Enhancing Automation and Interoperability in Enterprise Crowdsourcing Environments

The last couple of years have seen a fascinating evolution. While the early Web predominantly focused on human consumption of Web content, the widespread dissemination of social software and Web 2.0 technologies enabled new forms of collaborative content creation and problem solving. These new forms often utilize the principles of collective intelligence, a phenomenon that emerges from a group of people who either cooperate or compete with each other to create a result that is better or more intelligent than any individual result (Leimeister, 2010; Malone, Laubacher, & Dellarocas, 2010). Crowdsourcing has recently gained attention as one of the mechanisms that taps into the power of web-enabled collective intelligence (Howe, 2008). Brabham (2013) defines it as “an online, distributed problem-solving and production model that leverages the collective intelligence of online communities to serve specific organizational goals” (p. xix). Well-known examples of crowdsourcing platforms are Wikipedia, Amazon Mechanical Turk, or InnoCentive. Since the emergence of the term crowdsourcing in 2006, one popular misconception is that crowdsourcing relies largely on an amateur crowd rather than a pool of professional skilled workers (Brabham, 2013). As this might be true for low cognitive tasks, such as tagging a picture or rating a product, it is often not true for complex problem-solving and creative tasks, such as developing a new computer algorithm or creating an impressive product design. This raises the question of how to efficiently allocate an enterprise crowdsourcing task to appropriate members of the crowd. The sheer number of crowdsourcing tasks available at crowdsourcing intermediaries makes it especially challenging for workers to identify a task that matches their skills, experiences, and knowledge (Schall, 2012, p. 2). An explanation why the identification of appropriate expert knowledge plays a major role in crowdsourcing is partly given in Condorcet’s jury theorem (Sunstein, 2008, p. 25). The theorem states that if the average participant in a binary decision process is more likely to be correct than incorrect, then as the number of participants increases, the higher the probability is that the aggregate arrives at the right answer. When assuming that a suitable participant for a task is more likely to give a correct answer or solution than an improper one, efficient task recommendation becomes crucial to improve the aggregated results in crowdsourcing processes. Although some assumptions of the theorem, such as independent votes, binary decisions, and homogenous groups, are often unrealistic in practice, it illustrates the importance of an optimized task allocation and group formation that consider the task requirements and workers’ characteristics. Ontologies are widely applied to support semantic search and recommendation mechanisms (Middleton, De Roure, & Shadbolt, 2009). However, little research has investigated the potentials and the design of an ontology for the domain of enterprise crowdsourcing. The author of this thesis argues in favor of enhancing the automation and interoperability of an enterprise crowdsourcing environment with the introduction of a semantic vocabulary in form of an expressive but easy-to-use ontology. The deployment of a semantic vocabulary for enterprise crowdsourcing is likely to provide several technical and economic benefits for an enterprise. These benefits were the main drivers in efforts made during the research project of this thesis: 1. Task allocation: With the utilization of the semantics, requesters are able to form smaller task-specific crowds that perform tasks at lower costs and in less time than larger crowds. A standardized and controlled vocabulary allows requesters to communicate specific details about a crowdsourcing activity within a web page along with other existing displayed information. This has advantages for both contributors and requesters. On the one hand, contributors can easily and precisely search for tasks that correspond to their interests, experiences, skills, knowledge, and availability. On the other hand, crowdsourcing systems and intermediaries can proactively recommend crowdsourcing tasks to potential contributors (e.g., based on their social network profiles). 2. Quality control: Capturing and storing crowdsourcing data increases the overall transparency of the entire crowdsourcing activity and thus allows for a more sophisticated quality control. Requesters are able to check the consistency and receive appropriate support to verify and validate crowdsourcing data according to defined data types and value ranges. Before involving potential workers in a crowdsourcing task, requesters can also judge their trustworthiness based on previous accomplished tasks and hence improve the recruitment process. 3. Task definition: A standardized set of semantic entities supports the configuration of a crowdsourcing task. Requesters can evaluate historical crowdsourcing data to get suggestions for equal or similar crowdsourcing tasks, for example, which incentive or evaluation mechanism to use. They may also decrease their time to configure a crowdsourcing task by reusing well-established task specifications of a particular type. 4. Data integration and exchange: Applying a semantic vocabulary as a standard format for describing enterprise crowdsourcing activities allows not only crowdsourcing systems inside but also crowdsourcing intermediaries outside the company to extract crowdsourcing data from other business applications, such as project management, enterprise resource planning, or social software, and use it for further processing without retyping and copying the data. Additionally, enterprise or web search engines may exploit the structured data and provide enhanced search, browsing, and navigation capabilities, for example, clustering similar crowdsourcing tasks according to the required qualifications or the offered incentives.:Summary: Hetmank, L. (2014). Enhancing Automation and Interoperability in Enterprise Crowdsourcing Environments (Summary). Article 1: Hetmank, L. (2013). Components and Functions of Crowdsourcing Systems – A Systematic Literature Review. In 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI). Leipzig. Article 2: Hetmank, L. (2014). A Synopsis of Enterprise Crowdsourcing Literature. In 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). Tel Aviv. Article 3: Hetmank, L. (2013). Towards a Semantic Standard for Enterprise Crowdsourcing – A Scenario-based Evaluation of a Conceptual Prototype. In 21st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). Utrecht. Article 4: Hetmank, L. (2014). Developing an Ontology for Enterprise Crowdsourcing. In Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik (MKWI). Paderborn. Article 5: Hetmank, L. (2014). An Ontology for Enhancing Automation and Interoperability in Enterprise Crowdsourcing Environments (Technical Report). Retrieved from http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-155187

