The Development of an Evaluation Framework for Determining the Productivity and Effectiveness of Internet Room Diagramming Solutions

Internet Room Diagramming Solutions (RDS) has been regarded as not only one of the most innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) marketing media for raising the profiles of hotel and convention centre properties, but also as a practical tool to try out and to communicate planners' ideas on meeting and event designs. However, there is little research specific to RDS in the hospitality management and the event management research fields. In the first phase of this research, a three-round modified Delphi technique was employed with an expert panel to generate, validate and prioritise a comprehensive set of dimensions and criteria for measuring the productivity and effectiveness of a leading RDS in the marketplace, and a hierarchical structure of these dimensions and criteria is presented. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used in the third round to generate relative priorities and to give weightings of these dimensions and criteria. In the phase two of this research, an AHP survey was conducted with the venue operators in the U.S. chain hotel systems for revalidation of the priorities and weightings of the dimensions/criteria which had been previously identified by the Delphi Panel experts. The client base of the leading RDS provider, MeetingMatrix, was used to conduct this survey. Forty-eight effective responses from the survey results have successfully revalidated some of the relative priorities in comparison with the Delphi results. Consistency exists in the priorities of criteria in Impact on Business Partner Relationships, Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Organisational Context. The criteria identified in this research could be adopted in order to conduct further research concerning performance measurements such as the ICT Balanced Scorecard for strategic management. The research methodology and approaches used could also be applied to performance measurements for general innovative ICT applications such as social media.sub_behunpub1809_ethesesunpu

An Investigation into the Data Collection Process for the Development of Cost Models

This thesis is the result of many years of research in the field of manufacturing cost modelling. It particularly focuses on the Data Collection Process for the development of manufacturing cost models in the UK Aerospace Industry with no less important contributions from other areas such as construction, process and software development. The importance of adopting an effective model development process is discussed and a new CMD Methodology is proposed. In this respect, little research has considered the development of the cost model from the point of view of a standard and systematic Methodology, which is essential if an optimum process is to be achieved. A Model Scoping 3 Framework, a functional Data Source and Data Collection Library and a referential Data Type Library are the core elements of the proposed Cost Model Development Methodology. The research identified a number of individual data collection methods, along with a comprehensive list of data sources and data types, from which essential data for developing cost models could be collected. A Taxonomy based upon sets of generic characteristics for describing the individual data collection, data sources and data types was developed. The methods, tools and techniques were identified and categorised according to these generic characteristics. This provides information for selecting between alternative methods, tools and techniques. The need to perform frequent iterations of data collection, data identification, data analysis and decision making tasks until an acceptable cost model has been developed has become an inherent feature of the CMDP. It is expected that the proposed model scoping framework will assist cost engineering and estimating practitioners in: defining the features, activities of the process and the attributes of the product for which a cost model is required, and also in identifying the cost model characteristics before the tasks of data identification and collection start. It offers a structured way of looking at the relationship between data sources, cost model characteristics and data collection tools and procedures. The aim was to make the planning process for developing cost models more effective and efficient and consequently reduce the time to generate cost models

Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Evaluation for the Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System

The U.S. military has placed a strong focus on the importance of operating in a joint environment, where capabilities and missions are shared between service components. Protecting U.S. forces is a major consideration in the joint environment. The Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System (JFPASS) architecture has been created to fill a critical gap in Joint Force Protection guidance for systems acquisition. The systems engineering (SE) field has made wide use of system architectures to represent complex systems. As fundamental SE principles become more widespread, analysis tools provide an objective method for the evaluation of the resulting architectural products. This study used decision analysis to develop a standardized, yet adaptable and repeatable model to evaluate the capabilities of the JFPASS for any installation or facility belonging to the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Using the Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) methods, a value hierarchy was created by consulting with subject matter experts. The resulting model, named Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture (VDEA) score, provides an analysis tool, which enables DoD decision-makers to use JFPASS architecture products to quickly and easily evaluate the value provided by the system; VDEA provides insight into the overall quality and capability of the system. Through the scoring and sensitivity analysis functions, capability gaps and potential improvements can be identified. Future studies in this area will provide a vehicle for rating not only operational level systems, but also individual functional projects against other alternatives

