IS Productivity And Outsourcing Policy:A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analysis

IS outsourcing policies define the criteria that organizations utilize to decide upon the scope and degree of reliance of their IS capabilities upon external sources. Financial considerations and business strategy are the two major determinants of the IS outsourcing decision. Most controversy on outsourcing of IS has been around the issue of increasing performance -generally by reducing costs and improving service. In this context, the study of the interrelationships between IS outsourcing policy, the business and financial strategy considerations and IS productivity, is increasingly relevant for providing a more balanced perspective to the ongoing debate. This paper proposes an integrative conceptual framework for analyzing the above relationships. A structural equation model was created to represent the proposed conceptual framework. The model was operationalized by using factor analysis and stepwise regression analyses. Since the objective of the study was to investigate the influence of financial criteria and business strategy variables on IS performance, the set of companies selected as the 100 most effective users of information technology by Computerworld Premier 100 survey (1994) represents an acceptable sample. Data integrity was ensured by extracting all remaining data from the same public sources as those used by the survey. The study has important implications for the new measure of IS productivity, as well as the continued emphasis on primarily macro-level financial measures for determining the effectiveness o

Role of Commitment and Motivation in Knowledge Management Systems Implementation: Theory, Conceptualization, and Measurement of Antecedents of Success

Our ignorance exceeds our knowledge where issues of motivation and commitment of knowledge workers are concerned in the context of knowledge management systems (KMS) implementation [1,16,17,18]. This study is motivated by the pervasive confusion about the role of knowledge workers \u27 motivation and commitment in KMS implementation and sparse, if any, theoretical or empirical research on these issues. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how knowledge workers\u27 commitment and motivation affect the use of KMS and resulting organizational performance of the KMS. The theoretical and empirical validation of the framework require first and foremost the theoretical development of the knowledge workers \u27 commitment and motivation constructs and empirical validation of these constructs in the context of a real world organizational study of KMS implementation. The authors attempt to fulfill these specific goals within the scope of this paper. Future empirical research on the integration of motivation and commitment within diverse implementation contexts of KMS and organizational knowledge management programs is expected to further advance the theoretical and empirical development of the proposed framework

On the Metallicity Gradients in the Galactic Disk using Open Clusters

We study the metallicity distribution and evolution in the Galactic disk based on the largest sample of open star clusters in the Galaxy. From the catalogue of 1879 open clusters in the range of Galactocentric distance (R_GC) from 4 to 20 kpc, we investigate the variation of metallicity in the Galactic disk as functions of R_GC, vertical distance (Z), and ages of the clusters. In the direction perpendicular to the Galactic plane, variation in metallicity is found to follow a stepped linear relation. We estimate a vertical metallicity gradient d[Fe/H]/dZ of -0.545+/-0.046 dex/kpc for |Z| < 0.487 kpc, and -0.075+/-0.093 dex/kpc for 0.487 < |Z| < 1.8 kpc. On average, metallicity variations above and below the Galactic plane are found to change at similar rates. The change in metallicity in the radial direction is also found to follow a two-function linear relation. We obtain a radial metallicity gradient d[Fe/H]/d[R_GC] of -0.070+/-0.002 dex/kpc for 4.0<R_GC<12.8 kpc, and -0.005+/-0.018 dex/kpc for 12.8< R_GC < 20.5 kpc which clearly shows a strong variation in the metallicity gradient when moving from the inner to the outer Galactic disk. Age-metallicity relation (AMR) is found to follow a steeper negative slope of -0.031+/-0.006 dex/Gyr for clusters older than 240 Myr, however, there is some hint of positive metallicity age gradient for younger clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 28 pages, 9 figures, 4 table

