Business Commons^™

Healthcare Information Systems: Opportunities And Challenges, Madison Ngafeeson

Madison Ngafeeson

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Manufacturing Planning And Control Systems Through Artificial Intelligence Techniques, Ronald S. Dattero, John J. Kanet, Edna M. White

John J. Kanet

Manufacturing planning and control systems are currently dominated by systems based upon Material Requirements Planning (MRP). MRP systems have a number of fundamental flaws. A potential alternative to MRP systems is suggested after research into the economic batch scheduling problem. Based on the ideas of economic batch scheduling, and enhanced through artificial intelligence techniques, an alternative approach to manufacturing planning and control is developed. A framework for future research on this alternative to MRP is presented.

Capacity Planning With Financial And Operational Hedging In Low‐Cost Countries, Lijian Chen, Shanling Li, Letian Wang

Lance (Lijian) Chen

The authors of this paper outline a capacity planning problem in which a risk-averse firm reserves capacities with potential suppliers that are located in multiple low-cost countries. While demand is uncertain, the firm also faces multi-country foreign currency exposures. This study develops a mean-variance model that maximizes the firm’s optimal utility and derives optimal utility and optimal decisions in capacity and financial hedging size. The authors show that when demand and exchange rate risks are perfectly correlated, a risk- averse firm, by using financial hedging, will achieve the same optimal utility as a risk-neutral firm. In this paper as well, …

A Simulation-Based Approach To Solve A Specific Type Of Chance Constrained Optimization, Lijian Chan

Lance (Lijian) Chen

We solve the chance constrained optimization with convex feasible set through approximating the chance constraint by another convex smooth function. The approximation is based on the numerical properties of the Bernstein polynomial that is capable of effectively controlling the approximation error for both function value and gradient. Thus, we adopt a first-order algorithm to reach a satisfactory solution which is expected to be optimal. When the explicit expression of joint distribution is not available, we then use Monte Carlo approach to numerically evaluate the chance constraint to obtain an optimal solution by probability. Numerical results for known problem instances are …

Re-Solving Stochastic Programming Models For Airline Revenue Management, Lijian Chen, Tito Homem-De-Mello

Lance (Lijian) Chen

We study some mathematical programming formulations for the origin-destination model in airline revenue management. In particular, we focus on the traditional probabilistic model proposed in the literature. The approach we study consists of solving a sequence of two-stage stochastic programs with simple recourse, which can be viewed as an approximation to a multi-stage stochastic programming formulation to the seat allocation problem. Our theoretical results show that the proposed approximation is robust, in the sense that solving more successive two-stage programs can never worsen the expected revenue obtained with the corresponding allocation policy. Although intuitive, such a property is known not …

Ancillary Service Capacity Optimization For Both Electric Power Suppliers And Independent System Operator, Lijian Chen, Dengfeng Sun, Guang Li

Lance (Lijian) Chen

Ancillary Services (AS) in electric power industry are critical to support the transmission of energy from generators to load demands while maintaining reliable operation of transmission systems in accordance with good utility practice. The ancillary services are procured by the independent system operator (ISO) through a process called the market clearing process which can be modeled by the partial equilibrium from the ends of ISO. There are two capacity optimization problems for both Market participants (MP) and Independent System Operator (ISO). For a market participant, the firm needs to determine the capacity allocation plan for various AS to pursue operating …

Capacity-Driven Pricing Mechanism In Special Service Industries, Lijian Chen, Suraj M. Alexander

Lance (Lijian) Chen

We propose a capacity driven pricing mechanism for several service industries in which the customer behavior, the price demand relationship, and the competition are significantly distinct from other industries. According our observation, we found that the price demand relationship in these industries cannot be modeled by fitted curves; the customers would neither plan in advance nor purchase the service strategically; and the competition would be largely local. We analyze both risk neutral and risk aversion pricing models and conclude the proposed capacity driven model would be the optimal solution under mild assumptions. The resulting pricing mechanism has been implemented at …

Systems Analysis For Everyone Else: Empowering Business Professionals Through A Systems Analysis Method That Fits Their Needs, Duane Truex, Steven Alter, Cherie Long

Duane P Truex III

Fundamental difficulties in understanding and communicating about IT-reliant systems contribute to longstanding problems with project management, user participation, specification of requirements, implementation in organizations, business/IT alignment, and IS failures. Those issues persist despite having been explored, described, theorized, and measured in hundreds of IS research articles. The paper reports on a design science research project demonstrating a possible path toward addressing these longstanding problems by empowering business professionals to analyze systems in business terms, and not in UML, BPMN, or other formalisms that were developed for IT specialists. In this research, 75 working business professionals with extensive business experience used …

