The Knowledge Application and Utilization Framework Applied to Defense COTS: A Research Synthesis for Outsourced Innovation

Purpose -- Militaries of developing nations face increasing budget pressures, high operations tempo, a blitzing pace of technology, and adversaries that often meet or beat government capabilities using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies. The adoption of COTS products into defense acquisitions has been offered to help meet these challenges by essentially outsourcing new product development and innovation. This research summarizes extant research to develop a framework for managing the innovative and knowledge flows. Design/Methodology/Approach – A literature review of 62 sources was conducted with the objectives of identifying antecedents (barriers and facilitators) and consequences of COTS adoption. Findings – The DoD COTS literature predominantly consists of industry case studies, and there’s a strong need for further academically rigorous study. Extant rigorous research implicates the importance of the role of knowledge management to government innovative thinking that relies heavily on commercial suppliers. Research Limitations/Implications – Extant academically rigorous studies tend to depend on measures derived from work in information systems research, relying on user satisfaction as the outcome. Our findings indicate that user satisfaction has no relationship to COTS success; technically complex governmental purchases may be too distant from users or may have socio-economic goals that supersede user satisfaction. The knowledge acquisition and utilization framework worked well to explain the innovative process in COTS. Practical Implications – Where past research in the commercial context found technological knowledge to outweigh market knowledge in terms of importance, our research found the opposite. Managers either in government or marketing to government should be aware of the importance of market knowledge for defense COTS innovation, especially for commercial companies that work as system integrators. Originality/Value – From the literature emerged a framework of COTS product usage and a scale to measure COTS product appropriateness that should help to guide COTS product adoption decisions and to help manage COTS product implementations ex post

Electronic Reverse Auctions: Spawning Procurement Innovation in the Context of Arab Culture

Government e-procurement initiatives have the potential to transform local institutions, but few studies have been published of strategies for implementing specific e-procurement tools, particularly involving procurement by a foreign government adapting to local culture in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). This case describes procurement at a forward operating base (FOB) in Kuwait in support of operations in Iraq. The government procurers had to deal with a phenomenon unique to the MENA region: wasta. Wasta is a form of social capital that bestows power, influence, and connection to those who possess it, similar to guanxi in China. This study explores the value proposition and limitations of electronic reverse auctions (eRA) with the purpose of sharing best practices and lessons learned for government procurement in a MENA country. The public value framework provides valuable theoretical insights for the implementation of a new government e-procurement tool in a foreign country. In a culture dominated by wasta, the suppliers enjoyed the transparency and merit-based virtues of eRA’s that transferred successfully into the new cultural milieu: potential to increase transparency, competition, efficiency, and taxpayer savings. The practices provided herein are designed specifically to help buyers overcome structural barriers including training, organizational inertia, and a lack of eRA policy and guidance while implementing a new e-procurement tool in a foreign country

Socio-Economic Sourcing: Benefits of Small Business Set-Asides in Public Procurement

Purpose Small businesses are critical to economic health and encouraged in government spending by set-asides – annual small business sourcing goals that often are not attained. Little research has explored the negative and risky stigmas associated with small business sourcing. Design/methodology/approach This research explores reduced transaction costs of small business sourcing to government buyers. A survey of 350 government source selections reveals lower transaction costs derived from lower perceived risk of receiving a bid protest and via more efficient source selection processes. Findings Contrary to common bias, the performance level of small businesses is no less than that of large business. Thus, small businesses engender lower transaction costs for correcting supplier’s performance. On the basis of these findings, managerial and theoretical implications are discussed

STUDIES AND RESEARCH REGARDING SOUND REDUCTION MATERIALS WITH THE PURPOSE OF REDUCING SOUND POLLUTION

Noise can be defined as unwanted sound. There are many cases and applications that reducing noise level is of great importance. Loss of hearing is only one of the effects of continuous exposure to excessive noise levels. Noise can interfere with sleep and speech, and cause discomfort and other non-auditory effects. High level noise and vibration lead to structural failures as well as reduction in life span. The importance of noise issue could be well understood by looking at regulations that have been passed by governments to restrict noise production in society. Industrial machinery, air/surface transportation and construction activities are main contributors in noise production or noise pollution . Noise Pollution is not only an annoyance; it is an environmental health hazard. Noise can be found anywhere that life exists, in forests, in the workplace, in homes acrossAmericaand even under water. A lot of research has been done about noise pollution in the last 40 years, but yet there is still more to learn about how to control and lessen the affects that noise has on human and animal life. Noise control is a major factor in the planning, design, and construction of transportation corridors. Architects, acoustical engineers and transportation planners are searching for creative ways to eliminate or greatly reduce noise levels. The challenge lies in attaining desired sound levels while simultaneously maintaining or enhancing the visual environment. I will be setting up an experiment to determine what kinds of materials absorb sound waves of varying frequencies most effectively

