An Instrument to Assess Organizational Change Capabilities for E-Business Transformation

This thesis investigates organizational change strategies for e-business transformation. It proposes an instrument to measure the strength of a company\u27s organizational change capabilities to make this transformation. Most brick and mortar business in the year 2000 are faced with a massive wave of change associated with the Internet. It is impacting the fundamental rules of business and changing their relationship with customers, suppliers and how work gets done. Firms that successfully make an e-business transformation will be rewarded with growth and strong returns. Many of those who are unable to change will not survive in the long run. A fundamental issue in e-business transformation is disruptive organizational change. A review of the academic literature identifies ten dimensions of organizational change capability that can increase the probability that a company can make a successful disruptive organizational change. These include: emotional unifying vision; use of symbols; enabling the free flow of emotions; providing a transition to the past; creating a playful environment; change infrastructure; first line supervisor buy-in; project management; training; and the reward system. An expert panel was surveyed to get their opinion on the dimensions. Dimensions were added and altered based on these opinions. An instrument was proposed to uncover these dimensions. It was reviewed by an expert panel, and then was then edited based on their feedback. It was found that the opinions of the expert panel were highly correlated with the dimensions identified in the academic literature. The instrument has a reasonable chance to measure the strength of an organization\u27s change capabilities to make an e-business transformation. Further research could apply this instrument with a representative group of companies to determine the strength of each dimension

Three Large-Scale Changes To The Medicare Program Could Curb Its Costs But Also Reduce Enrollment

With Medicare spending projected to increase to 24 percent of all federal spending and to equal 6 percent of the gross domestic product by 2037, policy makers are again considering ways to curb the program's spending growth. We used a microsimulation approach to estimate three scenarios: imposing a means-tested premium for Part A hospitalinsurance, introducing a premium support credit to purchase health insurance, and increasing the eligibility age to sixty-seven.We found thatthe scenarios would lead to reductions in cumulative Medicare spending in 2012 -- 36 of 2.4 -- 24.0 percent. However, the scenarios also would increase out-of-pocket spending for enrollees and, in some cases, causemillions of seniors not to enroll in the program and to be left without coverage. To achieve substantial cost savings without causing substantial lack of coverage among seniors, policy makers should consider benefitchanges in combination with other options, such as some of those now being contemplated by the Obama administration and Congress

Development of bio-inspired antifouling coatings

Biofouling is the accumulation of micro and macro organisms on a solid surface exposed to a marine environment. It cause a reduction of operational effectiveness of marine structures[1]. The process begins with the settlement of microorganisms on the surface demonstrated in figure 1, the microorganisms then produce Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) forming a biofilm. Hydrophobic surfaces have been shown to inhibit biofouling and it has been noted that some strains of macroalgae use surface topography and leaching of antimicrobials to minimise biofouling

Solving Modal Equations of Motion with Initial Conditions Using MSC/NASTRAN DMAP

By utilizing MSC/NASTRAN DMAP (Direct Matrix Abstraction Program) in an existing NASA Lewis Research Center coupled loads methodology, solving modal equations of motion with initial conditions is possible using either coupled (Newmark-Beta) or uncoupled (exact mode superposition) integration available within module TRD1. Both the coupled and newly developed exact mode superposition methods have been used to perform transient analyses of various space systems. However, experience has shown that in most cases, significant time savings are realized when the equations of motion are integrated using the uncoupled solver instead of the coupled solver. Through the results of a real-world engineering analysis, advantages of using the exact mode superposition methodology are illustrated

Auditing for fraud: Perception vs. reality

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/dl_proceedings/1046/thumbnail.jp