A Preliminary Study Of Information Technologies Usage In Non-Profit Organizations, Haiyan Huang, Umapathy Karthikeyan

Karthikeyan Umapathy

In this paper, we present the results of a preliminary survey study to examine the ways in which regional non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the U.S. adopted and utilized information technologies. The majority of the survey respondents (72.5%) consists of small to medium sized NPOs. The survey findings reveal that most responding organizations don’t have a technology plan even though they consider information technology as an important driving force to achieve organizational missions. A pragmatic approach that adopts mature, proven technologies is the most common approach followed by the respondents. Our findings also provide some empirical insights on how NPOs perform …

Employee's Participation: A Critical Success Factor For Justice Perception, Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

The present study proposed and tested a model that examines the relationship between leadership style, employee’s participation, and justice perceptions. The paper extended the literature of the justice by connecting three major research areas (leadership style, employee’s participation, and organizational justice), and examined the influences of leadership style and employee’s participation in shaping employee’s perception of justice. Results indicated that transactional, transformational, and dynamic leadership have positive impact on distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Moreover, the effect of leadership style on organizational justice was indirect through employee’s participation. This study synthesized previous leadership studies and argued that leadership style can …

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Exposure To Environmental Volatile Organic Compounds In The U.S. General Population: The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2000, Y. S. Lin, Alberto Coustasse, W. H. Ho, K. Singh, A. Arif

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

Background: Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been associated with many health disorders. A better understanding of unequal health risk from exposure to environmental VOCs is critical to the elimination of health disparities. Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate racial/ethnic differentials in exposure to airborne VOCs within a national sample of the U.S. population and assessed socio-demographic determinants that may contribute to these racial differences. Methods: We used data from a stratified sample of 576 participants (aged 20–59 years) who provided personal air samples for VOC measurements in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) …

Benefits And Barriers For Adoption Of Personal Health Records, Brittany Vance, Brent Tomblin, Jena Studney, Alberto Coustasse

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic, universally available, lifelong resource of health information maintained by individuals. There are numerous potential benefits to PHRs, including improved patient-provider relationships, increased patient empowerment, and enhanced care safety, efficiency, coordination, and quality. However, privacy, security, cost, and adoption issues have been significant barriers to implementation. The purpose of this research was to determine how the use of PHRs affects patient outcomes, as well as to analyze benefits and barriers of adoption of PHRs. The methodology for the examination of the benefits and barriers to PHR implementation was conducted following the basic principles …

A Research Framework For The Impact Of Cultural Differences On It Outsourcing, Anil Gurung, Edmund Pratter

Anil Gurung

Contracting Global Virtual Teams as part of global IT outsourcing is currently en vogue. As might be expected when virtual team members are from different countries, cultural factors play an important role in the success of outsourcing. However, there have been very few studies that assess the effect of culture on IT outsourcing and virtual teams. This conceptual paper addresses this oversight by looking at the effect of cultural differences on IT outsourcing and virtual teams' performance. The applicable literature on outsourcing, virtual teams and culture is analyzed and a framework of offshore outsourcing success is developed. This framework includes …

An Empirical Investigation On Customer’S Privacy Perceptions, Trust And Security Awareness In E-Commerce Environment, Anil Gurung, Xin Luo, M. K. Raja

Anil Gurung

Privacy concerns of the users have been listed as one of the hindrances in the growth of e-commerce. Understanding the consequences of privacy and its relationship with risk perceptions may help in finding solutions to this problem. Internet users may use different strategies to protect their privacy so that they can become confident in taking part in e-commerce. In this study, we investigate how users can lower their risk perceptions in the context of e-commerce. The relationships among privacy, risk, trust and internet security measures are empirically investigated to predict the behavioral intention to take part in e-commerce. Theoretical contributions …

Understanding The Determinants Of User Acceptance Of Enterprise Instant Messaging: An Empirical Study, Xin Luo, Anil Gurung, J. P. Shim

Anil Gurung

As modern organizations increasingly depend on information systems (IS) to enhance work productivity and seek new business opportunities, communication effectiveness has become one of the key factors that underlie the effective performance of IS implementations and applications. Instant Messaging (IM) presents a revolution in enterprise communication. As more organizations are findings ways to utilize this near-synchronous computing communication technology to enhance communication effectiveness in the workplace, there is a compelling need to understand the factors that are important for the adoption of enterprise IM. We have developed an integrative model based on constructs of the existing IT adoption models as …

