Critical success factors for e-tendering implementation in construction collaborative environments : people and process issues

The construction industry is increasingly engulfed by globalisation where clients, business partners and customers are found in virtually every corner of the world. Communicating, reaching and supporting them are no longer optional but are imperative for continued business growth and success. A key component of enterprise communication reach is collaborative environments (for the construction industry) which allows customers, suppliers, partners and other project team members secure access to project information, products or services they need at any given moment. Implementation of the stated critical success factors of the project is essential to ensure optimal performance and benefits from the system to all parties involved. This paper presents critical success factors for the implementation of e-tendering in collaborative environments with particular considerations given to the people issues and process factors

El uso de tecnologías de la información en la gestión de grupos de investigación

Ponencia presentada en el VII Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de Proyectos celebrada en Pamplona en el año 2003La adopción de las nuevas tecnologías de la información para la gestión de nuestro grupo docente e investigador nos aporta conocimiento y experiencia que esperamos ser capaces de trasladar a nuestra docencia y a nuestras experiencias investigadores

Innovator, 1988-12-05

The Innovator was a student newspaper published at Governors State University between March 1972 and October 2000. The newspaper featured student reporting, opinions, news, photos, poetry, and original graphics

Six Years after Its Passage, What Has Been the Impact of the Clinger-Cohen Act on the U.S. Air Force

Information systems are often inundated with thousands of attack alerts to distinguish novice hacker probes from genuine threats. Pattern classification can help filter relatively benign attacks from alerts generated by anomaly detectors, limited the numbers of alerts to requiring attention. This research investigates the feasibility of using pattern classification algorithms on network packed header information to classify network attacks. Both liner discrimination and radial basis function algorithms are trained using flood and scan attacks. The classifiers are then tested with unknown floods and scans to determine how well they categorize previously unseen attacks

Serious Play Approaches for Creating, Sharing, and Mobilizing Tacit Knowledge in Cross-disciplinary Settings

abstract: Serious play—the notion of bringing the benefits of play to bear on work-related tasks—is receiving more attention as a remedy to many challenges of the modern knowledge economy. Exploring and defining the role of serious play approaches to facilitate collaborative problem-solving and value creation, this dissertation consists of four related research papers. The first research paper (RP1) reconciles three different conceptualizations of knowledge into a new theory of knowledge. This pluralistic definition allows knowledge to change character across the span of the value creation process. The paper further introduces a model called the Wheel of Knowledge (WoK) for mobilizing knowledge throughout the different knowledge conversions of the value creation process. The second research paper (RP2) advocates that serious play can scaffold and accelerate these knowledge conversion processes, it disaggregates existing serious play approaches, and starts to operationalize the WoK by using it to match different types of serious play approaches to different types of knowledge conversion challenges. The third research paper (RP3) validates the WoK by sorting the serious play literature according to how it applies to the different knowledge conversion processes. The paper provides a framework for ascertaining the applicability of serious play methods to specific knowledge conversion challenges and identifies under-explored research areas of the serious play field. The fourth research paper (RP4) tests the recommendations of RP3 by applying the LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) method to a knowledge conversion challenge focused on tacit knowledge sharing. It reports on a mixed-methods, multi-session case study in which LSP was used to facilitate cross-disciplinary dialogue and deliberation about a wicked problem. Results show that LSP is particularly useful in the beginning of a value creation process and that it facilitates socialization and tacit knowledge sharing. Taken together the papers demonstrate the necessity, potential, and application of serious play as a catalyst for the knowledge conversion processes presented in the WoK. It is now clear that different serious play approaches are suitable as respectively: an accelerator for trust-building and collective creativity, as a conduit for iterative innovation, and as a way of making rote tasks more engaging.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Design 201

An exploratory study of the internal career orientation and the external career pattern of information technology workers in Nigeria

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This study sets out to explore the internal career orientations and the external career patterns of information technology (IT) workers in Nigeria. The theoretical framework guiding this research is that societal context (social structure and institutions) has an influence on the career orientations and career patterns exhibited by individuals (Derr and Laurent, 1989; Lam, 2000; Baruch, 2004). To date, understanding the development of mainstream career theory has focused more on individual choice and life-span development, than on the complex interplay between individuals and their environment. There appears to be a relative neglect of the influence of institutional and social structure in much of the career literature. In a departure from previous career studies, which have focused largely on the individual level of analysis in developed economies of North America and Europe, this research focused on exploring both the internal and external careers of IT workers in the context of a developing economy-Nigeria. This research adopted a two-pronged methodological approach, which involved the use of qualitative and quantitative methods in addressing the research questions raised in this study. The result of this research shows that IT workers enact four different career patterns, which conform to the traditional view of careers as hierarchical and progressive, as well as to the recent models of the boundaryless careers. IT workers in Nigeria also hold six career orientations, which can be closely matched to Schein's (1978) career anchors and Derr's (1986) career success orientations. In addition, economic conditions, perception of educational qualification, sexual discrimination and ethnic allegiance were identified as the main societal factors that shape and constrain the careers of IT workers in Nigeria. Overall, the findings of this research support the notion that careers unfold through the interplay between individuals and larger societal structures (Baruch, 2004). The implication of the findings for human resource management and research is discussed.Funding was obtained from the Government of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The development and initial evaluation of a Goal setting and Action Planning (G-AP) framework for use in community based stroke rehabilitation

