Use of computers and applications by senior executives

Purpose: Analyze the relationship between the senior executive and ICT use. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical research through which we propose a framework to establish the main factors that might lead to an increase in ICT use by senior executives. Findings: The main contribution of the present study is the creation of the list of factors that affect the use of computers and applications by senior executives and a smaller group of categories. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this research is that it should be confirmed by means of quantitative research that would allow us to test the validity of the proposed framework, and also to ascertain the relative importance of each factor. Practical implications: Thus reducing the number of factors and forming a smaller group of categories that can facilitate research. Originality/value: The list of factors that affect the use of computers and applications by senior executives and the smaller group of categories.Peer Reviewe

What groups of factors do senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems?

In a highly competitive and turbulent environment, executives need more efficient ways to analyze their companies, markets and competitors. The aim is to help their organizations become more competitive and, as a result, survive the changes taking place around them. Executive Information Systems (EIS) can help executives access the internal and external data they need to be able to make the right decisions and achieve their organizations' objectives. We need to know the factors what senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems because EIS, like any other software, are designed to be used directly by users, in this case, senior executives. The objective of this thesis is to uncover which factors senior executives feel affect their use of EIS, compare the factors they propose to those mentioned in other studies to determine their importance, and group the factors which affect or may affect senior executives. The methodology proposed to group these factors together is Concept Mapping. The structure of this thesis is divided into five main sections after the introduction and the discussion on motivations: the conceptual framework, research methodology, analysis and findings, reflection and discussion, references, and annexes. In the conceptual framework section I define senior executives, EIS and Technology Acceptance Model. The first research question was: Is additional qualitative research needed to find more valuable information about the factors? I can confirm that more qualitative research is necessary to uncover more valuable information about the factors (as presented in section 5.i. above). I extracted 15 factors from the initial interviews and 79 factors from the literature review. However, senior executives rated the 15 initial factors taken from interviews higher than the rest of factors. The second research question was: What groups of factors do senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems? Examining the results of the survey with MDS and cluster analysis, I have presented twelve groups of factors in section 5.ii. The third research question was: How important are these groups of factors for senior executives? I detail the list of clusters ordered by their average ranking in terms of importance and the average score received. The main scientific contribution of this thesis is having completed one small part of research on one of the most tested and studied theories in IT: TAM. This thesis demonstrates the importance that qualitative research has in terms of studying one type of IT and one type of user before carrying out quantitative research. The main methodological contribution is that it is not easy to do research with senior executives, but, as this thesis shows, the Concept Mapping methodology can help facilitate this process. There are other scientific and methodological contributions detailed in the thesis. This is, I believe, my modest contribution to offering senior executives EIS projects which understand them and their needs more and better while also providing researchers new opportunities for research and I would encourage other researchers to study the importance of previous qualitative studies applied to other kinds of users and systems. Another opportunity for research is to use concept maps to develop implementation projects and compare the success of those projects with other projects which didn't use the concept map as a tool to define the project itsel

Business simulators as a lever to improve the incorporation of the SDGs in the decision-making processes of the company

Integrar la sostenibilidad en la empresa no es una tarea simple. Las empresas deben reforzar sus métodos de gestión para garantizar que incorporan en la toma de decisiones los puntos de vista de los stakeholders. Es un esfuerzo que debe realizarse desde todas las áreas de la empresa, lo que hace más compleja la toma de decisiones para los directivos. Las empresas que tienen en cuenta esta perspectiva son susceptibles de realizar greenwashing. En este artículo, argumentamos que el pensamiento sistémico es el mejor marco conceptual disponible para integrar la sostenibilidad en los procesos de toma de decisiones. Los ODS son el lenguaje actual más internacional. En la segunda parte, proponemos la simulación como herramienta clave para entrenarse en la toma de decisiones, integrando el desarrollo sostenible en la estrategia y en el modelo de negocio. El caso del simulador FoodCompany® de CompanyGame sirve de ejemplo.Integrating sustainability into business is not a simple task. Companies must strengthen their management methods to ensure that they incorporate the views of stakeholders in their decision-making. It is an effort that must be made in all areas of the company, which makes decision-making more complex for managers. Companies that take this perspective into account are likely to engage in greenwashing. In this article, we argue that systems thinking is the best conceptual framework available for integrating sustainability into decision-making processes. The SDGs are today's most international language. In the second part, we propose simulation as a key tool for training in decision making, integrating sustainable development into the strategy and business model. The case of the FoodCompany® simulator by CompanyGame serves as an example

Virtual simulation of the biomechanics of the abdominal wall with different stoma locations

