drill (pen and paper) method mainly using workbooks, a more advanced program for CR, particularly in clients who reached the required level, was developed together with the clients.
Interpreting Health and Wellness Information
Authors: Mamykina Lena , Mynatt Elizabeth
Published: May 2010

In the last decade, novel sensing technologies enabled development of applications that help individuals with chronic diseases monitor their health and activities. These applications can generate large volumes of data that need to be processed and analyzed. At the same time, many of these applications are designed for non-professional use by individuals of advanced age and low educational level. These users may find the data collected by the applications challenging and overwhelming, rather than helpful, and may require additional assistance in interpreting it. In this chapter, we discuss two different approaches to designing computing applications that not only collect the relevant health and wellness data but also find creative ways to engage individuals in the analysis and assist with interpretation of the data. These approaches include visualization of data using simple real world imagery and metaphors, and social scaffolding mechanisms that help novices learn by observing and imitating experts. We present example applications that utilize both of these approaches and discuss their relative strengths and limitations.
Subsequence-Wise Approach for Online Tracking
Authors: Shen Bin , Zhang Yu-Jin
Published: May 2010

This chapter is concerned with online object tracking, which aims to locate a given object in each of the consecutive frames. Many algorithms have been proposed to deal with this problem. Most make a decision in each frame, failing to consider the inner relationship among these decisions. However, the relation among these decisions is important if they can be fused together. Intuitively, human beings do not make a decision in a single frame and always explore the temporal information contained in neighboring frames, and then make decisions for all these neighboring frames. This chapter proposes a novel framework, which views the tracking as a sequence of decisions, with each subsequence of decisions corresponding to a subsequence of the video. Such an approach is described as a subsequence-wise approach. This framework considers the relation among the states in different frames, and it is ready to be incorporated into many related tracking techniques.
Semantic-Based Bluetooth-RFID Interaction for Advanced Resource Discovery in Pervasive Contexts
Authors: Di Noia Tommaso , Di Sciascio Eugenio , Donini Francesco Maria , Ruta Michele , Scioscia Floriano , Tinelli Eufemia
Published: May 2010

We propose a novel object discovery framework integrating the application layer of Bluetooth and RFID standards. The approach is motivated and illustrated in an innovative u-commerce setting. Given a request, it allows an advanced discovery process, exploiting semantically annotated descriptions of goods available in the u-marketplace. The RFID data exchange protocol and the Bluetooth service discovery protocol have been modified and enhanced to enable support for such semantic annotation of products. Modifications to the standards have been conceived to be backward compatible, thus allowing the smooth coexistence of the legacy discovery and/or identification features. Also noteworthy is the introduction of a dedicated compression tool to reduce storage/transmission problems due to the verbosity of XML-based semantic languages.
Intelligent Agents Framework for RFID Hospitals
Authors: Mohammadian Masoud , Jentzsch Ric
Published: May 2010

When dealing with human lives, the need to utilize and apply the latest technology to help in saving and maintaining patients’ lives is quite important and requires accurate, near-real-time data acquisition and evaluation. At the same time, the delivery of a patient’s medical data needs to be as fast and as secure as possible. One possible way to achieve this is to use a wireless framework based on radio-frequency identification (RFID). This framework can integrate wireless networks for fast data acquisition and transmission while maintaining the privacy issue. This chapter discusses the development of an agent framework in which RFID can be used for patient data collection. The chapter presents a framework for the knowledge acquisition of patient and doctor profiling in a hospital. The acquisition of profile data is assisted by a profiling agent that is responsible for processing the raw data obtained through RFID and a database of doctors and patients.
Rationale for Organizational Cognition
Authors: Nobre Farley Simon , Tobias Andrew M. , Walker David S.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents rationale for a theory of organizational cognition on the basis of contingency theory and bounded rationality concepts. According to the bounded rationality theory (Simon, 1947, 1982a, 1997a, and 1997b), this book advocates that organizations have limitations of knowledge management and computational capacity. A theory of organizational cognition is important and necessary when we decide to design organizations with higher capabilities of information processing and uncertainty management. In such a way, organizational cognition is a discipline which contributes to improve the computational capacity of the organization and its ability for knowledge management. Moreover, the theory of organizational cognition as proposed in this book, plays an important part, and introduces a new perspective, in the analysis of the relations between the organization, its elements and the environment. Assuming such core rationale, this chapter introduces a methodology to support the choice of strategies of organization design which either reduces the amount of information that the organization needs to process, or increases the degree of cognition of the organization. The alternative of design that provides an increase in the degree of organizational cognition is the one selected from such a methodology. Moreover, technology and participants (both including cognitive machines) are the elements of design that we choose in order to improve the degree of cognition of the organization – that is in order to improve the organization capability of information processing and uncertainty management.
Rationale for Cognitive Machines
Authors: Nobre Farley Simon , Tobias Andrew M. , Walker David S.
Published: May 2010

