Enhancing Knowledge Acquisition in Pharmaceutical Organisations based in Pakistan

Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) depicts the sequential order of activities connecting externally generated knowledge into an organisation; this involves a company’s ability to acquire new knowledge from an external source, assimilate and transform it, and eventually exploit it via its industrial processes and products/services. The sandwiched role of middle managers, being interlinked between decision makers and employees, has been argued as vital to organisational success. However, their role is often viewed as having conflicts astride management i.e. between employees and decision makers. This study, using a thematic analysis approach, explores and identifies the common and conflicting role of middle managers, as viewed by different respondents in organisational hierarchies. Results, based on a sample of 33 employees operating in the Pakistan Pharmaceutical sector, indicate that conflicting roles of middle managers also persist with more common roles in organisations

Making intelligent systems team players: Case studies and design issues. Volume 1: Human-computer interaction design

Initial results are reported from a multi-year, interdisciplinary effort to provide guidance and assistance for designers of intelligent systems and their user interfaces. The objective is to achieve more effective human-computer interaction (HCI) for systems with real time fault management capabilities. Intelligent fault management systems within the NASA were evaluated for insight into the design of systems with complex HCI. Preliminary results include: (1) a description of real time fault management in aerospace domains; (2) recommendations and examples for improving intelligent systems design and user interface design; (3) identification of issues requiring further research; and (4) recommendations for a development methodology integrating HCI design into intelligent system design

The significance of silence. Long gaps attenuate the preference for ‘yes’ responses in conversation.

In conversation, negative responses to invitations, requests, offers and the like more often occur with a delay – conversation analysts talk of them as dispreferred. Here we examine the contrastive cognitive load ‘yes’ and ‘no’ responses make, either when given relatively fast (300 ms) or delayed (1000 ms). Participants heard minidialogues, with turns extracted from a spoken corpus, while having their EEG recorded. We find that a fast ‘no’ evokes an N400-effect relative to a fast ‘yes’, however this contrast is not present for delayed responses. This shows that an immediate response is expected to be positive – but this expectation disappears as the response time lengthens because now in ordinary conversation the probability of a ‘no’ has increased. Additionally, however, 'No' responses elicit a late frontal positivity both when they are fast and when they are delayed. Thus, regardless of the latency of response, a ‘no’ response is associated with a late positivity, since a negative response is always dispreferred and may require an account. Together these results show that negative responses to social actions exact a higher cognitive load, but especially when least expected, as an immediate response

BIM implementation for infrastructure projects: Methods and tools for information modeling and management

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

Learning strategies and materials selection in the English for tourism classroom : a study of learning strategies employed by learners in the British context, with consideration of implications for published materials selection

There are two enquiries undertaken in this work which is an investigation of\ud learning strategies employed by students of English for Tourism in the British\ud context, and an evaluation of textbooks already used for teaching this programme\ud in Taiwan and relevant ones published in the United Kingdom. It is hoped that this\ud work will have direct implications for pedagogy and learning processes of the\ud English for Tourism programme in the Taiwanese context.\ud This thesis is made up of four parts. The first part is Chapter 1 which investigates\ud general broad backgrounds in the Taiwanese context. It also deals with the debate\ud on the improvement of English language teaching in this context. It further\ud discusses how this context relates to this work.\ud The second part includes Chapters 2, 3, and 4, offering the theoretical framework\ud on which an empirical research and a desk-based study of textbooks are based.\ud Chapter 2 primarily examines the features of English for Tourism by taking account\ud of the general key issues of ESP relevant to needs analysis, content and language,\ud and methodology, and the specific crucial issues in relation to the target situation\ud in the tourism industry, tourism education and training, and cultural content. It\ud further postulates that communicative language teaching and learning strategies\ud are closely relevant to the efficiency of ESP teaching. These are defined and\ud explored in depth in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively.\ud The third part consists of an empirical research and a desk-based study (Chapters\ud 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9). Chapter 5 discusses research methodology indicating that a\ud qualitative approach has been preferred to a quantitative approach. The empirical\ud research will be based on participant observations (Chapter 6) and semi-structured\ud interviews (Chapter 7). It will be followed by a desk-based study of textbooks\ud (Chapter 9). Chapters 6 and 7 are mainly descriptive. Chapter 8 interprets the\ud major findings of this empirical research, discusses the issues they raise and goes\ud on to suggest improvements to the pedagogy and learning processes in the\ud Taiwanese context. It indicates that social strategies and social interaction bothinside and outside the classroom are the most significant factors for learning\ud processes. It suggests furthermore that a combination model of notional-functional\ud and task-based approaches is essential for the effective English for Tourism\ud syllabuses and methodologies in the Taiwanese context. Chapter 9 is a desk-based\ud study of textbooks to evaluate and select appropriate and useful textbook for\ud teaching English for Tourism in the Taiwanese context.\ud The final part is Chapter 10. This chapter reviews the principal themes in the\ud preceding chapters, and offers principles of approach which guide the teaching and\ud learning of English for Tourism in the Taiwanese context

