Management Information Systems Commons^™

Microfinance In India And The Role Of It, Rahul Bhattacharya

IIMB Management Review

Microfinance has proved to be extremely effective as a means of improving the economic condition and empowering the rural poor through participatory credit lending schemes. In an award winning student essay, Rahul Bhattacharya explains that microfinance helps the poor in various ways, not only by improving their economic condition, but also by means of the attendant benefits that a higher income level has on factors like health, education, economic and social status of women, and the general standard of living.

Blending Business And It Strategy : A Conceptual Model, R Ramaswamy

IIMB Management Review

In this new age of the knowledge-based economy, the search for a more dynamic and sustainable competitive advantage has led to many organisations investing substantially in IT–based tools and solutions. But in most cases these investments have not been justified by the returns. The main reason for this is the disjointed manner of framing business and IT strategies leading to the segregation of the people, process, and technology aspects of management. Moreover, the benefits are marginal if carried out over existing strategies, structures, and processes. To derive the real benefits of investments in IT and paradigms of transformation in the …

Business On The Net : An Introduction To The ‘Whats‘ And ‘Hows‘ Of E-Commerce By Kamlesh N Agarwala, Amit Lal And Deeksha Agarwala, Macmillan India, 2000, Pp 227, Price: Rs 198., Sudha K Rajagopal

IIMB Management Review

Business on the Net: An Introduction to the ‘Whats’ and ‘Hows’ of E-commerce provides a clear and accessible overview of the Internet and its role in electronic commerce. The authors explain the evolution of e-commerce from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and electronic funds transfer systems to modern online business practices. The book details key concepts such as security, encryption, online transactions, customer acquisition, and global market reach. While technically comprehensive and supported by a useful glossary, it offers limited discussion of business models and market projections. Overall, it serves as a practical introductory guide for students and readers seeking to …

Interactive Learning Tools: Animating Statics, Nancy Hubing, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Vikas Yellamraju, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer-Based Modules for Engineering Instruction Must Be Concise, Flexible, Educational and Engaging in Order to Effectively Supplement Traditional Classroom Teaching Tools. a Computer Example that Takes More Time Than a Chalkboard Presentation is Not Likely to Be Useful in Today's Engineering Classroom. Flexible Navigation is Necessary So that the Instructor Can Quickly and Easily Respond to Student Questions. Useful Modules Must Also Improve Problem-Solving Skills or Clarify Troublesome Concepts in Order to Be Considered Worthy of Inclusion in the Limited Class Time Available. Finally, and Perhaps Most Importantly, Effective Computer-Based Modules Must Meet the Challenge of Holding the Student's Attention. …

Knowledge Maps As Scaffolds For Cognitive Processing, Angela M. O'Donnell, Donald F. Dansereau, Richard H. Hall

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Knowledge Maps Are Node-Link Representations in Which Ideas Are Located in Nodes and Connected to Other Related Ideas through a Series of Labeled Links. the Research on Knowledge Mapping in the Last 12 Years Has Produced a Number of Consistent Findings. Students Recall More Central Ideas When They Learn from a Knowledge Map Than When They Learn from Text and Those with Low Verbal Ability or Low Prior Knowledge Often Benefit the Most. the Use of Knowledge Maps Also Appears to Amplify the Benefits Associated with Scripted Cooperation. Learning from Maps is Enhanced by Active Processing Strategies Such as Summarization …

Knowledge Discovery And Modeling In Genomic Databases, Michael M. Yin

Dissertations

This dissertation research is targeted toward developing effective and accurate methods for identifying gene structures in the genomes of high eukaryotes, such as vertebrate organisms. Several effective hidden Markov models (HMMs) are developed to represent the consensus and degeneracy features of the functional sites including protein-translation start sites, mRNA splicing junction donor and acceptor sites in vertebrate genes. The HMM system based on the developed models is fully trained using an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm and the system performance is evaluated using a 10-way cross-validation method. Experimental results show that the proposed HMM system achieves high sensitivity and specificity in …

Intramural, Collaborative Learning Systems, Robert S. Friedman

Theses

This thesis focuses on three related concepts: problem-based collaborative learning; the use of multimedia tools in learning systems; and participatory design as a software engineering methodology to create multimedia tools to be used in learning systems. A literature review of the three areas is followed by an overview of the pedagogical, technological, and business trends that affect the direction of innovation in education, including problem-based learning. A discussion of a software engineering project to develop a multimedia application that enhances the learning of geography skills and puts the programming, interface design and multimedia systems capabilities of college students into action …

Leadership Antecedents Of Informal Knowledge Acquisition And Dissemination, Siu Loon Hoe, Steve Mcshane

