The Network Concepts Class: A Case Study in Developing A New Curriculum Model

The Computer Information Systems (CIS) program at the University of Southern Colorado (U.S.C.) is designed to prepare its graduates to function in a wide variety of roles within the information systems (I.S.) domain. The faculty, students, and employers feel that preparation for any foreseeable entry-level position a graduate is likely to encounter is of utmost importance in the design and development of the curriculum. This paper reports on the efforts undertaken while, and the outcomes achieved from, addressing an employer-identified problem with our network concepts class. The next section discusses the motivation for undertaking the development of a new model. Succeeding sections relate a description of the process used to develop and implement the new model, identified benefits from implementing it, and future suggestions for refinement and to others considering adopting the model

Shades of Grey: guidelines for working with the grey literature in systematic reviews for management and organizational studies

This paper suggests how the ‘grey literature’, the diverse and heterogeneous body of material that is made public outside, and not subject to, traditional academic peer-review processes, can be used to increase the relevance and impact of management and organization studies (MOS). The authors clarify the possibilities by reviewing 140 systematic reviews published in academic and practitioner outlets to answer the following three questions: (i) Why is grey literature excluded from/included in systematic reviews in MOS? (ii) What types of grey material have been included in systematic reviews since guidelines for practice were first established in this discipline? (iii) How is the grey literature treated currently to advance management and organization scholarship and knowledge? This investigation updates previous guidelines for more inclusive systematic reviews that respond to criticisms of current review practices and the needs of evidence-based management

A Comparative Analysis of Advertising Agencies and Commercial Printing Companies to Determine the Relationship Between Employee Education Level and Implementation of Participative Decision Making

The subject of investigation for this study involves a segment of human relations. An understanding of the entire field of human relations is essential for justification of the finding which relate to the particular segment. The area of human relations of concern in this study involves a theory often called “participative decision making.” It is the theory which is dependent upon other closely related areas. Motivation, satisfaction and other factors which are prevalent in personal fulfillment are important things to consider in relation to the theory. Because of interdependence, one must relate research concerning participative decision making to other areas of human relations which have been explored by behavioral scientists. Communication is one means which individuals often use for personal fulfillment of psychological needs. A situation structured by organization allows management to communicate with subordinates. Subordinates, however, frequently find it difficult to communicate effectively with superiors. Human wants and needs are difficult to satisfy when communication barriers exist. This basic problems arise when upward flow of information is restricted. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that management become aware of the psychological factors which determine all human activities

Resolving the Ripples (and a Mine): High-Resolution Multibeam Survey of Martha\u27s Vineyard ONR Mine Burial Program Field Area

In an effort to better understand the coastal processes responsible for the burial and exposure of small objects on the seafloor, the Office of Naval Research is sponsoring the Mine Burial Program. Among the field areas chosen for this program is the site of the Martha\u27s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), a permanent instrumented node in 12 m of water about 500 m off the southern shore of Martha?s Vineyard. In support of the ONR program, several site surveys of the MVCO area have been conducted (see Goff et al); here we report the result of the most recent of these surveys, a very high-resolution multibeam survey aimed at establishing a detailed base map for the region and providing a baseline from which subsequent surveys can measure seafloor change In late July we conducted a five day survey of an approximately 3 x 5 km area surrounding the MVCO node using a Reson 8125 focused multibeam sonar aboard the SAIC survey vessel Ocean Explorer. The 8125 is a newly developed multibeam sonar that operates at 455 kHz and uses dynamic focusing to compensate for the curvature of the wavefront in the near-field. By using a relatively long array, the system can achieve very high spatial resolution (0.5 degree beam width) and with the dynamic focusing, can operate in the near field. The real constraint on resolution using this system is the ability to position the soundings and thus three kinematic DGPS base stations were established on Martha?s Vineyard and three kinematic receivers were used on the survey vessel. The kinematic GPS positioning is also critical to the ability to do repeat surveys with an accuracy high enough to resolve small (less than 10 cm) seafloor changes. Also to aid in our ability to accurately position repeat surveys, divers jetted sonar reflectors into the seafloor to act as fiducials. A super high-resolution (4 m overlap) survey was conducted in a small area surrounding the MVCO node and mine burial sites, a slightly lower resolution survey (12 to 25 m overlap) in a box approximately 1 x 1 km surrounding the ?target box? and a lower resolution survey (25 to 40 m line overlap) in a 3 x 5 km region surrounding the 1 x 1 km box. The Reson 8125 produced approximately 1 gigabyte of data per hour. The bathymetric resolution we were able to achieve was beyond our expectations. The node site and all diver-emplaced reflectors were clearly identified Most amazingly, we are able to resolve fields of individual ripples that are less than 2 cm height. Of particular relevance to the mine burial program was our ability to resolve an instrumented mine that had been deployed earlier by NRL. This mine is buried in a scour depression and is only a few centimeters proud above the base of the depression