RESPIRATORY FUNCTIONS IN TEXTILE MILL WORKERS: ROLE OF PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE

Background: Textile industries play a significant role in economical growth of the country. Health concern of these textile mill workers is the biggest challenge. Respiratory alterations were found in these workers with long term exposure of cotton dust. Effect of cotton dust on peak expiratory flow rate is not very well documented in the past.Aim/objective: The main objective of this study was the assessment of respiratory functions in textile mill workers along with the effect on peak expiratory flow rate in these workers.Material &amp; Methods: 130 male textile mill workers were recruited for this study from the different sections of a textile mill. In which, 80 workers were present from exposed and remaining 50 were from non exposed area of a textile mill. 30 to 40 year of age workers with the working history of not more than 5 years, were included for the part of the study. Their Body mass index and respiratory functions were evaluated. Body mass index was calculated by using weight and height of an individual. Respiratory functions including Forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 second was estimated by using spirometer and peak expiratory flow rate was measured by means of Wright's peak flow meter.Results: the mean values of FVC, FEV1 and PEFR were found to be significantly (&lt;0.01) lower in exposed group of textile mill when compared non exposed groups. When these values were compared on the basis of BMI, workers with BMI&gt;25kg/m2 were found with lower mean values of FVC, FEV1 and PEFR when compared with workers with BMI&lt;25kg/m2. Also there was significant (&lt;0.05) negative correlation between BMI and PEFR in both exposed group and non exposed group of a textile mill.Conclusion: Workers in textile mill, with short term exposure of cotton dust may also present with respiratory alterations which may increase with long term exposure. Safety controls such as ventilation, etc and routine health check are very much required in textile industries.Keywords: Peak expiratory flow rate, Body mass index, Textile mill.  Â

Extending the Technology Acceptance Model to Account for Social Influence: Theoretical Bases and Empirical Validation.

Abstract The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) represents an important theoretical contribution toward understanding IS usage and IS acceptance behavior

YOGA PRACTICE AND BIOCHEMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ALTERATIONS IN NORMAL SUBJECTS

ABSTRACTObjective: To assess the effect of 45 minute yogic kriya (Surya Namaskar and Kapalbhati) for 30 days on various physiological and biochemicalparameters.Methods: About 20 Nursing College students of the Santosh Medical University, Ghaziabad, between the age group 17 and 21 years volunteered toparticipate in the study. They were divided into two Groups A and B. Group A students including 10 students in each group were subjected to 30 daysyoge kriya for 45 minutes for 6 days in a week. Statistical analysis: A student's t-test was used for comparing the means of pre- and post-yoga resultsof various parameters.Results: No significant difference was found in systolic blood pressure, pulse, body mass index, hemoglobin except for fasting blood sugar and diastolicblood pressure (p&lt;0.001) among the yoga subject while comparing with baseline values and control.Keywords: Yoga, Biochemical alterations, Physiological alterations, Surya Namaskar and Kapal Bhati

Improving the predictive potential of diffusion MRI in schizophrenia using normative models-Towards subject-level classification.

Diffusion MRI studies consistently report group differences in white matter between individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Nevertheless, the abnormalities found at the group-level are often not observed at the individual level. Among the different approaches aiming to study white matter abnormalities at the subject level, normative modeling analysis takes a step towards subject-level predictions by identifying affected brain locations in individual subjects based on extreme deviations from a normative range. Here, we leveraged a large harmonized diffusion MRI dataset from 512 healthy controls and 601 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, to study whether normative modeling can improve subject-level predictions from a binary classifier. To this aim, individual deviations from a normative model of standard (fractional anisotropy) and advanced (free-water) dMRI measures, were calculated by means of age and sex-adjusted z-scores relative to control data, in 18 white matter regions. Even though larger effect sizes are found when testing for group differences in z-scores than are found with raw values (p < .001), predictions based on summary z-score measures achieved low predictive power (AUC < 0.63). Instead, we find that combining information from the different white matter tracts, while using multiple imaging measures simultaneously, improves prediction performance (the best predictor achieved AUC = 0.726). Our findings suggest that extreme deviations from a normative model are not optimal features for prediction. However, including the complete distribution of deviations across multiple imaging measures improves prediction, and could aid in subject-level classification