Business Commons^™

A Simple Set Model Of Requirements Representation, Jia-Lang Seng

Journal of International Information Management

A successful information systems development (ISD) depends on a complete, correct, and consistent set of requirements specification. In this paper, we present a set model of requirements representation to present functional and non-functional requirements in a systematic and schematic manner. Because the nature of the set operation is mathematical and methodological, requirements representation becomes scholastic and structured. In this paper, we first describe an incremental and iterative process model of requirements analysis where a spiral of requirements acquisition, articulation, and analysis is defined. We then depict a set-oriented data and process model to abstract the analyzed requirements into a hierarchical …

Understanding Web Page Anatomy, Antony Coulson, C.E. Tapie Rohm, Pat Mcinturff, Jake Zhu, James Stanger

Journal of International Information Management

The rapid evolution of information technology over the past several decades has opened many new and unique modes of communication. Clearly, the web is one such technology. However, it is quite possible that a fascination with the technology per se can hinder participants from one of its main functions—effective communication. The following essay explores a return to the basics of designing an effective web-based communication strategy. The key components of this strategy are: 1) consistent look and feel, 2) conceptual consistency, and 3) positive attention.

Sampling Concepts, Paul Boyd, Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

The usefulness of any research is dependent upon how well the group studied represents the group about which decisions are to be made or conclusions drawn. That is, it depends upon how well the sample reflects relevant characteristics of the population. When it is possible to study every member of that group there is no problem, for on these occasions we can easily calculate the exact attribute (parameter) of interest for our population.

For example, if we were interested in determining the average number of gallons of gasoline sold to customers at our service station yesterday, we …

Filling Preposition-Based Templates To Capture Information From Medical Abstracts, Gondy Leroy, Hsinchun Chen

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Due to the recent explosion of information in the biomedical field, it is hard for a single researcher to review the complex network involving genes, proteins, and interactions. We are currently building GeneScene, a toolkit that will assist researchers in reviewing existing literature, and report on the first phase in our development effort: extracting the relevant information from medical abstracts. We are developing a medical parser that extracts information, fills basic prepositional-based templates, and combines the templates to capture the underlying sentence logic. We tested our parser on 50 unseen abstracts and found that it extracted 246 templates with a …

Faster Ethernet And The Atm Market Boundary, G. Kent Webb

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

As a network technology, ethernet flourished in low-cost, low-end markets. Simple to make and with open standards, many companies created products. The resulting improvement in price, performance, and market acceptance resulted in ethernet replacing the more established and sophisticated token-ring technology that dominated early large corporate LANs. As ethernet gets faster, accelerating from the original 10 Mbps into Gigabit speeds, the technology is poised to challenge the dominant backbone and WAN standard, ATM. A discussion of new ethernet developments is formalized with a decision model used to define a market boundary with data illustrating why and where a technology may …

Analyzing Behavior Patterns Of Internet Consumers Through Database Integration, Sally Rao, Jeretta Horn Nord, G. Daryl Nord

Journal of International Information Management

A question facing contemporary entrepreneurs is: How can Electronic Commerce be used to exploit business opportunities now available through highly efficient electronic markets? This study aims to answer that question. Although the Internet is increasingly being adopted to market products and services, little academic attention has been paid to its linkages with database technology. This research used focus groups and convergent interviews to develop a framework illustrating how firms use the Internet and database technology for strategic advantage. Results revealed that integration of Internet and database marketing enhances the effectiveness of EC's potential, offering such benefits as increased accuracy and …

Does The Internet Improve Business? An Empirical Inquiry Into The Perceived Strategic Value And Contribution Of The Internet, Chang E. Koh, Hyonsong Chong

Journal of International Information Management

The Internet has become an indispensable tool for business. While it is generally presumed that the Internet can provide a competitive edge over competition, no substantive empirical evidence linking the Internet to organizational performance has been presented. This study empirically tests the connection between the use of the Internet and the perceived strategic importance of the Internet and its contribution to business using LISREL confirmatory factor analysis. The findings of this study suggest that management's strategic emphasis on the Internet affect the diffusion of Internet technology in an organization and these two factors collectively improve business performance.

Using The Sayre Model To Analyze Internet Privacy, Richard V. Mccarthy, Jay E. Aronson

Journal of International Information Management

The Internet continues to evolve as a transportal of electronic commerce. It has penetrated into every facet of organizational life, from the ordering of commodity goods to providing a means to speed the recording and payment of federal income taxes. Internet usage continues to expand rapidly, surfacing issues in its wake that must be managed in order for it to ensure that it is viable as a long-term strategic tool for government and industry. To bridge the legal gap that has emerged as a result of the dynamic growth of the Internet, the United States Congress has acted to begin …

Implementing Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: A Study Of Benefits And Concerns, Y Helio Yang, Nikhil Varaiya, Sherry A. Irwin

