bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semantic Web Technologies in the Recruitmant Domain
Authors: Heese Ralf , Mochol Malgorzata , Oldakowski Radoslaw
Published: May 2011

Due to the large number of job offers published online it is almost impossible for job seekers and job portals to gain an overview of the entire employment market. Since job offers lack semantically meaningful annotations, their location and integration into databases is extremely difficult. In this paper, we demonstrate how the application of Semantic Web technologies, can enable unambiguous identification of concepts and relationships between concepts, to the e-recruitment process provides advantages for all participants in the market. When comparing job and applicant profiles, this abovementioned identification through the use of a dedicated matching function is a key element for increasing the precision of search results provided by search engines. Furthermore, it allows for automating and supporting recruitment processes. In this chapter, we present an application scenario and our prototypical implementation discussing the construction of a human resource ontology for annotating job offers and job applications and our matching function.
Implementing ERP Education in a Changing Environment and Different Degree Programs
Authors: Koch Stefen
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the ERP education program at the Department of Information Business of the Vienna University of Economics and BA is described. Especially emphasized is the embedding into the study programs both at the department and university-level. Due to a major change in the degree programs offered by the university, including the introduction of a completely new information systems bachelor and master program, changes to the ERP education program became necessary and are described. We also report several quantitative data on the lectures both before and after the changes, including satisfaction measures. From this, we try to condense some lessons for other institutions who are planning to introduce ERP into their curricula.
The Business Process-Driven Undergraduate IS Curriculum - A Transition from Classical CIS to Emerging BIT
Authors: Targowski Andrew , Han Bernard
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a concept of the re-engineered CIS (computer informa-tion systems) curriculum accomplished at the beginning of the 21st century through a few initiatives taken by the Department of Business Information Systems at Western Michigan University’s Haworth Business College, over the time period of 2000-2005. These initiatives led to the shift from teaching universal/generic computer information systems’ knowledge and skills to more integrational knowledge and skills about how to develop complex sys-tems such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and e-Enterprise. This curriculum shift is a response to the industries’ information infrastructure’s shift from information islands to the gradually integrated online (Web-driven) infrastructure of systems and services. Therevised CIS program at WMU is supported by the use of ERP-like SAP R/3 and MS Great Plains software. The authors hope that the presented curriculum re-engineering concept facilitates the understanding of how the business process-driven CIS/BIT program can be implemented in academic practice.
Teaching ERP with Microsoft Business Solutions - Great Plains
Authors: Razi Muhammad A.
Published: May 2011

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have become indispensable software systems for many corporations worldwide. As more and more companies implement ERP to sup-port daily business transactions, the need for ERP trained employees are increasing as well. Industry demand has prompted many universities to consider incorporating ERP into their curricula. Information systems curriculum in many universities have started offering courses that include ERP education; however, most universities have faced multi-faceted challenges related to lab setup, training, software support, and curriculum design. In this chapter, a guideline for development and teaching an ERP based course with MS Great Plains™ is provided. Teaching approach is discussed and an ERP based business curriculum is proposed. Effectiveness of the curriculum design in the classroom is analyzed based on a single semester trial of the course in two classrooms.
A Course on Enterprise Portal Development and Management
Authors: Chen Kuanchin
Published: May 2011

Enterprise portals present a great opportunity to bridge online applications with the back-end business systems. Although enterprise portals are now widely adopted in the business environment, the literature has been scarce in studies on how an enterprise portal course is better delivered in an information systems curriculum. The goal of this article is to discuss the potential issues and challenges arising from the delivery of such a course, and to propose a comprehensive teaching framework. The framework consists of three teaching modules (i.e., portal basics, portal management, and portal development) to better cover enterprise portals with topics ranging from technical details to business decisions.
Integrating Computer-Supported Learning into Traditional Distance Courses
Authors: Aydin Cengiz Hakan , Mutlu Mehmet Emin , McIsaac Marina S.
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes how a traditional distance education provider, Anadolu University of Turkey, integrated computer-supported learning into its traditional distance courses. Anadolu University has been struggling with offering quality education to their large body of distance learners (approximately 1 million). To do so, the university tries to integrate computer-supported learning environments into its traditional correspondence programs. Building supplementary e-learning portals, through which learners can access videos, textbooks, audio books, computer-assisted instruction materials, self-tests, pedagogical and managerial support is one of the important steps taken. The authors hope that those who are interested in distance learning and computer-supported learning in different contexts will benefit from the efforts of Anadolu University explained in this chapter.
Educational Geostimulation
Authors: Furtado Vasco , Vasconcelos Eurico
Published: May 2011

