Strategic information systems planning: A case in the context of United Arab Emirates

Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is increasingly regarded as critical to help business organizations decide their preferences and priorities that are pertinent to IS&T investment, and to ensure that the adoption of such technologies will culminate in tangible business gains and drive value creation for competitive advantages. This study is part of a much wider scoped-research that is concerned with SISP in UAE organizations. The objective of this explorative research is to provide insights on the SISP implementation processes in one of the organizations in the UAE. Future studies would follow to examine multiple organizations and to evaluate the effectiveness of SISP on the organizations performance and to track success factors, strengths weaknesses, processes, methods, techniques, and tools that practitioners are adopting

Organizational environment best practices: Empirical evidence from the UAE

The present study is a modest attempt to bridge the gap between the rich western theories and the under-researched eastern contexts, namely UAE and to deeply explore the organizational practices and the quality of work-life using the Status-Certainty-Autonomy-Relatedness-Fairness (SCARF) construct. In this study, we first present the five core values that make up the SCARF model. This model is then used as the research lens for studying organizational practices. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews relating to the perceptions of nine managers from seven organizations. The data were analyzed and discussed qualitatively using an explanatory matrix with the assistance of a qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package, called NVIVO software Version 9. We examined the effectiveness of these five values empirically to gain insight into organizational practices in the context of the UAE. An explanatory matrix emerged from the data that gives deep insights into organizational practices and to provide a structured explanation on these prevailing practices. The matrix also serves as the foundation of a theoretical model that could be used in future research to assess the quality of organizational practices. The study may be considered the first in the UAE to discuss workplace practices and the quality of work life. The main contribution of this study was the use of the SCARF model to investigate organizational practices and the use of dimensional analysis to derive and construct a theoretical model

Blockchain based solution for Pharma Supply Chain Industry

Modern pharma supply chain systems are complicated, involving manufacturers, suppliers, and consumers that span across continents. To date, there is a considerable lack of transparency in the movement and sale of pharmaceutical products sold online. Lack of transparency, mistrust in collaboration, and unwillingness to share data can be huge challenges for this global industry. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based framework for the online sale of pharma products, in a decentralized manner with no intermediaries such as the hospitals or pharmacies. The proposed solution is based on utilizing Ethereum smart contracts, to monitor the interaction between participants, trigger events that are logged to help the participants to keep track and be informed about sale transactions, and ensure payment dispersal securely. In addition, smart contracts regulate the interaction between sellers and consumers by monitoring the status of IoT containers, including pharmaceuticals, and fully notifying consumers. Our smart contracts handle special cases related to consumer refunds in case of breach of contract terms to ensure the safe delivery of medicines

Unravelling methodologies: a theory building approach

Problem solving methodologies in IS are numerous, varied in objectives and scope, and commonly suffer consequences of deviation and rejection. This research investigates the essence of methodologies in order to understand and to address these consequences. In this thesis, methodologies are treated in a broad sense in order to arrive at a generalisable solution. An integrated research framework was constructed to pursue the solution. The framework is based on my adopted ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. The research is considered as an interpretivist single case study using qualitative research methods. A holistic Information Security Methodology was selected for in-depth study. Data were collected from various sources, but primarily from focus groups using 18 participants representing 11 organisations. Data were also collected from the developer of the methodology and two other organisations who were implementing it. Data analysis was based on a grounded approach to arrive at a substantive theory representing a conception of an ideal methodology as perceived by these practitioners. The use of the Hermeneutic circle and the purposely constructed Interrogative Framework were the essential tools for analysis. This conception is believed to hold some of the key factors for reducing the common problems of deviation and rejection of methodologies. The proposed theory is the main contribution of this research, which can be used as a foundation theory to construct and evaluate methodologies. The theory also has been used to propose extensions to existing theories. The core theory consists of basic elements and attributes. Other constructs were also developed to be used as contexts to the theory. In totality these findings provide a rich sphere to examine and understand methodologies

Gauge boson couplings at LEP

A review is given of the measurements of triple and quartic couplings among the electroweak gauge bosons performed at LEP by the four experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL. Emphasis is placed on recently published results and on combinations of results performed by the LEP electroweak gauge-couplings group. All measurements presented are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. To be published in the proceedings of the BEACH04 conference, Chicago, June 27-July 3 200

Swarm Intelligence Based Protein Conformational Search Algorithm.

There is no doubt of the role that proteins play in the biological processes inside the human body. Proteins can perform their function only when they fold into their tertiary structure. The thermodynamics hypothesis formulated by Anfinsen stated that the tertiary structure of a protein in its physiological environment is the conformation with the lowest free energy

Hungary in the Egyptian press (1922-1936)