Journal of International Information Management

In the 1990's information technology and business process re-engtneermg have combined to provide organizations a competitive advantage. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were particularly considered examples representing such development. This paper reports the results of a survey on ERF implementation to explore its benefits and concerns. Our results show companies can expect more intrafirm benefits, such as reduced inventory, improved quality, and shortened cycle time, than interfirm benefits from current ERP technology. Existing ERP technology is not yet capable of handling the complexity of the whole supply chain. More supplier relationship management functionalities need to be integrated. Our results also …

Jad Can Get Better, Evan W. Duggan, Cherian S. Thachenkary

Journal of International Information Management

Interviewing and other conventional approaches failed to produce the user-developer understanding required to establish high-quality systems requirements for software development. .Joint Application Development (JAD) was introduced in the late 1970s, and has been widely used to alleviate this problem. But JAD s success has been critically dependent on the excellence of facilitation to deflect many of the relational problems that are typically experienced with the freely interacting group structure used to conduct JAD sessions. While the use of JAD is pervasive, excellent facilitators are scarce, which hampers or even precludes some JAD efforts. In this article we recommend a solution …

Community Banking In The E-Business Era, Peter Southard, Keng Siau

Journal of International Information Management

This paper reviews how existing and potential uses of Internet technology can generate a competitive advantage for rural community banks. To do so, it offers a framework for analyzing Internet technology investment decisions. Organizations in this segment of the banking industry are often more removed from centers of technology and have traditionally been more conservative in their approaches to information technology (among other things). Banking Associations have developed in the U.S., such as the Independent Bankers Association, to try and help community banks coordinate marketing, legislative, and other issues that they have in common. The use of Internet technology can …

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Performance And Satisfaction: A Muiti-Stage Study, Ta-Tao Chuang, Michael Bernard, Shahid I. Ali

Journal of International Information Management

Research in computer-supported cooperative learning provides evidence that collaborative technology can enhance learning performance and increase affective experiences in the context of cooperative learning. Most studies, however, have examined the learning performance only during the middle and end of the process. It is not clear how information technology continuously facilitates and improves student performance and learning experience over time. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research presented in this article drew research findings in the fields of communication, information systems, and education to examine cooperative learning processes with a continuous, longitudinal study. Based on a descriptive model of computer-supported cooperative …

A Multivariate Probit Analysis Of Selected Factors Influencing Electronic Commerce Adoption In Organizations, Adeyemi A. Adekoya, Ago K.M. Quaye, Ephrem Eyob

Journal of International Information Management

This study investigates factors leading to the "go/no go" decision on organizational innovations, with particular reference to Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce). The goal is to explore important antecedents promoting the adoption of technological innovations and to extend the frontiers of knowledge in this area, by integrating two major research paradigms - basic and applied. Randomly selected organizations in the IT area participated in the study. Variables pertaining to organizations. Information Technology, and users of the technology were assessed and analyzed using an omnibus instrument and probit analysis respectively. This study provides a tentative elucidation of contemporary unresolved issues, and also broadens …

Medtextus: An Ontology-Enhanced Medical Portal, Gondy Leroy, Hsinchun Chen

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In this paper we describe MedTextus, an online medical search portal with dynamic search and browse tools. To search for information, MedTextus lets users request synonyms and related terms specifically tailored to their query. A mapping algorithm dynamically builds the query context based on the UMLS ontology and then selects thesaurus terms that fit this context. Users can add these terms to their query and meta-search five medical databases. To facilitate browsing, the search results can be reviewed as a list of documents per database, as a set of folders into which all the documents are automatically categorized based on …

Innovate Or Evaporate . . . Business Concept Innovation In The Furniture Industry In The Age Of Information, Steven H. Bullard

Faculty Publications

Introduction The U.S. furniture industry has changed dramatically in recent years. Furniture manufacturers, for example, have recently faced competition from foreign producers that has been particularly intense – resulting in factory closings and job losses in many areas of the country, including the Mid-South. In Mississippi, for example, the number of employees in furniture and fixtures industries dropped by 2,100 (6.8%) in the year 2000 (Center for Policy Research and Planning 2001). Similar job losses have been occurring in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and other important furniture-producing states. Nationwide, employment in furniture and fixtures manufacturing dropped by 40,000 (7.2%) from …

Pricing And Product Mix Optimization In Freight Transportation, Michael F. Gorman

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

We propose improved pricing and market mix can improve the profitability of the freight transportation provider through the reduction of equipment repositioning costs. We hypothesize that because of complexities surrounding pricing and equipment repositioning costing, existing pricing strategies in freight transportation fail to fully consider these costs. We test this hypothesis in an applied setting in which Monte Carlo simulation captures the stochasticity of market conditions inherent in the problem. We use a heuristic to improve the nondifferentiable, discontinuous objective function.

Our results from test cases show with high confidence that current prices are not optimal, as indicated by a …

Global Perceptions Of Journals Publishing E-Commerce Research, Pratyush Bharati, Peter Tarasewich

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.