In this work we will describe EGA (educational geosimulation architecture), an architecture for the development of pedagogical tools for training in urban activities based on MABS (multi-agent based simulation), GIS (geographic information systems), and ITS (intelligent tutoring systems). EGA came as a proposal for the lack of appropriate tools for the training of urban activities with high risk and/or high cost. As a case study, EGA was used for the development of a training tool for the area of public safety, the ExpertCop system. ExpertCop is a geosimulator of criminal dynamics in urban environments that aims to train police officers in the activity of preventive policing allocation. ExpertCop intends to induce students to reflect about their actions regarding resources allocation and to understand the relationship between preventive policing and crime.
Balancing Tradeoffs in Designing, Deploying, and Authoring Interactive Web-Based Learn-By-Doing Environments
Authors: Qiu Lin
Published: May 2011

Computer-based learn-by-doing environments have been used to provide students supportive and authentic settings for challenge-based learning. This chapter describes the design tradeoffs involved in interactive learning environment design, deployment, and authoring. It presents a combination of design choices in INDIE, a software tool for authoring and delivering learn-by-doing environments. INDIE’s design balances the tradeoffs and leverages Web technologies to improve the accessibility and deployability of learning environments as well as feedback generation and authorability. It explores a vision of learning environments that are more accessible and usable to students, more supportive and customizable to instructors, and more authorable to software developers.
Quality Models of Online Learning Community Systems
Authors: Law Effie Lai-Chong , Hvannberg Ebba Thora
Published: May 2011

The main goal of this chapter is fourfold: to review key theoretical models underpinning the design of Online Learning Community Systems (OLCSs); to identify and evaluate quality models for OLCSs; to better understand the feedback loop between evaluation of OLCSs and their redesign; to develop a generic framework for user interface quality models for OLCSs. Specifically, we have reviewed a set of software quality standards, quality models and literature on human-centred design, usability, information technology quality assurance, accessibility, security and trust. Several empirical case studies are described to illustrate our arguments and views. We have developed the generic framework that comprises four levels – factors, criteria, guidelines and metrics.
Designing Online Learning Communities to Encourage Cooperation
Authors: Mowbray Miranda
Published: May 2011

This chapter is concerned with how to design an online learning community in such a way as to encourage cooperation, and to discourage uncooperative or antisocial behavior. Rather than restricting design to visual and interface issues, I take a wide view, touching on aspects of the governance, social structure, moderation practices, and technical architecture of online learning communities. The first half of the chapter discusses why people behave antisocially in online learning communities, and ways to discourage this through design. The second half discusses why on the other hand people behave cooperatively in online learning communities, and ways to encourage this through user-centered design, applying some results of experiments in social psychology. The chapter is intended to be of practical use to designers of online learning communities.
Developing Evidence-Based Criteria for the Design and Use of Online Forums in Higher Education in Hong Kong
Authors: McNaught Carmel , Cheng Kin Fai , Lam Paul
Published: May 2011

This paper describes the evaluation of 13 educational online forums. The forums were classified into structured or free, and teacher-centred or student-centred forums according to the learning designs used to prepare the tasks and the style of online interactions. The study provides empirical data across multiple online forum experiences to better inform the pedagogy of using online forums. Findings are that structured forums generally have a higher quantity and quality of postings than free forums, and that student-centred ones also tend to be more effective than teacher-centred ones in encouraging quality online discussion. Further, through analyzing the evaluation feedback from students and teachers in these cases, the study has identified three key factors that tend to affect forum success – ease of use, clear facilitation and motivation to engage. The centrality of the role of the teacher was confirmed.
Iterative Design and Evaluation of a Web-Based Experimentation Environment
Authors: Nguyen-Ngoc Anh Vu , Rekik Yassin , Gillet Denis
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, Web-based experimentation environments provide an excellent instrument to add flexibility in traditional engineering curricula. This paper presents a model for the evaluation of such environments. The proposed model relies on an iterative evaluation paradigm. It allows the integration of different analysis methods including quantitative, qualitative and social network analysis. The paper also describes the iterative user-centered design and development of the eMersion environment developed at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), as well as the results and analyses of the evaluation process carried out in the automatic control laboratory courses using the eMersion environment from the 2002 winter to the 2005 summer semesters at the EPFL. The evaluation has been performed to study different aspects relevant for an online learning community in engineering education, such as participation, flexibility, learning performance, collaboration, and community social structure.
A Hybrid Strategy to Personalize the Digital Television by Semantic Inference
Authors: Blanco-Fernández Yolanda , Pazos-Arias Jose J. , Gil-Solla Alberto , Ramos-Cabrer Manuel , López-Nores Martín
Published: May 2011

