How do mobile technologies affect work and private lives? The case of Turkish banking professionals

Mobile technologies (MTs) became important part of infrastructure in service industries. The impacts of MT usage in work are shown to be significant; improving the productivity, responsiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of companies, while reshaping the work place organization and making employees accessible on a 7/24 basis. However, there are great differences in terms of the types and levels of these impacts on organizations and individuals as the industry, region/country changes. Moreover, not much is known about the effects of MTs in developing countries like Turkey where there is a rapidly increasing mobile penetration (mobile phone and internet subscription rates) which is a critical infrastructure component of mobile working.Turkey has quite an advanced banking industry that has went through serious industrial restructuring. Banking industry has always been among the early adapters and first users of new information and communication technologies, as well as first appliers of new organizational development and human resource management techniques. In the last few years, mobile technologies has become key technologies for banks and accordingly, the usage of mobile devices by banking professionals for work purposes increased. As happened in other new information technologies and human resources systems, experiences of banking industry in mobile technology usage at work-place can provide best practices or lessons for practitioners form other industries.This study tries to provide insights on the perceptions of employees in the Turkish banking industry, about the impact of these technologies on their work practices and on their private lives. A structured survey is carried out with 107 white collar professionals from 5 major retail banks in Turkey. By conducting Factors Analysis and correlation analysis, 8 main factors are identified that represents the impacts of MT usage for work purposes and their interrelations with eachother and demographic factors are explored.Findings reveal that intensity of mobile device usage is still not high in banking industry. Employees perceive the positive impacts of mobile working on information and knowledge supply chain, time management of their organization,. Time management is one of the issues occurred due to mobile working. Attention and focus on meetings and interviews seems to be challenged due to parallel usage of mobile devices in meetings. There are correlations between feeling "Control, pressure, demand for responsiveness and workload" and intensity of mobile device usage and continous accessibility. Similarly, improvements in information and knowledge/flow and meeting organizations are correlated to the impacts of mobile working on productivity, quality and work-life balance. Research showed that the perceptions of employess about the implications of mobile work on "productivity, effectiveness and work-life balance" and "Attention and Focus on Group work like Meetings and Interviews" vary by gender, and on "Multitasking and work-shifting" vary by age. Education level also affects the perception on "Productivity, effectiveness and work-life balance". Hence the policy makers and managers and they also must consider the demographics of the employees when designing and implementing systems about mobile working in banking industry.Japan Minist Econ Trade & Ind, Ishikawa Prefecture; Hitachi; Toshiba; PFU; East Japan Railway Co; Komatsu; Daikin; Takenaka; Mitani Sangyo; Eizo; Nakamura Tome Precis Ind; I O Data Device; Hokusho; Komatsu Wall Ind; Japan Management Assoc Consultants; Matsumoto Machine Co Ltd; Asahi Elect; Quad Vis Res Inst; Manzairaku Sake Kura Co Ltd; Houju Mem Hosp; RB Controls Co Ltd; NIKKO Co; Tohshin Grp; Komatsu Electronics; Motorashi Seisakusho; Ishikawa IT Human Resource Dev Ctr; Hokkoku Bank; Betsukawa; Publ Cent Hosp Matto Ishikawa; Toray Industries; Japan Adv Inst Sci & TechnolPublisher's VersionAuthor Post Prin

The Bullying Game: Sexism Based Toxic Language Analysis on Online Games Chat Logs by Text Mining