Intelligent Information Management: The Impact Of Business Expertise On Information System Data And Analytics Resilience (Is-Dar) For Disaster Recovery And Business Continuity: An Exploratory Study, James A. Rodger

James Rodger

E-Book Acceptance Among Undergraduate Students: A Look At The Moderating Role Of Technology Innovativeness, Madison Ngafeeson, Jun Sun

Madison Ngafeeson

This paper utilizes the technology acceptance model (TAM) to uncover the moderating roles of technology innovativeness. A study of 158 undergraduate students revealed that the original TAM constructs and relationships were reliable, supported, and applicable in the measurement of e-book acceptance. Interestingly, personal technology innovativeness was found to moderate in a significant way, the relationship between behavioral intention to use e-book and actual usage of e-book. These findings suggest that while individuals who are more open to technology (adopters) as well as less technologically innovative individuals (late adopters and non-adopters) are likely to have the intention to use web-based instructional …

A State-Sponsored Approach To Quality Improvement In Nursing Homes: Insights From Providers, Kathleen Abrahamson, Priscilla Arling, Greg Arling

Priscilla Arling

In 2006, the Minnesota Performance-based Incentive Payment Program (PIPP) was launched to fund provider-initiated quality improvement (QI) projects addressing a wide range of persistent quality issues in nursing homes (eg, falls, pain, mobility, psychotropic medication reduction, care transitions). In this article, the authors describe the perceptions of nursing home providers who participated in a PIPP-funded QI project and completed a survey addressing a variety of QI-related concerns. Respondents noted the importance of support from top leadership, reported being challenged by resource constraints, and generally thought that their project positively impacted quality within their facility. These findings highlight the importance of …

Communication And Effectiveness In A Us Nursing Home Quality-Improvement Collaborative, Priscilla Arling, Kathleen Abrahamson, Edward J. Miech, Thomas S. Inui, Greg Arling

Priscilla Arling

In this study, we explored the relationship between changes in resident health outcomes, practitioner communication patterns, and practitioner perceptions of group effectiveness within a quality-improvement collaborative of nursing home clinicians. Survey and interview data were collected from nursing home clinicians participating in a quality-improvement collaborative. Quality-improvement outcomes were evaluated using US Federal and State minimum dataset measures. Models were specified evaluating the relationships between resident outcomes, staff perceptions of communication patterns, and staff perceptions of collaborative effectiveness. Interview data provided deeper understanding of the quantitative findings. Reductions in fall rates were highest in facilities where respondents experienced the highest levels …

Knowledge Sharing And Knowledge Management System Avoidance: The Role Of Knowledge Type And The Social Network In Bypassing An Organizational Knowledge Management System, Susan A. Brown, Alan R. Dennis, Diana Burley, Priscilla Arling

Priscilla Arling

Knowledge sharing is a difficult task for most organizations, and there are many reasons for this. In this article, we propose that the nature of the knowledge shared and an individual's social network influence employees to find more value in person-to-person knowledge sharing, which could lead them to bypass the codified knowledge provided by a knowledge management system (KMS). We surveyed employees of a workman's compensation board in Canada and used social network analysis and hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the data. The results show that knowledge complexity and knowledge teachability increased the likelihood of finding value in person-to-person knowledge …

The Impact Of Telework On Performance: A Social Network Approach, Priscilla Arling

Priscilla Arling

Despite almost thirty years of research in the area of telework, the findings regarding outcomes remain equivocal (Bailey and Kurland, 2002). This research in progress hopes to advance understanding by identifying a key mechanism by which telework affects performance, specifically its influence on the social network properties of cohesion, power and structural holes. With knowledge of how the number, frequency and diversity of relationships influences performance, practitioners and academics can develop processes to improve teleworker social networks. This in turn will enhance the use of social capital and also facilitate shared attitudes and behaviors, which will lead to higher organizational …

On Empirical Validation Of Compactness Measures For Electoral Redistricting And Its Significance For Application Of Models In The Social Science, Christine Chou, Steven O. Kimbrough, Frederic H. Murphy, John Sullivan-Fedock, C. Jason Woodard

C. Jason Woodard

Use of optimization models in science and policy applications is often problematic because the best available models are very inaccurate representations of the originating problems. Such is the case with electoral districting models, for which there exist no generally accepted measures of compactness, in spite of many proposals and much analytical study. This article reports on an experimental investigation of subjective judgments of compactness for electoral districts. The experiment draws on a unique database of 116 distinct, legally valid districting plans for the Philadelphia City Council, discovered with evolutionary computation. Subjects in the experiment displayed, in the aggregate, remarkable agreement …