This chapter outlines rationale for cognitive machines. It connects theories of bounded rationality of Herbert Simon with theories of fuzzy systems of Lotfi Zadeh in order to justify advantages of the participation of cognitive machines in organizations. The connections are derived by explaining why cognitive machines can extend limits of knowledge (lack of information) and limits of information processing and management (lack of cognition and computational capacity) of humans when participating in organizations.
The Organization of Study
Authors: Nobre Farley Simon , Tobias Andrew M. , Walker David S.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents the organization1 of study and the research methods selected for its investigation. It explains the scope, the purpose, and the motivations for this industrial case study. With its content, it outlines problems to be analyzed, solutions to be designed, and expected findings.
A Cognitive Machine in the Organization of Study
Authors: Nobre Farley Simon , Tobias Andrew M. , Walker David S.
Published: May 2010

Chapter X is concerned with the design of a management control system whose functional elements execute cognitive tasks of analysis, decision and control of the organization process performance. The management control system works in the form of an Adaptive Learning Cycle (ALC) whose principles of operation are based on single-loop and double-loop learning. Among its elements, it includes the participation of a cognitive machine whose responsibility involves the evaluation of the organization process performance through the tasks of analysis and decision. The design of the cognitive machine is reinforced with a set of criteria along with qualitative and quantitative analysis. Chapter X is complemented with Appendixes F, G and H. Appendix F defines the state variables (X) which are used in the management control of the organization process performance. Appendix G presents linguistic descriptions of the mental models which were designed and written for the cognitive machine. Appendix H demonstrates theorem proof as part of the quantitative analysis of the cognitive machine.
Modeling Human Resources in the Emergent Organization
Authors: Zacarias Marielba , Magalhães Rodrigo , Tribolet José
Published: May 2010

This chapter will address the role of national culture on e-recruitment practices in India and Mexico. The GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) cultural study on 61 countries will be used to discuss the role of cultural dimensions on e-recruitment practices in these two countries. The chapter will also discuss the beginnings of e-recruitment trends in India and Mexico, challenges of e-recruitment for United States multinationals, national culture profile, and implications for multinational managers. This conceptual chapter will provide hypotheses for the cultural dimensions discussed. Specifically, this study will address the role of power-distance, in-group collectivism, gender egalitarianism and uncertainty-avoidance on e-recruitment practices.
What Makes the Difference? Introducing an Integrated Information System Architecture for Employer Branding and Recruiting
Authors: Laumer Sven , Eckhardt Andreas
Published: May 2010

In 2007 Erickson and Gratton asked “What it means to work here” and discussed the need for a structured approach to establishing an employer image among potential employees. In July 2007, Lee also proposed an architecture for a next-generation holistic e-recruiting system. Based on these ideas and a design science approach we propose an extension of this framework by adding employer branding as an important new component and structured sub-process. Based on an extensive review of IS and HR literature, we show how employer branding should be integrated into the existing architecture to develop and implement an effective employer branding strategy. The results are a first step towards an architecture for a holistic e-HR management system.
Perceived Performance of the Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and Perceived Performance of the Management of Human Resources (HRM)
Authors: Tahssain Loubna , Zgheib Mouna
Published: May 2010

The changing business environment and increasing technology is redefining the role of the human resources function. Nowadays, corporations have to consistently advance the value of human assets in their own organizations for maintaining their competitiveness. One of the technological changes in this regard is the appearance of Human Resources Information systems (HRIS). How to improve the efficiency of the HR and enhance its status in the organizations has become the top agenda to enterprises. The development of Information Technology (IT) transforms the role of the HR Dept in the organization. It enables HR to be a real strategic partner of corporations through the process of Organization Development. Thus, one of the challenges that face managers nowadays in regard to these emerging technologies, is the need to determine the success factors that play an important role in the implementation of an HRIS and how these factors, that some are Technological, Individual, and Organizational, affect the perceived performance of a HRIS and to measure the impact of this perceived performance on the perceived performance of the HRM.
Business Models and the Dynamics of Supply and Demand for Standards
Authors: Hawkins Richard
Published: May 2010

