IT Project Management & Managerial Risk: Effects of Overconfidence

Due to high IT project failure rates, risk management in IT projects has attracted significant research interest and continues to be an important research and managerial concern. Recently, a stream of IS research has focused on the risks posed by managerial decision making on IT projects, by showing how managers themselves are a major source of risk by falling prey to various heuristics and biases while making decisions at various stages of IT project management. In this study, we explore one of the concepts i.e. overconfidence, and have proposed some potential areas of research. We hope that empirical examination of the propositions will give an insight into the details of how managers become victims of own biases through overconfidence thus causing severe yet systematic risks to the IT projects

A Segmentation Study of Digital Pirates and Understanding the Effectiveness of Targeted Anti-Piracy Communication

The objective of this study is to improve the effectiveness of anti-piracy educational strategies by identifying unique digital pirate segments and delivering personalized campaign messages to the target audiences. In the first study, we introduced a segmentation study of digital pirates based on different types of risks involved in pirating activities. We identify four digital pirate segments (anti-pirates, hard-core pirates, performance-sensitive pirates, and finance-sensitive pirates), each demonstrating distinctive characteristics. Further profiling of the segments revealed different risk perceptions regarding gender and piracy experience. In the second study, we conduct an experiment to test the effects of targeted campaign messages for the newly identified pirating segments. Our results show that targeted piracy campaign messages have a significantly higher message persuasiveness, while they damage the attitude towards piracy. However, we found that the targeted piracy campaign messages have a marginal effect on changing the intention to pirate. Findings from this study offer useful implications for the design and implementation of anti-piracy educational campaigns. This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research: https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer1803007

Review of biphasic insulin aspart in the treatment of type 1 and 2 diabetes

Nazia Raja-Khan, Sarah S Warehime, Robert A GabbayDivision of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USABackground: Insulin is an effective treatment for achieving glycemic control and preventing complications in patients with diabetes. In order to make insulin therapy more acceptable to patients, newer formulations of insulin have been developed, such as biphasic insulins. Biphasic insulins conveniently provide both prandial and basal insulin in a single injection. One of the most well-studied biphasic insulins is biphasic insulin aspart 70/30.Objective: Our goal was to review the current literature on the safety and efficacy of biphasic insulin aspart in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Methods: A MEDLINE search was conducted using the terms “biphasic insulin aspart” to identify clinical studies and reviews.Results: Biphasic insulin aspart more effectively reduces post-prandial glucose compared to other biphasic insulins and basal insulins. Compared to biphasic insulin aspart, fasting glucose levels are lower with NPH, similar with glargine, and similar or lower with biphasic human insulin. Treat-to-target trials have shown that a goal HbA1c below 6.5 or 7% can be achieved with biphasic insulin aspart. The risk of hypoglycemia is similar to or less than that seen with other biphasic insulins or NPH insulin.Conclusion: Biphasic insulin aspart 70/30 is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with diabetes.Keywords: biphasic insulin aspart, insulin, diabete

Restraint-induced Corticosterone Secretion and Hypothalamic CRH mRNA Expression are Augmented During Acute Withdrawal from Chronic Cocaine Administration

Stress responses during cocaine withdrawal likely contribute to drug relapse and may be intensified as a consequence of prior cocaine use. The present study examined changes in stressor-induced activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis during acute withdrawal from chronic cocaine administration. Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats received daily administration of cocaine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline for 14 days. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, rats in each group were sacrificed under stress-free conditions or following 30 min of immobilization. Plasma corticosterone (CORT) was measured in trunk-blood using radioimmunoassay, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA levels in the paraventricularnucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus were measured using in situ hybridization and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) protein expression in the pituitary gland and dissected brain regions was measured using Western blot analysis. Basal CRH mRNA in the PVN was unaltered as a result of prior cocaine administration. However, a significant increase in CRH mRNA was observed 90 min following the termination of restraint in cocaine withdrawn, but not saline-treated, rats. Basal CORT was also unaffected by prior cocaine administration, but the CORT response measured immediately after restraint was significantly augmented in cocaine-withdrawn rats. Differences in GR protein expression in number of regions implicated in negative feedback regulation of HPA function, including the hypothalamus, were not observed. These findings indicate that the HPA response to stressors is intensified during early withdrawal from cocaine administration and may be independent of changes in GR-mediated negative feedback

Understanding the Information Technology Growth Options: Effects of Gender and Experience on Option Exercise Decisions

To account for managerial decision flexibility in risky IT investments, Real Option Valuation (ROV) has been advocated. ROV formalizes managers’ intuition, thus creating a disciplined decision making process. However, evidence suggests that ROV is usually utilized intuitively by professionals, in the form of “Real Option Thinking”, and is subject to various judgmental biases. We focus on growth options for this study. Prior research has shown that, while valuing projects with real options, managers ascribe the greatest importance to projects with growth options. Similar results hold for IT projects, where IT managers perceive a growth option as adding more value to the project. This perception of growth options might suggest their vulnerability to the IT managers’ risk preferences, through Prospect Theory. By conducting a survey-based experiment among 150 IT professionals, our results indicate that gender and experience impact biases in growth option exercise decisions significantly, depending on project size. However, we also observe some exceptions

NARROW FRAMING EFFECTS ON REAL OPTIONS: THE CASE OF IT APPLICATION PORTFOLIOS

Real options theory has been advocated as a solution to IT investment problems with uncertainty around future outcomes and the inability of traditional financial measures to account for managerial flexibility. On the one hand, it is argued that real option analysis captures and formalizes managers’ intuition, thus creating a disciplined decision making process. On the other hand, the intuitive valuation of the options is criticized due to the prevalent effects of various judgmental biases. Through this study, we try to capture one of the biases that can affect the real option value at exercise time in an IT application portfolio setting i.e. narrow framing. We also explore the impact of uncertainty around outcomes on real option exercise time. By conducting an online experiment using experimental choice analysis with IT managers as subjects, we try to see if they are prone to simplifying complicated real option exercise decisions by isolating them

Managerial risk in information technology investments : effects of framing, narrow framing and time inconsistent preferences on real options exercise decisions

Real options theory has been advocated as a solution to risky IT investment decisions. IT investments decisions are risky due to uncertainty around future outcomes and the inability of traditional financial measures (like NPV, IRR) to account for inherent managerial flexibility. On the one hand, it is argued that real options analysis captures and formalizes managers' intuition, hence creating a disciplined decision making process. On the other hand, the intuitive valuation of the options is criticized due to the prevalent effects of various judgmental biases. In this dissertation, we explore three potential biases that can affect the real option exercise decisions in terms of either suboptimal option exercise choice due to framing and narrow framing effects, or suboptimal exercise time due to time inconsistent preferences of IT managers. We test for framing effects in individual IT project decisions and narrow framing effects in IT portfolio decisions, by conducting an online experiment among top and mid-level IT professionals. The results show that IT professionals are prone to framing real options at exercise time and simplifying complicated real option exercise decisions by isolating them in IT portfolios. Further, their decisions are influenced by their personal risk preferences. We analyze the effect of time-inconsistent preferences of present-biased managers on the exercise time of real growth and abandonment options and the realized values using a discrete time option valuation model. The results show that present-biased managers are more likely to exercise growth options early when the net payoffs are low, the growth option payoffs have high volatility, and the risk free discount rate is small. Also, present-biased managers are more likely to exercise abandonment option late when the net payoffs from continuing the project are high, salvage value of the project is low, and the rate of change in the salvage value over the period of time is low. In addition, present biased managers are more likely to exercise a growth option early in its life when the project is performing well. We provide implications for practice and IT governance

Tumour Lysis Syndrome Occurring in a Patient with Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour Treated with Glivec (Imatinib Mesylate, Gleevec, STI571)