As a unique type of social network, the online gaming industry is a fast-growing, changing, and men-dominated field which attracts diverse backgrounds. Being dominated by male users, game developers, game players, game investors, the non-inclusiveness and gender inequality reside as salient problems in the community. In the online gaming communities, most women players report toxic and offensive language or experiences of verbal abuse. Symbolic interactionists and feminists assume that words matter since the use of particular language and terms can dehumanize and harm particular groups such as women. Identifying and reporting the toxic behavior, sexism, and harassment that occur in online games is a critical need in preventing cyberbullying, and it will help gender diversity and equality grow in the online gaming industry. However, the research on this topic is still rare, except for some milestone studies. This paper aims to contribute to the theory and practice of sexist toxic language detection in the online gaming community, through the automatic detection and analysis of toxic comments in online games chat logs. We adopted the MaXQDA tool as a data visualization technique to reveal the most frequently used toxic words used against women in online gaming communities. We also applied the Naïve Bayes Classifier for text mining to classify if a chat log content is sexist and toxic. We also refined the text mining model Laplace estimator and re-tested the model’s accuracy. The study also revealed that the accuracy of the Naïve Bayes Classifier did not change by the Laplace estimator. The findings of the study are expected to raise awareness about the use of gender-based toxic language in the online gaming community. Moreover, the proposed mining model can inspire similar research on practical tools to help moderate the use of sexist toxic language and disinfect these communities from gender-based discrimination and sexist bullying

Impacts of Organizational Culture and Leadership on Business Performance: A Case Study on Acquisitions

AbstractTransformational leadership and culture are identified as providing a ground for long-term organizational success during organizational changes. In literature, corporate culture and leadership come up as major factors in success of organizational transformation process in mergers and acquisitions as they have great influence on organizational structures, processes and hence performance of companies. In this context, this study aims to find out the organizational cultural and leadership characteristics of a high-tech telecommunication company in Turkey, that had been successful in protecting its competitive position and business performance despite the challenges of cultural and organizational change that are brought by a acquisition phase. In the research, elements of leadership and culture have been identified with relevance to transformational leadership and culture through surveys conducted within the company; they’re described in detail considering advantages and disadvantages of such elements during organizational restructuring. This case study points out that transformational culture and transformational leadership stand as critical strengths for achieving the desired business performance during major organizational changes such as merger and acquisitions

Benefiting innovative capabilities of software developer/user communities in developing countries

Since technological innovation is generally considered to be a major force in global economic growth, the development of innovative capabilities in developing countries has been a very important policy issue. Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has reshaped software technology through the creation of developer/user communities which enabled the collaboration of different parties resulting in the production of Linux and similar software projects. FLOSS user/developer community networks serve not only as "learning, reviewing, and testing" environments for developers, but they may also act as innovation networks that contribute to the improvement of the innovative capabilities of individual developers within the community. Therefore, understanding the characteristics, the motivating factors and the innovative dynamics of these developer communities will provide valuable insight into how to improve the innovative capabilities of developing countries in relation to software.The aim of this paper is to explore the characteristics of FLOSS developer communities in order to discover what benefits they may offer developing countries in generating innovative capabilities related to software. By conducting a survey in the FLOSS user/developer community in Turkey, the demographic characteristics, motivation factors and innovative characteristics of the community are explored and the question of whether these communities may act as innovation networks is examined. It is concluded that FLOSS community networks mostly serve as knowledge sharing and collaboration platforms, however, they do have the potential to evolve into innovation networks if they receive support from the local software industry and academic institutions.Publisher's Versio