With specific reference to information and communication technologies (ICT), this Chapter examines the structural relationship of various stakeholder groups to standardization, described both in terms of how different stakeholders demand and acquire standards and in terms of their corresponding motivations and/or capabilities to influence the standardization process. To this end, the Chapter will explore these dynamics in the context of ‘business models’, an emerging framework in the innovation context that describes commercial and organisational topologies for the supply and demand of goods and services from the perspective of how value is created and exchanged. Given the increasing synergy between many ICT standards and specific product and service environments, it will be shown how the business model is also potentially a useful device for understanding evolution in the supply and demand dynamics of standardization.
The Evolution of e.Business
Authors: McGuffog Tom
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the evolution of e.business is described. The ever-changing balance between demand and supply is outlined. The conclusion is reached that, while technology provides many solutions to long-standing issues, along with great opportunities to create and meet new demands, some fundamental business needs for cost-effective processes and security of communication have yet to be met. Furthermore, value chain management re-development is an essential pre-requisite of the successful application of e.business. Proposals for improvements are therefore also made.
Quality Standardization Patterns in ICT Offshore
Authors: Ben Esther Ruiz
Published: May 2010

In recent years, the ICT branch has experienced new internationalization impulses through the improvement of offshore practices. Particularly the development of modularization and standardization of some production processes have crucially contributed to enabling offshoring in globalized areas of ICT. Competencies as well as innovation sources have increasingly fragmented; resting upon cooperation and trust principles. Quality standards play a crucial role to satisfy and optimize these coordination and regulation needs so to warrant quality outcomes. In this chapter, I will give an overview of the development of quality standards related to offshore projects, focusing particularly on recent practices in Europe. To illustrate the importance of quality standards and quality management for ICT off- and nearshore projects, and moreover for the internationalization of the ICT branch, I present some preliminary results of my work in progress. From the perspective of project managers in large ICT firms, quality standards play a very important role as the internal controlling instrument of working and communication processes; as well as an external mechanism beyond the ICT network in order to get market advantages.
Extending XML Types Using Updates
Authors: Bouchou Béatrice , Duarte Denio , Ferrari Mírian Halfeld , Musicante Martin A.
Published: May 2010

The XML Messaging Protocol, a part of the Web service protocol stack, is responsible for encoding messages in a common XML format (or type), so that they can be understood at either end of a network connection. The evolution of an XML type may be required in order to reflect new communication needs, materialized by slightly different XML messages. For instance, due to a service evolution, it might be interesting to extend a type in order to allow the reception of more information, when it is available, instead of always disregarding it. The authors’ proposal consists in a conservative XML schema evolution. The framework is as follows: administrators enter updates performed on a valid XML document in order to specify new documents expected to be valid, and the system computes new types accepting both such documents and previously valid ones. Changing the type is mainly changing regular expressions that define element content models. They present the algorithm that implements this approach, its properties and experimental results.
Web Services as XML Data Sources in Enterprise Information Integration
Authors: Hajnal Ákos , Kifor Tamás , Lukácsy Gergely , Varga László Z.
Published: May 2010

More and more systems provide data through web service interfaces and these data have to be integrated with the legacy relational databases of the enterprise. The integration is usually done with enterprise information integration systems which provide a uniform query language to all information sources, therefore the XML data sources of Web services having a procedural access interface have to be matched with relational data sources having a database interface. In this chapter the authors provide a solution to this problem by describing the Web service wrapper component of the SINTAGMA Enterprise Information Integration system. They demonstrate Web services as XML data sources in enterprise information integration by showing how the web service wrapper component integrates XML data of Web services in the application domain of digital libraries.
Consistency and Modularity in Mediated Service-Based Data Integration Solutions
Authors: Zhu Yaoling , Pahl Claus
Published: May 2010

A major aim of the Web service platform is the integration of existing software and information systems. Data integration is a central aspect in this context. Traditional techniques for information and data transformation are, however, not sufficient to provide flexible and automatable data integration solutions for Web service-enabled information systems. The difficulties arise from a high degree of complexity in data structures in many applications and from the additional problem of heterogeneity of data representation in applications that often cross organisational boundaries. The authors present an integration technique that embeds a declarative data transformation technique based on semantic data models as a mediator service into a Web service-oriented information system architecture. Automation through consistency-oriented semantic data models and flexibility through modular declarative data transformations are the key enablers of the approach.
Modeling and Specification of Collaborative Business Processes with a MDA Approach and a UML Profile
Authors: Villarreal Pablo David , Salomone Enrique , Chiotti Omar
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes the application of MDA (model driven architecture) and UML for the modeling and specification of collaborative business processes, with the purpose of enabling enterprises to establish business-to-business collaborations. The proposed MDA approach provides the components and techniques required for the development of collaborative processes from their conceptual modeling to the specifications of these processes and the partners’ interfaces in a B2B standard. As part of this MDA approach, a UML profile is provided that extends the semantics of UML2 to support the analysis and design of collaborative processes. This UML profile is based on the use of interaction protocols to model collaborative processes. The application of this UML profile in a case study is presented. Also, an overview is provided about the automatic generation of B2B specifications from conceptual models of collaborative processes. In particular, the generation of B2B specifications based on ebXML is described.
Towards Theory Development for Emergent E-Business Innovations
Authors: Troshani Indrit , Hill Sally Rao
Published: May 2010