The digital TV (DTV) will bring a significant increase in the number of channels and programs available to end users, with many more difficulties for them to find interesting programs among a myriad of irrelevant contents. So, automatic content recommenders should receive special attention in the following years to improve the assistance to users. However, current techniques of content recommenders have important well-known deficiencies, which complicates their wide acceptance. In this paper, a new hybrid approach for automatic TV content recommendation is proposed based on the so-called Semantic Web technologies, that significantly reduces those deficiencies. The strategy uses ontology data structures as a formal representation both for contents and users’ profiles. The approach has been implemented in the AdVAnced Telematics search of Audiovisual contents by semantic Reasoning (AVATAR) tool, a new TV recommender system that makes extensive use of well-known standards, such as TV-Anytime and Web ontology language (OWL). Also, an illustrative example of the kind of reasoning carried out by AVATAR is included, as well as an experimental evaluation of the performance achieved.
Text Editing in Digital Terrestrial Television
Authors: Iatrino Arianna , Modeo Sonia
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the usability problems regarding text entry using a remote control in digital terrestrial television (DTT) context. It describes the comparison of three different text editing interfaces: (1) the multi-press with timeout, (2) the multi-press with timeout and visual feedback, and (3) the virtual keyboard interface. This chapter describes a test based on a within-group design: The authors analyse the efficiency, the effectiveness, and the user’s satisfaction of the three interfaces mentioned previously. The study shows a significant relationship between the users’ level of experience in text editing using a mobile phone and their favourite interface. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that there is no relationship between users’ level of experience and the editing problems they encountered. The authors hope that this study will help interactive application developers in designing usable interfaces for text entry using a remote control.
A Novel Framework for Image Categorization and Automatic Annotation
Authors: Xu Feng , Zhang Yu-Jin
Published: May 2011

Image classification and automatic annotation could be treated as effective solutions to enable keyword-based semantic image retrieval. Traditionally, they are investigated in different models separately. In this chapter, we propose a novel framework uniting image classification and automatic annotation by learning semantic concepts of image categories. To choose representative features, feature selection strategy is proposed and visual keywords are constructed, including discrete method and continuous method. Based on the selected features, the Integrated Patch (IP) model is proposed to describe the image category. As a generative model, the IP model describes the appearance of the combination of the visual keywords, considering the diversity of the object. The parameters are estimated by EM algorithm. The experimental results on Corel image dataset and Getty Image Archive demonstrate that the proposed feature selection and image description model are effective in image categorization and automatic image annotation, respectively.
Semi-Automatic Ground Truth Annotation for Benchmarking of Face Detection in Video
Authors: Tsishkou Dzmitry , Chen Liming , Bovbel Eugeny
Published: May 2011

This work presents a method of semi-automatic ground truth annotation for benchmarking of face detection in video. We aim to illustrate the solution to the issue where an image processing and pattern recognition expert is able to label and annotate facial patterns in video sequences at the rate of 7500 frames per hour. We extend these ideas to the semi-automatic face annotation methodology, where all object patterns are categorized into 4 classes in order to increase flexibility of evaluation results analysis. We present a strict guide how to speedup manual annotation process by 30 times and illustrate it with the sample test video sequences that consists of more than 100000 frames, 950 individuals and 75000 facial images. Experimental evaluation of the face detection using the ground truth data, that was semi-automatically labeled, demonstrates effectiveness of current approach both for learning and test stages.
AntWeb—Web Search Based on Ant Behavior
Authors: Weigang Li , Qi Wu Man
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a study of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) to Interlegis Web portal, Brazilian legislation Website. The approach of AntWeb is inspired by ant colonies foraging behavior to adaptively mark the most significant link by means of the shortest route to arrive the target pages. The system considers the users in the Web portal as artificial ants and the links among the pages of the Web pages as the researching network. To identify the group of the visitors, Web mining is applied to extract knowledge based on preprocessing Web log files. The chapter describes the theory, model, main utilities and implementation of AntWeb prototype in Interlegis Web portal. The case study shows Off-line Web mining; simulations without and with the use of AntWeb; testing by modification of the parameters. The result demonstrates the sensibility and accessibility of AntWeb and the benefits for the Interlegis Web users.
Text Mining to Define a Validated Model of Hospital Rankings
Authors: Cerrito Patricia Bintzler
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how text mining can be used to reduce the number of levels in a categorical variable to then use the variable in a predictive model. The method works particularly well when several levels of the variable have the same identifier so that they can be combined into a text string of variables. The stemming property of the linked words is used to create clusters of these strings. In this chapter, we validate the technique through kernel density estimation, and we compare this technique to other techniques used to reduce the levels of categorical data.
An Interpretation Process for Clustering Analysis Based on the Ontology of Language
Authors: Castilho Wagner Francisco , de Lucena Filho Gentil José , do Prado Hércules Antonio , Ferneda Edilson
Published: May 2011