Türkiye'de yazılım teknolojisi için teknoloji öngörüsü

Tez (Doktora) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2006Thesis (Ph.D.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2006Günümüzün artan rekabet ortamında ekonomik gelişme sağlayarak toplumsal refaha ulaşmak için, gelişmekte olan bir ülke olarak Türkiye, teknolojik yetkinliklerini geliştirmek ve yenilik üretme yeteneği kazanmak zorundadır. Bu hedefe ulaşmak, ancak ulusal ve sektörel düzeyde etkin ve kapsamlı bilim ve teknoloji politikalarının ve stratejilerinin oluşturulması ve uygulanması ile mümkündür. Bu kapsamda bilgi teknolojilerine ilişkin politikalar ise özellikle dijital bölünmeden kaynaklanan zorluk ve tehditleri, kısıtlı kaynaklar ile aşarak bilgi devrimine yetişmek açısından önceliklidir. Bu politikaların oluşturulması sürecinde ihtiyaç duyulan doğru ve etkin girdiler, ancak doğru kapsamda (ulusal, sektörel, mikro düzeyde), doğru alanlarda (kritik teknolojilerde), tutarlı, uygulanabilir, sonuç veren teknik ve metodlarla, doğru katılımcılarla gerçekleştirilecek etkin teknoloji öngörüleri tarafından sağlanmaktadır. Fiziksel yatırım gerektirmeyen, dinamik, özgün üretim ve inovasyon yapısı ile bir fırsat penceresi sunan yazılım teknolojisi bu kapsama en uygun kritik teknolojilerden biridir. Bu kavramsal çerçeve içinde, çalışmanın temel amacı; yazılım teknolojisinde, ulusal ve sektörel teknoloji politikalarının ve firma stratejilerinin oluşturulma sürecine katkı sağlayan bir teknoloji öngörüsü yaparak, ülkemizin teknoloji üretme yeteneği kazanmasına katkıda bulunmaktır. Bu amaçla, tez çalışmasında yazılım teknolojisinin değişim dinamikleri ve Türkiye'nin bu alanda konumu ve potansiyelini belirlemek üzere, farklı görüş ve tarafları temsil eden katılımcılarla Delphi anketi ve senaryo planlaması uygulanarak toplanan veriler ışığında Türkiye için SWOT analizi yapılmış, politika önerileri sunulmuştur. Türkiye'nin bu teknolojide yetkinleşmesiyle ilgili teknolojik altyapı sorunlarının yanısıra, ve hatta daha çok sosyal, politik ve sektörel sorunlara bağlı zorlukları bulunduğu görülmüştür. Bu zorluklar, Türkiye koşullarına özgün ve yazılımın evrimsel gelişim dinamiklerine uygun politikaların ve stratejilerin, iyi bir yönetişim, kurumlar, yapılar ve disiplinlerarası işbirliği ile ulusal mutabakat sonucu oluşturulması ve istikrarla uygulanması yoluyla aşılabilecektir.In growing competition of today?s economic globalized economy, developing countries need to improve technological capacities and innovation systems for achieving economic development and social welfare of their people. Improving technological abilities requires effective design and implementation of successfull science and technology policies and strategies. Especially, policies on information technologies are of high priority for overcoming the challenges of digital divide for technological catching up and taking part in information revolution with limited national resources. Successfull science and technology policies depend on the outputs of ?scientific, reliable and vision setting? foresighting studies which focus especially on ?critical technologies?, not only on national level but also ?on sectoral/specified technology? levels. Software technology is one of these critical key technologies with its dynamic and unique form of production and innovation structure, requiring relatively less infrastructure/investment, and hence providing an opportunity for developing countries. On the other hand, applying effective and adequate techniques and providing the participation of all related parties are critically important in foresighting. In this conceptual framework, we conducted a specific technology foresight in Turkey for software with the aim of providing inputs to national and sectoral policy makers in designing applicable, progressive technology policies. The basic mission is to contribute to the knowledge of how to generate technological capacity progress. For determining the dynamics of change and exploring the position and future options of Turkey in software technology, Delphi surveys and scenario planning methods were conducted with participants from different ?focal points? shaping ?alternative futures?. A detailed technology policy outline is presented, based on the outputs of SWOT analysis. It is concluded that Turkey has challenges that are mostly related to social, political and industrial problems rather than technological issues. But it is possible to overcome these challenges by designing and consistently implementing policies with effective governance, collaboration between institutions, structures and disciplines, national agreement.DoktoraPh.D

Natural regeneration of Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa subsp. barbata) stands (An example of Harşit Forestry Enterprise)

