Process assessment for use in very small enterprises: the NOEMI assess-ment methodology

This paper relates to the development and the experimentation of an IT process assessment methodology especially designed to be used in very small enterprises (VSEs). This methodology, called NOEMI , has been developed as a critical part of a public research project of the Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor (Luxembourg). Initially the main objective of the NOEMI process assessment methodology was to contribute directly to the implementation of a collaborative IT-sourcing model, developed in the same re-search project. The process portfolio aims at a whole coverage of the usual IT-practices in VSEs. It is business value-driven and designed in five process areas: infrastructure, service support, management, security, and documentation. The processes themselves are based on a combined approach of ISO/IEC 15504 and the IT Infrastructure Library. The capability model defined in the NOEMI methodology explores the gap between level 0 and level 1 of ISO/IEC 15504 in order to match in a more accurate manner with the reality of VSEs. The capability profile has four levels and is performed for the process areas and not for the processes themselves, so allowing easy comparison between VSEs. We are now performing the seventh experimentation of the NOEMI assessment methodology. Each case has been a success according to the feedback of the VSEs. And we are considering the transfer of our methodology to French and Belgian partners through dissemination projects. It leads us to promote the NOEMI assessment methodology as a public package tool especially designed for use in a VSE context, which aims to enhance business value through IT. This paper introduces the methodology and considerations based on case studies.Assessment methodology, capability model, process portfolio, very small enterprise, service management, SPICE, improvement program, ITIL.

Cross-border metropolitan integration in Europe (Luxembourg, Basel and Geneva)

This article questions the integration processes in three small cross-border metropolitan areas: Luxembourg, Basel and Geneva. By referring to an original analysis framework, it evaluates the nature and intensity of the functional and institutional integration and highlights the elements that structure the cooperation between the actors. The analysis shows that there is not necessarily a reciprocal link between the size of the functional area and the extent of the cooperation. Whilst no metropolitan-sized project is on the agenda in Luxembourg, the example of Basel and Geneva shows that the presence of a national border offers an opportunity to invent original forms of governance, increase the autonomy of the local authorities by different types of cooperation which transcend the institutional and territorial divides, and enable the international character of the metropolitan centre to be valued for what it is. In a context of global competition, these features represent an undeniable benefit.Metropolitan regions ; Governance ; Border studies ; Integration ; Europe

Historicité et fiction du champ discursif dans Marat-Sade de Peter Weiss

Cet article interroge, à travers l’observation du concept de l’archive, les rapports entre l’Histoire et le texte de fiction. Marat-Sade, pièce de Peter Weiss, propose un dialogue (théâtralisé par les fous de l’hospice de Charenton) entre deux figures célèbres, l’écrivain et l’homme politique. Le but de l’investigation consiste ici à cerner les modalités et les mécanismes par lesquels Weiss parvient à élaborer son propre champ discursif : en agençant des faits et des éléments historiques discontinus, en modifiant des réalités archivées, en modifiant le contexte d’une action, l’auteur régit et organise un propos autonome qui possède sa propre cohérence interne.Archives and their import inform this study of the interplay between historical fact and fiction. Peter Weiss’ play Marat-Sade suggests a dialogue (played out by the lunatic tenants of the Charenton Asylum) between two celebrities, one a political figure, the other an author. This study seeks to isolate the devices and means through which Weiss weaves his discourse : linking together disparate facts and historical elements, adapting documented truths, or re-contextualising an event. Through these, the author structures and articulates a personal, self-standing creation

Internal friction investigation of phase transformation in nearly stoichiometric LaMnO3+δ

Rhombohedral LaMnO3+δ powders, prepared by two different soft chemistry routes (co-precipitation and hydrothermal synthesis), are sintered at 1400 °C for 2 h in air. Measurements of internal friction Q−1(T) and shear modulus G(T), at low frequencies from −180 to 700 °C under vacuum, evidence three structural transitions of nearly stoichiometric orthorhombic LaMnO3+δ. The first one, at 250 or 290 °C, depending on the processing followed, is associated to either a Jahn–Teller structural transition or a phase transformation from orthorhombic to pseudo-cubic. The second one at 610 or 630 °C is related to a phase transformation from pseudo-cubic or orthorhombic to rhombohedral. Below the Neel temperature, around −170 °C, a relaxation peak could be associated, for samples prepared according to both processing routes, to the motion of Weiss domains

Measuring Poverty and Inequality in a Computable General Equilibrium Model

This paper aims to evaluate the relevance of different types of macroeconomic general equilibrium modelling for measuring the impact of economic policy shocks on the incidence of poverty and on the distribution of income. In the literature three approaches are identified. The first is based on a traditional form of the CGEM which specifies a large number of households. In this case, we can only observe inter group income inequalities. The next uses survey data to estimate the distribution function and average variations by group, which allows one to estimate the evolution of poverty. The third approach, which we present in detail, includes individual data directly in the general equilibrium model according to the principles of micro simulations. This treatment provides a more reliable picture of income distribution but is also more complex. Given this, we develop, within a co-ordinated statistical framework representing an archetypal economy, the three types of model described above. More precisely, this exercise allows us to break down the contribution of average income variations, of the poverty line, and of income distribution in the evolution of the main poverty indicators. The results obtained show the importance of intra group information and therefore the relevance of micro simulation exercises.General Equilibrium Models, Micro Simulation, Poverty, Inequality

NOEMI, a collaborative management for ICT process improvement in SME: experience report

This paper relates to an R&D project – called NOEMI – aiming to propose to SME’s a collaborative management of their respective information systems in terms of quality, reliability and cost. The targeted SME are those without IT dedicated internal staff. The model developed in the project focuses on the usual IT activities of the SME’s, which are classified in five domains: infrastructure, support, management, security, and documentation. The NOEMI model has been successfully experimented with PME partners for validation pur-pose. This paper insists on the experimentation of the NOEMI model. The results are discussed and compared with other classical solutions usually encountered within IT practices of SME’s. The last part of the paper draws the perspectives opened with the model according to the results of its experimentation.IT Service Management, collaborative management, SME, process assessment, process improvement.

Mechanism for the {\alpha} -> {\epsilon} phase transition in iron

The mechanism of the {\alpha}-{\epsilon} transition in iron is reconsidered. A path in the Burgers description of the bcc/hcp transition different from those previously considered is proposed. It relies on the assumption that shear and shuffle are decoupled and requires some peculiar magnetic order, different from that of {\alpha} and {\epsilon} phases as found in Density-Functional Theory. Finally, we put forward an original mechanism for this transition, based on successive shuffle motion of layers, which is akin to a nucleation-propagation process rather than to some uniform motion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure