Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

The Joint Publication 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms sets forth standard US military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States. These military and associated terms, together with their definitions, constitute approved Department of Defense (DOD) terminology for general use by all DOD components

Influence of incentive policy in the alignment of business and information technology

Tese de Doutoramento (Tecnologias e Sistemas de Informação)Os executivos de topo de muitas das maiores empresas mundiais estão hoje conscientes de que as novas tecnologias estão a redefinir as cadeias de valor e que as suas empresas precisam de permanecer atentas para continuarem relevantes no mercado. Os negócios modernos precisam de articular as necessidades do negócio com tecnologias de informação (TI) inovadoras. De facto, a necessidade de um melhor alinhamento entre o negócio e as TI tem sido continuamente considerado como uma das maiores preocupações que executivos de topo de TI enfrentam. Esta preocupação é talvez apoiada na convicção, suportada em um número significativo de estudos, de que um melhor alinhamento pode influenciar positivamente o desempenho do negócio. Na verdade, este alinhamento é considerado uma das áreas mais importantes da governação das TI e a sua importância é reconhecida e abordada por alguns dos mais importantes normativos das TI, como o COBIT, o ITIL ou o TOGAF. Embora o alinhamento tenha sido abordado por muitos estudos no passado, a preocupação constante com ele na última década sugere que não tem havido progresso suficiente sobre esta questão. Por outro lado, o alinhamento é feito por pessoas. E, quanto mais as pessoas estiverem motivadas nas organizações, mais e melhor elas trabalham. A influência que os incentivos de alguns gestores têm no seu comportamento e, assim, na sua atividade e produtividade profissional tem sido bastante abordada na literatura. Na verdade, é habitual as empresas darem pacotes de incentivos aos seus gestores, desejavelmente concebidos para serem alinhados com os objetivos organizacionais. Este trabalho investigou a influência de políticas de incentivo na promoção de um melhor alinhamento. Além da revisão da literatura mais importante sobre estas duas áreas, foi proposto um novo modelo que relaciona o incentivo com o alinhamento do negócio e das TI. É proposto e aplicado um novo instrumento para medir o nível de incentivo de uma organização e também adaptado e aplicado um instrumento existente para medir o nível de alinhamento. Após algumas fases prévias, como pré-teste e teste piloto, os instrumentos foram aplicados na amostra completa, através duma plataforma de inquéritos online. A amostra, provida pela Informa Dun & Bradstreet, foi expandida com base na rede social LinkedIn, suportada no método "bola de neve”, que ajuda o estudo de populações difíceis de alcançar. Foram recolhidas respostas de mais de quatro centenas de gestores de negócio e TI, de mais de duas centenas de médias e grandes empresas portuguesas, representando, ao que se sabe, o inquérito mais vasto já feito em Portugal sobre alinhamento. O modelo, de componentes hierárquicas, foi estimado usando um modelo de equações estruturais (SEM) com a técnica dos mínimos quadrados parciais (PLS). A confiabilidade e validade do modelo de medida (reflexivo) foram garantidas depois de descartados alguns indicadores. A avaliação dos componentes de ordem superior do modelo (formativo) foi assegurada por uma sólida validação de conteúdo dos constructos “incentivo” e “alinhamento”. Os resultados principais são apresentados, discutidos e interpretados através de vários ângulos, respetivamente, a área funcional dos respondentes, o seu género, a sua geração, a atividade económica das empresas, por cada variável manifesta do incentivo e alinhamento e dimensão das empresas. Por fim, os resultados do modelo proposto são discutidos e interpretados. Ao propor uma explicação do alinhamento com uma única variável, o incentivo, este é talvez um dos modelos mais parcimoniosos do alinhamento apresentados até agora. Este estudo também permite suportar aquele que é, talvez, o seu maior contributo, que é facto do incentivo explicar a maior parte do alinhamento. Algumas recomendações para a prática e para investigação futura são ainda propostas.The chief executive officers from many of world’s largest companies are aware that new technologies are redefining value chains and that companies need to remain aware to remain relevant in the market. The modern businesses need to articulate business needs with innovative information technologies. In fact, business and IT alignment (BIA) has been continually considered as one of most important concerns that top IT executives face. This concern is probably supported on the conviction, sustained on a significant number of studies, that achieving a better alignment can positively influence business performance. Actually, this alignment is considered one of most important areas of IT governance and its importance is recognized and addressed by some of most important IT frameworks, as COBIT, ITIL or TOGAF. Although alignment has been focused by numerous researches in the past, the ongoing concern with it in the last decade suggests that there was not been sufficient progress in addressing this issue. Still, the allignment is made by people. And, the more people are motivated in organizations, the more and better they work. The influence that incentives have on managers behaviour and, thus, on their professional activity and productivity has been widely addressed in the literature. Indeed, it is a common practice among companies giving packages of incentives to their executives, desirably designed in order to be aligned with organization objectives. This work investigated the influence of incentive policies to promote a better alignment. Besides reviewing most important literature about these two areas, this study proposes a new model that relates the incentive with the alignment of business and IT. It proposed and applied a new instrument to measure the incentive maturity of an organization and it also adapted and applied an existing instrument to measure the alignment maturity. After some preceding phases, as pretesting and pilot testing, the instruments were administered on a full scale sample, through an online survey platform. The sample, provided by Informa Dun & Bradstreet, was expanded with the help of the social network LinkedIn, supported in the snowball method, which helps on the study of hard-to-reach populations. Responses were collected from more than four hundred business and IT managers, from more than two hundred medium-size and large Portuguese companies, representing, as far as is known, the wider survey ever done in Portugal about the alignment between business and IT. The model, a hierarchical component model, was estimated using a structural equation model (SEM) with partial least squares technique (PLS). The reliability and validity of the measurement model (reflective) were guaranteed, after some indicators have been discarded. The model assessment concerning the higher-order components (formative) was assured through robust content validity procedures of incentive and alignment constructs. The major findings are presented, discussed and interpreted by different angles, respectively, by the functional area of respondents, by respondents' gender, by respondents’ generation, by companies’ economic activity, by each one of the manifest variables of incentive and alignment and by companies’ size. Finally, the results of the proposed model are discussed and interpreted. By proposing an explanation of alignment with just one latent variable, the incentive, this is probably one of the most parsimonious models of alignment presented until now. The study also allows supporting the one that is perhaps its greatest contribution, which is the fact that the majority of the explanation of alignment is made by incentive. Some recommendations for practice and future research are also proposed

