The Value Of Partnership In Offshoring

Partnership or strategic partnership is a label attributed to client-vendor relationships characterized as highly involved. This high involvement or collaboration is considered a partnership quality. This study uses the social exchange theory to examine the relationship between clients and vendors as partners in offshoring. Social exchange theory requires that as members of an exchange relationship receive benefit, they must return an equivalent amount of benefit to maintain relationship equilibrium (Homans, 1958). Trust is an important element in exchange relationships because it helpsto ensure equilibrium.  Management of theclient-vendor relationship is critical for the success of the IT offshoring arrangement

Managing Household Pests the Old-Fashioned Way: Defenses Against Pest Damage in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Housekeeping during the eighteenth and nine-teenth centuries required protecting valuable home furnishings and furniture from damage by household pests without modern insecti-cides. Housewives and housekeepers from long ago used preventive methods, some of them similar to modern museum pest management. This paper reviews the methods housewives used and discusses their effectiveness in light of what is known today about museum pest management. It suggests that many historic methods were very effective. Résumé Au cours des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, prendre soin d'une maison signifiait protéger le mobilier et les articles d'ameublement précieux contre les dommages que pouvaient causer les ravageurs, sans l'aide des insecticides modernes. Autrefois, les maîtresses de maisons et les domestiques recouraient à des méthodes préventives, dont certaines ne sont pas sans rappeler les usages modernes dans les musées. Cet article passe en revue les méthodes employées par ces ménagères et en examine l'efficacité à la lumière de ce qu 'on sait aujourd'hui de la lutte antiparasitaire dans les musées. Il laisse supposer que bon nombre de méthodes historiques s'avéraient très efficaces

Strategies for Shipping Temperature-Sensitive Medical Devices Using Cognitive Mapping

Supply chain management (SCM) practitioners who ship temperature-sensitive diagnostic medical devices (DMDs) to clinicians must use effective cold chain management (CCM) strategies to avoid temperature excursions that contribute to medical device errors. Such errors have caused patient harm and death, which costs the U.S. health care system billions of dollars per year. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies for selecting and managing cold chain shipping solutions (CCSSs) requiring SCM executives to trade cost for regulatory compliance and predictability when mitigating temperature variations that occur during shipping. The conceptual framework for the study was the 6-change approaches, and its underpinnings that framed the exploration into the strategies some medical device executives use for shipping temperature-sensitive DMD tests and controls. Data were collected from in-depth interviews, field notes, and existing literature. The target population was 3 SCM executives working in California, New Jersey, and Ireland with at least 5 years of CCM experience in the medical device industry. A purposive sampling procedure guided the selection of participants for in-depth interviews. The data analysis included pattern matching techniques, central analysis, and collapse analysis. The results of this study indicated 3 successful strategies: validation of CCSSs, compliant shipping of DMDs, and CCM best practices. The study was socially significant because the findings may prevent medical device failures that have caused U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalls and patient harm

Revisiting Client/Server Computing

The role of the Information Technology department is changing as it continues to mature and adapt to changes in technology, much of that change dealing with its interaction with corporate end-users. IT departments must continue to move in a more user friendly direction or they are going to encounter serious political problems with top management. The increased interest in cloud computing, green computing, and in outsourcing are further indicators of the problems that IT departments are currently facing.   Information Technology departments must approach client/server with a clear view of the lasting business benefits that it can bring rather than opposing or resisting the migratio

In Search of the Primary Suppliers of IS Research: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?

The purpose of this study was to determine the leading IS researchers and the universities that supply them. We reviewed publications from the seven leading IS journals (CAIS, DSS, Information & Management, ISR, JAIS, JMIS, and MIS Quarterly) during calendar years 2001 to 2005. During that time, 2,401 authors contributed toward 1,486 published articles. We believe our findings to be valuable to the field of IS research by providing a means for assessing research productivity within the IS field

The Challenge Of Botsourcing

Botsourcing is the augmentation or replacement of human jobs by robots or other computing systems.  This practice is growing in popularity for reasons both economic and technical.  Botsourcing will seriously challenge the human workforce, and in some cases humans will find themselves working alongside robots or other “intelligent’ computer systems.  In other cases, botsourcing will eliminate jobs and will force impacted humans to retrain.  This paper discusses the nature and appeal of botsourcing, as well as the challenge to human employment

Improving The Operational Environment Thru Internet Utilization

This study demonstrates how an Internet based network of railroad information resources can provide a dynamic, cost effective resource to help management improve their operational environment. The informational and knowledge sources needed to support the interoperability and integration of rail networks and their employees are increasingly available via the Internet.  Public resources on the Internet primarily support the distribution of industry publications, notice and proceedings of industry conferences and meetings, communications about legal and legislative issues, and advertisements.  Private resources on the Internet support reservation and scheduling of rail equipment, tendering shipment information, tracking equipment movements, and verifying billing information.  Much of the private information is incorporated into the knowledge management systems developed by individual railroads.  The study provides a proposed stratification of these resources into seven categories: Research and Statistical Resources, Newsletters and Press Releases, Industry Initiatives, Legislative Information, Industry Publications, Professional Associations, and Educational Resources. 

Current State of Information Security Research In IS

The importance of information security in a pervasive networked environment is undeniable, yet there is a lack of research in this area. In this study we conduct a comprehensive survey of the information security articles published in leading IS journals. We then compared the research themes with those of the IBM Information Security Capability Reference Model

The Importance Of Gender And Facial Information Science On Information Systems Design

Facial Information Science is becoming a discipline in its own right, attracting not only computer scientists, but graphic animators and psychologists, all of whom require knowledge to understand how people make and interpret facial expressions. (Zeng, 2009). Computer advancements enhance the ability of researchers to study facial expression. Digitized computer-displayed faces can now be used in studies. Current advancements are facilitating not only the researcher’s ability to accurately display information, but recording the subject’s reaction automatically.   With increasing interest in Artificial Intelligence and man-machine communications, what importance does the gender of the user play in the design of today’s multi-million dollar applications? Does research suggest that men and women respond to the “gender” of computer displayed images differently? Can this knowledge be used effectively to design applications specifically for use by men or women? This research is an attempt to understand these questions while studying whether automatic, or pre-attentive, processing plays a part in the identification of the facial expressions