Clustering analysis (CA) techniques consist in, given a set of objects, estimating dense regions of points separated by sparse regions, according to the dimensions that describe these objects. Independently from the data nature – structured or non-structured -, we look for homogenous clouds of points, that define clusters, from which we want to extract some meaning. In other words, when doing CA, the analyst is searching for underlying structures in a multidimensional space for what one could assign some meaning. Grossly, to carry a CA application, two main activities are involved: generating clusters configurations by means of an algorithm and interpreting these configurations in order to approximate a solution that could contribute with the CA application objective. Generating a clusters configuration is typically a computational task, while the interpretation task brings a strong burden of subjectivity. Many approaches are presented in the literature for generating clusters configuration. Unfortunately, the interpretation task has not received so much attention, possibly due to the difficulty in modeling something that is subjective in nature. In this chapter a method to guide the interpretation of a clusters configuration is proposed. The inherent subjectivity is approached directly by describing the process with the apparatus of the Ontology of Language. The main contribution of this chapter is to provide a sound conceptual basis to guide the analyst in extracting meaning from the patterns found in a set of data, no matter we are talking about data bases, a set of free texts, or a set of web pages.
An E-Learning System Based on the Top Down Method and the Cellular Models
Authors: Fujii Norihiro , Yikita Shuichi , Koike Nobuhiko , Kunii Tosiyasu L.
Published: May 2011

As the broadband connectivity to the Internet becomes common, Web-based e-learning and distance learning have come to play the central roles for self-learning, where learners are given much flexibility in choosing the place and time to study. However, the learners still have to spend a lot of time before reaching the learning goal. This discourages the learner to continue their studies and diminishes their motivations. To overcome this problem and to let the learners keep focusing on their primary interests, we propose a top-down e-learning system called TDeLS. The TDeLS can offer learners the learning materials based on the top-down (i.e., goal-oriented) method, according to the learners’ demands and purposes. Moreover, the TDeLS can distribute them to the learners through the Internet, and manage the database for learning materials. In order to share learning materials among learners through the Web, these learning materials are wrapped in XML with a specially designed vocabulary for TDeLS. We employed the cellular models that ensure the consistency among design modules and support a top-down design methodology. In this chapter, we present the TDeLS for hardware logic design courses based on the cellular models. The primary goal is to design complex logic circuits in VerilogHDL which is an industrial-standard hardware description language. This chapter also presents the basic XML vocabulary designed to describe hardware modules efficiently, and a brief introduction to the structure and functions of the proposed system, which implements the TDeLS.
Bluetooth Scatternet Using an Ad Hoc Bridge Node Routing Protocal for Outdoor Distance Education
Authors: Chang Yao-Chung , Lin M. T. , Chao Han-Chieh , Chen Jiann-Liang
Published: May 2011

In recent years, the prevalence of Internet and wireless technology has promoted mobile communications as a major research area. For the future distance education purposes (Instructional Technology Council), to be able to access the course materials anytime and everywhere will become a key issue. Especially when students are out of classroom and are within a museum or a field investigation process, using Ad Hoc mechanism to access the real time brief or introduction can definitely improve their learning interests greatly. One of the topics is IEEE802.11, which includes the wireless LAN and mobile ad hoc network (MANET) infrastructure (Perkins, 2000). MANET has no fixed infrastructure, but capable of dynamic changing network architectures, such as PDAs, cellular phones, and mobile computers. Bluetooth (The Official Bluetooth SIG) possesses a smaller radio range, low power, and low costs. The Bluetooth Scatternet is a specific case of MANET (IETF MANET Working Group). In this chapter, we propose a bridge node routing protocol (BNRP) based on a revised distributed topology construction protocol (DTCP), which a shortcut mechanism is added into it for better performance. The BNRP uses bridge nodes to preserve effective transmissions and achieve better Bluetooth Scatternet performance, and it can apply for outdoor distance education environment anytime and everywhere.
Using Ontology as Scaffolding for Authoring Teaching Materials
Authors: Yang Jin-Tan , Yu Pao Ta , Chen Nian Shing , Tsai Chun Yen , Lee Chi-Chin , Shih Timothy K.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this study is to conduct teachers to author a teaching material by using visualized domain ontology as scaffolding. Based on a content repository management system (CRMS), mathematics ontology to support teachers for authoring teaching materials is developed. Although the domain ontology of mathematics at secondary school level in Taiwan provides structured vocabularies for describing domain content, those teachers who want to create a knowledge-rich description of domain knowledge, such as required by the “Semantic Web,” use ontology that turns out to provide only part of knowledge required. In this chapter, we examine problems related to capturing the learning resources or learning objects (LOs) on a CRMS. To construct ontology for a subset of mathematics course descriptions, the representation requirements by resource description framework/resource description framework schema (RDF/RDFS) was implemented. Furthermore, a visualized online authoring tool (VOAT) is designed for authoring teaching materials on the Web. Finally, discussion and future research are addressed.
Network Basics and Securing the Network Infrastructure
Authors: Kizza Joseph , Migga Kizza Florence
Published: May 2011