The development of Lutheran pastoral care in America

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Dipterocarps protected by Jering local wisdom in Jering Menduyung Nature Recreational Park, Bangka Island, Indonesia

Apart of the oil palm plantation expansion, the Jering Menduyung Nature Recreational Park has relatively diverse plants. The 3,538 ha park is located at the north west of Bangka Island, Indonesia. The minimum species-area curve was 0.82 ha which is just below Dalil conservation forest that is 1.2 ha, but it is much higher than measurements of several secondary forests in the Island that are 0.2 ha. The plot is inhabited by more than 50 plant species. Of 22 tree species, there are 40 individual poles with the average diameter of 15.3 cm, and 64 individual trees with the average diameter of 48.9 cm. The density of Dipterocarpus grandiflorus (Blanco) Blanco or kruing, is 20.7 individual/ha with the diameter ranges of 12.1 – 212.7 cm or with the average diameter of 69.0 cm. The relatively intact park is supported by the local wisdom of Jering tribe, one of indigenous tribes in the island. People has regulated in cutting trees especially in the cape. The conservation agency designates the park as one of the kruing propagules sources in the province. The growing oil palm plantation and the less adoption of local wisdom among the youth is a challenge to forest conservation in the province where tin mining activities have been the economic driver for decades. More socialization from the conservation agency and the involvement of university students in raising environmental awareness is important to be done