Expert/Novice Differences in IS Project Management Decision Making

Prior research in IS project manager decision making used students as surrogates for project managers and manipulated sunk cost and alternatives to examine their influence on project management decisions (Keil and Mixon 1994; Keil, Truex, and Mixon 1995). The research design for this project uses working project managers as experimental subjects, rather than the student subjects used by Keil, Truex, and Mixon (1995). Keil, Truex, and Mixon’s subjects were students who assumed the role of IS project managers. In the design used here, working IS project managers served as subjects in order to ascertain if actual practitioners react differently to the experimental manipulations

A Proposal for Adaptive Software Development Using Elastic Features

When software development projects fall behind schedule decisions must be made as to the tactics to bring the project back on schedule. This paper proposes a technique to categorize and group features for a project so that, rather than adjust resources or short cut phases of the development process, features are adjusted to keep the project on schedule. The project has flexibility based on the amount of work (the features) rather than the number of resources or the schedule. The feature categories are spread across iterations within the project, leading to a fine grained adjustment of the project’s progress in relation to schedul

An Instrument to Assess Client-Server Architecture in an Organizational Setting

This study reports the final results of a delphi panel procedure used to develop an instrument to assess the client-server system architecture in an organization. At present there is no formal instrument that allows an information systems manager to assess an existing CSS architecture. A delphi panel was used to develop a formal instrument for CSS assessment

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blotting comparisons of purified myofibrils and whole muscle preparations for evaluating titin and nebulin in postmortem bovine muscle

Purified myofibril (MF) and homogenized whole muscle (WM) samples were prepared from A maturity market steers. Samples were removed at 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 d postmortem. The MF and WM samples from all steers were analyzed by SDS-PAGE (5% gels) and by Western blot analysis using monoclonal antibodies to titin and nebulin. The rates of degradation of the intact forms of titin and nebulin, with regard to differences dependent on sample type (MF vs WM), were examined. The results showed that there was very little difference in the rate of postmortem degradation of the intact form of titin or of intact nebulin with respect to the two types of samples examined. Analysis of MF and WM preparations revealed that titin and nebulin were progressively degraded, each at its own rate, with nebulin degrading faster, as postmortem storage time increased. Examination of MF and WM samples showed that the intact form of titin (T1) was absent at the same time postmortem in both sample types. Intact nebulin was not detected in MF and WM preparations at the same time postmortem with respect to sample type examined. Our results indicate that either purified MF or WM samples can be used satisfactorily to analyze the rate of degradation of the intact forms of both titin and nebulin

Can Attention Focus Instructions Reduce the Effects of Fatigue on Balance Control?

Localized muscular fatigue has been identified to have detrimental effects on balance control, an important skill for everyday life. Manipulation of attention focus instructions has been shown to benefit performance of various motor skills including balance and has been found to facilitate endurance during fatiguing tasks. The purpose of this thesis was to determine if the use of attention focus instructions could attenuate the effects of muscular fatigue on balance control. Twenty-four participants performed a balance task (two-legged stance on an unstable platform) before and after a fatigue protocol. Trunk sway, platform excursions, and lower limb muscle activity was measured. Results suggest that use of either internal or external attention focus instructions can reduce the immediate effects of muscular fatigue of the lower limb on balance control as shown through reduced trunk sway and platform excursions. These results have relevance for individuals performing balance tasks in a fatigued state