Collaborative Strategy Translation: A Critical Exploration

It is a well known fact that modern organisations face an almost constant need to re-evaluate their strategy, processes, and systems [Davenport 1994, Drucker 1988, Hammer 1990]. Organisations have to adapt to new external demands from their markets, while satisfying internal demands with respect to operating more efficiently and cost-effectively. At the same time, new technological advantages create opportunities for organisations to achieve these goals by supporting new types of organisational forms and processes. Over the last decade, a considerable number of re-engineering approaches have been presented (see e.g. [Meel 1994] for an overview). These approaches in general fall into one of two categories: those that take an existing organisational situation explicitly into account as the basis for the re-design effort [see e.g. Davenport 1993] and those that design new processes and structures from scratch [see e.g. Hammer 1990]

Developing paradoxical guidelines for communities of practice in organizations

Communities of practice (CoPs) have been identified as a means to enable acquisition and sharing of tacit knowledge in organizations. CoPs complement or even replace approaches where the focus is on storing and retrieving codified knowledge in documents and systems. This paper highlights some of the problematic aspects of using CoPs as a tool to improve knowledge sharing. Theories on coordination are put forward as a theoretical frame to explain the role of CoPs in organizational functioning. Our study of CoPs in the Amsterdam Police Force shows how CoPs in organizations face several dilemmas. How can CoPs be self-directing and simultaneously contribute to organizational performance? How can they utilize the IT opportunities of contacting anybody, any time, any place and simultaneously circumvent the threats of low commitment and poor mutual understanding in virtual groups? How can members of CoPs produce shared repertoire without falling in the trap of groupthink? How can CoPs act as environments for sharing tacit as well as explicit knowledge? Coordination theory suggests how members of CoPs in organizations can deal with such competing values by making situational choices that reflect paradoxical guidelines. We discuss how police officers use such paradoxical guidelines in organizational prototyping sessions

Acción : diario de Teruel y su provincia: Año IV Número 908 - (05/11/35)

Background: Activities of daily living (ADL) are often used as predictors of health and function in older persons. This systematic review is part of a series initiated by the European Network for Action on Ageing and Physical Activity (EUNAAPA). Aim: To assess psychometric properties of ADL instruments for use in older populations. Methods: Electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE, AMED, Psycinfo, CINAHL) were searched, using MeSH terms and relevant keywords. Studies, published in English, were included if they evaluated one or more psychometric properties of ADL instruments in community-dwelling older persons aged 60 years and older. Combination scales with IADL were excluded. This systematic review adhered to a pre-specified protocol regarding reliability, validity, and responsiveness. Results: In total, 140 articles describing more than 50 different ADL instruments were included. Ten instruments which were applied in minimally three different articles of good quality (clear descriptions and adequate design according to the protocol), were evaluated for reliability, validity and responsiveness; each received a summary score. The four instruments with the highest scores were the Functional Autonomy Measurement System (SMAF), 5-items Katz list (although content and wording are often inconsistent across studies), Functional Independence and Difficulty Scale (FIDS) and the Barthel Index. Discussion: Critical reflection is essential to avoid unnecessary modifications and use of instruments that have not been documented to be valid or reliable. Conclusion: Based on this systematic review, we recommend the SMAF, 5-item Katz, FIDS and Barthel index as ADL measures for research and care practice in older populations

What Does It Mean for an Organisation to Be Intelligent? Measuring intellectual bandwidth for value creation

The importance of electronic collaboration has risen as successful organisations recognize that they need to convert their intellectual resources into goods and services their customers will value. The shift from personal computing to interpersonal or collaborative computing has given rise to ways of working that may bring about better and more effective use of intellectual resources. Current efforts in managing knowledge have concentrated on producing, sharing and storing knowledge while business problems require the use of these intellectual resources to create value. This paper draws upon Nunamaker et. al.'s (2001) Intellectual Bandwidth Model to measure an organization's potential to create value. Following an analysis of initial data collected at the Netherlands branch of Cap-Gemini Ernst & Young, conclusions are drawn with respect to what it means for an organisation to be intelligent and how such organisations can create value through the use of information and collaboration technologies to increase its intellectual bandwidth

System performance of a 4-channel PHASAR WDM receiver operating at 1.2 Gbit/s

Phased arrays are important key components in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems. We have realized a 4-channel WDM receiver combining a phased array with photodetectors on InP with a Si bipolar transimpedance amplifier. The channels are spaced at 2.0 nm with a 1.0-nm flat passband. On chip loss was 6-7 dB and detector efficiency was better than 90%. The optical cross talk remains below -20 dB. The electrical bandwidth per channel was 1 GHz. The electrical cross talk at 1 GHz after detection is below -25 dB. We have tested this receiver in a full 4-channel syste

Consumers discard a lot more food than widely believed : Estimates of global food waste using an energy gap approach and affluence elasticity of food waste

This work provides an internationally comparable consumer food waste dataset based on food availability, energy gap and consumer affluence. Such data can be used for constructing meaningful and internationally comparable metrics on food waste, such as those for Sustainable Development Goal 12. The data suggests that consumer food waste follows a linear-log relationship with consumer affluence and starts to emerge when consumers reach a threshold of approximately $6.70/day/capita level of expenditure. These findings also imply that most empirical models overestimate consumption by not accounting for the possibility of food waste in their analysis. The results also show that the most widely cited global estimate of food waste is underestimated by a factor greater than 2 (214 Kcal/day/capita versus 527 Kcal/day/capita). Comparison with estimates of US consumer food waste based on national survey data shows this approach can reasonably reproduce the results without needing extensive data from national surveys.</p

New all-passive 4x4 planar optical phase diversity network

The realisation and performance of an all-passive silicon-based 4*4 planar optical hybrid receiver for operation at 1.55- mu m wavelength is reported here for the first time. Measurements show 5 degrees /12 degrees /12 degrees /9 degrees output phase deviations, without tuning or trimming. Network dimensions are 270*1200 mu m. This is the most compact 4*4 planar optical hybrid reported so far, demonstrating the convenience and feasibility of all-passive phase diversity operatio

CAD-tool for integrated optics

A CAD-tool for simulation and design of integrated optical circuits, based on a professional microwave design system is reported. An example describing the complete design and simulation of a MZI switch is give