BI as a service: an attempt to understand the leading adoption factors

The research question of this study attempts to identify which are the leading factors for the adoption of a sourcing Software as a Service model for Business Intelligence applications. The objective is to build a model containing enabling factors for the adoption of BI solutions. We seek to expand on the Benlian et al. model which is based on a theoretical framework including axioms from Transaction Cost Theory, Resource Based View, Theory of Planned Behavior. In order to better understand the phenomenon under investigation, we will use also the Organizational Culture Theory. It is a theoretical research in progress

The implementation of a performance management system in the Italian army

The last reform program in the Italian public sector was realized by legislative decree 150/2009 that introduced the performance cycle, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public organizations. The performance and its evaluation is one of new public management (NPM) pillars. Control and accountability play an invaluable role in the institutional and organizational change. The Italian Army is involved in this changing process, as well as the other public organizations, by implementing a performance management system (PMS), in order \u201cto do more with less\u201d. By now, the army is in the middle of this process, several steps have been made, but furthers and more critics are going to be done to implement an effective Decision Support System (DSS). This article aims to respond to the following question: How is the Italian Army implementing PMS and what is its impact on the organization

IT helps the Italian army to implement a performance management system

Over the last years, Italian public administrations have been involved in a long-term reform process with the aim of \u201creinventing\u201d the public sector in accordance with new public management principles. The Italian Army, along with other public organizations, has been engaged in the implementation of a performance management system as stated by Italian law 150/2009. Information Technology (IT) has played an invaluable role during this process. The Italian Army is still developing a business intelligence tool to support its strategic activities. This article investigates on how Italian Army strategies can contribute to the success of implementing effective performance management systems

Enabling factors for saas business intelligence adoption: a theoretical framework proposal

The research question of this study attempts to identify which are the enabling factors for the adoption of a sourcing SaaS (Software as a Service) model for Business Intelligence applications. The objective of this paper is to propose a model containing enabling factors for the adoption of BI solutions. We seek to expand on the Benlian et al. model which is based on a theoretical framework including axioms from Transaction Cost Theory, Resource Based View and Theory of Planned Behavior. It is a theoretical research in progress which provides a first step towards a qualitative approach, based on case study, for the practical evaluation of the proposed model. The new model will consider all the three categories of factors: organizational, economic and technological and their rela-tionships with the hypotheses explained in the paper

IT helps the Italian army to implement a performance management system

Over the last years, Italian public administrations have been involved in a long-term reform process with the aim of \u201creinventing\u201d the public sector in accordance with new public management principles. The Italian Army, along with other public organizations, has been engaged in the implementation of a performance management system as stated by Italian law 150/2009. Information Technology (IT) has played an invaluable role during this process. The Italian Army is still developing a business intelligence tool to support its strategic activities. This article investigates on how Italian Army strategies can contribute to the success of implementing effective performance management systems

Exhaust Gas Condensation during Engine Cold Start and Application of the Dry-Wet Correction Factor

Gas components, like carbon monoxide (CO) and dioxide (CO2), can be measured on a wet- or dry-basis depending on whether the water is left or removed from the sample before analysis. The dry concentrations of gaseous components in the exhaust from internal combustion engines are converted to wet concentrations with conversion factors based on the combustion products and the fuel properties. Recent CO2 measurements with portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) compared to laboratory grade equipment showed differences during the first minutes after engine start. In this study we compared instruments measuring on a dry- and wet-basis using different measuring principles (non-dispersive infrared detection (NDIR) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)) at the exhaust of gasoline, compressed natural gas (CNG), and diesel light-duty and L-category vehicles. The results showed an underestimation of the CO2 and CO mass emissions up to 13% at cold start when the conversion factor is applied and not direct “wet” measurements are taken, raising concerns about reported CO2 and CO cold start emissions in some cases. The underestimation was negligible (<1%) for CO2 when the whole test (20–30 min) was considered, but not for CO (1%–10% underestimation) because the majority of emissions takes place at cold start. Exhaust gas temperature, H2O measurements and different expressions of the dry-wet corrections confirmed that the differences are due to condensation at the exhaust pipes and aftertreatment devices when the surface temperatures are lower than the dew point of the exhaust gases. The results of this study help to interpret differences when comparing instruments with different principles of operation at the same location, instruments sampling at different locations, or the same instrument measuring different driving test cycles or at different ambient temperatures (e.g., −7 °C)

The vapor pressures and activities of dicarboxylic acids reconsidered: the impact of the physical state of the aerosol

We present vapor pressure data of the C2 to C5 dicarboxylic acids deduced from measured evaporation rates of single levitated particles as both, aqueous droplets and solid crystals. The data of aqueous solution particles over a wide concentration range allow us to directly calculate activities of the dicarboxylic acids and comparison of these activities with parameterizations reported in the literature. The data of the pure liquid state acids, i.e. the dicarboxylic acids in their supercooled melt state, exhibit no even-odd alternation in vapor pressure, while the acids in the solid form do. This observation is consistent with the known solubilities of the acids and our measured vapor pressures of the supercooled melt. Thus, the gas/particle partitioning of the different dicarboxylic acids in the atmosphere depends strongly on the physical state of the aerosol phase, the difference being largest for the even acids. Our results show also that, in general, measurements of vapor pressures of solid dicarboxylic acids may be compromised by the presence of polymorphic forms, crystalline structures with a high defect number, and/or solvent inclusions in the solid material, yielding a higher vapor pressure than the one of the thermodynamically stable crystalline form at the same temperature.ISSN:1680-7375ISSN:1680-736