Databases and Information Systems Commons^™

The Motivators And Benefits Of Sharing Knowledge To A Kms Repository In An Omani Organization, Kamla Al-Busaidi '05, Lorne Olfman, Terry Ryan, Gondy Leroy

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Knowledge is a powerful resource that enables individuals and organizations to achieve several benefits such as improved learning and decisionmaking. Repository knowledge management system (KMS) assists organizations to efficiently capture their knowledge for later reuse. However, the breadth and depth of a knowledge management system depends on the magnitude of knowledge contributed to the system. This paper aimed to empirically investigate the motivators of knowledge sharing behavior and the individual benefits of such behavior in a culture where knowledge is perceived as power and private. Based on 104 employees in a major private petroleum organization in Oman and the partial …

Smartphones To Facilitate Communication And Improve Social Skills Of Children With Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder: Special Education Teachers As Proxies, Gondy Leroy, Gianluca De Leo

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

We present an overview of the approach we used and the challenges we encountered while designing software for smartphones to facilitate communication and improve social skills of children with severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We employed participatory design, using special education teachers of children with ASD as proxies for our target population.

Appropriation Of Privacy Management Within Social Networking Sites, Catherine Dwyer

Dissertations

Social networking sites have emerged as one of the most widely used types of interactive systems, with memberships numbering in the hundreds of millions around the globe. By providing tools for their members to manage an ever-changing set of relationships, social networking sites push a constant expansion of social boundaries. These sites place less emphasis on tools that limit social boundaries to enable privacy.

The rapid expansion of online social boundaries has caused privacy shockwaves. Privacy offline is enabled by constraints of time and space. Online, powerful search engines and long term digital storage means private data have no expiration …

Dynamics Of Online Chat, Mihai Moldovan

Dissertations

Millions of people use online synchronous chat networks on a daily basis for work, play and education. Despite their widespread use, little is known about their user dynamics. For example, one does not know how many users are typically co-present and actively engaged in public interaction in the individual chat rooms of any of the numerous public Internet Relay Chat (IRC) networks found on the Internet; or what are the factors that constrain the boundaries of user activity inside those chat rooms. Failure to collect and present such data means there is a lack of a good understanding of the …

Perception Gaps And The Adoption Of Information Technology In The Clinical Healthcare Environment, Karen Hare

Dissertations

Implementation of information systems has lagged in many areas of clinical healthcare for a variety of reasons. Economics, data complexity and resistance are among the often quoted roadblocks. Research suggests that physicians play a major part in the adoption, use and diffusion of information technology (IT) in clinical settings. There are also other healthcare professionals, clinical and non-clinical, who play important roles in making decisions about the acquisition of information technology. In addition to these groups there are information technology professionals providing the services required within the healthcare field. Finally within this group are those IT professionals who have sufficient …

The Impact Of Cultural Differences In Temporal Perception On Global Software Development Teams, Richard William Egan

Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the impact of cultural differences in temporal perception on globally dispersed software development teams. Literature and anecdotal evidence suggest that these temporal differences affect individual communication quality, which in turn will affect individual satisfaction and trust within global teams. Additionally, the temporal dispersion of the team was expected to affect an individual's sense of temporal disruption which, in turn, was expected to affect individual satisfaction and trust. Differences in temporal perception were expected to moderate this impact on perceived temporal disruption. A Fortune 100 Company that carried out software testing in Ireland, the United States, China and …

Mobile Communication And Data Gathering Software For Autistic Children And Their Caregivers, Gondy Leroy, Gianluca De Leo

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Positive design leads to positive change in our society. In most cases, discussions focus on those who receive the design. However, positive design may also have a positive, but often over-looked, effect on the designers themselves. Learning about difficulties others face and developing solutions is a benefit that can contribute to individual designers’ education and general sense of well-being. Having a broader understanding of alternative views and lifestyles makes one a better person. In addition, positive design may benefit the entire field of information science by improving its ability to renew itself and attract new, young talent.