A Lexical Approach To Classifying Computer Games, Xiaowen Fang, Susy S. Chan, Chitra Nair

Xiaowen Fang

According to the Entertainment Software Association (2009), more than two-thirds of all American households play computer games. This vast audience is fueling the growth of the multi-billion dollar computer game industry and bringing jobs to communities across the nation. The rising popularity and proliferation of computer games call for systematic research on the design of computer games and their impact on game players. Systematic research on computer games inevitably requires an accurate description of the traits or characteristics of games. However, the traits of computer games haven’t been well studied. Currently, computer games are often classified into genres by the …

Workplace Management And Employee Misuse: Does Punishment Matter? Journal Of Computer Information Systems, Qinyu Liao, Xin Luo, Anil Gurung, Long Li

Anil Gurung

With the ubiquitous deployment of Internet, workplace Internet misuse has raised increasing concern for organizations. Research has demonstrated employee reactions to monitoring systems and how they are implemented. However, little is known about the impact of punishment-related policies on employee intention to misuse Internet. To extend this line of research beyond prior studies, this paper proposes an integrated research model applying Theory of Planned Behavior, Deterrence Theory, and Theory of Ethics to examine the impact of punishment-related policy on employees’ Internet misuse intentions. The results indicate that perceived importance, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms have significant influence on employee …

Scm_Paper_Sam_Amj_80_3_Sum2015.Pdf, Mayur S. Desai, Kiran J. Desai, Lucy Ojode

Mayur S Desai

No abstract provided.

Mobile Devices: The Case For Cyber Security Hardened Systems, Maurice Dawson, Jorja Wright, Marwan Omar

Maurice Dawson

Mobile devices are becoming a method to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. Currently, cyber threats range from Trojans and viruses to botnets and toolkits. Presently, 96% of mobile devices do not have pre-installed security software while approximately 65% of the vulnerabilities are found within the application layer. This lack in security and policy driven systems is an opportunity for malicious cyber attackers to hack into the various popular devices. Traditional security software found in desktop computing platforms, such as firewalls, …

Advances In Technology Project Management: Review Of Open Source Software Integration, Maurice Dawson, Brian Leonard, Emad Rahim

Maurice Dawson

As organizations must continually drive down costs of software-driven projects, they need to evaluate the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and other software-based design methodologies. These methodologies include looking at software-based alternatives that could save a significant amount of money by reducing the amount of proprietary software. This chapter explores the use and integration of Open Source Software (OSS) in software-driven projects to include in enterprise organizations. Additionally, the legalities of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and Creative Commons are explored with the integration of these OSS solutions into organizations. …

A Brief Review Of New Threats And Countermeasures In Digital Crime And Cyber Terrorism, Maurice Dawson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security is becoming the cornerstone of national security policies in many countries around the world as it is an interest to many stakeholders, including utilities, regulators, energy markets, government entities, and even those that wish to exploit the cyber infrastructure. Cyber warfare is quickly becoming the method of warfare and the tool of military strategists. Additionally, it is has become a tool for governments to aid or exploit for their own personal benefits. For cyber terrorists there has been an overwhelmingly abundance of new tools and technologies available that have allowed criminal acts to occur virtually anywhere in the …

Understanding The Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism, Maurice E. Dawson Jr., Marwan Omar, Jonathan Abramson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security has become a matter of national, international, economic, and societal importance that affects multiple nations (Walker, 2012). Since the 1990s users have exploited vulnerabilities to gain access to networks for malicious purposes. In recent years the number of attacks on U.S. networks has continued to grow at an exponential rate. This includes malicious embedded code, exploitation of backdoors, and more. These attacks can be initiated from anywhere in the world from behind a computer with a masked Internet Protocol (IP) address. This type of warfare, cyber warfare, changes the landscape of war itself (Beidleman, 2009). This type of …

Open Source Software To Enhance The Stem Learning Environment, Maurice Dawson, Imad Al Saeed, Jorja Wright, Festus Onyegbula

Maurice Dawson

This chapter examines the use of Open Source Software (OSS) technologies that can be used to improve the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Explored are the various methods that can be utilized to improve the percentage of STEM majors in the American educational system with resources such as: Open Source as Alternative (OSALT), virtualization, cloud computing, Linux distributions, open source programming, and open source hardware platforms. Increasing the amount of students that pursue STEM majors is important because the projected job growth in the STEM field compared to non-STEM jobs is 33%. OSALT provides cost-effective alternatives to …