In Chapter I, we outlined the many causes of insecurity in the information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. We indicated one particular weakness as users with little knowledge of the working of the communication infrastructure. In this chapter, we intend to address that concern. We give a very elementary treatment of the theory of networks and then outline the best network security solutions.
Perimeter Defense; The Firewall
Authors: Kizza Joseph , Migga Kizza Florence
Published: May 2011

As companies increasingly build private networks and connect them onto the Internet, securing such private networks has become a great concern. These networks are facing threats from two fronts: the external Internet and the users from within the company network. This requires security protocols that will effectively deal with these two fronts by first restricting access to the network from outside and controlling access between subnets from within. Ideal protocols to do such tasks are found in firewalls. A firewall is hardware, software, or a combination of both that monitors and filters traffic packets that attempt to either enter or leave the protected private network. It is a tool that separates a protected network or part of a network, and now increasingly a user’s personal computer (PC), from an unprotected network—the “bad network,” like the Internet.
Trends in Information Assurance
Authors: Kizza Joseph , Migga Kizza Florence
Published: May 2011

In Chapter I, we discussed the global status of information security. Based on the findings of the report The.Global.State.of.Information.Security.2005, a worldwide study by CIO, CSO, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the CSO.Online.Magazine.(Berinato, 2005), we outlined the problems individuals, organizations, and nations are facing to keep information secure.
Mining Dense Periodic Patterns in Time Series Databases
Authors: Hsu Wynne , Lee Mong Li , Wang Junmei
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we describe a new periodicity detection algorithm to efficiently discover short period patterns that may exist in only a limited range of the time series. We refer to these patterns as the dense periodic patterns, where the periodicity is focused on part of the time series. We present a dense periodic pattern mining algorithm called DPMiner to find dense periodic patterns, and design a pruning strategy to limit the search space to the feasible periods. Experimental results on both real-life and synthetic datasets indicate that DPMiner is both scalable and efficient.
Introducing Concepts
Authors: Dron Jon
Published: May 2011

This book offers an exploration of the ways that a learning trajectory is determined, and, in particular, how an online learning environment can affect that trajectory. It provides suggestions about how, primarily through technologies that underlie what is vulgarly known as “Web 2.0,” networked learning environments should be constructed to give control to learners if they need it, as they need it, and when they need it.
From Transactional Distance to Transactional Control
Authors: Dron Jon
Published: May 2011

This book offers an exploration of the ways that a learning trajectory is determined, and, in particular, how an online learning environment can affect that trajectory. It provides suggestions about how, primarily through technologies that underlie what is vulgarly known as “Web 2.0,” networked learning environments should be constructed to give control to learners if they need it, as they need it, and when they need it.
Scale
Authors: Dron Jon
Published: May 2011

This book offers an exploration of the ways that a learning trajectory is determined, and, in particular, how an online learning environment can affect that trajectory. It provides suggestions about how, primarily through technologies that underlie what is vulgarly known as “Web 2.0,” networked learning environments should be constructed to give control to learners if they need it, as they need it, and when they need it.
Synchronous Discussion
Authors: Dron Jon
Published: May 2011

This book offers an exploration of the ways that a learning trajectory is determined, and, in particular, how an online learning environment can affect that trajectory. It provides suggestions about how, primarily through technologies that underlie what is vulgarly known as “Web 2.0,” networked learning environments should be constructed to give control to learners if they need it, as they need it, and when they need it.
Action Research and its Use in E-Collaboration Inquiry
Authors: Kock Ned
Published: May 2011

