Scientific Progress on the Semantic View : An Account of Scientific Progress as Objective Logical and Empirical Strength Increments

The aim of this master thesis is to make a convincing argument that scientific progress can be spoken of in objective terms. In order to make this argument I will propose a philosophical theory of scientific progress. Two concepts will be constructed with this aim in mind, both which are types of strength measures on scientific theories. The first concept, that of logical strength, pertains to the way a theory may exclude, or permit less, model classes compared to another theory. The second concept, that of empirical strength, pertains to an objective measure of the informational content of data models, defined in terms of Kolmogorov complexity. This latter idea stems from communication and computational theory. Scientific progress is then defined as the interaction, or the stepwise increases, of these two strength measures. Central for the conception of a scientific theory is the philosophical framework known as The Semantic View of Scientific Theories. This view can briefly be characterized as an empirical extension of Tarskian model-theory. Another central notion for this theory of scientific progress is the philosophical or metaphysical thesis called structural realism. Both will accordingly be explained and argued for. Finally, as a test on this proposed theory of scientific progress, it will be applied to two examples of theory transition from the history of physical theory. I conclude that the proposed theory handles these two cases well

The categorical basis of dynamical entropy

Many different branches of theoretical and applied mathematics require a quantifiable notion of complexity. One such circumstance is a topological dynamical system - which involves a continuous self-map on a metric space. There are many notions of complexity one can assign to the repeated iterations of the map. One of the foundational discoveries of dynamical systems theory is that these have a common limit, known as the topological entropy of the system. We present a category-theoretic view of topological dynamical entropy, which reveals that the common limit is a consequence of the structural assumptions on these notions. One of the key tools developed is that of a qualifying pair of functors, which ensure a limit preserving property in a manner similar to the sandwiching theorem from Real Analysis. It is shown that the diameter and Lebesgue number of open covers of a compact space, form a qualifying pair of functors. The various notions of complexity are expressed as functors, and natural transformations between these functors lead to their joint convergence to the common limit

Process-based Organization Design Model: Theoretical Review and Model Conceptualization

The complexity of today's business world is translated into complexity of the company's organization design (Galbraith, 2002). Organizations are forced to quickly adapt to emerging complexity if they want to survive. The change is addressing all areas of business, especially questioning organizational effectiveness and trying to find optimal solutions for doing business. In accordance with requirements, competitive trends are pushing executives to rethink traditional design configurations. Factors such as increased competition in cost, quality and service, and technical change have forced companies not only to seek out new ways of doing old tasks, but also new ways of organizing either old or new tasks (Cross, 1990). Such focus on the flow of work within organizations, but as well as between them, is emphasizing process orientation as a new management paradigm. Inefficiencies of the two most commonly present structures – functional and divisional, in addition to emerging business trends, place the emphasis on a process-based organization as one of the possible solutions. The process-based organization is lead by the process paradigm, which is focused on the horizontal view of business activities and alignment of organizational systems towards business processes. Regardless of a large interest on business processes, existing organization design theory offers only general guidelines for process-based organizations or more precisely, a process-based organization design model. Consequently, the purpose of the paper is to demystify process-based organization design model. By clearly distinguishing between different levels of process orientation, and by addressing characteristics of the chosen model the paper will lead to better understanding of this way of organizing. Eventually, an operationalized model of process-based organization is developed. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on differences between process-based and other organizational structures and philosophies (e.g. functional, product, matrix, project, team-based). Besides structural elements, which will be in the primary focus, the paper will discuss the alignment of all other important organization design elements for process environment (e.g., management style, reward systems, performance metrics, people practices, organizational culture, etc.). There would be proposed necessary adjustments of organizational elements which should be aligned with the process-based structural solution. In such way, some of the blind spots of process-based organization design model would be revealed, providing practical implications for its implementation and ultimately, offering solution for rising business complexity.organization design, process-based organization, process-based organization design model, business processes

Predicting Problem-Solving Performance Using Concept Map

A growing community of researchers applies the concept map for elicitation and representation individual’s knowledge structure especially within knowledge-intensive processes in organizations. As an extension of prior works on concept map, this study aims to explore a new indicator of structural properties of concept map from an information entropy perspective to predict an individual’s problem-solving performance. From the information processing view of problem-solving, Information Theory provides the framework to formulate a new indicator called EntropyAvg. A controlled experiment was carried out to validate the predictive ability of the new indicator. The results demonstrate that EntropyAvg is able to estimate an individual’s problem-solving performance beyond two other widely adopted indicators, i.e., complexity and integration. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are also discusse

A Systems-Based Framework for Design and Analysis of an R and D Structure

A critical challenge for managerial effectiveness and competitive advantage in research and development (R and D) organizations is developing an appropriate structural configuration. However, in finding an appropriate structural configuration, R and D managers are faced with unprecedented levels of uncertainty, ambiguity, and accelerating complexity, coupled with demands for increased productivity. This paper develops a systems-based framework to support rigorous design, analysis, and transformation of the structure for R and D organizations. The framework development includes: (1) a review of the literature for the nature and role of the structure in R and D management; (2) setting of the R and D structure problem from a systems perspective; (3) establishing a systems view of R and D structure; (4) articulation of a systems-based framework for R and D structure drawing on management cybernetics and systems theory; and (5) an application of the framework to design the structure for a multidisciplinary R and D center. The paper concludes with implications and utility of the framework for practicing R and D managers challenged with structuring an R and D organization