Identification Of Command And Control Information Requirements For The Cyberspace Domain, Brian D. Aschenbrenner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop an information requirements analysis method that would provide the Director of Cyberspace Forces with the information required to support effective command and control of cyberspace. This research investigates the role of information in command and control, information in the traditional war fighting domains, cyberspace as a war fighting domain, and various methods of determining information requirements of organizations. This research produced an information requirements analysis method that is suitable for identifying the command and control information requirements of the Director of Cyberspace Forces.

The Development And Evaluation Of Software To Foster Professional Development In Educational Assessment, Morgan C. Benton

Dissertations

This dissertation sought to answer the question: Is it possible to build a software tool that will allow teachers to write better multiple-choice questions? The thesis proceeded from the finding that the quality of teaching is very influential in the amount that students learn. A basic premise of this research, then, is that improving teachers will improve learning. With this foundation, the next question became what area of teaching to improve. The literature on educational assessment indicated that teachers lack competence at effective assessment, particularly in the area of multiple-choice question generation. It is likely that improvement in this area …

User Evaluation Of The Performance Of Information Systems, Edward Mahinda

Dissertations

Information technologies (IT) are considered the primary survival factor for many organizations and the most critical success factor in businesses today. To justify the necessary investment in IT, user evaluation of information systems' performance in organizations is a key consideration. This research investigated a comprehensive and convenient means for end users to assess this performance.

Among the existing theories and models on the evaluation of information system performance based on intrinsic technological properties, the Web of System Performance (WOSP) model provides the most comprehensive basis for information system evaluation, and therefore merited further investigation. The research question was how well …

Complex Adaptive Systems Based Data Integration : Theory And Applications, Eliahu Rohn

Dissertations

Data Definition Languages (DDLs) have been created and used to represent data in programming languages and in database dictionaries. This representation includes descriptions in the form of data fields and relations in the form of a hierarchy, with the common exception of relational databases where relations are flat. Network computing created an environment that enables relatively easy and inexpensive exchange of data. What followed was the creation of new DDLs claiming better support for automatic data integration. It is uncertain from the literature if any real progress has been made toward achieving an ideal state or limit condition of automatic …

Leader Delegation And Trust In Global Software Teams, Suling Zhang

Dissertations

Virtual teams are an important work structure in global software development. The distributed team structure enables access to a diverse set of expertise which is often not available in one location, to a cheaper labor force, and to a potentially accelerated development process that uses a twenty-four hour work structure.

Many software teams are partially distributed, that is, part of the team is colocated. Such partially distributed global software teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what affects or improves team members’ motivation and job satisfaction in the partially distributed environment. This …

Taux : A System For Evaluating Sound Feedback In Navigational Tasks, Robert J. Lutz

Dissertations

This thesis presents the design and development of an evaluation system for generating audio displays that provide feedback to persons performing navigation tasks. It first develops the need for such a system by describing existing wayfinding solutions, investigating new electronic location-based methods that have the potential of changing these solutions and examining research conducted on relevant audio information representation techniques. An evaluation system that supports the manipulation of two basic classes of audio display is then described. Based on prior work on wayfinding with audio display, research questions are developed that investigate the viability of different audio displays. These are …

A Primer On Spreadsheet Analytics, Thomas A. Grossman Jr.

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper provides guidance to an analyst who wants to extract insight from a spreadsheet model. It discusses the terminology of spreadsheet analytics, how to prepare a spreadsheet model for analysis, and a hierarchy of analytical techniques. These techniques include sensitivity analysis, tornado charts, and backsolving (or goal-seeking). This paper presents native-Excel approaches for automating these techniques, and discusses add-ins that are even more efficient. Spreadsheet optimization and spreadsheet Monte Carlo simulation are briefly discussed. The paper concludes by calling for empirical research, and describing desired features spreadsheet sensitivity analysis and spreadsheet optimization add-ins.

