An Empirical Study on the Influence of ICT-Based Tools on Team Effectiveness in Virtual Software Teams Operating Remotely During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Aim: The research aims to examine the impact of the usage of Information-and-Communication Technology tools on Software Team Effectiveness, especially the virtual teams, during work from home because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Variables: The research has considered the Salas et al. (2005) model with eight constructs (adaptability, mutual performance monitoring, mutual trust, team orientation, closed-loop communication, leadership skills, shared mental models, and backing-up behavior) for measuring team effectiveness. The usage of ICT tools has been measured using the instrument developed by Nagi and Habok (2018). In addition, the moderating effects of the variables ‘age’ and ‘gender’ have also been tested in this research. Methodology: This study employed quantitative research methods. Cluster sampling was used to collect data from 279 software professionals who worked at home during the pandemic. In order to analyze the primary data, SPSS software is used. In order to test hypotheses, the research uses ANOVA, regression, simple percentages, and principal component analysis. Findings: The findings showed that using ICT tools impacts all 8 constructs of the variable team effectiveness. Among the most used ICT tool, project management tools, and social media were mostly used by the employees. Similarly, mutual team trust, backup behavior, and shared mental models were found to be more impactful than other constructs

Quantitative Analysis of Floristic Composition, Biological Spectrum and Leaf Spectrum of a Sacred Grove in Jhargram District, West Bengal, India

Sacred Groves are tracts of virgin forests, left untouched and protected by local people, because of culture and religious beliefs. These tracts are remnants of the once-dominant flora, reservoirs of the rich biodiversity, and the last refuge for preserving the rich indigenous culture and traditions. For these reasons, the biological and leaf spectra, as well as the conservation status of the current sacred grove vegetation, Maa Mongalmoyee Than (MMT) in Jhargram district of West Bengal, India, have been studied. Data were collected during different seasons. The floristic list is taxonomically arranged based on clade, order, and family. In addition, photographs of some common, locally uncommon, endemic and valuable plant species within the sacred grove were taken. The herbarium sheets were then described by matching properly annotated materials available at the Herbarium Section of Vidyasagar University as well as the Botanical Survey of India. The results of floristic studies showed 217 MMT's angiosperm species, belonging to 196 genera, distributed under 59 families of 27 orders. Furthermore, Poales (13.82%) and Fabaceae (12.44%) are the dominant order and family, respectively, in terms of species population. Meanwhile, the biological spectrum showed the grove enjoys a "thero-chamaephyte" phytoclimate form, as well as a comparatively undisturbed status, being a sacred grove. Also, the preservation of germplasm within the grove is based on traditional belief in the social system

Maintenance Knowledge Management with Fusion of CMMS and CM

Abstract- Maintenance can be considered as an information, knowledge processing and management system. The management of knowledge resources in maintenance is a relatively new issue compared to Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) and Condition Monitoring (CM) approaches and systems. Information Communication technologies (ICT) systems including CMMS, CM and enterprise administrative systems amongst others are effective in supplying data and in some cases information. In order to be effective the availability of high-quality knowledge, skills and expertise are needed for effective analysis and decision-making based on the supplied information and data. Information and data are not by themselves enough, knowledge, experience and skills are the key factors when maximizing the usability of the collected data and information. Thus, effective knowledge management (KM) is growing in importance, especially in advanced processes and management of advanced and expensive assets. Therefore efforts to successfully integrate maintenance knowledge management processes with accurate information from CMMSs and CM systems will be vital due to the increasing complexities of the overall systems. Low maintenance effectiveness costs money and resources since normal and stable production cannot be upheld and maintained over time, lowered maintenance effectiveness can have a substantial impact on the organizations ability to obtain stable flows of income and control costs in the overall process. Ineffective maintenance is often dependent on faulty decisions, mistakes due to lack of experience and lack of functional systems for effective information exchange [10]. Thus, access to knowledge, experience and skills resources in combination with functional collaboration structures can be regarded as vital components for a high maintenance effectiveness solution. Maintenance effectiveness depends in part on the quality, timeliness, accuracy and completeness of information related to machine degradation state, based on which decisions are made. Maintenance effectiveness, to a large extent, also depends on the quality of the knowledge of the managers and maintenance operators and the effectiveness of the internal & external collaborative environments. With emergence of intelligent sensors to measure and monitor the health state of the component and gradual implementation of ICT) in organizations, the conceptualization and implementation of E-Maintenance is turning into a reality. Unfortunately, even though knowledge management aspects are important in maintenance, the integration of KM aspects has still to find its place in E-Maintenance and in the overall information flows of larger-scale maintenance solutions. Nowadays, two main systems are implemented in most maintenance departments: Firstly, Computer Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), the core of traditional maintenance record-keeping practices that often facilitate the usage of textual descriptions of faults and actions performed on an asset. Secondly, condition monitoring systems (CMS). Recently developed (CMS) are capable of directly monitoring asset components parameters; however, attempts to link observed CMMS events to CM sensor measurements have been limited in their approach and scalability. In this article we present one approach for addressing this challenge. We argue that understanding the requirements and constraints in conjunction - from maintenance, knowledge management and ICT perspectives - is necessary. We identify the issues that need be addressed for achieving successful integration of such disparate data types and processes (also integrating knowledge management into the “data types” and processes)