Business Commons^™

New Communication Technologies, Organizational Culture, And The Creation Of Innovative Learning Environments, Denise Scott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Today's organizations face an economic climate that is globalizing, increasing customer demands for products and services that meet their unique needs and the fast pace of technological developments. Organizations require the effective use of new communication technologies as a means of sharing information and expanding capacity for innovation. The main question for this research is: When new communication technologies are introduced into organizations, how do they work together with existing cultural assumptions to produce an innovative, learning environment within the organization? The research design involves conducting moderately structured interviews with organizational leaders in four diverse organizations: Ingram Book Company, Service …

Local Search Methods For The Discrete Time/Resource Trade-Off Problem In Project Networks, Bert De Reyck, Erik Demeulemeester, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper we consider the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks. Given a project network consisting of nodes (activities) and arcs (technological precedence relations), in which the duration of the activities is a discrete, nonincreasing function of the amount of a single renewable resource committed to it, the discrete time/resource trade-off problem minimizes the project makespan subject to precedence constraints and a single renewable resource constraint. For each activity, a work content is specified such that all execution modes (duration/resource requirement pairs) for performing the activity are allowed as long as the product of the duration and the …

Assessing Iso 14000 Adoption: Towards A Model Of Acceptance, Frank L. Montabon, Roger J. Calantone, Steven A. Melnyk, Robert Sroufe, Sime Curkovic

Frank L. Montabon

The ISO 14000 certification standard is a relatively new development. Based on the highly successful 1S0 9000 certification standard in quality, 1S0 14000 is oriented towards environmental performance. Since its release, the IS0 14000 standard has generated a great deal of discussion. Its rate of acceptance has not mirrored the rate previously observed for the 1S0 9000 standards. In the United States, some fm have announced that they have no interest in being ISO 14000 certified, while others have committed themselves to this standard, To resolve the apparent paradox, this paper attempts to identify the determinants of 1S0 14000 adoption, …

Environmentally Responsible Manufacturing: The Development And Validation Of A Measurement Model, Sime Curkovic, Robert B. Handfield, Steven A. Melnyk, Frank L. Montabon, Robert Sroufe

Frank L. Montabon

Since the concept of Environmentally Responsible Manufacturing (ERM) is relatively new, it is not surprising to note the lack of theory-based, empirically-validated constructs and measures. Such constructs and measures are critical to the development and growth of rigorous research in this area. This paper develops and assesses such constructs and measures. Drawn from an exhaustive review of both the quality and ERM-related fields, this study uses the constructs and measures drawn from the Total Quality Management area to develop ERM-related constructs and measures. These are then evaluated using data from a survey of 526 plant managers in the U.S. automotive …

The New Product Design Process And Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing: "Crossing The Chasm" And Other Obstacles, Robert Sroufe, Frank L. Montabon, Steven A. Melnyk, Sime Curkovic

Frank L. Montabon

This paper reports the results of a field study based project focusing on the new product design process within 11 American manufacturing fins. The findings reported indicate that the users exhibit strong differences. The users can be categorized into one of five major groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. These groups strongly parallel the model of new product acceptance initially developed in the computer industry, as presented by Moore (1991). Of interest is the gap that exists between the early adopters and early majority users. This gap forms a chasm. Those factors that account for acceptance …

A Branch-And-Bound Procedure For The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Generalized Precedence Relations, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We present an optimal solution procedure for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with generalized precedence relations (RCPSP-GPR) with the objective of minimizing the project makespan. The RCPSPGPR extends the RCPSP to arbitrary minimal and maximal time lags between the starting and completion times of activities. The proposed procedure is suited for solving a general class of project scheduling problems and allows for arbitrary precedence constraints, activity ready times and deadlines, multiple renewable resource constraints with time-varying resource requirements and availabilities, several types of permissible and mandatory activity overlaps and multiple projects. It can be extended to other regular and …

Accelerated Sap: 4 Case Studies, Ralph Dolmetsch, Thomas Huber, Elgar Fleisch, Hubert Oesterle

Hubert Oesterle

No abstract provided.