The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an emerging XML-based standard which has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of intra- and inter-organisational information supply chains in e-business. In this chapter, we present the case for using convergent interviews as an appropriate and efficient method for modelling factors impacting the adoption of emerging and under-researched innovations, such as XBRL. Using this method, we identify environmental, organisational, and innovation-related factors as they apply to XBRL adoption and diffusion. Contentious factors, such as the role of government organisations, XBRL education and training, and the readiness of XBRL as an innovation, and its supporting software solutions are also examined in detail. Taken together, these discussions constitute an important step towards theory development for emergent e-business innovations. Practical adoptions strategies and their implications are also discussed.
Accessing an Existing Virtual Electronic Patient Record with a Secure Wireles Architecture
Authors: Ferreira Ana , Barreto Luis , Brandao Pedro , Correia Ricardo
Published: May 2010

Virtual electronic patient records (VEPR) enable the integration and sharing of healthcare information within large and heterogeneous organizations by aggregating known data elements about patients from different information systems in real-time. However, healthcare professionals need to access a terminal every time they treat a patient. This may not be trivial as computers are not available around every corner of big healthcare institutions. The use of wireless technology can improve and fasten healthcare treatment because it can bring information and decision to the point of care allowing also for healthcare professionals’ mobility. However, as healthcare information is of a very sensitive nature, it has to comply with important security requirements. The wireless technology makes it more difficult for these requirements to be achieved as it is harder to control disruptions and attempts to access information can be more common and less simple to detect. The main objective of this chapter is to model, develop and evaluate (e.g. in terms of efficiency, complexity, impact and against network attacks) a proposal for a secure wireless architecture in order to access a VEPR. This VEPR is being used within a university hospital by more than 1,000 doctors, on a daily basis. Its users would greatly benefit if this service would be extended to a wider part of the hospital and not only to their workstation, achieving this way faster and greater mobility in the treatment of their patients.
A Distributed Approach of a Clinical Decision Support System Based on Cooperation
Authors: Ruiz-Fernandez Daniel , Soriano-Paya Antonio
Published: May 2010

The incorporation of computer engineering into medicine has meant significant improvements in the diagnosis-related tasks. This chapter presents an architecture for diagnosis support based on the collaboration among different diagnosis-support artificial entities and the physicians themselves; the authors try to imitate the clinical meetings in hospitals in which the members of a medical team share their opinions in order to analyze complicated diagnoses. A system that combines availability, cooperation and harmonization of all contributions in a diagnosis process will bring more confidence in healthcare for the physicians. They have tested the architecture proposed in two different diagnosis, melanoma, and urological dysfunctions.
Managing Mobile Healthcare Knowledge
Authors: Räisänen Teppo , Oinas-Kukkonen Harri , Leiviskä Katja , Seppänen Matti , Kallio Markku
Published: May 2010

Incorporating healthcare information systems into clinical settings has been shown to reduce medication errors and improve the quality of work in general by improving medical decision making and by saving time. This chapter aims to demonstrate that mobile healthcare information system may also help physicians to communicate and collaborate as well as learn and share their experiences within their work community. Physicians’ usage of a mobile system is analyzed through a knowledge management framework known as the 7C model. The data was collected through the Internet among all of the 352 users of the mobile system. The results indicate that frequent use of the system seemed to improve individual physicians’ knowledge work as well as the collective intelligence of a work community. The guide for acute care, evidence-based medicine guidelines and information related to drug interactions supported the knowledge creation to a large extent. As such, mobile healthcare information systems may be capable of supporting the different sub-processes of knowledge creation and the knowledge work of individual physicians, and through this also improving the collective intelligence of the work community. Overall, knowledge management seems to be a prominent approach for studying healthcare information systems and their impact on the work of physicians.
Towards Easy-to-Use, Safe, and Secure Wireless Medical Body Sensor Networks
Authors: Espina Javier , Baldus Heribert , Falck Thomas , Garcia Oscar , Klabunde Karin
Published: May 2010

