THE SYMBOLEC POTENTKAL OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY: DI[FFERENCES AMONG WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS

Evidence that computers can act as status symbols is presented. Organizational symbols and factors empirically associated with income (one measure of status) are discussed. This paper presents quantitative evidence that computer terminals are allocated according to both use and status and, thus, may act as symbols of status. A field study of computer-using white collar work groups found that the distributions of terminals and income were similar and they shared many of the same predictors when other relevant factors were controlled (computer skills, experience and use). Exploratory analyses indicated that the pattern of results differed by occupation with strongest evidence of symbolic value found among professional workers. Managerial implications are described

The Personal in the Policy Cascade

Policy change can cascade down from law and regulation, but Giddens’ structuration theory argues that it can also flow upward from everyday action. We all have the power to take immediate action in our professional lives to create the policies we want. We use the example of gender equality to show the daily choices that you as an IS academic can make that strengthen or change existing policies. You can enhance the voices of members of undervalued groups, reduce inequities in access to resources and positions of power, and create and enforce rules, regulations, and codes that encourage more equitable outcomes. Policy influences action, but action equally influences policy. Your everyday actions either reinforce existing policies and structures or undermine and change them. We should make these choices mindfully, with an understanding of the power we are wielding, the values we are enacting, and the society we are creating

Minding the IS Soft Skills Gap: Evidence of Discourse Convergence and Organizational Field Structure

IS continually struggles with the ‘gap’ between academic preparation and industry needs. To close this gap, we need to better understand its causes. Recent IS research suggests that gaps may arise when issues receive attention in only practitioner or academic discourses. Institutionalism suggests that gaps can be attributed to the structure of the organizational field. We conduct two studies to investigate these rival explanations. In Study 1 we analyze the practitioner and academic discourses on the need for soft skills in IS. In Study 2 we identify important actors in the IS field and the degree to which they are tightly coupled as evidenced by linkages in their discourses. We then present a process model of the identification, development and assessment of requisite IS skills. We conclude that convergence between academic and practitioner discourses alone cannot close the gap between preparation and industry needs in a loosely coupled organizational field

Blowing the Whistle on Unethical Information Techmology Practices: The Role of Machiavellianism, Gender and Computer Liteacy

Although organizations can derive competitive advantages from developing and implementing information systems, they are confronted with a rising number of unethical information practices. Because end-users and computer experts are the conduit of an ethical organizational environment, their intention to report unethical IT-related practices plays a critical role in protecting intellectual property and privacy rights. Using the survey methodology, this paper investigates the relationship between willingness to report intellectual property and privacy violations and Machiavellianism, gender and computer literacy in the form of programming experience. We found that gender and computer literacy interact with Machiavellianism to influence individuals’ intention of reporting unethical IT practices. This study helps to improve our understanding of the emergent ethical issues existing in the IT-enabled decision environment

MISPLACED RESOURCES? FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH COMPUTER LITERACY AMONG END-USERS

Some organizations provide a support infrastructure (e.g., information centers, on-line help) and training (e.g., vendor-supplied, one-on-one) to assist end-users and boost the computer literacy of their workforce. In this paper, we explore the efficacy of a support infrastructure, training, and various computer configurations for enhancing the computer literacy of work groups. Data come from a multi-year (1987 to 1989) study of seventy-seven computer-using work groups in the southern California area, which included two interviews with managers and two questionnaires distributed to workers. Analyses showed that none of the measures of training were associated with computer literacy. Only one kind of infrastructure support, obtaining information from a resident expert in the work group, was related to computer literacy. In contrast, many aspects of the configuration of the computer systems were associated with computer literacy. Implications of these provocative findings for the management of end-user computing are discussed

Validation of a Single Inertial Sensor for Measuring Running Kinematics Overground During a Prolonged Run

This article is made available in accordance with the publisher's statement on Open access.Introduction: The purpose of this study was to validate acceleration data from a single inertial sensor containinga tri-axial accelerometer, whilst running overground during a prolonged run against a motion analysis system. Methods: An inertial sensor was placed on the low back of 10 runners who performed an 8 km run on a treadmill.To provide validation of the sensor, data were collected as runners ran along a runway through a motion analysis system at the beginning and throughout the run.Results: High levels of agreement between the two systems were found in the craniocaudal and mediolateral acceleration, with antero posterior having the least agreement with greatest Typical Error of the Estimate (0.66 sample points). Very high to extremely high correlations across all testing times were found in all three directions of accelerations (r=0.75 to 0.95). Heel strike and toe off events were identified in anteroposterior and craniocaudal acceleration, with high levels of agreement and extremely high correlations (r=0.99) between the two systems.Minimal variation and change in agreement and correlation between the data at each testing time were found. Discussion: This study provides evidence that a single inertial sensor placed on the low back is valid for measuring three-dimensional acceleration in overground running during a prolonged run. Further analysis identified specific events of heel strike and toe off and were comparable between the two systems. The minimal variation and change in agreement between the two systems during the run indicates the adherence method of the inertial sensor was suitable. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that data collected from a single inertial sensor is highly correlated with simultaneous data collected using a motion analysis system, and has the capability to identify heelstrike and toe off events in overground running throughout a prolonged fatiguing run