Computer-Based Decision Support System Use In Contracting's Source Selection Process, Matthew L. Decker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the use of decision support system (DSS) technology within the U.S. Air Force's contracting source selection process. DSS technology has been shown to be an effective aid to complex decision processes such as source selection decisions and the possible effects of utilizing this technology are the focus of this study. Conclusions drawn from this thesis may guide the contracting community to readdress the possibility of implementing DSS technology within the source selection process. This study evaluated statistical data from a previous experiment to determine the effect of DSS use on time, confidence, and decision quality. This study …

Technology Acceptance: A Fusion Of Human-Computer Interaction And Management Information Systems Constructs, Patrick W. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, information technology has advanced at a pace that few would have anticipated. It has been estimated that the computing power of the modem desktop computer has been increasing at the rate of 1000% per decade. In combination with the development of personal computers, the advent of networks and the world wide web provide unprecedented access to information and computing power. However, the problem of developing useful user interfaces remains a problem. In many military and commercial settings, the increased computing power offered by current information technology remains unexploited because of user interfaces that are difficult to use. …

An Examination Of Information Technology Valuation Models For The Air Force, Todd A. Peachey

Theses and Dissertations

Information technology investment has become a significant part of the Department of Defense's budget. The Information Technology Management Reform Act requires that government quantitatively evaluate future information technology investments. Quantitative evaluation of IT investments present special problems for agencies that do not generate incoming cash flows. This thesis is designed to examine models that are currently being used in the public and private sector of the economy to evaluate Information Technology investments to learn which ones might serve the needs of the United States Air Force. The methodology is an exploratory study based on Criterion based Congruence Analysis. This technique …

Venture Capital Contracting In The Information Age, D. Gordon Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Most venture capitalists provide services to their portfolio companies beyond capital investment. Although these services form an important part of the bargain between the venture capitalists and the entrepreneur, they are rarely specified or even capable of specification in venture capital contracts. This article examines the moral hazard and adverse selection problems facing entrepreneurs who hire venture capitalists to provide value-added services and describes the role of the market for venture capitalist reputation in addressing those problems. Further, the Article speculates about whether advances in information technology - specifically, the World Wide Web - are likely to improve the efficiency …

New Computational Results On The Discrete Time/Cost Trade-Off Problem In Project Networks, Erik Demeulemeester, Bert De Reyck, Bram Foubert, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We describe a new exact procedure for the discrete time/cost trade-off problem in deterministic activity-on-the-arc networks of the CPM type, where the duration of each activity is a discrete, nonincreasing function of the amount of a single resource (money) committed to it. The objective is to construct the complete and efficient time/cost profile over the set of feasible project durations. The procedure uses a horizon-varying approach based on the iterative optimal solution of the problem of minimising the sum of the resource use over all activities subject to the activity precedence constraints and a project deadline. This optimal solution is …

The Intelligent Browser For Texpros, Chih-Ying Wang

Dissertations

Browsing is a technique, which helps users to formulate their query and retrieve information in the information retrieval system. This technique provides users with capabilities of understanding their information needs and gaining system knowledge during the course of the browsing and thus it eases the users' burden when issuing queries. The basic components of the browser provides an underlying structure which allows users to navigate and a browsing process controller which provides users with the needed assistance during each browsing session.

In this dissertation, a new infrastructure (OP-Net), transformed from the existing object network is proposed. Each object in the …

Application Of The Internet Technology And Client/Server Paradigm For The Implementation Of Repi, Chetankumar G. Patel

Theses

There are many problems associated with Requirements Engineering such as defining the system scope, developing understanding among the communities involved in the system to be built, volatility of requirements etc. These problems may lead to poor requirements and therefore cancellation of the system development, or else the development of a system that is unsatisfactory, has high maintenance cost or is unacceptable. By improving Requirements Elicitation, the Requirements Engineering can be improved, leading to a better requirements specification and eventually a better product.

Requirements Elicitation requires effective communication among the team members, as communication is the key factor. Easing communications between …

Development Of A Framework For Internet Based Education System, Srinivas Lanka

Theses

Development of a framework for Internet based education has demonstrated the use of Oracle tools for the use of delivery of education on the World Wide Web. This also has proved that for an efficient dynamic education scenario, the use of a database-based system with a proper retrieval system is required.

