Web-based information systems development and dynamic organisational change: the need for emergent development tools

This paper considers contextual issues relating to the problem of developing web-based information systems in and for emergent organisations. It postulates that the methods available suffer because of sudden and unexpected changing characteristics within the organisation. The Theory of Deferred Action is used as the basis for the development of an emergent development tool. Many tools for managing change in a continuously changing organisation are susceptible to inadequacy. The insights proposed are believed to assist designers in developing functional and relevant approaches within dynamic organisational contexts

Developing web-based information systems for emergent organisations through the theory of deferred action: Insights from higher education action research

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This investigation follows a philosophically interpretive approach on how the web developer developed Web-based Information Systems (WBIS) in a continuously changing higher education organisation. The investigation focused on emergence within the organisation and the resultant problems this gives the web developer in developing WBIS. The web developer used an action research methodology to investigate the emergent higher education organisation and its need for web-based aesthetics & internet speed. This approach was designed by the action researcher to assist both the web developer and manager in developing WBIS within emergent organisations. It is also designed to address a number of major constraining factors placed on the web developer. These included: time constraint, web-based aesthetics, internet speed, emergent aspects, methodology issues and accommodating planned organisational change. The interpretation of these constraining factors gained through the theory of deferred action enabled the action researcher to understand, interpret and create associations to explain the WBIS development process. The web developer had to defer the design process at several points because of unexpected events occurring in the organisation and take deferred action. As a result the Kadar Matrix was created and used by the web developer to manage the constraining factors. The Kadar Matrix has extended the theory of deferred action (ToDA) by implementing its constructs in the analytical tool, Kadar Matrix, for WBIS development. This is a modification of theory for practice. The research further identified that deferred action is necessary for the web developer in emergent organisations

The effects of the processing parameters on the laser machining of a green china ceramic

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of the cut, the thickness of the heat-affected zone, and the amount of dross produced by laser cutting green china ceramics;This study seeks an alternative method to cut greenware, which will reduce the high rate of defect found in conventional punching and trimming. The study was centered on laser cutting and in any machining process the surface properties of the material were considered. This study provides the processing parameters relating to one type of china greenware, but the information gathered will be important in the development of any new laser cutting process for green china ceramic;The independent variables that were manipulated in this experiment were: moisture content of the greenware, feed rate at which samples are cut, and power of the laser beam. Specimens were laser cut at high, medium, and low levels of each of the independent variables. The investigation was concerned with the effect(s) the independent variations may have on the following dependent variables: quality of cut measured in micro inch, thickness of the heat-affected zone measured in thousandths of an inch, and weight of dross measured in thousandths of a gram;Statistical analyses were performed on the sets of data obtained after laser cutting. Greatest attention was given to qualifying and quantifying the effects and any relationship with respect to the quality of cut, the thickness of the heat-affected zone, and the amount of dross produced;The results of this study indicated that the higher the moisture content the better the quality of cut. Low feed rate and/or high power causes the widest heat-affected zone. The higher the power the greater the weight of dross

Differences Between the Early Stages of the Unemployment Rates: The Great Recession vs. the Great Depression

We test for differences between the Great Recession and the Great Depression in the US, using unemployment rates. The test used is ANOVA. The hypothesis advanced is that the early phases of the recession and depression are non-different. At first we reject the hypothesis. But by incorporating government involvement for the two periods, we obtain moderate arguments for the acceptance of the hypothesis. The paper starts out with background ideas of the two periods, then proceeds to the testing based on actual data, deviation of actual from normal or NAIRU rates, and adjusted data for government capital injection and subsidies

The Journal Editorial Cycle and Practices

The authors summarize the general editorial practices discussed throughout the rest of the book

Assessing administrators' perceptions and practice of supportive supervision

viii, 76 leaves ; 29 cmRecently there has been much interest in defining effective practice for principals, and, in particular, the role of the principal in encouraging and supporting growth in teachers. In this project I have employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to explore the concept of supportive supervisory practices from the perspective of administrators. Specifically, the administrators I chose for inclusion in this study were those that were identified by their colleagues and supervisors as having made a positive impact on the growth and development of teachers under their supervision. Through interviews with five administrators representing a couple of rural school divisions in Alberta I have explored how effective administrators view the practice of supervision. During these interviews I asked administrators specific questions to determine how significant a role they thought teacher supervision played in their administrative duties. Further, I encouraged administrators to elaborate on what strategies and structures they found the most conducive to encouraging and supporting teacher growth. Based on their responses, I have made some suggestions as to how principals can actively and effectively support teacher growth. Some of these strategies involve creating specific structures conducive to helping teachers while others involve processes that engage teachers in reflecting on their practice. In presenting these findings I propose a model for teacher growth that employs an assessment for learning philosophy and process

