4,421 research outputs found
Organisational learning - a critical systems thinking discipline
Original Paper European Journal of Information Systems (2001) 10, 135â146; doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000394 Organisational learningâa critical systems thinking discipline P Panagiotidis1,3 and J S Edwards2,4 1Deloitte and Touche, Athens, Greece 2Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK Correspondence: Dr J S Edwards, Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK. E-mail: [email protected] 3Petros Panagiotidis is Manager responsible for the Process and Systems Integrity Services of Deloitte and Touche in Athens, Greece. He has a BSc in Business Administration and an MSc in Management Information Systems from Western International University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; an MSc in Business Systems Analysis and Design from City University, London, UK; and a PhD degree from Aston University, Birmingham, UK. His doctorate was in Business Systems Analysis and Design. His principal interests now are in the ERP/DSS field, where he serves as project leader and project risk managment leader in the implementation of SAP and JD Edwards/Cognos in various major clients in the telecommunications and manufacturing sectors. In addition, he is responsible for the development and application of knowledge management systems and activity-based costing systems. 4John S Edwards is Senior Lecturer in Operational Research and Systems at Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK. He holds MA and PhD degrees (in mathematics and operational research respectively) from Cambridge University. His principal research interests are in knowledge management and decision support, especially methods and processes for system development. He has written more than 30 research papers on these topics, and two books, Building Knowledge-based Systems and Decision Making with Computers, both published by Pitman. Current research work includes the effect of scale of operations on knowledge management, interfacing expert systems with simulation models, process modelling in law and legal services, and a study of the use of artifical intelligence techniques in management accounting. Top of pageAbstract This paper deals with the application of critical systems thinking in the domain of organisational learning and knowledge management. Its viewpoint is that deep organisational learning only takes place when the business systems' stakeholders reflect on their actions and thus inquire about their purpose(s) in relation to the business system and the other stakeholders they perceive to exist. This is done by reflecting both on the sources of motivation and/or deception that are contained in their purpose, and also on the sources of collective motivation and/or deception that are contained in the business system's purpose. The development of an organisational information system that captures, manages and institutionalises meaningful informationâa knowledge management systemâcannot be separated from organisational learning practices, since it should be the result of these very practices. Although Senge's five disciplines provide a useful starting-point in looking at organisational learning, we argue for a critical systems approach, instead of an uncritical Systems Dynamics one that concentrates only on the organisational learning practices. We proceed to outline a methodology called Business Systems Purpose Analysis (BSPA) that offers a participatory structure for team and organisational learning, upon which the stakeholders can take legitimate action that is based on the force of the better argument. In addition, the organisational learning process in BSPA leads to the development of an intrinsically motivated information organisational system that allows for the institutionalisation of the learning process itself in the form of an organisational knowledge management system. This could be a specific application, or something as wide-ranging as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation. Examples of the use of BSPA in two ERP implementations are presented
Escape from an optoelectronic tweezer trap: experimental results and simulations
Optoelectronic tweezers (OET) are a microsystem actuation technology capable of moving microparticles at mm sâ1 velocities with nN forces. In this work, we analyze the behavior of particles manipulated by negative dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces in an OET trap. A user-friendly computer interface was developed to generate a circular rotating light pattern to control the movement of the particles, allowing their force profiles to be conveniently measured. Three-dimensional simulations were carried out to clarify the experimental results, and the DEP forces acting on the particles were simulated by integrating the Maxwell stress tensor. The simulations matched the experimental results and enabled the determination of a new âhoppingâ mechanism for particle-escape from the trap. As indicated by the simulations, there exists a vertical DEP force at the edge of the light pattern that pushes up particles to a region with a smaller horizontal DEP force. We propose that this phenomenon will be important to consider for the design of OET micromanipulation experiments for a wide range of applications
Theory of the propagation of coupled waves in arbitrarily-inhomogeneous stratified media
We generalize the invariant imbedding theory of the wave propagation and
derive new invariant imbedding equations for the propagation of arbitrary
number of coupled waves of any kind in arbitrarily-inhomogeneous stratified
media, where the wave equations are effectively one-dimensional. By doing this,
we transform the original boundary value problem of coupled second-order
differential equations to an initial value problem of coupled first-order
differential equations, which makes the numerical solution of the coupled wave
equations much easier. Using the invariant imbedding equations, we are able to
calculate the matrix reflection and transmission coefficients and the wave
amplitudes inside the inhomogeneous media exactly and efficiently. We establish
the validity and the usefulness of our results by applying them to the
propagation of circularly-polarized electromagnetic waves in one-dimensional
photonic crystals made of isotropic chiral media. We find that there are three
kinds of bandgaps in these structures and clarify the nature of these bandgaps
by exact calculations.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Europhys. Let
Energy and time resolution for a LYSO matrix prototype of the Mu2e experiment
We have measured the performances of a LYSO crystal matrix prototype tested
with electron and photon beams in the energy range 60450 MeV. This study has
been carried out to determine the achievable energy and time resolutions for
the calorimeter of the Mu2e experiment.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, 13th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detector
Chapter 1: Introducing systems approaches
The five approaches covered in Systems Approaches to Making Change â System Dynamics (SD) Viable Systems Model (VSM), Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA: with cognitive mapping), Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), and Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) â are introduced. The rationale for their inclusion is described based on their (i) common historic emergence in dealing with complex situations of change and uncertainty, (ii) shared potential and actual constructivist use of the systems idea, and (iii) pedigree of adaptability and versatility of tools in working with other approaches to making change
Low temperature laser scanning microscopy of a superconducting radio-frequency cavity
An apparatus was developed to obtain, for the first time, 2D maps of the
surface resistance of the inner surface of an operating superconducting
radio-frequency niobium cavity by a low-temperature laser scanning microscopy
technique. This allows identifying non-uniformities of the surface resistance
with a spatial resolution of about one order of magnitude better than with
earlier methods and surface resistance resolution of ~ 1 micro-Ohm at 3.3 GHz.