This chapter begins with a discussion of action research from a historical perspective. It then puts forth some ideas on how this research approach can be used in investigations of the design or e-collaboration technologies and the impact of those technologies on people. This is followed by a discussion of key epistemological considerations, including that of whether action research can be conducted in a positivist manner. The chapter then summarizes two special issues of journals, on information systems action research, which provide scholarly illustrations of some of the arguments presented here. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of how action research can be used by doctoral students investigating e-collaboration issues.
Internet-Based Customer Collaboration
Authors: Schultze Ulrike , Bhappu Anita D.
Published: May 2011

Co-production, which is the generation of value through the direct involvement of customers in the creation of a service context and in the design, delivery, and marketing of goods and services that they themselves consume, implies customer-firm collaboration. The nature of this collaboration, however, is highly dependent on the organization’s service design, which increasingly includes Internet technology, as well as customer communities. Whereas dyadic co-production implies a single customer’s involvement with a firm, community-based co-production implies multiple customers simultaneously engaged in value-adding activities with a firm. In order to build a theoretical understanding of these modes of customer collaboration and to explore the role and implications of Internet technologies within them, we develop a contingency theory of customer co-production designs. We then use cases of Internet-based services to highlight the benefits and challenges of relying on Internet technology to implement customer co-production.
Propositions for Cognitive Support of E-Collaboration
Authors: Smith C. A.P , Hayne Stephen C.
Published: May 2011

Recent research has proposed that groupware performance may be affected by two factors, the strongest of which is the fit between the task and the groupware structures selected for use. We suggest that the link is deeper; there needs to be a fit between the task and the group’s cognitive structures as mapped to the groupware structures. In this paper we address this shortcoming by integrating recent theories of cognition (distributed cognition, transactive memory and template theory) from the perspective of electronic collaboration. We refine the concept of cognitive fit as applied to group work and offer propositions for further study. We show that template core data are used during situation assessment and that slot data refine response selection. Finally, we propose several techniques by which the group cognitive effort can be minimized, thereby leaving more capacity for the collective task. This approach is especially applicable to naturalistic group decision situations.
ENI Company
Authors: Lee Ook
Published: May 2011

ENI Company is an electronic commerce firm in South Korea. ENI Company provides English news items and English lessons to the subscribers through daily e-mail service that includes free English news-related question and answer sessions via e-mail. This case study deals with the struggle of this firm to establish and sustain its business in a less-developed national information infrastructure. Information on national information infrastructure and the Internet in South Korea is provided in order to facilitate understanding of the difficulty that ENI Company faces while conducting e-commerce in South Korea. The chronology of ENI Company evolution is described and the organizational structure of ENI Company is also presented. The marketing of ENI Company’s products that is the biggest challenge for the firm is also discussed. This case is a good example of how to conduct an e-commerce in a county where national IT infrastructure is not ready for it.
Growth and Consolidation in the Spanish-Speaking E-Commerce Market
Authors: Vinaja Roberto
Published: May 2011

This case aims to analyze, in some detail, the major challenges in the widespread adoption of electronic commerce in the Spanish-speaking population. The case also provides a general overview of related issues in global e-commerce, specifically: language, localization, currency, cultural difference, export controls, payment methods, taxation issues, consumer protection, and legal issues. The case includes a description of the strategies followed by companies entering the Latin American market in order to illustrate some of the major cross-border issues. The case clearly exemplifies how localization involves a considerable financial investment and commitment. The chapter illustrates that while Latin America initially attracted many investors by offering one of the world’s fastest growing online populations, the market was not large enough to accommodate all the new entrants.
Web-Enabling for Competitive Advantage
Authors: Motiwalla Luvai , Hashimi Azim
Published: May 2011

This case emphasis is on the reduction of the logistical aspects of adventure travel and increase in the customer base by using the Web-enabling information technology resources. A global travel company, Himalayan Adventures (HA), based in Pakistan wants to build a one-stop electronic commerce store for its customers. Through this Website, HA hopes to provide all of their travel services, visa details, health and safety insurance, weather information, flight reservations, police registration, currency exchange, travel itineraries, sale and purchase of equipment, souvenirs and communication requirements. To implement the online store for HA, the owner, Abdul Bari, is planning to utilize the Porter electronic business model in analyzing the market needs, and identifying the appropriate information technology to gain a strategic advantage. This project, once implemented, will compliment the already existing HAbrick model with a bricks-and-clicks model.
Laurier IT Priorities
Authors: Craig Ron
Published: May 2011