IT-Gestützte Kollaborative Kreativität

Companies and organizations must constantly evolve in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. An important role is played by innovations that ensure this continuous corporate success. Producing innovations depends strongly on creativity, which is why active support makes sense and is worthwhile. Creativity can be supported by information technology and is most effective in teams and groups. Collaboration and the consideration of different collaboration mechanisms play an equally important role in this context as the active support by information technology. This dissertation deals with the question of how information systems can be designed in order to use information technology to actively support creativity and that collaborative creativity processes are promoted. With the help of a systematic literature review, current creativity support systems were examined and the necessity of research was explained. A design-oriented approach was then used to develop and evaluate various approaches that address the research question. A total of 25 scientific articles were produced, five of which are included in this dissertation. Various conducted studies show the additional value of active support through information technology and provide design guidelines for better support of collaborative creativity.Unternehmen und Organisationen müssen sich ständig weiterentwickeln, um am Markt beständig zu sein und geschäftsfähig zu bleiben. Eine wichtige Rolle sind Innovationen, die diesen kontinuierlichen Unternehmenserfolg sicherstellen. Innovationen zu produzieren hängt stark von Kreativität ab, weshalb eine aktive Unterstützung sinnvoll und lohnenswert ist. Kreativität kann dabei durch Informationstechnik unterstützt werden und entfaltet vor allem in Teams und Gruppen ihre größte Wirkung. Kollaboration und die Betrachtung unterschiedlicher Kollaborationsmechanismen spielt in diesem Kontext gleichermaßen eine wichtige Rolle, wie die aktive Unterstützung durch Informatikstechnik. Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Fragestellung, wie Informationssysteme gestaltet werden können, um einerseits Informationstechnik so einzusetzen, dass sie aktiv Kreativität unterstützt, andererseits so gestaltet werden sollte, dass kollaborative Kreativitätsprozesse gefördert werden. Mit Hilfe einer systematischen Literaturanalyse wurden dabei aktuelle Kreativitätsunterstützungsysteme untersucht und die Notwendigkeit der Forschung dargelegt. Mit einem gestaltungsorientierten Vorgehen wurden daraufhin unterschiedliche Ansätze entwickelt und evaluiert, die die Fragestellung adressieren. Dabei sind insgesamt 25 wissenschaftliche Artikel entstanden, von welchen fünf in diese Dissertation eingebunden sind. Unterschiedliche durchgeführte Studien zeigen daraufhin den Mehrwert von aktiver Unterstützung durch Informationstechnik auf und geben Gestaltungsrichtlinien zur besseren Unterstützung von kollaborativer Kreativität