The Impact Of Directionality In Predications On Text Mining, Gondy Leroy, Marcelo Fiszman, Thomas C. Rindflesch

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The number of publications in biomedicine is increasing enormously each year. To help researchers digest the information in these documents, text mining tools are being developed that present co-occurrence relations between concepts. Statistical measures are used to mine interesting subsets of relations. We demonstrate how directionality of these relations affects interestingness. Support and confidence, simple data mining statistics, are used as proxies for interestingness metrics. We first built a test bed of 126,404 directional relations extracted from biomedical abstracts, which we represent as graphs containing a central starting concept and 2 rings of associated relations. We manipulated directionality in four …

Volume And Cost Implications Of Product Portfolio Complexity, Mark A. Jacobs

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

Business leaders are concerned about the impacts of increasing levels of product portfolio complexity since many sense that complexity related costs such as order management, procurement, and inventory threaten to undermine operational efficiencies and consume profits. Even so, managers do not fully understand the extent and breadth of the impacts of product portfolio complexity. A more complete understanding of the operational effects of product portfolio complexity is lacking partially because researchers have not yet offered a robust theoretical perspective or studied it in a focused controlled way; until now. Herein, measures of product portfolio complexity are developed and related to …

Networks And Network Security, Michael Kuralt

Theses and Dissertations

In a world of ever-increasing security threats, companies have the difficult task of securing their networks from attack. One of the largest threats to a company is the users on its network. By educating its network administrators and employees about network threats, a company can lower its vulnerability to network attacks. Individual users also can benefit from understanding networks and network security by learning how to keep their computer and their information safe. Companies and users can stay safe by understanding how a network functions, what threats exist on the Internet, how to prevent and deal with attacks, and how …

Probabilistic Sales Forecasting For Small And Medium-Size Business Operations, Randall E. Duran

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

One of the most important aspects of operating a business is the forecasting of sales and allocation of resources to fulfill sales. Sales assessments are usually based on mental models that are not well defined, may be biased, and are difficult to refine and improve over time. Defining sales forecasting models for small- and medium-size business operations is especially difficult when the number of sales events is small but the revenue per sales event is large. This chapter reviews the challenges of sales forecasting in this environment and describes how incomplete and potentially suspect information can be used to produce …

Fundamental Stock Market Analysis Tool, Rakshith Varadaraju

Honors Program Theses

There are many sources for stock market information and an investor can tap into the television or online media to sync up with current market news. Popular sources are news channels such as CNBC or CNN who spend the better part of the day evaluating the stock market. The internet is filled with a wealth of data ranging from historical to current market information. Added to this information are countless websites that make predictions on what stocks should be bought or sold. The challenge with all of this information is to figure out which sources are actually valid and can …

An Integrated Social Actor And Service Oriented Architecture (Soa) Approach For Improved Electronic Health Record (Ehr) Privacy And Confidentiality In The Us National Healthcare Information Network (Nhin), Gondy Leroy, Elliot Sloane, Steven Sheetz

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The emerging US National Healthcare Information Network (NHIN) will improve healthcare’s efficacy, efficiency, and safety. The first-generation NHIN being developed has numerous advantages and limitations. One of the most difficult aspects of today’s NHIN is ensuring privacy and confidentiality for personal health data, because family and caregivers have multiple complex legal relationships to a patient. A Social Actor framework is suggested to organize and manage these legal roles, but the Social Actor framework would be very difficult to implement in today’s NHIN. Social Actor Security Management could, however, be effectively implemented using Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs), which are rapidly becoming …

Product Complexity: A Definition And Impacts On Operations, Mark A. Jacobs

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

The difficulty for organizations arises because neither complexity nor its impacts on performance are well understood (Fisher & Ittner, 1999b). The mechanisms through which it affects cost, quality, delivery, and flexibility need to be explained (Ramdas, 2003). However, this cannot happen until complexity can be explained theoretically. But, to build theory there must first be a common understanding about the construct of interest (Wacker, 2004). Only then can researchers operationalize it and search for meaningful relationships. In light of this, I develop a definition of complexity below. A sampling of the operations management literature is then presented within the context …

Analyzing Service Usage Patterns: Methodology And Simulation, Qianhui (Althea) Liang, Jen-Yao Chung

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper proposes that service mining technology will power the construction of new business services via both intra- and inter-enterprise service assembly within the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework. We investigate the methodologies of service mining at the component level of service usage. We also demonstrate how mining of service usage patterns is intended to be used to improve different aspects of service composition. Simulation experiments conducted for mining at the component level are analyzed. The processing details within a general service mining deployment are demonstrated.

