Impliance: A Next Generation Information Management Appliance

ably successful in building a large market and adapting to the changes of the last three decades, its impact on the broader market of information management is surprisingly limited. If we were to design an information management system from scratch, based upon today's requirements and hardware capabilities, would it look anything like today's database systems?" In this paper, we introduce Impliance, a next-generation information management system consisting of hardware and software components integrated to form an easy-to-administer appliance that can store, retrieve, and analyze all types of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured information. We first summarize the trends that will shape information management for the foreseeable future. Those trends imply three major requirements for Impliance: (1) to be able to store, manage, and uniformly query all data, not just structured records; (2) to be able to scale out as the volume of this data grows; and (3) to be simple and robust in operation. We then describe four key ideas that are uniquely combined in Impliance to address these requirements, namely the ideas of: (a) integrating software and off-the-shelf hardware into a generic information appliance; (b) automatically discovering, organizing, and managing all data - unstructured as well as structured - in a uniform way; (c) achieving scale-out by exploiting simple, massive parallel processing, and (d) virtualizing compute and storage resources to unify, simplify, and streamline the management of Impliance. Impliance is an ambitious, long-term effort to define simpler, more robust, and more scalable information systems for tomorrow's enterprises.Comment: This article is published under a Creative Commons License Agreement (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/.) You may copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, make derivative works and make commercial use of the work, but, you must attribute the work to the author and CIDR 2007. 3rd Biennial Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR) January 710, 2007, Asilomar, California, US

Internal Barriers in the Transition of Enterprises from Central Plan to Market

While a number of transition countries have been able to make significant progress with macroeconomic stabilization, little is being done to understand and to address the horrendous difficulties and barriers that attend the process of transition at the level of the enterprise. Not knowing what to change and what to leave in place -either because of its intrinsic value or because of its impenetrable and unyielding nature- exacerbates the complexity of the challenge. The purpose of this paper is to present the insights revealed by our study on the barriers obstructing the transition of enterprises from central plan to market. Stakeholders' fears and institutional uncertainty seem to be the major impediments to the transition of enterprises from central plan to market. It is the fears of "being independent and self responsible, not having the protecting 'umbrella' of the state", of ignorance of markets, of "too many fast changes", of "losing one's own job", of "increased unemployment" and most importantly the fear of "losing power and status". These fears are all derived from a deep suspicion of the consequences of any change. Thus workers fear the loss of job and of the enterprise umbrella, managers fear the loss of power and status and boards fear financial losses and loss of ownership. The insights gained apply to most transition countries. Differences from country to country are a matter of degree. The degree of effectiveness and stability of the market economy to which the system is transforming will greatly depend on the degree of transmutation of local, social value systems to the new values and practices, which market oriented systems will be able to contain and integrate. Efforts to introduce management techniques suited to a market economy will almost certainly fail, unless the techniques chosen from the arsenal of contemporary market oriented management methods, complement and build upon local traditional managerial values. Successful transition might hinge more upon overcoming internal barriers of enterprises, than upon any other single factor of this complex and arduous process. Local as well as western managers and investors should spend time and efforts to understand the concealed logic of the barriers encountered during the implementation of each change. They should address the fears of individual stakeholders (employees, potential partners, clients, suppliers and public officials) with whom they are dealing. They should be mindful of how deeply certain attitudes may be ingrained and should not overlook the value of experience, existing skills and the prevailing managerial behavior that can be usefully built upon; they should expect to work hard and long at change before it really occurs.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39634/3/wp248.pd

What lessons can we learn from the present economic crisis for the possible future strategies of enterprises - lesson from Hungary and Slovakia

The paper explores the characteristics of the present economic crisis at enterprise level and its comsequences for possible growth after the crisis. The study builds on international experiences concerning recovery from crisis during the previous economic downturns between 1980 and 2002. Survey results in Hungary and Slovakia are presented with special attention to how companies tried to react to the present economic recession. The study analyses the possible consequences of the strategies followed by the Slovakian and Hungarian firms during the crisis period from the point of view of capabilities for utilizing the options for growth when demand will start to increase

A review of information flow diagrammatic models for product-service systems

A product-service system (PSS) is a combination of products and services to create value for both customers and manufacturers. Modelling a PSS based on function orientation offers a useful way to distinguish system inputs and outputs with regards to how data are consumed and information is used, i.e. information flow. This article presents a review of diagrammatic information flow tools, which are designed to describe a system through its functions. The origin, concept and applications of these tools are investigated, followed by an analysis of information flow modelling with regards to key PSS properties. A case study of selection laser melting technology implemented as PSS will then be used to show the application of information flow modelling for PSS design. A discussion based on the usefulness of the tools in modelling the key elements of PSS and possible future research directions are also presented