A new model for the development of information systems

The most commonly used systems specification and design techniques in commercial computing are described and compared; Information Engineering as proposed by James Martin, A Framework for Information Definition-Muitiview proposed by Wood-Harper et al, Real-world Modeling as described by Jackson, Structured Analysis and Design as In Demarco, Yourdon and Constantine and Output-Oriented Structured Requirement Definition proposed by Orr. In addition, system prototyping is discussed, including the role of prototyping in large software development projects and as a tool for the design of human-computer interfaces. Other areas described and discussed include decision support systems (DSS) and knowledge based management support systems. The context is in the design and development approaches for DSS, prototyping for DSS, expert system for DSS and the integration of DSS and information system. The design and development of human-computer interface is also discussed in relation to user Interface complexity and adaptive interfaces. Further, the important issue of user involvement and support within the development process Is discussed. Thus, weaknesses of current approaches to the system development process are identified and a new model for the development of information system is proposed. In proposing the model, data and functional analysis structured method and methodology for decision support systems (DSS) development is presented including guidelines for the development of knowledge based DSS. The new proposed model is put to test in the design, development and implementation of large integrated commercial systems including DSS. Results and discussion on the use of the model is reported with special consideration to the users' and developers' view of the model. Finally the objectives of this research program are examined in relation to what has been achieved during this program of research. The prospect of using the model for the development of information systems are concluded with references to current and future goals

Understanding SLA through peer interactions in a Chinese classroom: A sociocultural perspective

Second language learning and development is a complex process that is situated in sociocultural settings. Classrooms provide such daily life settings in which language acquisition occurs via social interactions among peers and the instructor as well as other mediated means. The purpose of this research study was to examine the roles of peer interaction in a Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) classroom and how different types of peer interaction affect learners\u27 second language development in a classroom setting, and what roles peer interactions played in such a setting. Based on the sociocultural theory, the study explored the opportunities for learning that occurred during peer interactive work. Data included personal history interviews, language reflection journals, audio and video recordings of CFL learners in pair or group work, and Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs). The participants were seven students from different cultural backgrounds in an intermediate Chinese as a foreign language classroom. Findings indicated that peer interactions played an important role in the Chinese classroom. Mutual assistance in various forms provided various learning opportunities, in which not only the more capable peers assisted less capable peers, but also the reverse situation occurred in different tasks. The study also revealed the changeable nature of peer roles in their interactive routines, in which learners\u27 perspectives and orientation could be changed during peer collaboration process, sometimes dispite of the learners\u27 original goals. However, although task design may affect the degree of a learner\u27s participation, both motivated and less motivated learners benefited from the participation of peer learning activities in which an unmotivated learner might feel impelled to engage in a shared activity. The findings of this study support the sociocultural view of SLA and point to the benefits of assisted performance in L2 peer interaction. These findings also help broaden the understanding of the role peer interaction plays in a second/foreign language classroom. In addition, the results have both theoretical implications as well as practical implications in second language learning and instruction in the classroom