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Knowledge management is emerging as one of the leading influences on an organisation’s survival and competitive advantage (Blumentritt & Johnston 1999). Knowledge management is concerned with the effective acquisition, sharing, storage and utilisation of knowledge (Huber 1991; Saffady 1998). Corporate leaders are increasingly aware of the notion that an organisation’s long-term survival depends on its ability to generate new knowledge and continuously learn from the environment. The importance of a superior organisational learning capability as a source of competitive advantage is a common refrain among both managers and scholars (e.g. Kohli & Jaworski 1990; Nonaka 1991; Quinn 1992; Slater & …

Computer Supported Cooperative Work – Issues And Implications For Workers, Organizations And Human Resource Management By Michael D Coovert And Lori Foster Thompson, Sage Publications, 2001., Rajesh Natarajan

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Business Information Technology Management : Alternative And Adaptive Futures Edited By Ray Hackney And Dennis Dunn, Macmillan Press, 2000., Bhanu Pant

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Development And Characterization Of Methodology And Technology For The Alignment Of Fmri Time Series, Carlo Ciulla

Dissertations

This dissertation has developed, implemented and tested a novel computer based system (AUTOALIGN) that incorporates an algorithm for the alignment of functional Magnetic Resonance Image (fMRI) time series. The algorithm assumes the human brain to be a rigid body and computes a head coordinate system on the basis of three reference points that lie on the directions correspondent to two of the eigenvectors of inertia of the volume, at the intersections with the head boundary. The eigenvectors are found weighting the inertia components with the voxel's intensity values assumed as mass. The three reference points are found in the same …

Collaborative Problem Solving And Program Development Model, Joanna Defranco-Tommarello

Dissertations

A model to enhance collaborative problem solving and program development is presented. The collaborative model is a detailed cognitive model that takes into consideration the cognitive and social activities that occur during collaborative problem solving and program development. The cognitive activities required for collaborative problem solving and program development are identified and integrated into a six-stage model. An extensive literature review in the associated fields is presented to show the need for the model described in this dissertation. In addition, a comprehensive study of tools to support collaboration during problem solving and program development was also performed as well as …

Managing Industrial Knowledge : Creation, Transfer And Utilization Edited By Ikujiro Nonaka And David Teece, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2001., N Dayasindhu

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Study Of The Air Force's Technical It Infrastructure Flexibility, Yashua W. Gustafson

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, a considerable amount of attention has been given to federal legislation in making the federal government operate more efficiently and effectively by concentrating on Information Resource Management and Information Technology. In 1996, the Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) was passed, creating the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) in each agency of the Federal Government. This study assesses the impacts of the CCA on the USAF, with an emphasis on the Federal CIO Council Core Competencies. Given that this law and supporting policies have been in place for nearly six year, it would be valuable to assess USAF …

An Investigation Of Environmental Factors That Influence Knowledge Transfer In The Air Force, Darin A. Ladd

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force presently spends more than $4.9 billion annually on information technology (IT). However, the IT infrastructure has been identified as inappropriate for supporting the Air Force mission. To improve this situation the Air Force has identified infrastructure flexibility as key to future success. To find the level of flexibility, this study measured the perception of Air Force communications, computer, and information career field members (33SX and 3COX2 career fields) on the level of IT infrastructure modularity (data modularity and application modularity) and integration (platform compatibility and network connectivity). This thesis looked at two constructs that indicate IT infrastructure …

Analyzing Differences Between Public And Private Sector Information Resource Management: Chief Information Officer Challenges And Critical Technologies, Scott M. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (AF) has experienced a downward trend in retention of information systems (IS) workers over the past five years. This research draws on the employee turnover model proposed by Mobley et al. (1979) and the work of Schein (1987) to measure the career anchors, job satisfaction, and turnover intention of AF IS workers to determine if those whose job type and career anchor match report higher satisfaction and lower turnover intention than those with a mismatch. A portion of the AF IS workforce (AFSCs 3C0X1, 3C0X2, and 3C2X1; N = 10,133) was surveyed through an online …

Software Project Process Management Maturity And Project Performance: An Examination Of Taiwan's Software Companies, Melody Wu, Hsin-Ginn Hwang, Houn-Gee Chen, James J. Jiang

Journal of International Information Management

Researchers and practitioners argue that an inadequate software development process is one critical factor accounting for high project failure rates. a result, the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) was introduced by the Software Engineering Institute as a guideline for advancing project maturity and improving the odds of project success. To investigate the effectiveness of applying the principles of the CMM, a survey was conducted of 196 Information System managers in Taiwan. The results indicate that a more mature software development process reduces the extent of certain risks experienced during the project development and enables better project performance. Managerial implications regarding the …

Death Of An Expert System: A Case Study Of Success And Failure, Richard G. Vedder, Thomas P. Van Dyke, Victor R. Prybutok