We have designed the system on an Oracle backend system with Designer/2000. Developer/2000 helped us with the design and development of the system. Oracle Web Server 2.1 helped us with the retrieval of the web pages.

The entire design of the system and the reasoning behind the system has …

Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling: A Survey Of Recent Developments, Willy Herroelen, Bert De Reyck, Erik Demeulemeester

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We review recent advances in dealing with the resource-constrained project scheduling problem using an efficient depth-first branch-and-bound procedure, elaborating on the branching scheme, bounding calculations and dominance rules, and discuss the potential of using truncated branch-and-bound. We derive conclusions from the research on optimal solution procedures for the basic problem and subsequently illustrate extensions to a rich and realistic variety of related problems involving activity preemption, the use of ready times and deadlines, variable resource requirements and availabilities, generalized precedence relations, time/cost, time/resource and resource/resource trade-offs and non-regular objective functions.

A Model To Forecast Civilian Personnel Inventory For The National Security Agency, Stephen G. Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model to forecast civilian personnel inventory for the National Security Agency (NSA). Accurate prediction of personnel inventories will help the NSA with issues ranging from hiring, promotion, and ethnic/gender diversity to the development of cost-effective force reduction programs. The model must be capable of producing multiple-year forecasts of the NSA's civilian force structure with a minimum fidelity level that allows for break-out by years-of-service, career field, and grade. Historical data will be utilized to estimate logistic regression parameters that will compose the internal workings of the model. The JMP statistical software …

Applications Of Internet Technology For Requirements Elicitation, Deepak Pandit

Theses

During the Requirements Elicitation part of a project various stakeholders need to be able to communicate their requirements to the developers, and the developers need to be able communicate their understanding back to the stakeholders. Communication between the various members of the project is the key factor during the Requirements Elicitation part of a project. Easing communications between stakeholders and developers makes the process of eliciting requirement easier, leading to better requirements specification and eventually a better product.

The Requirements Elicitation Process through Internet (REPI) web site has been designed and implemented to explore this idea. The prototype version of …

A Group Decision Support System Idea Consolidation Tool, Chittibabu Govindarajulu, Milan Aiken, Weigi Li

Journal of International Information Management

Manual consolidation of ideas generated in a Group Decision Support System meeting can be a lengthy, inaccurate, and dissatisfying process. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how an automatic idea consolidation program can reduce the time needed by group members to aggregate comments, inaccuracies of these comment groupings, and dissatisfaction with the comment consolidation process. A case study comparing the program's results with those of two human subjects shows a time savings of 98.8%. Although the computer's comment groupings were not identical with those of the subjects, they were logically consistent.

Green Computing: Environmental And Ergonomical Issues, Nabil Alghalith

Journal of International Information Management

Green computing has become more of a concern among computer users in recent years as the environmental awareness increases. As with most environmental movements, green computing encourages people to reduce, reuse, and recycle. The paper concludes with some suggestions to achieve green computing.

The Construction Of Theory In Mis Research, Mark T. Dishaw

Journal of International Information Management

As a relatively new academic discipline, MIS has gone through processes of initiation, expansion, and consolidation. During the past two decades, MIS researchers have examined the state of their discipline and have found it "wanting" at times in the area of theory building and development. One important criticism of early MIS research was that it lacked strong theory of its own, and that it was often weakly grounded in theory, if at all. This paper examines the process and significance of theory building with an emphasis on some of the most well known MIS research streams. This paper demonstrates that …

An Examination Of Computer-Use Ethics In Hong Kong And The United States, Anthony M. Townsend, Michael E. Whitman, Anthony R. Hendrickson, Dail Fields

Journal of International Information Management

This study examines differences in individual ethical evaluations of computer-use scenarios between subjects in Hong Kong and the United States in an effort to better understand value differences that may be associated with differences in attitudes toward computer use expectations. Analysis indicates that although Hong Kong subjects generally take a more permissive view of ethical responsibility regarding computer use, they do not necessarily condone violations of ethical behavior. Results are discussed and implications for future research are addressed.