Design by searching : a system for creating and evaluating complex architectural assemblies

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-172).This work investigates a prototypical Web-based search system designed to enable architects and/or developers to engage and educate residential consumers in a new way: as co-designers. The key motivation is to develop software tools that support a feasible industrial process while providing home consumers with a way to conceive of and design spaces, as an alternative to the standardized commodity solutions that are currently available. The basic mode of operation for this work is to combine the structure of the modern computational search with emerging building modeling technologies as a foundation for Web-based participative design tools. Object-oriented component representations have been utilized to build a solution space that can be searched directly, without indexing. Additionally, conceptual query interfaces have been designed and evaluated through interviews with volunteer users. 'The component-based solutions and conceptual queries were then incorporated into a prototype of an architectural search tool which was analyzed to measure its effectiveness.by Matthew Giles Phillips.S.M

Legal knowledge-based systems: new directions in system design

This thesis examines and critiques the concept of 'legal knowledge-based’ systems. Work on legal knowledge-based systems is dominated by work in 'artificial intelligence and law’. It seeks to automate the application of law and to automate the solution of legal problems. Automation however, has proved elusive. In contrast to such automation, this thesis proposes the creation of legal knowledge-based systems based on the concept of augmentation of legal work. Focusing on systems that augment legal work opens new possibilities for system creation and use. To inform how systems might augment legal work, this thesis examines philosophy, psychology and legal theory for information they provide on how processes of legal reasoning operate. It is argued that, in contrast to conceptions of law adopted in artificial intelligence and law, 'sensemaking' provides a useful perspective with which to create systems. It is argued that visualisation, and particularly diagrams, are an important and under considered element of reasoning and that producing systems that support diagramming of processes of legal reasoning would provide useful support for legal work. This thesis reviews techniques for diagramming aspects of sensemaking. In particular this thesis examines standard methods for diagramming arguments and methods for diagramming reasoning. These techniques are applied in the diagramming of legal judgments. A review is conducted of systems that have been constructed to support the construction of diagrams of argument and reasoning. Drawing upon these examinations, this thesis highlights the necessity of appropriate representations for supporting reasoning. The literature examining diagramming for reasoning support provides little discussion of appropriate representations. This thesis examines theories of representation for insight they can provide into the design of appropriate representations. It is concluded that while the theories of representation that are examined do not determine what amounts to a good representation, guidelines for the design and choice of representations can be distilled. These guidelines cannot map the class of legal knowledge-based systems that augment legal sensemaking, they can however, be used to explore this class and to inform construction of systems

Modeling Homeland Security: A Value Focused Thinking Approach

The events of September 11, 2001 have propelled the topic of homeland security to the forefront of national concern. The threat of terrorism within the United States has reached an unprecedented level. The pervasive vulnerabilities of the nation\u27s critical infrastructure coupled with the destructive capabilities and deadly intentions of modern terrorists pose extraordinary risks. The United States must mitigate these risks while at the same time balancing the associated costs and impact on civil liberties. Currently, the United States lacks effective methods and measure for assessing the security of the homeland from acts of terrorism. This study outlines a first cut decision analysis methodology for identifying and structuring key homeland security objectives and facilitating the measurement of the United States\u27 capability to execute these objectives

New Approaches to Participation in Fisheries Research

This study was commissioned by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) and SIFAR (Support Unit for International Fisheries and Aquatic Research) on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR). It is concerned with research in the context of fisheries development.The ACFR acknowledges that the fisheries sector is faced with serious social and environmental problems and that current approaches to research have their limitations. It is recognised that participatory approaches and methods potentially have a greater role to play in fisheries research. This study aims to explore that potential and to suggest how we might move forward. The main focus of the report is on experiences in developing countries because this is where much of the innovative work in participation in research is being carried out. However, it is acknowledged that there is also much to be learnt from developed world experience