Improving Decision Support with Push Technology-based Tools: An Implementation for Internal Logistics and Material Flow Control Problems

Current work environments and IT advances provide managers with a wealth of information stored in internal, external databases and data warehouses. Managers often mention the fact that they are overloaded with the amount of information that they receive, or more precisely that they cannot cope with this overload: therefore, a critical issue for designing decision and management support systems has become to extract and present the information in a timely and usable manner. In a research project, we look at how we can make the work of managers more productive from the Fragmentation of Working Time (FWT) perspective in 6 small and medium-sized companies. One of the solutions that we have adopted is a collection of push technology-based tools, which support the manager in decision-making situations. This paper presents the FWT framework which guides our work, the approach that we have used to integrate push technology in the DSS framework, the tools which have been developed in one case company in the context of Internal Logistics and Material Flow Control processes, and results on the impacts on the manager’s productivity

A Constructivist Approach to Information Systems Teaching: A Case Study on a Design Course for Advanced-Level University Students

Constructivist educational methods have been used for decades especially in disciplines with a practical bent: medicine, architecture, engineering and technology. In this paper we examine how information systems design learning could be improved by constructivist methods. We focus on a single information systems design course, where the students, divided in groups, choose one from three alternative design assignments per group. The assignments are supposed to follow closely the process of a real-world design project, ending with a prototype and an evaluation of other groups\u27 prototypes. We witnessed the students\u27 dedication to their work and their appreciation of the fact that the assigned problem came close to a real-world problem, but also the time-consuming nature of teamwork and occasional problems with free riding. We used widely various electronic teaching tools but in the end we believe that the most significant further improvements will come from intensified peer support and instructor guidance to individual teams

A Theoretical Framework for Mobile Learning and E-Inclusion in Finland

Inclusion of people discontinuing their studies, so-called school drop-outs, represents a challenge in a modern information society, where numeracy, literacy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills are needed in order to cope with everyday life. Several technology projects have been launched to explore the opportunities that mobile technologies bring about when tackling issues of social inclusion through mobile learning. Mobile devices are cheaper than for instance a Personal Computer (PC), and their affordance, usability and accessibility are such that they can potentially complement or even replace traditional computer technology. In this paper, a theoretical framework for mobile learning and e-inclusion is developed for people outside the conventional education system. The framework draws upon the fields of constructivist pedagogy, mobile learning objects and sociology. We also present data about the situation in Finland where we will use this theoretical framework to inform the design of mobile learning solutions for school drop-outs

Modern Information Technology to Support Interrupted Work Environments

Managerial work has been defined as an activity characterized by brevity, fragmentation and occurring at an unrelenting pace. In today's workplaces, fragmented work environments are commonplace for people involved in managerial work, and even for knowledge workers. It seems that support technology is partly to blame in this context: we have created more powerful tools which partly hinder productivity. The purpose of our research is (i) to understand the cause and sources of fragmentation of working time, (ii) provide solutions to reduce interruptions and their effects, (iii) propose guidelines to develop information systems suited for the purposes of the work of knowledge workers

Demande d'exemption cabillaud

Le présent cahier des charges s’inscrit dans la mise en oeuvre du plan cabillaud, prévu par le règlement (CE) n°1342/2008, et de sa partie relative à l’attribution d’un effort de pêche supplémentaire pour les engins hautement sélectifs et les campagnes de pêches évitant la capture de cabillaud. Le règlement (CE) n°1342/2008 définit des règles de gestion dans les zones de reconstitution du cabillaud Mer d’Irlande (CIEM VIIa), Mer du Nord (CIEM IV a, b, c et VIId) et Ouest Ecosse (Vb et VIa). Il prévoit l’obligation pour les navires autorisés à pêcher dans ces zones de détenir un PPS, dit « PPS Zone Cabillaud ». Ces navires autorisés à pêcher sont également assujettis à des règles de fixation des TAC et des mesures de contrôle spécifiques. En effet, l’activité de ces navires est limitée par l’existence de plafonds d’effort annuels maximaux fixés dans le règlement (CE) annuel fixant les TAC et quotas pour ce qui concerne le volet « effort de pêche ». Toutefois, pour 2009, le règlement (CE) n°1342/2008 prévoit l’exclusion de certains groupes de navires du régime d’effort de pêche. Ce régime d’exemption de l’effort de pêche permet aux navires pêchant moins de 1.5% de cabillaud sur l’ensemble des captures de l’année (tous engins et toutes zones confondues) de ne pas connaître de limitation de leur effort de pêche dans les zones de reconstitution du Cabillaud. Suite aux demandes d’exemption réceptionnées à la DPMA, la DPMA notifie à l’Ifremer la liste des navires concernés par groupe d’exemption aux fins que ce dernier : _ Evalue les captures des navires concernés sur la demande d’exemption. Cette évaluation comprend : (i) les captures totales des navires, toutes espèces confondues, par carré statistique et par engin de pêche. (ii) les captures sur les années 2006, 2007 et 2008. _ Evalue l’effort de pêche déployé par ces navires sur les années 2006, 2007 et 2008. _ Evalue les rejets des pêcheries concernées sur la base des informations existantes. _ Présente, à partir des données de captures et d’effort un bilan statistique et une cartographie de la pêcherie du groupe de navire demandeur de l’exemption