A Survey Of Schema Matching Research, Roger Blake

College of Management Working Papers and Reports

Schema matching is the process of developing semantic matches between two or more schemas. The purpose of schema matching is generally either to merge two or more databases, or to enable queries on multiple, heterogeneous databases to be formulated on a single schema (Doan and Halevy 2005). This paper develops a taxonomy of schema matching approaches, classifying them as being based on a combination schema matching technique and the type of data used by those techniques. Schema matching techniques are categorized as being based on rules, learning, or ontology, and the type of data used is categorized as being based …

Mobile Information Communication Technology For Crisis Management : Understanding User Behavior, Response And Training, Elizabeth Avery Gomez

Dissertations

SMS text-messaging is an interoperable communication vehicle known to be dependable for mass media alert notifications in crisis management. SMS text-messaging also offers potential as one viable two-way communication alternative for field responders in crisis response. Both continuously changing mobile information communication technologies and the importance of precise information exchange constitute a need for communication protocol training and practice. This study introduces a technology-mediated training technique based on speech act and communicative action theories. These theories are used to inform the design of a baseline measure for task performance improvement and to suggest a model to predict communication readiness. Because …

Designing Multimodal Interaction For The Visually Impaired, Xiaoyu Chen

Dissertations

Although multimodal computer input is believed to have advantages over unimodal input, little has been done to understand how to design a multimodal input mechanism to facilitate visually impaired users' information access.

This research investigates sighted and visually impaired users' multimodal interaction choices when given an interaction grammar that supports speech and touch input modalities. It investigates whether task type, working memory load, or prevalence of errors in a given modality impact a user's choice. Theories in human memory and attention are used to explain the users' speech and touch input coordination.

Among the abundant findings from this research, the …

Research On Multi-Agent-Based Shipping Information System, Kai Wang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Online Word Of Mouth On Product Sales In Retail E-Commerce: An Empirical Investigation, Alanah Davis, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The ability to exchange opinions and experiences online is known as online word of mouth (WOM). Due to the high acceptance of consumers and their apparent reliance on online WOM it is important for organizations to understand how it works and what kind of impact it has on product sales. Using the well-established notions of volume and valence to describe online WOM, we empirically evaluate the hypothesized relationship between online WOM in a retail e-commerce site and actual product sales. Our analysis of the data shows that there is a significant change in the number of products sold following the …

An Information Technology Therapy Approach To Micro-Enterprise Adoption Of Icts, Peter Wolcott, Sajda Qureshi, Mehruz Kamal

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has opened up new opportunities for micro-enterprises to improve their businesses. However the challenges to using ICTs are impeding these businesses from growing into the drivers for development that they can be. This suggests that a potentially important driver of development needs to be supported. This paper investigates the adoption of ICTs in eight micro-enterprises in an underserved community of Omaha, Nebraska. Following an action research study, this research provides insight into the key challenges and opportunities facing micro-enterprises in their use of ICTs to create value for their businesses. Its contribution …

Mapping Better Business Strategies With Gis, Tin Seong Kam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The value of location as a business measure is fast becoming an important consideration for organisations. GIS (Geographical Information Systems), with its capability to manage, display, analyse business information spatially, is emerging as a powerful location intelligence tool. In the US, Starbucks, Blockbuster, Hyundai, and thousands of other businesses use census data and GIS software to help them understand what types of people buy their products and services, and how to better market to these consumers. For example, McDonald’s in Japan uses a GIS system to overlay demographic information on maps to help identify promising new store sites. Singapore Management …

An Examination Of Online Product Comparison Service: Fit Between Product Type And Disposition Style, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, W. Hong, L. Chen, H. Lee

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Horizontal and vertical disposition styles are two main formats used in product comparison service on e-commerce websites. In this research, we hypothesize that there is a fit between product type (‘think’ vs. ‘feel’ product) and disposition style (horizontal vs. vertical style), where horizontal disposition style is more appropriate for ‘feel’ products and vertical disposition style is a better fit for ‘think’ products. An experiment will be carried out to test the hypotheses.