Planning for Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation at Small- to Medium-Sized Foundations

This report is based on findings from desktop research and interviews with selected foundations conducted between April and June 2016. It was developed to give the Oak Foundation a sense of how other foundations are tackling monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) questions, and to show a range of options for Oak to consider as it develops its own MEL Plan. This summary of findings was developed for public distribution, anticipating that it may be useful for other donors.Key trends that emerged from the interviews and desktop research included the following:1. Foundations are spending more resources and putting more staff time into evaluation than they did in the past. Staff at smaller foundations tend to spend more time on individual grant evaluations, while staff at larger foundations tend to spend more time on assessments of broad program areas and on learning processes. While many foundations do not have consistent systems for tracking evaluation spending, some are deciding it would be useful to capture that information more methodically.2. Less attention has been put on learning to-date, but recognition of the importance of purposeful learning is growing quickly. Many foundations are hoping to improve upon their learning processes, but finding that it is not easy. It often requires an internal cultural shift and testing a variety of approaches. In contrast, foundations tend to have fairly clear processes and standards for monitoring and evaluation. Foundations that do have explicit learning efforts remain more focused on internal learning rather than communicating and sharing lessons externally. Foundations tend to be more transparent with external audiences about their grant-making processes, goals, and strategies, and less transparent about how they assess performance or their lessons learned. That said, both grantees and foundations are recognizing that sharing more lessons externally would be beneficial.3. Foundations are exploring appropriate and useful ways to evaluate work done through sub-granting organizations. Some are focusing on building the internal monitoring and evaluation capacity of those organizations. It would be useful for donors to coordinate approaches to evaluate work done through sub-granting organizations, which can allow for pooled resources and avoid putting an extra burden on the subgrantor

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THE NATURAL SELECTION OF BAD SCIENCE (28)

Recent studies of information systems suggest a coalescing around a limited set of methods and subject areas, particularly led by a dominance of technology adoption studies and research methods that orbit around the technology adoption model (TAM). This is interpreted as evidence of a maturing of a discipline and the development of scientific foundations. I would suggest that far from this being the case, the dominance of particular method and topics is resulting in a disciplinary stagnation and the fuelling of an increasing irrelevance of information systems studies to both practice and research innovation. Having illustrated this with reference to two recent information systems trends studies, and briefly critiqued the dominant information systems paradigm, I draw on a recent study of the evolution of behavioural sciences using computer models. I suggest that the development of information systems is an example of bad science, constrained by social and economic forces. I offer some suggestions on how different environmental forces could be applied to reinvigorate information systems. However, I conclude by suggesting that regardless of changing evolutionary forces, there is a deeper underlying philosophical concern which is catalysing the malaise of information systems

The significance of logistics in servicing growing volumes of e-commerce

Purpose: The article highlights the multi-task nature and prospects of the development of the transit potential of warehouse logistics systems, reveals the theoretical and methodological foundations of logistics in the storage and cargo handling system, indicates and confirms the importance of warehousing logistics in the context of servicing the growing volumes of electronic commerce. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purposes of developing logistics in the storage and cargo handling system we study the technical and technological support and design developments that have significant potential for increasing the efficiency of logistics processes, and to study consumer behavior in the warehouse services market and transport market trends - warehouse activities. Findings: Automation significantly simplifies logistics processes, information exchange, remote control and management, optimizes costs by combining various market entities and objects, target groups and parameters of logistics processes on electronic platforms. Integration in modern logistics allows synchronizing the complex information component of electronic services and platforms and activating the formation of a system interface that is common for all elements of the logistics system of warehousing, cargo processing and inventory management. Practical implications: The results of the study can be implemented in the activities of Russian companies in order to develop the transit potential of warehouse logistics systems. Originality/value: The significance of this study lies in shifting the emphasis to the need to switch to improved customer service systems taking into account the needs and development of online retail and fulfillment of logistics operators (full-cycle operator: taking goods from the customer’s warehouse, responsible storage, packaging, delivery, work with returns), tied to the development of infrastructure, as the foundation for increasing the efficiency, speed and quality of logistics processes.peer-reviewe

International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate

International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate

A Proposed Theoretical Foundation for the Information Systems Discipline (version 1. 1)

“Rethink the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline” is one of the grand challenges for IS research identified in a Delphi study in Business Information Systems Engineering (Becker et al., 2015). This draft addresses that challenge directly through an integrated approach to the operation and evolution of systems. Almost any attempt to articulate a theoretical foundation for IS (a TFIS) would need to cover that topic although other attempts might emphasize other topics and other viewpoints. The proposed Theoretical Foundation for IS (TFIS) has three main goals: 1) Integration. Build outward from an integrated core. Do not accept the excuse that the IS field is not ready for a serious attempt at integration. 2) Usefulness. Contribute to describing, analyzing, designing, and evaluating systems, developing new tools and methods, and supporting empirical IS research. 3) Near-symmetry. Treat sociotechnical systems (with human participants) and totally automated systems as similarly as possible. Trends toward digitalization, automation, AI, and robotics imply benefits from that type of near-symmetry for understanding changes in the “division of labor.