Power relations, ethnicity and privatisation: A tale of a telecommunications company

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the confluence of political and economic interests of the Fijian elite in transforming state assets into private property and financial gain. Drawing on a Habermasian theoretical framework applied to a privatised state monopoly (Telecom Fiji), it is demonstrated how an implementation of privatisation concealed social and political interests. Thus privatisation provided a convenient rhetoric and tool of implementation for social and political gain by a ruling elite. For those inside the Telecom company, the ethos of public service could not withstand the messengers of capitalism with their rhetoric of the need for greater efficiency, effectiveness and consumer awareness. However, as for many other privatisation programmes around the world, the results are not reflected in the improved organisational performance or wellbeing of the ordinary citizen when state monopolies are privatised

Cooperative social enterprises: company rules, access to finance and management practice

Objectives: In light of the faster than expected take up of the Community Interest Company (CIC) in the UK, this paper revisits findings from a study undertaken in 2000 on the impact of asset-locks on the longevity, growth and management styles in co-operative social enterprises. Prior Work: The co-operative and employee-ownership movements played a leading role in the establishment of Social Enterprise London and the Social Enterprise Coalition. The heritage of the UK co-operative movement, however, differs from its continental counterpart in placing a much stronger emphasis on common ownership that inhibits the transfer of capital and assets to private interests. Approach: This paper is both conceptual and empirical. It examines different worker co-operative traditions and develops a meta-theory that explains underlying assumptions in different forms of co-operative social enterprise. Using empirical data from 5 common ownership co-operatives and 5 equity-based co-operatives, this exploratory study found differences in management style, access to finance and growth prospects both within and between the two groups. Implications: Devolution of management responsibilities was more prevalent in co-operatives permitting both individual and collective ownership, as opposed to common ownership. Access to external finance was less problematic for organisations where individuals had made investments. Despite this, it was not established that organisations with external equity or loan finance grew quicker or faired better over the longer term. Value: The value of the paper lies both in the development of a meta-theoretical framework for differentiating forms of worker co-operative, as well as empirical evidence on the impact of asset-locks in the management and development of social enterprises. The study suggests that the CLS version of the CIC, or abandonment of the CIC in favour of an appropriately structured CLS or IPS model, may be appropriate for social enterprises wishing to grow, but makes little difference in small service oriented social enterprises.</p

EXPORT QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN A WORLD GLOBAL ECONOMY

Quality became the management imperative of the last two decades and willcontinue to be the key to success in the future. We often see the words quality first , anddemands for quality invade every sphere of activity, from the motor vehicles we drive, to thedomestic appliances we use, the food we eat, the restaurants we dine in, the doctors we visit,and the products we import and export, reminding us that quality is the goal of everybusiness, and that its focus is the customer . Satisfying the requirements of the customer is adynamic activity: both customers and their needs change and the supplier has to recognize this.When it comes to trade, no exporting country can afford to compromise on quality. The currenteconomic climate calls for export marketing and promotion efforts with assurances of superiorand consistent quality in products and services, associated with lower prices and delivery ofthe right product at the right time.quality, management, foreign trade, efficiency

Determinants of local responsiveness of FMNCS in mainland China

Recent regulations, associated with China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), specifically Decree 113 and Decree 114, have largely changed the situation for foreign multinational construction companies (FMNCs) operating in mainland China. A field investigation has identified that local responsiveness is critical for FMNCs to survive and develop in the complicated and uncertain Chinese construction industry. Government policy, China-specific construction industrial factors and increasing competition intensity imposed by local competitors are recognized as the major determinants driving local responsiveness of FMNCs. This study has also examined that localisation of internal resources, establishment of local networks and cooperation or strategic alliances with local contractors and design institutes are the key local adaptation strategies for FMNCs operating in mainland China

The Service University

The traditional western research university’s academic freedom is increasingly challenged by external economical interests. This has consequences for what has been regarded as a key quality dimension of a university. The balance between institutional autonomy, academic freedom and accountability to external stakeholders is claimed to be changing in disfavour of the academic freedom kept up by the professoriate. From its stakeholders the institution is expected to serve politicians, state bureaucracy and market in a qualitatively different way from before, primarily from economic motives. Is academic freedom at all possible in an institution predominantly financed by producing services to meet economic criteria? A likely answer would be no, and another tentative, answer could be that yes, it is possible, due to the strong academic legacy imbedded in western academics’ identity - and to the global communicative room of free actions made possible by the new information technology.service university, quality, academic freedom, ICT, management