Tumour lysis syndrome (TLS) is a rare side effect of chemotherapy for solid tumours. It describes the metabolic derangements following rapid and extensive tumour cell death following a good response to chemotherapy. Symptoms are those of metabolic derangement and renal failure. Treatment involves rehydration and correction of metabolic abnormalities. TLS should be considered in high risk groups. We report a case of TLS in a patient with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour treated with imatinib mesylate. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case

The Role of Social Media Platforms in Confronting Intellectual Extremism from Majmaah University Students Perspective

The present study aims to investigate the role of social media platforms in confronting intellectual extremism among Majmaah University students. The researchers conducted the descriptive analytical approach and applied a 20- item questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of (213) students. The results showed that Tik Tok and Snapchat were ranked first among the study sample. Also, there was a moderate negative impact of social media on intellectual security, with a mean of (2.99). This is due to the nature of the content published on networks and its impact on the subscribers. It indicated the importance of social media, more specifically Tik Tok and Snapchat, among the sample of the study. It can be attributed to gender since females are more interested in social networks to publish and share photos. Moreover, the results revealed that social media platforms played a moderate role in resisting intellectual deviation among the participants, with an average mean of (2.96). There were no statistical differences in the impact of social media platforms on young peoples intellectual security and their role in resisting intellectual extremism due to responses to the study questions. The findings of the study call for the necessity of activating the positive role of social media by exploring new approaches to evolve effective alternatives in dealing with social networks by enhancing young peoples media literacy. Contribution/Originality: This study contributed to the existing literature by identifying the role of social media in combating intellectual extremism from the perspective of students at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. It also explored the most popular social media platforms among university students and their impact on students intellectual security

Effectiveness of intrapartum fetal surveillance to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Bassel Al Wattar holds a personal Academic Clinical Lectureship from the UK National Health Institute of Research. Khalid Khan is a Distinguished Investigator funded by the Beatriz Galindo (senior modality) Program Grant given to the University of Granada by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of the Spanish Government.BACKGROUND: Cesarean delivery is the most common surgical procedure worldwide. Intrapartum fetal surveillance is routinely offered to improve neonatal outcomes, but the effects of different methods on the risk of emergency cesarean deliveries remains uncertain. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of fetal surveillance. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL until June 1, 2020, for randomized trials evaluating any intrapartum fetal surveillance method. We performed a network meta-analysis within a frequentist framework. We assessed the quality and network inconsistency of trials. We reported primarily on intrapartum emergency cesarean deliveries and other secondary maternal and neonatal outcomes using risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: We included 33 trials (118 863 patients) evaluating intermittent auscultation with Pinard stethoscope/handheld Doppler (IA), cardiotocography (CTG), computerized cardiotocography (cCTG), CTG with fetal scalp lactate (CTG-lactate), CTG with fetal scalp pH analysis (CTG-FBS), CTG with fetal pulse oximetry (FPO-CTG), CTG with fetal heart electrocardiogram (CTG-STAN) and their combinations. Intermittent auscultation reduced the risk of emergency cesarean deliveries compared with other types of surveillance (IA v. CTG: RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.72-0.97; IA v. CTG-FBS: RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.63-0.80; IA v.CTG-lactate: RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.64-0.92; IA v. FPO-CTG: RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.65-0.87; IA v.FPO-CTG-FBS: RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67-0.99; cCTG-FBS v. IA: RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.04-1.42), except STAN-CTG-FBS (RR 1.17, 95% CI 0.98-1.40). There was a similar reduction observed for emergency cesarean deliveries for fetal distress. None of the evaluated methods was associated with a reduced risk of neonatal acidemia, neonatal unit admissions, Apgar scores or perinatal death. INTERPRETATION: Compared with other types of fetal surveillance, intermittent auscultation seems to reduce emergency cesarean deliveries in labour without increasing adverse neonatal and maternal outcomes.Beatriz Galindo (senior modality) Program Grant by Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of the Spanish Governmen