Doğada her canlının olduğu gibi ormanların da sürekli var olması, yaşlanan ya da değişik nedenlerle zarar görüp ölen bireylerin yerini yeni genç bireylerin almasıyla mümkün olacaktır. Bu nedenle ormanlarımızda uygulanan gençleştirme çalışmaları ve bu çalışmaların başarısı büyük önem taşımaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında, Harşit Orman İşletme Şefliğine ait Sakallı kızılağaç (Alnus glutinosa subsp. barbata) meşceresinin doğal gençleştirme yöntemlerinden biri olan büyük alan siper vaziyeti ile gençleştirilmesi ve gençlik bakımlarından diri örtü temizliğinin gençliğin gelişimi üzerine etkisinin ortaya konulması amaçlanmıştır. Gençleştirme çalışmasına 2012 yılında arazi hazırlığı ile başlanılmış ve 2016 Kasım-Aralık ayında ise boşaltma kesimi ile sahadan çıkılmıştır. İlk çimlenmeler 2013 yılı Nisan ayında gözlemlenmiştir. Gençleştirme alanında üç farklı şiddette diri örtü temizliği yapılmış ve uygulanan diri örtü temizlik derecelerinin gençlik sayısı ve boy gelişimi açısından etkileri belirlenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda; 2013-2015 yılları arasında yapılan ölçüm ve sayımlarla gençlik boyları ve sayıları ortaya konulmuştur. Bir yaşındaki gençliklerin boylarında yapılan ölçümlerde tüm işlemlere ait ortalama boy 5.92 cm, iki yaşında 39.23 cm ve üç yaşında ise 65.46 cm’dir. Diri örtü temizliği işlemleri bakımından bir yaşındaki ve üç yaşındaki gençlik boyları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı (P˂0.05) farklılıklar olduğu belirlenmiştir.The existence of forests as well as every living thing in nature will be possible by the replacement the young individuals to the position of aged or dead individuals who have been damaged due to various reasons. For this reason, the regeneration methods implemented in forests and the success of these studies are of great importance. In this study, it was aimed to regeneration with compartment shelterwood system, one of the natural regeneration methods, of Alnus glutinosa subsp. barbata stand in Harşit Forestry Enterprise, and the determination of effects on juvenility development of land clearing from regeneration tending. In 2012, regeneration efforts were started with land preparation and final cutting was made in November-December 2016. The first germination was observed in April 2013. In regeneration area, three different land clearing treatments were carried out and tried to determine their effects on the number and length of juvenility. As a result of the study; the number of juvenility and juvenility length were determined by the making measurement and counting between the years of 2013-2015. In the measurements made in one year-old juvenility, the average juvenility length of all treatments was 5.92 cm, this was obtained as 39.23 cm for two-year-old juvenility, and 65.46 cm for three-year-old juvenility. In addition, it was determined that there are statistically significant differences (P<0.05) between juvenility length values of one and three-year-old juvenilities in terms of land clearing interventions

An Institutional System Proposal for Advanced Occupational Safety and Labor Standards in the Turkish Construction Industry

The Turkish construction industry is problematic with its inferior occupational safety practices and labor standards. This paper explores the current institutional system&rsquo;s problems and designs a national institutional system to improve labor conditions in the Turkish construction industry. The study applies cause-and-effect analysis, stakeholder analysis, and information flow analysis based on the thematic literature and regulation reviews and the data collected from expert interviews. Findings revealed that the industry represents a drastically problematic context with high rates of occupational accidents, job insecurity, and excessive working time, and the inspection and enforcement system is still immature, calling for additional institutional arrangements to establish a collaborative and sustainable environment. There is a need for a holistic, multi-dimensional, and systematic perspective to develop coordination and inspection mechanisms in the sector. The paper proposes an institution and scorecard design by applying a quality function deployment framework matching needs and systemic functions that can overcome the existing deficiency in labor conditions. The paper contributes to filling the gap in the literature on the multi-dimensional, systematic institutional perspective to develop coordination and inspection mechanisms in the construction industry and proposes an institutional system example that could be adapted to other national contexts