A corresponding-states framework for the description of the Mie family of intermolecular potentials

The Mie (λr, λa) intermolecular pair potential has been suggested as an alternative to the traditional Lennard–Jones (12–6) potential for modelling real systems both via simulation and theory as its implementation leads to an accuracy and flexibility in the determination of thermophysical properties that cannot be obtained when potentials of fixed range are considered. An additional advantage of using variable-range potentials is noted in the development of coarse-grained models where, as the superatoms become larger, the effective potentials are seen to become softer. However, the larger number of parameters that characterise the Mie potential (λr, λa, σ, ϵ) can hinder a rational study of the particular effects that each individual parameter have on the observed thermodynamic properties and phase equilibria, and higher degeneracy of models is observed. Here a three-parameter corresponding states model is presented in which a cohesive third parameter α is proposed following a perturbation expansion and assuming a mean-field limit. It is shown that in this approximation the free energy of any two Mie systems sharing the same value of α will be the same. The parameter α is an explicit function of the repulsive and attractive exponents and consequently dictates the form of the intermolecular pair potential. Molecular dynamics simulations of a variety of Mie systems over a range of values of α are carried out and the solid–liquid, liquid–vapour and vapour–solid phase boundaries for the systems considered are presented. Using the simulation data, we confirm that systems of the same α exhibit conformal phase behaviour for the fluid-phase properties as well as for the solid–fluid boundary, although larger differences are noted in the solid region; these can be related to the approximations in the definition of the parameter. Furthermore, it is found that the temperature range over which the vapour–liquid envelope of a given Mie system is stable follows a linear dependency with α when expressed as the ratio of the critical–point temperature to the triple–point temperature. The limit where potentials of the Mie family will not present a stable fluid envelope is predicted in terms of the parameter α and the result is found to be in excellent agreement with previous studies. This unique relation between the fluid range and the cohesive parameter α is shown to be useful to limit the pairs of Mie exponents that can be used in coarse-grained potentials to treat real systems in order to obtain temperature ranges of stability for the fluid envelope consistent with experiment

Critical Connections: Teachers Writing for Social Justice

This qualitative research study explores how teachers who write social justicefocused curriculum support resources conceptualize curriculum and social justice. Curriculum used in schools reflects underlying assumptions and choices about what knowledge is valuable. Class-based, cultural, racial, and religious stereotypes are reinforced in schooling contexts. Are the resources teachers create, select, and use to promote social justice reproducing and reinforcing forms of oppression? Why do teachers pursue social justice through curriculum writing? What are their hopes for this work? Exploring how Teachers' beliefs and values influence cy.rriculum writing engages the teachers writing and using curriculum support resources in critical reflective thought about their experiences and efforts to promote social justice. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted with four teacher-curriculum writers from Ontario schools. In theorizing my experiences as a teacher-curriculum writer, I reversed roles and participated in individual interviews. I employed a critical feminist lens to analyze the qualitati ve data. The participants' identities influenced how they understand social justice and write curriculum. Their understandings of injustices, either personal or gathered through students, family members, or oth.e. r teachers, influenced their curriculum writing . The teacher-curriculum writers in the study believed all teachers need critical understandings of curriculum and social justice. The participants made a case for representation from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups on curriculum writing teams. In an optimistic conclusion, the possibility of a considerate curriculum is proposed as a way to engage the public in working with teachers for social justice

Transparency and Financial Inclusion:Experimental Evidence from Mobile Money (revision of CentER DP 2018-042)

Electronic payment instruments have the potential to spur the transparency of business transactions and thereby reduce information frictions. We design a field experiment to understand whether e-payments facilitate the financial inclusion of SMEs in developing world and to study adoption barriers. We encourage a random sample of Kenyan merchants to adopt a new mobile-money payment instrument and find that the decision to adopt is hampered by the combination of information, know-how and seemingly small transaction costs barriers. In addition, we nd that business owners who are more averse to transparency are more reluctant to adopt. Sixteen months after the intervention, we observe that treated firms have better access to finance in the form of mobile loans. The impact on financial access is more pronounced for smaller establishments, which also experience a considerable reduction in sales volatility. We conclude that e-payments can help un-collateralized firms become transparent and get financially integrated