Research and Applications of the Processes of Performance Appraisal: A Bibliography of Recent Literature, 1981-1989

[Excerpt] There have been several recent reviews of different subtopics within the general performance appraisal literature. The reader of these reviews will find, however, that the accompanying citations may be of limited utility for one or more reasons. For example, the reference sections of these reviews are usually composed of citations which support a specific theory or practical approach to the evaluation of human performance. Consequently, the citation lists for these reviews are, as they must be, highly selective and do not include works that may have only a peripheral relationship to a given reviewer\u27s target concerns. Another problem is that the citations are out of date. That is, review articles frequently contain many citations that are fifteen or more years old. The generation of new studies and knowledge in this field occurs very rapidly. This creates a need for additional reference information solely devoted to identifying the wealth of new research, ideas, and writing that is changing the field

Determining the Value of Knowledge Management: A South African Perspective

Beyond critique of current maturity models, the research literature has neglected to supply empirical evidence of the value Knowledge Management (KM) holds for organizations. Specifically, not much is known regarding KM in developing economies. The majority of studies, in common with other emergent business philosophies, are for the most part focused on large organizations of developed economies, where readily available implementation resources are an underlying assumption. This paper will address this issue and assess the correlation between KM Maturity as a measure of successful institutionalization of KM and Organizational Performance (OP) in a developing economy. From a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programs with industry, the authors have gained insight into KM Maturity and Organizational Performance (OP) of three industry groups, over a five-year period. Findings supported the hypothesis that companies reporting higher OP also recorded higher KM Maturity and vice versa. In comparison to peer organizations within their respective industries, findings indicate that there are conditions were companies that achieved higher OP scores recorded lower KM Maturity scores and vice versa. Apart from speculating which industry factors skewed performance figures, statistical analysis could not clarify why the correlation between growth in KM Maturity and growth in OP is not easily noticeable and/or non-existent. Due to the South African scenario being considered a benchmark for developing economies characterized by continued change, diversity and even elements of silent intolerance and conflict, this study may therefore be viewed as a “pilot study” to provide a baseline and insight into future research of KM for enabling OP

Feedback Channels: Using Social Presence Theory to Compare Voice Mail to E-mail

This study compared the effects of using voice mail files sent as electronic mail (e-mail) attachments versus text-based e-mail to provide student feedback. Social Presence Theory (SPT) was used as the theoretical framework for assessing the two modes of delivering feedback. SPT would predict that voice mail would be perceived as higher than e-mail in terms of social presence. In accordance with SPT, the results indicate that voice mail was perceived to have significantly higher social presence than text-based e-mail. Both e-mail and voice mail were perceived as capable of providing a reasonably high quality of feedback. The results of this study indicate that students in the voice mail group appreciated the higher social presence of the medium, whereas students in the e-mail group appreciated receiving the text-based feedback because it could be printed and then later accessed and referenced in a non-sequential manner

Technical Projects: Understanding Teamwork Satisfaction In an Introductory IS Course

Information Systems (IS) projects are increasingly staffed by cross-functional teams working together to solve complex tasks. To better prepare students for this business reality, higher education institutions need to integrate team projects within their courses. Despite good intentions, these team projects do not always have the desired outcomes. Often times, the resulting product does not necessarily benefit from the contributions of all team members, and students express frustration when having to work with other team members. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, we examined factors that might influence teamwork satisfaction on a group database project in an undergraduate IS course. The top three factors found to enhance perceptions of teamwork satisfaction were team spirit, work ethic, and equal team member contributions. The top three factors that serve as barriers to teamwork satisfaction were lack of participation in teams, inadequate technical skills, and poor communication among team members. The quantitative analysis confirmed findings that students in high-collaboration teams were more satisfied than students in low-collaboration teams. Recommendations on structuring satisfying team experiences for students are provided