Wireless body sensor networks (BSNs) are an indispensable building stone for any pervasive healthcare system. Although suitable wireless technologies are available and standardization dedicated to BSN communication has been initiated, the authors identify key challenges in the areas of easy-of-use, safety, and security that hinder a quick adoption of BSNs. To address the identified issues they propose using body-coupled communication (BCC) for the automatic formation of BSNs and for user identification. They also present a lightweight mechanism that enables a transparent security setup for BSNs used in pervasive healthcare systems.
Technology Enablers for Context-Aware Healthcare Applications
Authors: Meneses Filipe , Moreira Adriano
Published: May 2010

The increasing availability of mobile devices and wireless networks, and the tendency for them to become ubiquitous in our dally lives, creates a favourable technological environment for the emergence of new, simple, and added-value applications for healthcare. This chapter focuses on how context and location can be used in innovative applications and how to use a set of solutions and technologies that enable the development of innovative context and location-aware solutions for healthcare area. It shows how a mobile phone can be used to compute the level of familiarity of the user with the surrounding environment and how the familiarity level can be used in a number of situations.
Estimation of Missing Data Using Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Marwala Tshilidzi
Published: May 2010

Missing data creates various problems in analyzing and processing data in databases. In this chapter, a method aimed at approximating missing data in a database that uses a combination of genetic algorithms and neural networks is introduced. The presented method uses genetic algorithms to minimize an error function derived from an auto-associative neural network. The Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) networks are employed to form an auto-associative network. An investigation is undertaken into using the method to predict missing data accurately as the number of missing cases within a single record increases. It is observed that there is no significant reduction in the accuracy of the results as the number of missing cases in a single record increases. It is also found that results obtained from using the MLP are better than from the RBF for the data used.
Estimation of Missing Data Using Neural Networks and Decision Trees
Authors: Marwala Tshilidzi
Published: May 2010

This chapter introduces a novel paradigm to impute missing data that combines a decision tree, autoassociative neural network (AANN) model and a principal component analysis-neural network (PCA-NN) based model. These models are designed to answer the crucial question of whether the optimization bounds actually matter. For each model, the decision tree is used to predict search bounds for a hybrid simulated annealing and genetic algorithm method that minimizes an error function derived from the respective model. The models’ ability to impute missing data is tested and then compared using HIV sero-prevalance data. Results indicate an average increase in accuracy of 13% with the AANN based model’s average accuracy increasing from 75.8% to 86.3% while that of the PCA-NN based model increasing from 66.1% to 81.6%.
An Identity Perspective for Predicting Software Development Project Temporal Success
Authors: Crawford Jeff
Published: May 2010

This theoretical work draws on group development literature to propose a model for increasing the likelihood of achieving temporal success within a software development (SD) environment. The study addresses a group’s temporal performance through a punctuated equilibrium (PE) lens. As a means of extending the PE model of group development for a SD project context, this research will consider social and temporal aspects of identity within each group in order to address the varying nature of temporal success. First, anthropological research on rituals in society will be applied to present a project-asritual perspective, where social and temporal identity are suggested to flow from the rites of passage that exist during the initial meeting and temporal midpoint of a group. Second, social identity theory will be applied to posit that both types of identity are positively associated with a group’s ability to meet temporal deadlines. This theoretical piece is expected to make two primary contributions to literature. First, group development literature is enhanced by providing an extension of the PE model to address environments where social and temporal identities are variable. This contribution is significant since it will allow researchers to apply a PE perspective in real world project team environments. Second, the research contributes to SD literature by offering a clear perspective regarding key factors that can serve to impact a SD project team’s ability to meet temporal deadline.
Survey of Cardinality Constraints in Snapshot and Temporal Semantic Data Models
Authors: Currim Faiz , Ram Sudha
Published: May 2010

Cardinality captures necessary semantics in conceptual data modeling and determines how constructs are translated into relations. Business policies in a variety of domains like healthcare, education, supply chain management and geographic systems are often expressible in terms of cardinality. The knowledge about cardinality constraints is also useful during schema integration, in query transformation for more efficient search strategies, and in database testing. Practically every conceptual modeling grammar provides support for this kind of constraint, and in an effort to resolve the variations in semantics past research has studied the different types of cardinality constraints. None have been so far comprehensive, and further there has been very little coverage of the concept in temporal domain even though it provides some interesting extensions to the concept. This study considers existing work in snapshot and temporal cardinality and suggests some areas for future work.