Oil, Conflict and Everyday Security in Post-Amnesty Niger Delta, Nigeria

Over the last three decades, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has witnessed protracted oil-related conflict in the form of armed militancy against the Nigerian state and International Oil Companies (IOCs), with grave consequences for the security of the region and beyond. The state’s offer of amnesty to militant groups in 2009 marked a major, but fragile peace deal with the armed groups in the region. Following the resurgence of conflict post-amnesty, and the continued militarization of the region, questions have been raised about the security practices of the state despite the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) touted as a peacebuilding measure. This study examines the state’s securitization and militarization of the region and the effects on ordinary people of the Niger Delta. The thesis argues that the state’s securitization without addressing the prevailing grievances of the people, constitutes a narrow and self-defeating approach for resolving insecurity and engendering peace; and has thus, created new security problems with the resurgence of oil militancy. Drawing from the qualitative analysis of the field research data, I demonstrate how securitization theory and the concept of everyday security allows for a deeper understanding of the state security discourses and practices, how people perceive and experience security, how people respond or resist these security practices, and what security means to them. It finds that whilst restoring security is imperative, there is the need for the state to rethink its security approach, understand the social context in which conflict is created, and the everyday lived security experiences of the people in post-amnesty Niger Delta. The thesis contributes to a better understanding of everyday security from a critical security studies approach that emphasizes an alternative way of exploring security beyond the traditional state-centric disposition to security and state survival, to that of people as the ideal security referent. This is useful for interrogating security dynamics for both policy and practice, and for engendering security and sustainable peace in the Niger Delta

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main opportunities and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The survey was defined with the aim to involve the highest possible number of relevant CSR topics and give the issue a more wholesome perspective. It provides a basis for further comprehension and deeper analyses of specific CSR areas. The conditions determining the success of CSR in Romania have been defined in the paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various researches. This paper provides knowledge which may be useful in the programs promoting CSR.Corporate social responsibility, Supportive policies, Romania

Understanding Retention Issues Among African American Males in a Community College Setting

Efforts to improve retention and graduation rates of African American male students in higher education have largely been unsuccessful despite the design and delivery of special courses. During the 2017 academic year, after completion of a college success seminar (CSS), the retention rates for African American male students at a Midwestern community college was only 14% compared to 33% for Hispanic and 60% for Caucasian males. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of African American male students engaged in a CSS course to discover what they perceived to be a major influence on the retention of their population in the community college. The conceptual framework for this study was Tinto’s model on student integration and motivation, self-determination, transition, resilience, and satisfaction. Research questions posed how African American male students connected the experience gained in the CSS course with degree completion and if the course provided the support for program retention. A qualitative case study design using face-to-face interviews was used. Individual interviews were conducted with 20 African American male student participants enrolled in CSS during the fall of 2018. The resulting qualitative data were coded manually and entered using NVivo Software. Data analysis included developing codes, categories, themes, and interpreting the findings. Results showed that participants perceived mentorship to be a major factor related to their motivation and persistence. These findings resulted in the recommendation of a mentorship component being added to the CSS curriculum. The implementation of a mentorship component can drive social change in support of students who need mentoring at the local community college and other institutions of higher education in support of retention and successful degree completion

IoT Applications Computing

The evolution of emerging and innovative technologies based on Industry 4.0 concepts are transforming society and industry into a fully digitized and networked globe. Sensing, communications, and computing embedded with ambient intelligence are at the heart of the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Industry 4.0 technologies with expanding applications in manufacturing, transportation, health, building automation, agriculture, and the environment. It is expected that the emerging technology clusters of ambient intelligence computing will not only transform modern industry but also advance societal health and wellness, as well as and make the environment more sustainable. This book uses an interdisciplinary approach to explain the complex issue of scientific and technological innovations largely based on intelligent computing

Higher Education, Neoliberalism, and Conflict: A Case of the University of Balochistan in Pakistan

The current study focuses on the role of peacebuilding in the higher education sector of Pakistan’s conflict-affected region of Balochistan. The research is an extended case study of the University of Balochistan. It addresses how the institution’s peacebuilding agency has evolved in the face of ethnic conflict and the neoliberal reforms pursued by the state during the past two decades. The research is based on the study of policy documents, official reports, and individual and focus group interviews with various educational actors. The peacebuilding agency of the institution is theorized according to the 4Rs (Novelli et al., 2019; Novelli et al., 2017). The analytical frame of the 4Rs attempts to address the structural causes of conflict and theorize the role of education in relation to its role contributing to those causes. The analytical lens incorporates conflict\u27s cultural, political, economic, and social dimensions and proposes a holistic strategy for building sustainable peace. The research takes a normative stance of social transformation, rooted in the philosophy of Fraser (2005, 2020), by not merely focusing on ‘fixing’ the social outcomes through some affirmative action but also transforming the structural causes that give rise to social inequalities in the first place. Thus, the university’s peacebuilding agency is measured through its ability to promote representation, redistribution, recognition, and reconciliation within its institution and the larger society