Assessment of Knowledge Management’s Growth in South Africa

This article revisits a debate surrounding Knowledge Management (KM) to report on an empirical study conducted in 86 South African based organizations, specifically regarding growth in KM maturity over a five year period. The findings indicate that KM is fairly well institutionalized in South African industry, with most organizations indicating that significant growth occurred in KM over the past five years. Analysis of the growth in KM maturity, as it relates to different organizational sizes, reveals that there are statistical differences between the score reported by Small, Medium, Large and Extra-Large organizations. Similarly, scores reported by Senior, Middle and Operational personnel differ primarily between the scores decided upon by Operational personnel and Senior managers. Viewed holistically, findings suggest that there could be a “break-even point” between resources available and KM growth with Extra-Large organizations given their advantage in KM growth. Findings also indicated that growth in KM differs between industry groupings, with Construction, Building Materials and Mining companies achieving high growth (+/- 70%), Consumer Goods and Utilities (+/- 60%), Banks and Insurance, Automotive and Transport, Government and ICT companies, moderate growth (+/- 50%), and Educational institutions, low growth (+/- 40%)

Developing And Delivering The Virtual MBA Course

The use of the Internet offers a unique opportunity to bring together individuals in an interactive setting for social and educational purposes. Colleges and universities have augmented their brick and mortar classes with virtual course offerings using the Internet for distance education. This paper will examine the origins of distance education and offer insights and recommendations for developing and delivering an on-line MBA course in Privacy and Information Security

Gas Chromortographic Analyses of Biocrude-Producing Trees

Gas chromotographic procedures were used to compare commercial diesel fuel with cyclohexane, ether, and methanol extracts from various tree species. Standard n-paraffin hydrocarbons ranging from C-10 thru C-34 were used as standards. These analyses indicated that several extracts, notably those from Juniper virginiana (juniper) and Pinus echinata (pine) trees of Northeast Arkansas and the Brazilian tree Copaifera langsdorffii (copaiba), contain numerous hydrocarbon and selected chemical products which serve as potential renewable biocrude sources

Project Management Courses in IS Graduate Programs: What is Being Taught?

The most recent model curriculum for graduate information systems programs includes a project management course, which contains a balance of technical and managerially related skills. Prior research has shown that adoption of this project management course among information systems graduate programs is not extensive. This study compares the topical coverage of the courses that are being offered against the Project Management lnstitute\u27s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Georgia State University\u27s Computer Information Systems graduate project management course in information technology. A web-based survey of 206 institutions with graduate information systems programs was conducted; 103 responded and 78 indicated that they had a project management course with 41 instructors completing the questionnaire (53% response rate). Data collected from the survey were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. With respect to the topics of project management found in the PMBOK, information systems programs are covering hard skills such as project scope and cost management to a large extent and giving less emphasis to soft skills such as human resource and project communications management. Also, procurement management is only covered to a very small extent. Similarly, information systems programs matched well with the benchmark course at Georgia State University in the extent of coverage for hard skills such as work breakdown, estimation, and project networks, but their coverage of areas such as project chartering and dealing with vendors and suppliers was considerably lower

Task Structure and the Propensity to Collaborate vs. Cooperate

Researchers have long studied the group dynamics of teams with the goal of making teams more effective. This study looks at the task structure to determine if groups are more likely to collaborate or cooperate to successfully complete a project. Initial findings indicate that the higher the structure of a project the more likely teams will gravitate to cooperation while the less structured the project the more likely teams are to work collaboratively. Initial findings indicate that the determination of the “structuredness” of a project is a subjective rather than objective assessment

Panel: A New Global Process for Revising and Maintaining the Undergraduate IS Model Curriculum

The panel will provide an overview and an analysis of the ongoing joint ACM/AIS IS undergraduate model curriculum revision project, which is proposing significant changes to both curriculum content and structure and the process that is used to develop and maintain IS model curricula. The panel members represent universities in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and thus, the panel creates an excellent opportunity for an in-depth discussion regarding the regional differences in perspectives to curriculum development and the feasibility of a truly global IS model curriculum. The panel is structured to encourage active audience participation, and one of its purposes is to solicit feedback that will used to guide the curriculum development effort