This case discusses a newly appointed IT officer at a smaller Canadian university who must reassess her priorities. She has found that the administrative computing system has serious problems.
The Rise and Fall of a Dot-Com
Authors: Scott Judy E.
Published: May 2011

This case study describes the rise and fall of a dot-com in the U.S. furniture industry. Despite its highly trafficked innovative website and deployment of sophisticated technology, it ran into problems coping with overspending, integrating its technology with its subsidiary, suppliers who were wary of channel conflict and customers who were slow to adopt to buying furniture online.
The QUIPUDATA Case
Authors: Santana-Ormeño Martin , Díaz-Andrade Antonio , Serida-Nishimura Jaime , Morris-Abarca Eddie
Published: May 2011

This case study shows the way in which a subsidiary company of one of the largest corporations in Peru, Backus Corporation, charged with assisting in the use of information and telecommunications technologies, implemented a quality management model, got the ISO 9001: 2000 certification, and evolved from an information technology support center to a center of benefits. It describes the evolution and development of the quality management model based on indicators used in QUIPUDATA and also describes the steps followed to get a quality certification. Moreover, it details some of the technological developments within the corporation, including the information technology tool that supports the management model and the corporate network.
Social Impacts of Computer-Mediated Communication on Strategic Change Processes
Authors: Cecez-Kecmanovic Dubravka , Busuttil Andy
Published: May 2011

This case is about a university, named Uni-X, which adopted and appropriated CMC to support a university-wide consultative process to inform its future strategic directions. Strategic change was required in response to a number of external political and economic factors. The President and the Executive Committee decided to use the consultative process both to increase staff awareness of the circumstances being faced by the university and to engage them in an exploratory process leading to the decisions that were to be made. The CMC system used was intended to provide equal access to information by all staff, to enable a university-wide electronic forum for discussion, and to support the coordination of a multitude of the other in-vivo tasks arising from the process. The case enables examination of (at least) three controversial issues of CMC deployment: equality of access, equality of participation, and democratizing potential. Equality of access means that all the participants have an equal opportunity to access the communication network and information resources in the system. Equality of access has to be distinguished from the equality of participation, which denotes equal opportunity to contribute to the discussion, both to affect and be affected by the opinion of others. CMC’s democratizing potential is an even more complex issue that refers to CMC’s contribution to the openness and transparency of organizational processes and to consensus-based participatory decision making. Understanding the use and appropriation of CMC by individuals as members of different groups and as members of the Uni-X University, together with understanding the uniqueness of their specific local contexts, is a prerequisite for exploring the richness of social impacts, and why and how they emerged.
Risks and Rewards
Authors: Sechrist Scott R. , Finnegan Dorothy E.
Published: May 2011

This case study describes the role of good citizenship that is performed by two technologically proficient faculty (techno-profs) who are approaching crucial career evaluations at Suburban State University (SSU), a public institution in the mid-eastern area of the United States
The Institutionalisation of User Participation for Systems Development in Telecom Éireann
Authors: Butler Tom , Fitzgerald Brian
Published: May 2011

This case recalls that it was in 1984 that Telecom Eireann first introduced institutional mechanisms, which facilitated employee participation in the formulation and execution of corporate strategy. The lessons learned by Telecom Eireann in addressing such issues helped it to evolve its participative policies into a partnership approach to organizational change, which helped ensure the success of its strategy of IT-enabled organizational transformation.
Big-Bang ERP Implementation at a Global Company
Authors: Pliskin Nava , Zarotski Marta
Published: May 2011

Dead Sea Works is an international multi-firm producer of Potash and other chemicals whose sales for 1998 were about $500 million. In 1996, the Information Systems group convinced top management to pursue a big-bang ERP implementation of SAP R/3. To reduce project risk, risk management was practiced. First, only modules that matched the functionality of the then-existing systems were targeted, avoiding as much as possible software modifications and process reengineering. Second, a steering committee was set up to handle conflict resolution and set priorities throughout the project and top users were given responsibility with implementing modules within the irrespective functions. R/3 went into production on July 1, 1998, six months ahead of schedule and without exceeding the $4.95 million budget.
Designing and Implementing a Learning Organization-Oriented InformationTechnology Planning and Management Process
Authors: Penrod James I. , Harbor Ann F.
Published: May 2011

