Business Commons^™

Technology And Business: The Missing Link, S Chandrasekar

IIMB Management Review

Technology, despite its critical importance to business, has far too often played a secondary role compared to other major management functions like marketing, finance, human resources development, production or corporate planning. The success of many US based technology driven companies in electronics and biotechnology in the seventies and early eighties and the Japanese and German economic miracles, driven largely by technology upgradation in specific targeted industries, should serve to renew interest in the study of the role of technology in improving business performance.

On The Use Of The Complexity Index As A Measure Of Complexity In Activity Networks, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A large number of optimal and suboptimal procedures have been developed for solving combinatorial problems modeled as activity networks. The need to differentiate between easy and hard problem instances and the interest in isolating the fundamental factors that determine the computing effort required by these procedures, inspired a number of researchers to develop various complexity measures. In this paper we investigate the relation between the hardness of a problem instance and the topological structure of its underlying network, as measured by the complexity index. We demonstrate through a series of experiments that the complexity index, defined as the minimum number …

Towards Designing A Knowledge-Based Tutoring System : Sql-Tutor As An Example, Gang Zhou

Dissertations

A Knowledge-Based Tutoring System, also sometimes called an Intelligent Tutoring System, is a computer based instructional system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to help people learn some subject. The goal of the system is to provide private tutoring to its students based on their different backgrounds, requests, and interests. The system knows what subject materials it should teach, when and how to teach them, and can diagnose the mistakes made by the students and help them correct the mistakes.

The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate and develop a generic framework upon which we can build a Knowledge-Based …

Pattern Discovery In Sequence Databases : Algorithms And Applications To Dna/Protein Classification, Gung-Wei Chirn

Dissertations

Sequence databases comprise sequence data, which are linear structural descriptions of many natural entities. Approximate pattern discovery in a sequence database can lead to important conclusions or prediction of new phenomena. Traditional database technology is not suitable for accomplishing the task, and new techniques need to be developed.

In this dissertation, we propose several new techniques for discovering patterns in sequence databases. Our techniques incorporate pattern matching algorithms and novel heuristics for discovery and optimization. Experimental results of applying the techniques to both generated data and DNA/proteins show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.

We then develop several classifiers using …

Occasional Papers: Current Issues In Business, Janice Rowan

Hollybush Series

Volume 5 of The Hollybush Series contains nine essays by Rowan College of New Jersey faculty on current issues in business.

The editor is Janice Rowan and the faculty authors are: Berhe Habte-Giorgis, Jooh Lee, Robert S. Fleming, Razelle Frankl, William J. Trainor, Jr., George C. Romeo, Daniel W. Davis, Larissa S. Kyj, Robert E. Pritchard, William L. Enslin, Carol Welsh, and Thomas A. Michael.

The Effect Of An Integrated Library Computer System On Job Characteristics In Public Libraries, Richard J. Harris

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study investigated the effects of computerization with an integrated library system (ILS) on job characteristics in public libraries.

Two different but complementary research design components were used. One component consisted of a case study of the Norfolk (Virginia) Public Library, where an ILS was implemented between 1988 and 1995. The case study relied on data from interviews, archival sources, and questionnaires. The other component was a mail survey of public library workers across Virginia.

Case study interview data was analyzed by coding. Time series analysis was used to examine trends in budget and staffing. Pattern matching logic was used …

No. 127 1996 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

The Object-Oriented Paradigm As An Implementation Of Systems Theory In Is, William A. Newman, Anthony R. Hendrickson

Journal of International Information Management

Classical General Systems Theory (GST) is rich with fundamental concepts relating to the explanation of how systems behave and operate. The new concept of object-oriented techniques and methodologies was found to be closely aligned with most of the fundamental theories of GST. This article presents these alignments and similarities and clearly shows that object-oriented techniques provide a better fit to GST than older design methodologies.

Towards A Framework For Communication Media Implementation: Information Richness And Critical Mass As Complementary Theories, Tony Coulson

Journal of International Information Management

The rapid evolution of communication technology creates confusion for many businesses in deciding which technologies fit the organization. While technologies such as electronic mail, group decision support systems, and video conferencing are mature and readily available, a problem exists in determining how well such media will work within a particular organization. This review examines case examples and research of communication media implementation within the framework of two theories, critical mass and information richness. Examples of using electronic mail, video conferencing, and group decision support systems are used to illustrate how a framework combining the two theories may be executed. The …

The Nintendo Generation Comes Of Age: The Technologist Of The Future, C.E. Taipe Rohm Iii, Pat Mcinturff, C.E. Taipe Rohm Jr.

Journal of International Information Management

While many products and inventions have revolutionized the computer world, none has had a greater impact than the Nintendo. The Nintendo game was developed for the children of the Babyboom generation. Dubbed the Nintendo generation, these children have grown up in a digital world that they could control. This Nintendo generation have pushed the technological limits because they didn't know any better. Now, this generation has locked onto the World Wide Web as their playground, displacing the previous analog generation.