DISTANCE EDUCATION COMMUNICATIONS: THE SOCIAL PRESENCE AND MEDIA RICHNESS OF INSTANT MESSAGING

Instant messaging (IM) is changing the way we communicate with each other and may prove to be a more effective communication tool for distance learning environments than the more commonly used discussion groups and email. Media richness and social presence theories are described and young adults’ perception of IM’s richness and social presence are determined. In addition, preferences for using instant messaging for communicating messages of low, medium, and high levels of equivocality were investigated. The results indicate that young adults perceive IM to fall between email and the telephone in both social presence and media richness. As message equivocality increases, preference for the use of the telephone increases while preference for the use of email decreases. Preference for the use of IM increases for messages of intermediate equivocality, but decreases for those of high equivocality. Overall, young adults prefer IM over email as a communication tool, but prefer the phone over IM. Implications for media richness theory, social presence theory, and distance learning are described

Tracking research

I began 2016, as so many previous years, with the intention of becoming more productive. As a bibliophile since the age of about 4 years old, my first place to go was therefore the university library – a haven of wonderful ideas in print form. And, quite literally, a gold mine of brilliance in this case. I found Paul Silvia’s How to write a lot , and devoured it in less than 24 hours , then bought a copy for myself . And it prompted the scheduler that Susan Gasson kindly presented at this year’s Doctoral Writing SIG meeting..

Two Decades of Publishing Excellence in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Recombinant biological products have revolutionized modern medicine by providing both remarkably effective vaccines to prevent disease and therapeutic drugs to treat a wide variety of unmet medical needs. Since the early 1980s, dozens of new therapeutic protein drugs and macromolecular vaccines have been commercialized, which have benefitted millions of patients worldwide. The pharmaceutical development of these biological products presented many scientific and technical challenges, some of which continue today with newer candidates including recombinant protein-based vaccines with novel adjuvants, peptide and RNA-based drugs, and stem cellular therapies. Compared with small molecule drugs, the characterization, stabilization, formulation, and delivery of biomolecules share common hurdles as well as unique challenges. This area of drug development research has been referred to as “pharmaceutical biotechnology”, in recognition of the critical role that recombinant DNA technology plays in the design and production of most of these biological products. Current research focus areas in this field include (i) determination of structural integrity of the primary sequence, post-translational modifications, and higher-order three dimensional shapes, (ii) assessment of physicochemical degradation pathways and their effects on biological activity and potency, (iii) formulation design and development to optimize stability and delivery, (iv) evaluating and optimizing process development steps including lyophilization and fill-finish, (v) analytical method development and applications of new instruments and data visualization tools, (vi) design and development of drug delivery approaches, and (vii) studies of biological effects including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and adverse immunogenicity. During the early days of pharmaceutical biotechnology research, there were numerous scientific challenges because the analytical characterization approaches needed for development of recombinant biological molecules in “real world” pharmaceutical dosage forms were essentially unknown. Furthermore, understanding critical drug product manufacturing issues (e.g., stability of biological compounds during processing, storage, and shipping as well as reproducibility of fill-finish production technologies) and behavior during and after patient administration was often achieved by “on-the-job” training. Fortunately, the pioneers in the field regularly presented research at key conferences and started publishing early in pharmaceutical sciences journals such as Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Recognizing this critically important new field, the then Editor of the journal, Professor Bill Higuchi, instituted a new “pharmaceutical biotechnology” category for research papers. This insightful move was coupled with an equally wise decision to recruit Dr. C. Russell Middaugh as the new Associate Editor for the new research category. As will be detailed below, under Dr. Middaugh’s diligent and expert guidance, pharmaceutical biotechnology papers have grown in number, scope, and impact over the past 20 years, and these days, the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences is viewed by scientific leaders in the field as the “go to” place for publication of the most important results and descriptions of innovations in pharmaceutical biotechnology