Characterization of TiO 2 atomic crystals for nanocomposite materials oriented to optoelectronics

Atomic cluster (TiO 2 ) 3 is studied by means of state of the art techniques for structural, electronic and optical properties. We combine molecular dynamics, density functional theory, time dependent density functional theory and many body techniques, to provide a deep and comprehensive characterization of the system. Atomic clusters can be considered the starting seeds for the synthesis of larger nanostructures of technological interest. Also, given the complexity of the material itself, a clear theoretical description of its basic properties provides interesting results both from the solid state physics and chemistry point of view

A systems approach to evaluate One Health initiatives

Challenges calling for integrated approaches to health, such as the One Health (OH) approach, typically arise from the intertwined spheres of humans, animals, and ecosystems constituting their environment. Initiatives addressing such wicked problems commonly consist of complex structures and dynamics. As a result of the EU COST Action (TD 1404) “Network for Evaluation of One Health” (NEOH), we propose an evaluation framework anchored in systems theory to address the intrinsic complexity of OH initiatives and regard them as subsystems of the context within which they operate. Typically, they intend to influence a system with a view to improve human, animal, and environmental health. The NEOH evaluation framework consists of four overarching elements, namely: (1) the definition of the initiative and its context, (2) the description of the theory of change with an assessment of expected and unexpected outcomes, (3) the process evaluation of operational and supporting infrastructures (the “OH-ness”), and (4) an assessment of the association(s) between the process evaluation and the outcomes produced. It relies on a mixed methods approach by combining a descriptive and qualitative assessment with a semi-quantitative scoring for the evaluation of the degree and structural balance of “OH-ness” (summarised in an OH-index and OH-ratio, respectively) and conventional metrics for different outcomes in a multi-criteria-decision-analysis. Here, we focus on the methodology for Elements (1) and (3) including ready-to-use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for the assessment of the “OH-ness”. We also provide an overview of Element (2), and refer to the NEOH handbook for further details, also regarding Element (4) (http://neoh.onehealthglobal.net). The presented approach helps researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to conceptualise and conduct evaluations of integrated approaches to health and facilitates comparison and learning across different OH activities thereby facilitating decisions on resource allocation. The application of the framework has been described in eight case studies in the same Frontiers research topic and provides first data on OH-index and OH-ratio, which is an important step towards their validation and the creation of a dataset for future benchmarking, and to demonstrate under which circumstances OH initiatives provide added value compared to disciplinary or conventional health initiatives

Acceleration in the bilingual acquisition of phonological structure: evidence from Polish–English bilingual children

This study examines the production of consonant clusters in simultaneous Polish-English bilingual children and in language-matched English monolinguals (aged 7;01- 8;11). Selection of the language pair was based on the fact that Polish allows a greater range of phonologically complex cluster types than English. A nonword repetition task was devised in order to examine clusters of different types (obstruent-liquid vs. s + obstruent) and in different word positions (initial vs. medial), two factors that play a significant role in repetition accuracy in monolingual acquisition (e.g. Kirk & Demuth, 2005). Our findings show that bilingual children outperformed monolingual controls in the word initial s + obstruent condition. These results indicate that exposure to complex word initial clusters (in Polish) can accelerate the development of less phonologically complex clusters (in English). This constitutes significant new evidence that the facilitatory effects of bilingual acquisition extend to structural phonological domains

Structural models and structural change: analytical principles and methodological issues

Structural analysis is the main topic of this paper and structural change is a dominant theme of the present work. The analysis of structural models and of theories of structural changes carried out in this paper has a double meaning. On the one hand, it allows to pick up several essential principles that characterize these models, on the other hand, it should allow us to reconsider some important methodological issues under a new light, such as different methods of decomposition of the productive systems, the problem of complexity and the strategies to reduce complexity. Moreover, the paper tries to compare Quesnay’s Tableau, taken as a benchmark model, with Leontief’s, von Neumann’s and Sraffa’s models to pick up the different features of these models with respect to his theoretical framework and also to identify their characteristics for structural analysis and structural change.

And then came complex project management (revised)

The subject of management is renowned for its addiction to fads and fashions. Project Management is no exception. The issue of interest for this paper is the establishment of standards in the area, specifically the 'College of Complex Project Managers' and their 'competency standard for complex project managers'. Both the college and the standard have generated significant interest in the Project Management community. Whilst the need for development of the means to manage complex projects is acknowledged, a critical evaluation show significant flaws in the definition of complex in this case, the process by which the College and its standard have emerged, and the content of the standard. If Project Management is to continue to develop as a profession, it will need an evidence-based approach to the generation of knowledge and standards. The issues raised by the evaluation provide the case for a portfolio of research that extends the existing bodies of knowledge into large-scale complicated (or major) projects. We propose that it would be owned by the practitioner community, rather than focused on one organization. Research questions are proposed that would commence this stream of activity towards an intelligent synthesis of what is required to manage in both complicated and truly complex environments. This is a revised paper previously presented at the 21st IPMA World Congress on Project Management Cracow, Poland