Background Goal setting is accepted ‘best practice’ in stroke rehabilitation however, there is no consensus about what the key components of goal setting interventions are, how they should be optimally delivered in practice and how best to involve stroke survivors in the process. This PhD by publication describes the development and initial evaluation of a theory-based goal setting and action planning framework (G-AP) to guide goal setting practice in community based stroke rehabilitation settings. Included studies The Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions guided the development and conduct of a programme of research which included the following studies: (i) a review of the literature to identify theories of behaviour change with most potential to inform goal setting practice (Paper 1) (ii) a causal modelling exercise to map identified theoretical constructs onto a goal setting process and convening of a multi-disciplinary task group to develop the theoretical process into a Goal setting and Action Planning (G-AP) practice framework (Paper 2) (iii) a process evaluation of the G-AP framework in one community rehabilitation team (Paper 3) (iv) a United Kingdom (UK) wide survey to investigate the nature of services providing community based stroke rehabilitation across the UK and what goal setting practice is in these settings in order to understand the context into which an evaluation of the G-AP framework could be introduced (Paper 4) Main Findings The review of the literature identified three theories of behaviour change that offered most potential to inform goal setting practice: Social Cognitive Theory, Health Action Process Approach and Goal Setting Theory. These theories contained constructs directly relevant to the goal setting practice: self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, goal attributes, action planning, coping planning and appraisal and feedback. The causal modelling and Task group exercise: (i) Informed development of the G-AP framework into a four stage, cyclical process that included (i) goal negotiation and setting (ii) planning and measuring confidence (iii) action and (iv) appraisal, feedback and decision making. (ii) Proposed mechanisms of action: successful completion of action plans resulting in incremental improvements in goal sub-skills and self-efficacy. (iii) Predicted outcomes G-AP was likely to impact on: goal attainment and improved rehabilitation outcomes. The process evaluation suggested that each stage of the G-AP framework had a distinct purpose and made a useful contribution to the overall process. Overall, G-AP was acceptable and feasible to use but implementation of novel aspects of the framework (coping planning and measuring confidence) was inconsistent and health professionals had concerns about the potential impact of unmet goals on patients’ wellbeing. Patient reports suggested that (i) the experience of goal non-attainment could facilitate adjustment to limitations resulting from stroke and (ii) feeling involved in the goal setting process can incorporate both patient-led and professional-led approaches. The survey findings highlighted the variability that exists in community based stroke rehabilitation services in the UK (e.g. the patients they see; the input they provide). Goal setting is reportedly used with all or most stroke survivors in these services; however, practice is variable and may be sub-optimal. Conclusions G-AP is the first practice framework which has been explicitly developed to guide health professionals through a systematic, theoretically based and patient centred goal setting process in community based stroke rehabilitation. G-AP is a cyclical process that that has four key stages, proposed mechanisms of action and has shown promise as an acceptable, feasible and effective framework to guide goal setting practice. The complexity that exists within community based stroke rehabilitation services, and the variability in usual goal setting practice used within them, should be considered when designing a study to evaluate the effectiveness of G-AP in routine practice

Explorations of knowledge management in a defence engineering environment

This thesis originates from first hand early experiences of the researcher regarding current processes and practices in operation in BAE SYSTEMS Ltd (now referred to hereafter as `the Company'), and recognises the potential for improvement within the realm of knowledge management. The huge volume of internal and external information overwhelms the majority of organisations and knowledge management provides solutions to enable organisations to be effective, efficient, and competitive. The software agent approach and information retrieval technique indicates great potential for effectively managing information. This research seeks to answer the questions of whether software agents can provide the Company with solutions to the knowledge management issues identified in this inquiry and whether they can also be used elsewhere within the organisation to improve other aspects of the business. The research analysis shows that software agents offer a wide applicability across the Company; can be created with relative ease and can provide benefits by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of processes. Findings also provided valuable insight into human-computer-interface design and usability aspects of software agent applications. The research deals with these questions using action research in order to develop a collaborative change mechanism within the Company and a practical applicability of the research findings in situ. Using a pluralistic methodology the findings provide a combination of the subjective and objective views intermittently within the research cycles thereby giving the researchera more holistic view of this research. Little attention has been paid to integrating software agent technologies into the knowledge management processes.This research proposes a software agent application that incorporates: (1) Co-ordination of software agents for information retrieval to manage information gathering, filtering, and dissemination; (2) To promote effective interpretation of information and more efficient processes;(3) Building accurate search profiles weighted on pre-defined criteria; (4) Integrating and organising a Company resource management knowledge-base; (5) Ensuring that the right information gets to the right personnel at the right time; and (6) So the Company can effectively assign the right experts to the right roles within the Company

IT Portfolio Management: Barriers to Adoption and Strategies for Overcoming Them.

Student Number : 0204111E - M Com research report - School of Economic and Business Sciences - Faculty of CommerceAs organisations continuously attempt to do more with less, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) must manage their portfolio of IT investments more effectively and efficiently. In order to achieve this, CIOs can adopt a portfolio management approach; however, there are barriers to the adoption to IT portfolio management. The purpose of this research was to explore the barriers to adoption of IT portfolio management. The barriers were identified by respondents from various sectors and across various levels in their organisations and then ranked in order to determine the most critical factors that impede adoption of IT portfolio management. Data was collected using the Delphi ranking type method, and targeted at CIOs, IT executives, and project managers. The questionnaire was designed to identify perceptions of the most significant barriers to IT portfolio management adoption and strategies for mitigating the effects of these barriers were drawn from the literature. The rank order of 11 barriers was determined from the individual ratings and rank orders of 38 respondents in the final phase with ‘the lack of executive sponsorship, support, and understanding of IT portfolio management’ being ranked as the most critical barrier