International Negotiation Support Systems, Hung Kook Park, Paul Gray, Lorne Olfman

Journal of International Information Management

Almost all results for negotiation support systems have been obtained in a United States context, based on the conventions and culture of American group processes. This paper reports on the construction and testing of a prototype group decision support system (GDSS) to support international negotiation. The system was shown to work and to provide gains in both the quality of the interaction and the attitude toward the decision reached. Although the prototype system is narrow in scope focusing on two specific cultures and a single scenario and uses simple and limited technology, the results obtained suggest that computer-based intercultural GDSS …

Towards A Specific Architecture For International Information Systems: An Exploratory Study, Hans P. Lehmann

Journal of International Information Management

Despite their acknowledged importance, international information technology applications - defined as supporting a business activity across a number of diverse environments - are still largely unstudied and under-explored. Scholarly research has been relatively sparse, but there is anecdotal evidence of the serious difficulties facing the developer of international systems. In this exploratory paper it is investigated whether there is a specific architecture, generically common to international information systems which could provide a framework for the development of international systems. The linkage between the global business strategy of international firms and the organization and structure of their information systems is discussed. …

Towards The Modern Business School In The Information Age, C.E. Taipe Rohm Jr

Journal of International Information Management

For the better part of a century the dominant paradigm for business school education has revolved around capitalist production systems, and for the last half century the business school has been the cornerstone for transmitting and in calculating the norms, values and goals to future captains of industry.

Modeling Information Technology Impacts In Clerical Work Environments, Brian D. Lynch, Robert P. Cerveny, G. Lawrence Sanders, Frank J. Krzystofiak, Fred E. Dansereau

Journal of International Information Management

The industrialization of white collar work via information technology (IT) is a key indicator of the emerging post-industrial economy (Hirschhorn, 1988). A conceptual model linking clerical work environments to effective IT impacts such as IT utilization, IT's perceived ease of use and performance impact was developed and empirically tested. Underlying the model is the premise that clerical job structure is a facilitator of IT impacts (Weber, 1988). The results indicate that clerical job structure factors such as typing, composing or editing, and bookkeeping were significantly related to IT impacts in clerical work settings. A job holder's IT competence and top …

A Multidimensional Framework For Group Decision Support System Research And Design, Santosh S. Venkatraman

Journal of International Information Management

Groups are a fundamental and essential part of organizational decision making. A group decision support system (GDSS) attempts to use computer and communications technology to help a group make better decisions. In this paper, previous GDSS research is extended to develop a better framework for future GDSS research and design. Six situational factors are identified; group size, member proximity, task type, group environment, and group development stage; so that a given group decision making situation can be accurately described. To standardize the features across different GDSS, six different levels of GDSS features are also identified. The paper then presents a …

A Neural Network To Predict Civilian Unemployment Rates, Milam Aiken

Journal of International Information Management

Forecasting national unemployment is one of the most important problems of modern economies, and most researchers have relied upon statistical techniques with their stringent data assumptions and low accuracy rates to predict changes in this macroeconomic data. This paper describes how a neural network using leading economic indicator data can help to predict civilian unemployment rates. Results show that the neural network provides superior estimates of rates one month into the future compared to multi-linear regression and two naive forecasting techniques.

Managing Resident Intern Rotation Schedules Using An On-Line, User-Controlled System, Jay M. Lightfoot

Journal of International Information Management

Accredited medical clinics that provide resident programs are faced with the problem of scheduling interns for service rotation. These schedules must meet a complex set of criteria to assure that all services are covered and each resident receives appropriate training. This paper describes the design and implementation of a windows-based resident scheduling system that meets these goals. Following that, the paper discusses the advantages and problems of working in a visual programming environment and outlines future enhancements to the system.

A Differential Refresh Scheme For Remote End-User's Views, David Chao, George Diehr, Aditya N. Saharia

Journal of International Information Management

The growth of end-user computing and recent developments in information technology, such as client/server architecture and data warehouse, promote the use of remote materialized views (RMVs) to support end-users. This article presents a differential scheme to refresh remote end-user's views. The scheme stores the effects of updates relevant to the RMV in a "difference table" which is transmitted to the remote site upon receiving the refresh request to update the RMV. The scheme provides a fast response to a user's refresh request. We discuss the data structures and algorithms of the scheme. Performance measures are developed and compared with the …

Enhancing Menu-Based Executive Information Systems Using A Natural Language-Menu Guide*, Sumali Conlon, Edward Gillenwater, Chi Hwang

Journal of International Information Management

Ufe argue that current Executive Information Systems (BIS), with simple menu-based user interfaces, support an inadequate range of information needs because a menu base which is too large or changes too rapidly becomes prohibitively difficult to use. We consider an alternative approach to increase executives' access to information bases by incorporating a series of component- specific Natural Language Interfaces (NLI) into the various components of the BIS (database, model base, etc.), and adding a "Natural Language-Menu Guide" (NLMG) to the traditional menu and graphics based executive information systems. The various NLI will allow users to get access to information bases …

Comparison Of Computer Use Among Managerial Levels In Large Organizations, Chung Kim, Dane Peterson

Journal of International Information Management

In spite of the rapid advances and expanding roles of information systems in business organizations, it has been speculated that computer use and its impact may still be stronger at lower management levels. A survey of one hundred and eight managers was conducted, investigating computer usage and the perceptions of the benefit of computers. The results indicate that there was no differences among managerial levels with respect to their self-rating as a novice or expert computer user. On the other hand, there were differences with respect to the types of software used and the tasks supported by the software. The …

An Empirical Evidence Of Determinant Attributes On Expert Systems Success, Ephrem Eyob

Journal of International Information Management

Expert Systems, in the last decade, have become the target of tremendous positive interest as well as consternation by the information systems professionals and end-users. This study surveyed twenty organizations to examine empirically the level of expert systems user satisfaction and success of these systems as perceived by the respondents of the survey.