Development of Nonprofit-Sector in Albania

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the development of non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Albania. In Albania there were two political systems, communist system from 1945-1990 and democratic system after 1990. These systems have contributed to the development of non-profit sector in the country. Secondary sources are used to identify the development of non-profit sector in terms of number, field of activity, financial sources and primary sources are used to indicate which it is actually the situation of non-profit sector in Albania. Interviews and questionnaire distributed in the area of the north, south of Albania and Tirana (capital of Albania) is used to provide information regarding the type of NPOs by location, field of ​​activity of NPOs in Albania by type and location, financial sources and sector development trends. Limitations of the paper are that in the study are taken non-profit organizations that are registered at Court of Tirana District as associations, foundations, and the center and not political parties or religious organizations. For data processing is used SPSS computer program

Information-theoretical analysis of statistical measures for multiscale dynamics

Multiscale entropy (MSE) has been widely used to examine nonlinear systems involving multiple time scales, such as biological and economic systems. Conversely, Allan variance has been used to evaluate the stability of oscillators, such as clocks and lasers, ranging from short to long time scales. Although these two statistical measures were developed independently for different purposes in different fields in the literature, their interest is to examine multiscale temporal structures of physical phenomena under study. We show that, from an information-theoretical perspective, they share some foundations and exhibit similar tendencies. We experimentally confirmed that similar properties of the MSE and Allan variance can be observed in low-frequency fluctuations (LFF) in chaotic lasers and physiological heartbeat data. Furthermore, we calculated the condition under which this consistency between the MSE and Allan variance exists, which is related to certain conditional probabilities. Heuristically, physical systems in nature including the aforementioned LFF and heartbeat data mostly satisfy this condition, and hence the MSE and Allan variance demonstrate similar properties. As a counterexample, an artificially constructed random sequence is demonstrated, for which the MSE and Allan variance exhibit different trends

EFEKTIVITAS SISTEM PELAYANAN ADMINISTRASI KEPENDUDUKAN LANGSUNG JADI SECARA ELEKTRONIK (E-PAK LADI) DI DESA CANGKRINGMALANG KECAMATAN BEJI KABUPATEN PASURUAN

Banyaknya keluhan terhadap administrasi kependudukan masih menjadi perhatian pemerintah daerah untuk meningkatkan kualitas pelayanan. Dinas Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil Kabupaten Pasuruan meluncurkan inovasi pada administrasi kependudukan yaitu sistem Pelayanan Administrasi Kependudukan Langsung Jadi Secara Elektronik (E-PAK LADI). Inovasi ini diluncurkan sebagai upaya untuk mendekatkan pelayanan di tingkat desa. Namun, dalam penerapan masih adanya permasalahan terkait waktu pelayanan yang tidak sesuai, minimnya jumlah operator dan sistem yang masih mengalami error. Maka dari itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui serta mendeskripsikan secara mendalam terkait efektivitas sistem E-PAK LADI di Desa Cangkringmalang Kecamatan Beji Kabupaten Pasuruan. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan ialah penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Fokus peneltiian menggunakan indikator keberhasilan sistem informasi melalui jurnal “Information Systems Success Measurement Foundations and Trends in Information System” (2016)  oleh William H. Delone dan Ephraim R. McLean mencakup kualitas sistem, kualitas informasi, kualitas pelayanan organisasi IT, penggunaan, kepuasan pengguna dan manfaat bersih. Sementara itu teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, wawancara, dokumentasi dan studi pustaka. Hasil penelitian pada indikator kualitas sistem menunjukkan bahwa E-PAK LADI telah memenuhi kriteria indikator meskipun terkadang mengalami error. Indikator kualitas informasi, kualitas pelayanan organisasi IT dan kepuasan pengguna menujukkan bahwasanya telah memenuhi kriteria dengan baik. Sementara itu, indikator penggunaan tidak dapat digunakan untuk menilai keberhasilan sistem tersebut karena sistem E-PAK LADI berada di sektor publik yang bersifat mandatory. Pada indikator terakhir yaitu manfaat bersih, E-PAK LADI telah meningkatkan produktivitas dan menimbulkan efisiensi untuk pengurusan dokumen kependudukan bagi masyarakat. Kata kunci : Sistem, Pelayanan Publik, Administrasi Kependudukan, E-PAK LADI. The large of complaints against population administration is still the main concern of local governments. The Department of Population and Civil Registration of Pasuruan Regency launched an innovation in population administration, namely the Electronic Direct Population Administration Service (E-PAK LADI) system. This innovation was launched as an effort to bring services closer at the village level. However, in implementation there are still problems related to inappropriate service times, the minimum number of operators and systems that are still experiencing errors. Therefore, this study aims to find out and describe in depth the effectiveness of the LADI E-PAK system in Cangkringmalang Village, Beji District, Pasuruan Regency. The type of research used is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. The focus of research using information system success indicators through the journal "Information Systems Success Measurement Foundations and Trends in Information Systems" (2016) by William H. Delone and Ephraim R. McLean includes system quality, information quality, IT organizational service quality, use , user satisfaction and net benefits. Meanwhile, data collection techniques were carried out through observation, interviews, documentation and literature study. The results of research on system quality indicators show that E-PAK LADI has fulfilled the indicator criteria even though it sometimes experiences errors. Information quality indicators, IT organization service quality and user satisfaction show that they have met the criteria well. Meanwhile, usage indicators cannot be used to assess the success of the system. Net benefits, E-PAK LADI has increased productivity and created efficiency. Keyword: System, Public Service, Population Administration, E-PAK LADI. &nbsp