My essay focuses on the published articles in Egypt concerning the Hungarian situation between 1922-1936. The aim of the paper is to give an abbreviated review of the political, economic, commercial, and military situation of Hungary, and to show the development of the independent "Hungarian kingdom without a king". In this regard, I studied the most important contemporary Egyptian newspapers including the Al-Ahram Arabic daily newspaper, the weekly magazine Al-Musawwir, in addition to the two main English-language newspapers: Egyptian Gazette and Egyptian Mail. I present the image of Hungary and Hungarians in the contemporary Egyptian press. It is worth analyzing how the Egyptian editors, journalists and reporters portrayed the era of the Hungary for the Egyptian public. The articles concerning Hungary and Hungarians and news reports indicate that the Egyptian public was well-informed about the developments of Hungary after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in certain periods. The Egyptian press portrayed Miklós Horthy, the Hungarian regent as a positive figure, and felt sympathy with the restoration of the monarchy in Hungary. The Egyptian press concentrated on the attempts of Charles IV, to regain his Hungarian throne. They were indicated as positive events which can be connected with the fact that the Egyptian public was committed to the monarchy. The Hungarian Prime Minister, Gyula Gömbös's orientation to Rome and Berlin in 1930 was highlighted. Duel between Gyula Gömbös and Tibor Eckhardt reflected as an act of European gallantly which resolves disputes. The news of the duel evoked sympathy in archaic groups of Egyptian society suggesting that the principle of tit for tat law prevailed in Hungary. In 1936 the Italian visit of the Prime Minister, Gyula Gömbös and Foreign Minister, Kálmán Kánya and the Italian-Hungarian-Austrian Treaty were of primary interest of London, as the treaty was against Germany's claim to annex Austria (Anschluss), and laid the foundation for the establishment of a customs union among the three states, which prevented the German economic penetration into Central Europe. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the Egyptian press positively portrays the newly reformed independent Hungary, especially the consolidation of István Bethlen in the 1920s, and the most important governmental, economical, commercial, and military events in the 1930s

Analysis of cloud computing attacks and countermeasures

© 2016 Global IT Research Institute (GiRI). Business enterprises are competing to get their applications up and running faster with improved manageability and less maintenance by reassigning the ability to IT specialists to adjust resources in order to meet business fluctuating needs. This can be achieved through utilizing the Cloud Computing Model which is distinguished by \u27pay as you go\u27 model. The model offers solutions of storage, convenient and on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. As with any novel technology, Cloud Computing is subject to security threats and vulnerabilities including network threats, information threats and underlying infrastructure threats. In this paper, we present a framework by which penetration testing is conducted to highlight possible vulnerabilities within our private Cloud Computing infrastructure, simulate attacks to exploit discovered vulnerabilities such as Denial of Service (DoS) and Man-in-the-Cloud attacks, apply countermeasures to prevent such attacks, and then to exemplify a recommended best practice protection mechanism which will contribute to the Cloud Computing security

Impact of Organizational Culture and Perceived Process Safety in the UAE Oil and Gas Industry

In the last few decades, there had been a lot of accidents in the oil and gas industry throughout the world. This article reports a qualitative study of 30 employees employed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) oil and gas industry. Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) culture is a concept which was studied in many researches. However, this research is set to examine how certain behaviors affect the safety performance in UAE’s oil and gas industry. Four core themes that were drawn from the interviewee discussions of how safety culture, leadership safety behaviors, supervisory safety behaviors, and employee training on safety affect the employee’s performance on safety. The emergent narratives on the safety culture showed that an employee was likely to perceive safety in the organization favorably if s/he believed that his/her role in ensuring process safety was critical. Moreover, results pertaining to supervisory safety culture showed that the safety culture promoted by a supervisor within his/her role often set the standard for his/her subordinates constituted the benchmark against which all his/her subordinates rated their own idea and practice of safety culture. In addition, the findings confirm the important role played by safety leadership, which entails leader-follower interactions where the former influences the achievement of safety goals. Lastly, it was emphasized that safety training stimulated employees with negative or indifferent attitudes towards safety to be more actively engaged in safety matters in the organization

Az ukrán-orosz háború hatásai Egyiptomra

Az Ukrajna ellen jelenleg is zajló orosz invázió átfogó gazdasági és politikai hatással bír Egyiptomra. A következmények különösen kritikusnak bizonyulnak a kulcsfontosságú búzaimport veszélybe kerülése miatt, aminek mintegy 80%-a eddig Oroszországból és Ukrajnából származott. Ráadásul a mind aggasztóbbá váló helyzetben az élelmiszerek világpiaci ára általánosan emelkedett, és 10 éves csúcsértéket ért el. A kedvezőtlen fejlemények emellett további negatív hatást gyakorolnak a COVID-járvány miatt amúgy is súlyosan érintett idegenforgalomra, ami a hiány csökkentését havi 300-400 000 orosz turista visszatérésétől remélte. Ehelyett a költségeket a szektorban növelte, hogy a szállodák több ezer ukrán állampolgárt voltak kénytelenek ingyen elszállásolni a fegyveres konfliktus kirobbanását követően, amíg azok nem tudtak visszarepülni hazájukba vagy egy általuk biztonságosnak tartott harmadik állam területére. A háború hozzájárul a devizatartalékok kimerülésének felgyorsulásához is, a külföldi befektetők pedig óvatossá váltak a feltörekvő piacokkal szemben az ukrajnai válság miatt. Legvégül kényes helyzetbe került a Nyugat és Moszkva között egyensúlyozó, független és konzervatív kairói külpolitika is, ami számára kiemelt fontossággal bír a hazai gazdaság fejlődésének támogatása. Az országnak kiemelt szüksége van új beruházásokra és kölcsönökre, amelyekre vonatkozóan már széleskörű tárgyalások folytak nyugati államokkal az orosz invázió megindulása előtt. Egyiptom ugyanekkor meghatározó együttműködést folytat Oroszországgal is a már említett élelmiszer-import és -export területén, valamint energetikai és katonai ügyekben