Exploring the core knowledge of business intelligence

With the rapid development of data analysis, there is few research on the core knowledge of business intelligence system (BIS). In order to fill this research gap, this paper collected the 1003 articles and 31345 references from the Web of Science database, and then applied co-citation analysis and factor analysis, to analyze their core knowledge. We identified 52 highly cited articles and obtained 9 core knowledge categories in the field of BI: BI success, IT acceptance and measurement, big data analysis,dataanalysis anddecision making,business strategy, BIS,consumer behavior, knowledge management, business adoption. Research shows that BISs are still in the growing trend and core knowledge helps researchers and managers better understand the core concepts and relevance of BI, so as to quickly discover possible research directionsinthisresearchfieldandusefulapplicationsintheenterprise

Competencies for Improving Construction Performance: theories and practice for developing capacity

The focus on improving construction performance has been narrow in many nations using partnering,leanness and supply chain management. This paper asks three practical construction related questionsconcerning reinventing the wheel across projects, blame culture and continuity of service. In addressingthese practical issues, three theories are engaged: organisational learning, emotional intelligence andrelationship management. The solutions are enhanced through applying the concepts and, indeed, thereis synergy between the concepts. The solutions require investment for the expected return, the theoreticalsynergy maximising the benefits from the investment. It is argued that such an approach has as much, ifnot more chance, to yield improvement in construction. The starting point are issues faced in constructionand theory is induced through addressing the problems, rather than starting with concepts applied inother sectors and then trying to squeeze them into the construction context

UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) Final Report, July 2014

The reporting of research information is a complex and expensive activity for research organisations (ROs). There is little alignment between funders of the reporting requests made to institutions and requests made to individual researchers about their research outputs and outcomes. This inevitably results in duplication and increased costs across the sector, whilst limiting the potential sharing and reuse of the information. The UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) project conducted a feasibility and scoping study for the reporting of research information at a national level based on CERIF (Common European Research Information Format), with the objective of increasing efficiency, productivity and quality across the sector. The aim was to define and prototype solutions which are compelling, easy to use, have a low entry barrier, and support innovative information sharing and benchmarking. CERIF has emerged as the preferred format for expressing research information across Europe. To date, CERIF has been piloted for specific applications, but not as a format for reporting requirements across all UK ROs. The final report presents the work carried out by the UKRISS project, including requirements gathering, modelling and prototyping, as well as recommendation for sustainability. UKRISS was divided into two phases. Phase 1, mapping the reporting landscape, ran from March 2012 to December 2012. Phase 2, exploring delivery of potential solutions, began in February 2013 and ended in December 2013

Power, Responsibility & Wisdom: Exploring the Issues at the Core of Ethical Decision-Making and Leadership

Decision-making ostensibly requires the exercise of Power. But that use of Power must be counterbalanced with Responsibility in order to make good decisions. Infusing Wisdom into the decision-making process necessarily incorporates an ethical component and involves both the identification and evaluation of relationships. Wise decision-making, therefore, requires the application of Wisdom which transcends simple, short-lived factual proficiency. It is this careful weighing of Wisdom, Power, Knowledge, and Responsibility which must guide our business leaders and be taught to our business students

Galactic-scale macro-engineering: Looking for signs of other intelligent species, as an exercise in hope for our own

If we consider Big History as simply 'our' example of the process of cosmic evolution playing out, then we can seek to broaden our view of our possible fate as a species by asking questions about what paths or trajectories other species' own versions of Big History might take or have taken. This paper explores the broad outlines of possible scenarios for the evolution of long-lived intelligent engineering species---scenarios which might have been part of another species' own Big History story, or which may yet lie ahead in our own distant future. A sufficiently long-lived engineering-oriented species may decide to undertake a program of macro-engineering projects that might eventually lead to a re-engineered galaxy so altered that its artificiality may be detectable from Earth. We consider activities that lead ultimately to a galactic structure consisting of a central inner core surrounded by a more distant ring of stars separated by a relatively sparser 'gap', where star systems and stellar materials may have been removed, 'lifted' or turned into Dyson Spheres. When one looks to the sky, one finds that such galaxies do indeed exist---including the beautiful ringed galaxy known as 'Hoag's Object' (PGC 54559) in the constellation Serpens. This leads us to pose the question: Is Hoag's Object an example of galaxy-scale macro-engineering? And this suggests a program of possible observational activities and theoretical explorations, several of which are presented here, that could be carried out in order to begin to investigate this beguiling question.Comment: 17 pages. Published in: Teaching and Researching Big History: Exploring a New Scholarly Field; L. Grinin, D. Baker, E. Quaedackers and A. Korotayev (eds). Uchitel Publ House, Volgograd, Russia, 2014, Chapter 14, pp. 283-304. ISBN: 978-5-7057-4027-

The knowledge needs of innovating organisations

The sustainable management of innovation is perhaps the single most vital element of executive work in today's business environment. This has driven knowledge management theorists to revitalise interest in the concept of 'competency'. However, this theoretical domain continues to be fragmented by definitional debate. At a micro-level of analysis, Human Resources Management theorists have embraced the idea of managerial competencies, resulting in the elaboration of frameworks and standards of performance for the targeted development of individual knowledge. By contrast, at the macrolevel the Strategic Management literature has focussed on developing new concepts of competition and cooperation that emphasise organisational knowledge as the driver of strategic change. In this context, competence-based competition implies that competitive advantage is bestowed by an organisation's unique combination of core competencies. This definitional debate is a major obstacle to the development of an integrated perspective on competency and the knowledge needs of innovating organisations. This conceptual article asserts that, since innovation involves a learning process, it is necessary to develop process-based theory rather than the static categorisations that currently dominate thinking in this area. Drawing on theories from the field of learning, the article proposes a three-dimensional framework of knowledge-based competencies that are interlinked and meaningful across levels of analysis