Theorizing Information Systems as Evolving Technology

Information systems scholars have struggled with the field’s fundamental relationship to technology. In particular, they have debated whether the IT artifact is unwisely taken for granted and whether or not it lies at the field’s core. Here, applying Brian Arthur’s general theory of technology, I suggest that one may theorize IS itself as an evolving family of technologies. From this perspective, one may open new avenues for IS research—for, in particular, historical and other related studies where the unit of analysis is the technology itself and the focus is its evolution

The Triple Helix Perspective of Innovation Systems

Alongside the neo-institutional model of networked relations among universities, industries, and governments, the Triple Helix can be provided with a neo-evolutionary interpretation as three selection environments operating upon one another: markets, organizations, and technological opportunities. How are technological innovation systems different from national ones? The three selection environments fulfill social functions: wealth creation, organization control, and organized knowledge production. The main carriers of this system-industry, government, and academia-provide the variation both recursively and by interacting among them under the pressure of competition. Empirical case studies enable us to understand how these evolutionary mechanisms can be expected to operate in historical instance. The model is needed for distinguishing, for example, between trajectories and regimes

An exact approach for single machine scheduling with quadratic earliness and tardiness penalties

In this paper, we consider the single machine scheduling problem with quadratic earliness and tardiness costs, and no machine idle time. We propose two different lower bounds, as well as a lower bounding procedure that combines these two bounds. Optimal branch-and-bound algorithms are then presented. These algorithms incorporate the proposed lower bound, as well as an insertion-based dominance test. The lower bounding procedure and the branch-and-bound algorithms are tested on a wide set of randomly generated problems. The computational results show that the branch-and-bound algorithms are capable of optimally solving, within reasonable computation times, instances with up to 20 jobs.scheduling, single machine, quadratic earliness and tardiness, lower bounds, branch-and-bound

Affective neuroscience, emotional regulation, and international relations

International relations (IR) has witnessed an emerging interest in neuroscience, particularly for its relevance to a now widespread scholarship on emotions. Contributing to this scholarship, this article draws on the subfields of affective neuroscience and neuropsychology, which remain largely unexplored in IR. Firstly, the article draws on affective neuroscience in illuminating affect's defining role in consciousness and omnipresence in social behavior, challenging the continuing elision of emotions in mainstream approaches. Secondly, it applies theories of depth neuropsychology, which suggest a neural predisposition originating in the brain's higher cortical regions to attenuate emotional arousal and limit affective consciousness. This predisposition works to preserve individuals' self-coherence, countering implicit assumptions about rationality and motivation within IR theory. Thirdly, it outlines three key implications for IR theory. It argues that affective neuroscience and neuropsychology offer a route towards deep theorizing of ontologies and motivations. It also leads to a reassessment of the social regulation of emotions, particularly as observed in institutions, including the state. It also suggests a productive engagement with constructivist and poststructuralist approaches by addressing the agency of the body in social relations. The article concludes by sketching the potential for a therapeutically-attuned approach to IR

Lock-in & Break-out from Technological Trajectories: Modeling and policy implications

Arthur [1,2] provided a model to explain the circumstances that lead to technological lock-in into a specific trajectory. We contribute substantially to this area of research by investigating the circumstances under which technological development may break-out of a trajectory. We argue that for this to happen, a third selection mechanism--beyond those of the market and of technology--needs to upset the lock-in. We model the interaction, or mutual shaping among three selection mechanisms, and thus this paper also allows for a better understanding of when a technology will lock-in into a trajectory, when a technology may break-out of a lock-in, and when competing technologies may co-exist in a balance. As a system is conceptualized to gain a (third) degree of freedom, the possibility of bifurcation is introduced into the model. The equations, in which interactions between competition and selection mechanisms can be modeled, allow one to specify conditions for lock-in, competitive balance, and break-out

Schumpeter and Georgescu-Roegen on the foundations of an evolutionary analysis: The problem of qualitative change, its methodical implications and analytical treatment

Despite the frequent references to Schumpeter's work, his own encompassing methodological approach as worked out by Shionoya (1997) has hardly been considered. In this paper, it is revisited together with Georgescu-Roegen's contributions to economic methodology in view of (i) their contribution to the foundations of an evolutionary analysis in economics and (ii) their mutual complementarity and differences. Both are centred around the issue of qualitative change and its substantial analysis. Schumpeter's analytical distinction between the levels of subject matter and method and his further distinction between stationary and evolutionary economy on the level of subject matter are shown to be decisive for the structure of his analytical system and the determination of an evolutionary analysis on its basis. It is further shown that Georgescu-Roegen's contributions – his evaluation of the entropy law and his consideration of the implications of qualitative change for economic analysis – follow exactly the general structure of Schumpeter's analytical system which they refine or correct. It is argued that they provided together an encompassing general framework for the analysis of economic evolution necessarily different from, but complementary to modern static and dynamic analysis. However, they did neither state nor solve the general theoretical problem of an evolutionary analysis in their sense. --evolutionary analysis,Georgescu-Roegen,qualitative change,Schumpeter