Repository Evaluation of Software Reuse: An Empirical Study

The traditional unit of analysis and control for software managers is the software project, and subsequently the resulting application system. Today, with the emerging capabilities of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) and corresponding changes in the development process, productivity gains can be realized by reusing portions of the organization's inventory of existing application designs and code. With this opportunity, however, comes the need to monitor software reuse at the corporate level, as well as at the level of the individual software development project. Integrated CASE environments can support such monitoring. We illustrate the use and benefits of repository evaluation of software reuse through an analysis of the evolving repositories of two large firms that recently implemented integrated CASE development tools. The analysis shows that these tools have supported high levels of software reuse, but it also suggests that there remains considerable unexploited reuse potential. Our findings indicate that organizational changes will be required before the full potential of the new technology can be realized.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Profitability, productivity and price recovery patterns in the U.S. telecommunications industry

We undertake a study where we examine changes in the profitability, productivity and price recovery of firms in the U.S. telecommunications industry over a sixteen-year period. We assess the performance of thirty-three major companies in the local-exchange sector over six time periods 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1990, using a performance analysis model which disaggregates the profitability measure into two components: productivity and price recovery. We demonstrate the computation of performance using this technique. Our study indicates that the opening up of markets has had a significant impact on different dimensions of performance in the telecommunications industry, also validating a number of theoretical assumptions about the impact that industry changes are expected to have on firms.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43575/1/11151_2004_Article_BF00163594.pd

Estimating Effectiveness of the Control of Violence and Socioeconomic Development in Colombia: An Application of Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis and Data Panel Approach

This paper develops an index to evaluate the level of effectiveness of the control of violence based on the data envelopment analysis approach. The index is used to examine the grade of effectiveness of the control of violence at the level of Colombian departments between 1993 and 2007. Comparing the results across Colombian departments, we find that the majority of departments show improvement in their scores of effectiveness. A second stage of the regression model reveals that departments with a higher gross domestic product and higher education and employment are more effective in the control of violence, whereas departments with higher political violence, unemployment rates, unsatisfied basic needs, a displaced population, and hectares cultivated with coca show lower effectiveness in the control of violence. All these findings are of particular interest in the formulation and development of policies against violence, taking into account that organised forms of violence, such as drug trafficking, impede the adequate effectiveness of its control. Moreover, violence decreases social investments, generating alterations in social services that produce long-run deterioration in faith in the government’s ability to govern, which should become an incentive to further violence

Analysis of efficiency and profitability of franchise services

The present study analyses the relative efficiency of franchise services and characterises the best companies, confirming the relationship between efficiency and profit. These companies are from the trade and other services sector , the main group of service-providing companies in the Spanish economy. The methodology calls for first comparing the relative efficiency of franchisers and ownership enterprises. Second, the focus turns to the most efficient franchise services, using a super-efficiency model to rank them. The paper then goes on to cover the analysis of the main characteristics of the best franchise enterprises, the number of own establishments in a franchise business and the profitability of the company. This paper presents arguments as to why companies from the trade and other services sector are included. The main conclusion is that, whilst the number of establishments is irrelevant in achieving greater efficiency, many of the most efficient enterprises have high returns.García Martin, CJ.; Medal Bartual, A.; Peris-Ortiz, M. (2014). Analysis of efficiency and profitability of franchise services. Service Industries Journal. 34(9):796-810. doi:10.1080/02642069.2014.905921S79681034

A VALUE PLATFORM ANALYSIS PERSPECTIVE ON CUSTOMER ACCESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Customer access information technologies (CAITs) provide a link between a firm and its customers. Firms invest in CAITs to reduce costs, increase revenues and market share, lock in existing customers and capture new ones. These benefits, however, are notoriously difficult to measure. This paper proposes an evaluative method for CAlT deployment called value platform analysis, that is based on a conceptual model drawn from the theory of retail outlet deployment in marketing science. The model focuses on the impact of CAIT features and environmental features on transactions generated by the CAIT. Specific econometric models are developed for deployment. Hypotheses regarding the likely impact of automated teller machine (ATM) location design choices and environmental features on ATM transactions are evaluated. The results indicate that there are a number of key features influencing ATM performance. Two distinct ATM deployment scenarios emerge: one for servicing a bank's own customers, and another for providing transaction services for customers for a fee.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

The Influence of a Firms\u27 Business Strategy on the Downside Risk of Earnings, Accruals and Cash Flow

This study examines whether a firm\u27s business strategy is an underlying determinant of downside risk in accounting earnings and its components. Based on organizational theory we predict that firms following an innovative prospector strategy exhibit lower profitability tendencies than firms following a cost-oriented defender strategy. Further, we anticipate that these strategies are asymmetrically positioned towards environmental uncertainty, with defenders focusing their efforts to efficiency, cost control, and minimizing exposure to downside risk, whereas prospectors direct their resources to flexibility, innovation, and maximizing the growth potential through aggressive expansion to new product markets. We find that prospectors are indeed less profitable than defenders. We also demonstrate that prospectors have greater total and downside earnings risk. Finally, we decompose earnings into accruals and cash flow and show that the higher exposure of prospectors to earnings downside risk is driven by the cash flow component rather than the accrual component. Collectively, our results suggest that considering how strategy interacts with financial reporting attributes is a useful way for evaluating a firms\u27 risk profile

Substrate Micropatterning as a New in Vitro Cell Culture System to Study Myelination

Artículo de publicación ISIMyelination is a highly regulated developmental process whereby oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system ensheathe axons with a multilayered concentric membrane. Axonal myelination increases the velocity of nerve impulse propagation. In this work, we present a novel in vitro system for coculturing primary dorsal root ganglia neurons along with myelinating cells on a highly restrictive and micropatterned substrate. In this new coculture system, neurons survive for several weeks, extending long axons on defined Matrigel tracks. On these axons, myelinating cells can achieve robust myelination, as demonstrated by the distribution of compact myelin and nodal markers. Under these conditions, neurites and associated myelinating cells are easily accessible for studies on the mechanisms of myelin formation and on the effects of axonal damage on the myelin sheath.Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) RMF-7028 FONDECYT 1080252 CIHR Ministry of Industry of Canada Rio Tinto Alcan Molson Foundatio