Strategic Opportunities In Information Technology, Peng S. Chan

Journal of International Information Management

In an empirical investigation affirms of all sizes within the manufacturing, service, and retail industries, the applications of information technology (IT) with respect to key external and internal strategic areas were examined. It was found that the effectiveness of IT in accomplishing strategic objectives varied among manufacturing, retail, small and medium-size companies, but not between service-oriented and large companies. Furthermore, the level of success in using IT applications, measured in terms of whether it has achieved organizational objectives, was not significantly different among industry sectors nor among organizations of different sizes.

Performance Testing With Presentation Graphics, Floyd Brock

Journal of International Information Management

Testing for computer literacy requires extensive administration and controls. The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of computerized, projected quizzes in which students' performances (correct/minute) were measured. part of these performance quizzes, a series of 16 screens with 48 matching questions were shown for one minute per screen to 64 students. Six weeks later, an improved series of 20 screens with 60 matching questions were shown to 61 students. Last, these two quizzes were compared with a final power quiz with 90 matching questions that was printed on paper. The results showed that students did as well …

Bulletin No 4315 - Western Australian Agricultural & Fishery Exports At A Glance...1995/96, Graeme Robertson Dr, P. P. Rogers

Bulletins 4000 -

Second edition (revised and updated) January 1997.

Western Australia's economic growth and high productivity is based on a well established export-oriented economy that relies heavily on primary production.

Our abundant and diverse range of agricultural and fish products is supported by highly innovative and dynamic primary industries. These are backed by modern financial and physical infrastructure.

Western Australia's agricultural industries and fisheries have an international reputation for a professional approach to business and a proven track record in producing and supplying food and fibre products of consistently high quality. Clean air, unpolluted oceans and waterways, and abundant quality farmland are …

Building A Framework For Information Doctrine: A Significant Factor In Managing Air Force Information Resources, Kimberly C. Ullmann

Theses and Dissertations

The information revolution is sweeping through the mIlitary. At the same time, the Air Force has not fully addressed legal requirements to develop an agency-wide framework for managing information resources. This lack of foundation creates a void for Air Force information resources management practitioners. Since the Department of Defense and the Air Force are engaged in doctrinal revolution, the opportunity exists to consider developing Information Doctrine.This thesis explores the definition and role of doctrine in the Air Force, the doctrine development process, and practical examples of doctrine's use in the Air Force and Department of Defense. It also examines the …

No. 126 1995 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

An Adaptive Learning Model Which Accommodates Asymmetric Error Costs And Choice-Based Samples, James V. Hansen, James B. Mcdonald, Rayman D. Meservy

Faculty Publications

This paper introduces an adaptive-learning model, EGB2, which optimizes over a parameter space to fit data to a family of models based on maximum-likelihood criteria. We also show how EGB2 can be modified to handle asymmetric costs of Type I and Type II errors, thereby minimizing misclassification costs. It has been shown that standard methods of computing maximum-likelihood estimators of qualitative-response models are generally inconsistent when applied to sample data with different proportions than found in the universe from which the sample is drawn. We investigate how a choice estimator, based on weighting each observation's contribution to the log-likelihood function, …

Visual Pattern Recognition Using Neural Networks, Jenlong Moh

Dissertations

Neural networks have been widely studied in a number of fields, such as neural architectures, neurobiology, statistics of neural network and pattern classification. In the field of pattern classification, neural network models are applied on numerous applications, for instance, character recognition, speech recognition, and object recognition. Among these, character recognition is commonly used to illustrate the feature and classification characteristics of neural networks.

In this dissertation, the theoretical foundations of artificial neural networks are first reviewed and existing neural models are studied. The Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) model is improved to achieve more reasonable classification results. Experiments in applying the …

No. 125 1995 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Exceptions And Exception Handling In Computerized Information Processes, Diane M. Strong, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Exceptions, situations that cannot be correctly processed by computer systems, occur frequently in computer-based information processes. Five perspectives on exceptions provide insights into why exceptions occur and how they might be eliminated or more efficiently handled. We investigate these perspectives using an in-depth study of an operating information process that has frequent exceptions. Our results support the use of a total quality management (TQM) approach of eliminating exceptions for some exceptions, in particular, those caused by computer systems that are poor matches to organizational processes. However, some exceptions are explained better by a political system perspective of conflicting goals between …