Use Of Gdss And Training Of Group Members To Improve Decision-Making: An Empirical Study, Edward T. Chen, Sumit Sicrar, Hsin-Ginn Hwang

Journal of International Information Management

Using Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) to enhance group work has been emphasized in several GDSS studies. Despite the volume of accumulated research, little attention has been paid to investigating the member training effects on group performance. Member training includes group task management techniques, such as constructive attitudes toward group task and decision-making by consensus. This empirical study evaluated the effects of using a GDSS and member training on group performance. The experiment found that groups with member training had better decision quality and GDSS groups demonstrated better decision quality.

Internet In The Healthcare Industry: Infrastructure Issues, Binshan Lin, Chang-Tseh Hsieh

Journal of International Information Management

Health care has long been known as afield that embraces and exploits new information technology, and. this trend shows no signs of slowing down. The healthcare industry is likely to be one of the largest beneficiaries of the Internet technology. This paper addresses four critical infrastructure issues: technological infrastructure, intranet development, financial infrastructure, and quality concerns. Service opportunities and practical problems are discussed that will provide managerial implications in health care and future research opportunities.

A Contrarian's Twenty Questions, Robert D. Wilson

Journal of International Information Management

One might begin to think the art of the university is being lost also. Since the traditional university has focused on education as distinct from training, we might consider if this movement toward Web-based courses is consistent with that tradition.

Intermediation On Electronic Markets: The Case Of Java Software Elements, Peter Buxmann, Frank Rose, Wolfgang Konig, Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Journal of International Information Management

This paper provides an introduction to the Java Repository - an intermediary for Java software elements. First, basic concepts for electronic intermediaries are derived from economic theory. Furthermore, the theoretic considerations are applied to the Java Repository and current and future developments of this special intermediary are presented, especially the use and implementation ofEcash to support financial transactions on the Java market.

A Comparative Study Of The Use Of Executive Information Systems Between Korea And The United States, Hung Kook Park, Ki Jung Chun, Joa Sang Lim, Jung Ki Min

Journal of International Information Management

Since their conception, EIS have been developed and adopted in many firms. The importance of EIS is now increasing with the need of accessing data from many sources under the high-velocity environment. Although many of the Korean firms are now in the process of introducing EIS with the faster growing economy, most research has been conducted on the use of EIS in Western firms. This study aims to explore the current state of EIS usage in Korean firms and make a comparison with that of the United States. Based upon Watson et al. (1992), a questionnaire instrument was constructed. The …

Parallel System Utilization In Weak Link Analysis, Roger Nibler

Journal of International Information Management

Parallel subsystems within operational systems can improve system reliability, especially in areas of the system which are or may become weak links. The basic modes of operation of parallel systems include backup, operation under exceptional conditions, and functioning on a compare-for-equal basis to facilitate output quality. A parallel system classification scheme is presented as well as a description of a database which ties parallel subsystems to their corresponding operational systems. The database can assist the manager in identifying and analyzing weak links anywhere in the organization to determine where parallel subsystems can best improve overall system reliability.

Solver: A Productivity Tool Used In The Context Of Spreadsheet Analysis, Richard Lebsack

Journal of International Information Management

Computers can enhance the decision-making capability of a manager. This may involve software programs readily available for the personal computer or programs especially customized for a particular company's purposes. This article reviews examples of both and focuses on Solver, an add-on for Excel or 1-2-3 97. Solver enables a manager to manipulate available resources to meet productivity needs. This may involve a specific goal such as maximization of profit or minimization of cost. But it might also involve several goals that can be prioritized. Three models are presented and results from the program are illustrated. With this tool and a …

A Decision Support Model For Management Of Fuzziness In Global Risk Assessment, Mirza Murtaza, Faisal Zeidan

Journal of International Information Management

Solving decision-making problems requires efficient handling of uncertainties. This task has been usually performed by means of expert systems which are based on classical logic and, therefore, need special methods such as heuristic approaches, probability theory, possibility theory, and fuzzy theory. The later approach, fuzzy reasoning and logic, offers a more natural way of handling uncertainty since it is similar to human logical reasoning. In this paper, we develop a fuzzy logic model for assessment and prediction of country risk. This fuzzy method provides a systematic approach to analyzing a target country. By its nature, the decision making for global …