Higher education is changing. Driven by the need to increase productivity, quality, and access while meeting the challenges of competition, universities, especially state-assisted institutions, are seeking ways to do more with less governmental support. Information technology (IT) is perhaps the enabling tool that will bring transformative change (Oblinger & Rush, 1997). The organizations that have had primary managerial responsibility for IT implementation on many campuses need to change and be restructured if the technology is to live up to its potential. This case study provides an overview of the process utilized in implementing a broad-based strategy to address the information technology needs of a large public university, the University of Memphis. It deals at length with the planning and creation of an IT governance structure and a strategic planning and management model. In this case, modern theories of organizational change and strategic planning were applied to the creation and improvement of the University’s IT structure.
Power Conflict, Commitment and the Development of Sales and Marketing IS/IT Infrastructures at Digital Devices, Inc.
Authors: Butler Tom
Published: May 2011

This article explores the political relationships, power asymmetries, and conflicts surrounding the development, deployment, and governance of IT-enabled sales and marketing information systems (IS) at Digital Devices, Inc. The study reports on the web of individual, group and institutional commitments and influences on the IS development and implementation processes in an organizational culture that promoted and supported user-led development. In particular, the article highlights the problems the company’s IS function encountered in implementing its ad-hoc strategies and governance policies. It will be seen that the majority of these problems occurred because of the high levels of autonomy and budgetary independence of the IT-literate, engineering-oriented business ‘communities-of-practice’ that constituted Digital Devices. The case therefore provides rare insights into the reality of IS development and IT infrastructure deployment in organizations through its in-depth description of the positive and negative influences on these processes and their outcomes.
Changing the Old Order
Authors: Sauer Chris
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the transformation of the motor vehicle registration and driver licensing business of the Roads and Traffic Authority of the Australian state of New South Wales. At the heart of this transformation which took place between 1989 and 1992 is a system called DRIVES. The project was innovative in the technology platform it devised and in the CASE technology it used to build the application. The new system has paid for itself at the same time as transforming the Roads and Traffic Authority’s way of doing the business. In addition it has generated new strategic opportunities. The iterating sequence of steps, or looped path, by which the Roads and Traffic Authority achieved its organizational transformation is compared with the more traditional top-down path. The looped path helps prepare the organization for the information technology change, makes risk more manageable by reducing the dependence between steps in the path, and leads to strategic benefits after the organizational changes have been mastered. Thus, we say that the particular order in which change was undertaken led to the new organizational order.
Success in Business-to-Business E-Commerce
Authors: Ratnasingam Pauline
Published: May 2011

This teaching case focuses on Cisco’s experience with their trading partner, Compaq NZ, and the findings contribute to strategies on how businesses can succeed in e-commerce participation.
DSS for Strategic Decision Making
Authors: Kamel Sherif
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes and analyzes the experience of the Egyptian government in spreading the awareness of information technology and its use in managing socio-economic development through building multiple information handling and decision support systems in messy, turbulent and changing environments. The successes over the past 10 years in developing, implementing and sustaining state-of-the-art decision support systems for central governmental decision making holds many lessons for the implementation of sophisticated systems under conditions of extreme difficulty.
Improving PC Services at Oshkosh Truck Corporation
Authors: Iversen Jakob Holden , Eierman Michael A. , Philip George C.
Published: May 2011

This case presents the problems encountered at Oshkosh Truck’s IT Call Center and PC Services, relating to improving productivity and user satisfaction of the IT Department. The case presents the process of handling user problems, all the way from when it is received at the helpdesk until a technician resolves the issue at the user’s desk, how well the process works, and some problems associated with the process.
Introducing Expert Systems at the Corporation
Authors: Liebowitz Jay
Published: May 2011

This case study highlights the concept that the “management” of the technology is usually the limiting factor causing the demise of a project rather than the “technology” itself. This real case study involves creating an awareness of a new technology within the company and trying to start a much-needed project using this technology
Costs and Benefits of Software Engineering in Product Development Environments
Authors: Reisman Sorel
Published: May 2011

The subject of this case is a computer-based cost-benefit forecasting model (CBFM), developed to investigate possible long-term effects of improved productivity from the use of modern software engineering. The primary purpose of the model was to generate comparative data to answer “what-if” questions posed by senior corporate management attempting to understand possible overall effects of introducing the new software development methodologies
The Value of Coin Networks
Authors: Borchers Andrew , Demski Mark
Published: May 2011

As a response to strong competitive pressures, the U.S. automotive industry has actively employed Electronic Data Interchange in communications between suppliers and carmakers for many years. This case reviews the recent development of ANX®, a COIN (Community of Interest Network) intended to provide industry-wide connectivity between carmakers, dealers and Tier suppliers. The authors identify technical and business challenges to the success of ANX®.