A signal-to-noise ratio of about 10 dB was obtained with 240 mW laser power and
1 Hz modulation frequency. The various components of the apparatus, the
experimental procedure and results are discussed in detail in this
contribution.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Rev. Sci. Instru
Polarons as Nucleation Droplets in Non-Degenerate Polymers
We present a study of the nucleation mechanism that allows the decay of the
metastable phase (trans-cisoid) to the stable phase
(cis-transoid) in quasi one-dimensional non-degenerate polymers within the
continuum electron-phonon model. The electron-phonon configurations that lead
to the decay, i.e. the critical droplets (or transition state), are identified
as polarons of the metastable phase. We obtain an estimate for the decay rate
via thermal activation within a range of parameters consistent with
experimental values for the gap of the cis-configuration. It is pointed out
that, upon doping, the activation barriers of the excited states are quite
smaller and the decay rate is greatly enhanced. Typical activation energies for
electron or hole polarons are eV and the typical size for a
critical droplet (polaron) is about . Decay via quantum nucleation is
also studied and it is found that the crossover temperature between quantum
nucleation and thermal activation is of order . Metastable
configurations of non-degenerate polymers may provide examples for mesoscopic
quantum tunneling.Comment: REVTEX 3.0, 28 PAGES, 3 FIGURES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST, PITT 94-0
Absolute Paleointensity Study of Miocene Tiva Canyon Tuff, Yucca Mountain, Nevada: Role of FineâParticle GrainâSize Variations
Fineâgrained, Tiâpoor titanomagnetite in the ~12.7 Ma Tiva Canyon (TC) Tuff systematically increases in grain size from superparamagnetic (SP) at the flow base to single domain (SD) at a few meters height. This allows us to examine the role of grainâsize variation on paleointensity, within the transition from SP to stable SD. We present magnetic properties from two previously unreported sections of the TC Tuff, as well as Thellierâtype paleointensity estimates from the lowermost ~7.0 m of the flow. Magnetic hysteresis, frequencyâdependent susceptibility, and thermomagnetic data show that sample grainâsize distribution is dominated by SP in the lower ~3.6 m, transitioning upwards to mostly stable SD. Paleointensity results are closely tied to stratigraphic height and to magnetic properties linked to domain state. SD samples have consistent absolute paleointensity values of 28.5 ± 1.94 ÎŒT (VADM of 51.3 ZAm2) and behaved ideally during paleointensity experiments. The samples including a significant SP fraction have consistently higher paleointensities and less ideal behavior but would likely pass many traditional qualityâcontrol tests. We interpret the SD remanence to be a primary thermal remanent magnetization but discuss the possibility of a partial thermalâchemical remanent magnetization if microcrystal growth continued at T \u3c Tc and/or the section is affected by postâemplacement vaporâphase alteration. The link between paleointensity and domain state is stronger than correlations with water content or other evidence of alteration and suggests that the presence of a significant SP population may adversely impact paleointensity results, even in the presence of a stable SD fraction
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe, refractory juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) can experience a severe disease course, with progressive destructive polyarthritis refractory to conventional therapy with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs including biologics, as well as life-threatening complications including macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative immunomodulatory strategy for patients with such refractory disease. We treated 16 patients in 5 transplant centers between 2007 and 2016: 11 children with systemic JIA and 5 with rheumatoid factor-negative polyarticular JIA; all were either refractory to standard therapy, had developed secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/MAS poorly responsive to treatment, or had failed autologous HSCT. All children received reduced toxicity fludarabine-based conditioning regimens and serotherapy with alemtuzumab. Fourteen of 16 patients are alive with a median follow-up of 29 months (range, 2.8-96 months). All patients had hematological recovery. Three patients had grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease. The incidence of viral infections after HSCT was high, likely due to the use of alemtuzumab in already heavily immunosuppressed patients. All patients had significant improvement of arthritis, resolution of MAS, and improved quality of life early following allo-HSCT; most importantly, 11 children achieved complete drug-free remission at the last follow-up. Allo-HSCT using alemtuzumab and reduced toxicity conditioning is a promising therapeutic option for patients with JIA refractory to conventional therapy and/or complicated by MAS. Long-term follow-up is required to ascertain whether disease control following HSCT continues indefinitely
Measurement of ISR-FSR interference in the processes e+ e- --> mu+ mu- gamma and e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma
Charge asymmetry in processes e+ e- --> mu+ mu- gamma and e+ e- --> pi+ pi-
gamma is measured using 232 fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector at
center-of-mass energies near 10.58 GeV. An observable is introduced and shown
to be very robust against detector asymmetries while keeping a large
sensitivity to the physical charge asymmetry that results from the interference
between initial and final state radiation. The asymmetry is determined as
afunction of the invariant mass of the final-state tracks from production
threshold to a few GeV/c2. It is compared to the expectation from QED for e+ e-
--> mu+ mu- gamma and from theoretical models for e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma. A
clear interference pattern is observed in e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma, particularly
in the vicinity of the f_2(1270) resonance. The inferred rate of lowest order
FSR production is consistent with the QED expectation for e+ e- --> mu+ mu-
gamma, and is negligibly small for e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma.Comment: 32 pages,29 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
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