Journal of International Information Management

A decision team composed of managers and staff experts at Mary Kay Cosmetics develops packaging for new and revised products as well as sets their prices. However, the potential for costly errors in the decision-making process motivated this group to pursue development of an expert system (ES) to assist with the problem. The ES performed so well that it changed the organization's behavior—the group ceased to meet for the purpose of developing the packaging but instead gathered just to confirm and approve the expert system's solution. Despite the clear benefits associated with using an ES approach, the group stopped using …

Benefits From It Support In Networked Value Shops, Petter Gottschalk

Journal of International Information Management

For a long time, the value chain was the only value configuration known to managers. Recently, two alternative value configurations have been identified: value shop and value network. Law firms are typical value shops. This research investigated benefits perceived from the use of the network among Eurojuris law firms in Norway. Benefit concepts were derived from value shop activities, knowledge categories and knowledge levels. A survey was conducted, and survey results indicate that lawyers in the value shop activities of problem solving, choice, control and evaluation perceive benefits when they get access to knowledge at an advanced level.

An Examination Of Web-Based Application Development Skills By Industry Professionals: A Pilot Study, Kenneth Sousa, Shaw K. Chen, Maling Ebrahimpour, Kenneth Fougere

Journal of International Information Management

The development of web-based, electronic commerce software has grown significantly in recent years. These software development applications have challenged information technology departments in business organizations to implement mission critical, strategic applications for their organization. That in turn creates a significant demand for the technology personnel to support the development process. This research conducts a pilot survey of industry professionals to determine the necessary skills and training required of an undergraduate computer information systems professional seeking an entry-level position in a web-based application development environment. Respondents were asked to provide their opinion relating to the market importance and student competency for …

Making Knowledge Management Part Of Your Human Capital Strategy: A Look At A Large Government Technical Organization, Dr. Jay Liebowitz

Journal of International Information Management

The U.S. government is facing a human capital crisis in the next five years whereby around half of the federal civil servants will be eligible to retire. Because of this ensuing dilemma, each government agency is developing a human capital strategy. A key pillar underpinning this human capital strategy should be "knowledge management". This paper discusses the knowledge management strategy for a large government technical organization, and explains how knowledge management, discovery informatics, and lessons learned systems can become a central component of a human capital strategy.

Analysis Of Factors Affecting E-Supply Chain Performances, Frederica Cucchiella, Luciano Fratoocchi, Pacifico Marcello Pelagagge, Frederica Scacchia

Journal of International Information Management

The relevance of supply chain (SC) behaviour is continuously increasing, especially with respect to companies adopting e-commerce strategies. Although the huge number of works on this topic, an integrated approach to design and implement effective electronic supply chain (e-SC) - that is supply chain (SC) in which business actors are connected via Internet technologies - is still not available. In order to contribute towards the definition of an integrated and comprehensive framework for e-SC analysis and design, in this paper factors affecting e-SC performances are investigated, including organization, management and control.

The Impact Of Information Technology Outsourcing On Firm Profitability Measures, G. Dwayne Whitten, T Selwyn Ellis, K. Michael Casey

Journal of International Information Management

Some researchers have concluded that outsourcing of information technology (IT) provides benefits to firms including cost advantages, economies of scale and allowing more of a focus on core competencies. This paper attempts to determine if these benefits actually exist by comparing three financial measures, return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA) and profit margin, affirms that have varying levels of outsourcing. To empirically test for the existence of a difference between firms that outsource differing amounts of IT spending, data from 104 companies was gathered. Analysis of variance was selected as the primary statistical tool to test the relationship …

Why Is Middle Management In Conflict With Erp?, Rainer A. Sommer

Journal of International Information Management

Popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation methods focus on process requirements, system transition, user interface, help desk, and training issues. This research suggests that unless high-level management places equal emphasis on "people oriented" factors (especially at the middle management level) many ERP implementation projects are in jeopardy. Without the commitment of middle management and a proactive change management function, project planning and milestone development can easily become bogged down by political trivialities, which can stall the implementation cycle of a project. The research focuses on two ERP implementations. In both cases middle management served as the unit of analysis.

A Structural Equation Model Of Information Systems Development And Supply Chain Management, Chinho Lin, Bertram Tan, Shofang Chang

Journal of International Information Management

This paper employees structural equation modeling to analyze the effects of information system development and supply chain management on manufacturing objective and organizational performance. Survey data of middle managers from Taiwan s computer and electronics industries was used to test the relationships between the constructs in the model. In general, the survey results supported the proposed structural equation model. It is observed that information system development facilitates supply chain management practice and manufacturing objective attainment. In addition, there are significant relationships between supply chain management and manufacturing objective, as well as between manufacturing objective and organizational performance. However, the impacts …

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 …