Community Banking In The E-Business Era, Peter Southard, Keng Siau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper reviews how existing and potential uses of Internet technology can generate a competitive advantage for rural community banks. To do so, it offers a framework for analyzing Internet technology investment decisions. Organizations in this segment of the banking industry are often more removed from centers of technology and have traditionally been more conservative in their approaches to information technology (among other things). Banking Associations have developed in the U.S., such as the Independent Bankers Association, to try and help community banks coordinate marketing, legislative, and other issues that they have in common. The use of Internet technology can …

Using Real Options Analysis For Evaluating Uncertain Investments In Information Technology: Insights From The Icis 2001 Debate, Paul P. Tallon, Robert J. Kauffman, Henry C. Lucas, Andrew B. Whinston, Kevin Zhu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Business and information systems (IS) executives continue to grapple with issues of risk and uncertainty in evaluating investments in information technology (IT). Despite the use of net present value (NPV) and other investment appraisal techniques, executives are often forced to rely on instinct when finalizing IT investment decisions. Recognizing the shortcomings of NPV, real options analysis has been suggested as an alternative approach, one that considers the risks associated with an investment while recognizing the ability of corporations to defer an investment until a later period or to make a partial investment instead. Responding to a growing interest in real …

Information Technology Evaluation Practices Among Malaysian Banks, Woon Hooi Shyen

Student Works (2000-2009)

Globalization and liberalization has necessitated the banking industry at large to use information technology (IT) to gain competitive advantage. This is evidence from the increasing expenditure over the last decade on IT. Accompanied by such high investment in IT, there is a demand for measures to evaluate IT in its proper perspective so that it delivers the value it promises. Traditional capital budgeting or accounting methods may not be sufficient to address the complexities of an IT evaluation process. IT evaluation therefore requires a socio-technical framework which sets linkages between the content, process and context within which it is performed. …

An Exploratory Study Of Internet Data Centres In Malaysia, Huai Peng Loh, Siew Hwa Tan

Student Works (2000-2009)

The explosion of Internet in Malaysia has spurred the growth of Internet Data Centres - a combination of Internet Service Providers, Information Technology Vendor Community and Telecommunication Service Providers providing co­location and managed services. These Internet Data Centres are targeting any organisations which have an internet strategy and which plan to outsource their IT infrastructures. This report aims to shed a light on the Malaysian Internet Data Centres, which are mainly concentrated in the Klang Valley. Readers will be able to gain insight into the target markets, infrastructure owned and services offered by the Internet Data Centres concerned. The report …

Success Factors Of Information Technology Project Implementation : A Case Study Of A Manufacturing Company, Poh Chee Fong

Student Works (2000-2009)

project implementation. System and facilities test shall be carried out in actual user environment and be innovative when developing a new IT project i.e. shall not just copy the functions of previous system to new system. Everybody shall be innovative to fully utilize the advantages of information technology

The Shipboard Office' : The Role Of It And Multi-Media Systems In Managing Engineering Operations And Maintenance Onboard Ship, Okechukwu Ebere Sylvanus Obara

World Maritime University Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigation of the roles of information technology and multimedia systems in the management of engineering operations and maintenance onboard ships. It considers the implications and constraints of adopting these technology tools on the economies of ship owners or managements companies, Maritime Administrations, and the Maritime Education and Training Institutions, especially in the developing countries. The study reviews the various shipboard maintenance policies and management techniques currently being practised in the traditional shipboard office with a view of understanding its constraints and the needs of adopting the various technological tools and systems. It also examines critically, the …

Creating The Km Infrastructure At Infosys : The Technology Challenge, V P Kochikar

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Knowledge Management And Competitive Advantage, Rishikesha T Krishnan

IIMB Management Review

This paper explores some of the links between knowledge management and competitive advantage and draws implications for knowledge management strategies for organisations.

Building A Knowledge Organisation : Overcoming Individual And Organisational Barriers, Abhoy K Ojha

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Aspects Of Knowledge Management, T S Suresh

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Creating An Organisational Culture For Knowledge Management, Narendra M Agrawal

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Knowledge Management In The Healthcare Sector, Srinivas Krishna

IIMB Management Review

The healthcare sector across the globe is under going a cultural transformation, as the traditional passive and respectful patient opulation is replaced by an assertive and sceptical group of ‘customers’. As the educated and informed consumer moves through the healthcare system and begins to use more services, s/he is demanding information and choice, engaging in self-care and selfmanagement of diseases, and asserting a voice in making healthcare decisions with providers. The proliferation of clinical data, outcomes management, provider information and pricing transparency will allow consumers to be responsible for their own destinies in a historically anti-consumer healthcare system. In fact, …

Learning From Linux, Sourav Mukherji

IIMB Management Review

Conventional wisdom on knowledge management deems organisations as essential vehicles for collaborative knowledge creation but here the entire process of knowledge creation takes place outside the boundary of any formal hierarchical organisation, creating a paradox for knowledge management. An attempt is made here to analyse the Linux development process to help resolve this paradox, and in the process, provide some insights Award Winning Student Essay Learning from Linux for organisational knowledge management.