A study of M0R1/GEM1 and kinl-like kinesins arabidopsis

Microtubules perform essential functions in eukaryotic cells and, with other cytoskeletal elements, are involved in diverse cellular processes. Plant cells construct four microtubule arrays; There are two cortical arrays, the interphase cortical array, and the preprophase band, the mitotic spindle and the cytokinetic phragmoplast. The control and rearrangement of these arrays through the cell cycle is coordinated by Microtubule Associated Proteins or MAPs. These proteins have diverse functions including anchoring & crosslinking microtubules or otherwise regulating microtubule formation and destruction within the cell. MOR1/GEM1 is the Arabidopsis member of the conserved XMAP215/TOGp family of proteins which are microtubule stablising MAPs and promote microtubule polymerization in vitro. In many organisms such stabilization is opposed by Kinl catastrophic kinesins, which depolymerise and destabilize microtubules. In addition to the further characterization of MOR1/GEM1, here in this thesis, two putative KinI kinesins are identified in the Arabidopsis genome, a subfamily of kinesins previously uncharacterized in plants, AtCMK1 & AtCMK2. Immunolocalisation shows that MOR1/GEM1 associates with all plant microtubule arrays throughout the cell cycle and Is found to concentrate at the plus end of microtubules In the spindle next to chromosomes and the midline of the phragmoplast where oppositely orientated microtubules overlap. Furthermore, consistent with this localization, we show that a C-terminal fragment of MOR1/GEM1 which Is absent in the pollen cytokinesis mutant, gem1 can bind microtubules and as such we propose that the defects in the phragmoplast In gem1 mutant is a result of the reduction of the MOR1/GEM1 protein to bind microtubules. Further studies indicate that unlike its budding yeast homologue Stu2, MOR1/GEM1 does not for dimers.Immunolocalisation shows that AtCMK2 associates with all the plant microtubule arrays throughout the cell cycle, particularly the metaphase spindle. However in our experiments, AtCMKI does not, but rather locates to structures within the cytoplasm, such as golgi vesicles or organelles. Here we also show that AtCMK kinesins form homodimers and do not physically Interact with MOR1/GEM1 suggesting that these factors may be genetic interactors instead. Over-expression of AtCMK2 as a GPP fusion protein results in the disruption of microtubules, leaving short microtubule fragments and tubulin oligomers or aggregates, suggesting that AtCMK2 Is a true Arabidopsis catastrophic kinesin. In addition, GUS promoter fusions show that the expression patterns of these two kinesins are very different

“You Got To Know Us”: A Hopeful Model for Music Education in Urban Schools

Urban schools, and the students and teachers within, are often characterized by a metanarrative of deficit and crisis, causing the complex realities of urban education to remain unclear behind a wall of assumptions and stereotypes. Within music education, urban schools have received limited but increasing attention from researchers. However, voices from practitioners are often missing from this dialogue, and the extant scholarly dialogue has had a very limited effect on music teacher education. In this article, five music educators with a combined thirty years of experience in urban schools examine aspects of their experiences in the light of critical pedagogy in an attempt to disrupt the metanarrative of deficit, crisis, and decline that continues to surround urban music education. By promoting the lived-stories of successful urban music students, teachers, and programs, the authors hope to situate urban music education as a site of renewal, reform, and meaningful learning. This paper emerged from a panel discussion regarding promising practices in secondary general music with urban youth that took place at the New Directions in Music Education conference held at Michigan State University in October of 2011

An Economic Regression Model to Predict Market Movements

In finance, multiple linear regression models are frequently used to determine the value of an asset based on its underlying traits. We built a regression model to predict the value of the S&P 500 based on economic indicators of gross domestic product, money supply, produce price and consumer price indices. Correlation between the error in this regression model and the S&P’s volatility index (VIX) provides an efficient way to predict when large changes in the price of the S&P 500 may occur. As the true value of the S&P 500 deviates from the predicted value, obtained by the regression model, a growth in volatility can be seen that implies models like the Black-Scholes will be less reliable. During these periods of changing volatility we suggest that the user apply a regime switching approach and/or seek alternative prediction methods

Attitude Determination and Control, On Board Computing & Communication Subsystem Design for a CubeSat Mission

This project describes the development of the attitude determination and control, on board computing, and communications subsystems for an Earth orbiting nano-satellite. The goal of each subsystem is to enable the infrared spectrometer to collect data that can be used in tracking greenhouse gas concentrations. Gyroscopes, sun sensors, a magnetometer, magnetorquers, and orbital environment models are employed to meet the pointing requirements of the scientific instrument. The on board computer operates in conjunction will all other satellite subsystems as the main link between the software and hardware. Communication between the ground and the satellite is paramount for the transmission of scientific data back to Earth and simple commands to the spacecraft

Cooled optical filters for Q-band infrared astronomy (15-40 μm)

With a growing interest in mid- and far-infrared astronomy using cooled imaging and spectrometer instruments in high-altitude observatories and spaceflight telescopes, it is becoming increasingly important to characterise and assess the spectral performance of cooled multilayer filters across the Q-band atmospheric window. This region contains spectral features emitted by many astrophysical phenomena and objects fundamental to circumstellar and planetary formation theories. However extending interference filtering to isolate radiation at progressively longer wavelengths and improve photometric accuracy is an area of ongoing and challenging thin-film research. We have successfully fabricated cooled bandpass and edge filters with high durability for operation across the 15-30 µm Q-band region. In this paper we describe the rationale for selection of optical materials and properties of fabricated thin-film coatings for this region, together with FTIR spectral measurements and assessment of environmental durability

Explaining the effectiveness of performance-based logistics: a quantitative examination

The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09574091111181354Purpose – Performance-based logistics (PBL) strategies are providing governments and for-profit organizations with a contractual mechanism that reduces the life cycle costs of their systems. PBL accomplishes this by establishing contracts that focus on the delivery of performance not parts. PBL establishes a metric based governance structure where suppliers make more profit when they invest in logistics process improvements, or system redesign, that reduces total cost of ownership. While work has been done to outline an overall PBL theoretical framework, the underlying theory explaining the enablers that lead to organizational and team-level, team-goal alignment associated with the PBL governance structure requires testing. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively test previously posited relationships between enablers of PBL and PBL effectiveness. An additional objective is to explore any differences in PBL effectiveness between different business sectors.This material is based upon work supported by the Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Program under Grant No. N00244-10-1-0074