Biomedical engineering; Gastrointestinal diseases; Mathematics and computingIngeniería Biomédica; Enfermedades gastrointestinales; Matemáticas e InformáticaEnginyeria Biomèdica; Malalties gastrointestinals; Matemàtiques i informàticaAn ostomy is a surgical procedure by which an artificial opening in the abdominal wall, known as a stoma, is created. We assess the effects of stoma location on the abdominal wall mechanics. We perform three-dimensional finite element simulations on an anatomy model which was generated on the basis of medical images. Our simulation methodology is entirely based on open source software. We consider seventeen different locations for the stoma incision (trephine) and we simulate the mechanical response of the abdominal wall when an intraabdominal pressure as high as 20 kPa is applied. We focus on factors related to the risk of parastomal hernia development such as the deformation experienced by the abdominal wall, the stress levels supported by its tissues and the corresponding level of trephine enlargement. No significant dependence was found between stoma location and the levels of abdominal wall deformations or stress supported by tissues, except for the case with a stoma located on the linea alba. Trephine perimeter and area respectively increased by as much as 44% and 85%. The level of trephine deformation depends on stoma location with considerably higher trephine enlargements found in stomas laterally located with respect to the rectus abdominis muscle.Financial support for the current research was granted by Universitat Rovira i Virgili, project number 2018PFR-URV-B2-29

Comparing walking with knee-ankle-foot orthoses and a knee-powered exoskeleton after spinal cord injury: a randomized, crossover clinical trial

Recovering the ability to stand and walk independently can have numerous health benefits for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Wearable exoskeletons are being considered as a promising alternative to conventional knee-ankle-foot orthoses (KAFOs) for gait training and assisting functional mobility. However, comparisons between these two types of devices in terms of gait biomechanics and energetics have been limited. Through a randomized, crossover clinical trial, this study compared the use of a knee-powered lower limb exoskeleton (the ABLE Exoskeleton) against passive orthoses, which are the current standard of care for verticalization and gait ambulation outside the clinical setting in people with SCI. Ten patients with SCI completed a 10-session gait training program with each device followed by user satisfaction questionnaires. Walking with the ABLE Exoskeleton improved gait kinematics compared to the KAFOs, providing a more physiological gait pattern with less compensatory movements (38% reduction of circumduction, 25% increase of step length, 29% improvement in weight shifting). However, participants did not exhibit significantly better results in walking performance for the standard clinical tests (Timed Up and Go, 10-m Walk Test, and 6-min Walk Test), nor significant reductions in energy consumption. These results suggest that providing powered assistance only on the knee joints is not enough to significantly reduce the energy consumption required by people with SCI to walk compared to passive orthoses. Active assistance on the hip or ankle joints seems necessary to achieve this outcome.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Inertial sensors for gait monitoring and design of adaptive controllers for exoskeletons after stroke: a feasibility study

Introduction: Tuning the control parameters is one of the main challenges in robotic gait therapy. Control strategies that vary the control parameters based on the user’s performance are still scarce and do not exploit the potential of using spatiotemporal metrics. The goal of this study was to validate the feasibility of using shank-worn Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) for clinical gait analysis after stroke and evaluate their preliminary applicability in designing an automatic and adaptive controller for a knee exoskeleton (ABLE-KS). Methods: First, we estimated the temporal (i.e., stride time, stance, and swing duration) and spatial (i.e., stride length, maximum vertical displacement, foot clearance, and circumduction) metrics in six post-stroke participants while walking on a treadmill and overground and compared these estimates with data from an optical motion tracking system. Next, we analyzed the relationships between the IMU-estimated metrics and an exoskeleton control parameter related to the peak knee flexion torque. Finally, we trained two machine learning algorithms, i.e., linear regression and neural network, to model the relationship between the exoskeleton torque and maximum vertical displacement, which was the metric that showed the strongest correlations with the data from the optical system [r = 0.84; ICC(A,1) = 0.73; ICC(C,1) = 0.81] and peak knee flexion torque (r = 0.957). Results: Offline validation of both neural network and linear regression models showed good predictions (R2 = 0.70–0.80; MAE = 0.48–0.58 Nm) of the peak torque based on the maximum vertical displacement metric for the participants with better gait function, i.e., gait speed > 0.7 m/s. For the participants with worse gait function, both models failed to provide good predictions (R2 = 0.00–0.19; MAE = 1.15–1.29 Nm) of the peak torque despite having a moderate-to-strong correlation between the spatiotemporal metric and control parameter. Discussion: Our preliminary results indicate that the stride-by-stride estimations of shank-worn IMUs show potential to design automatic and adaptive exoskeleton control strategies for people with moderate impairments in gait function due to stroke.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version