Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Organizational Processing'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Organizational Processing.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Organizational Processing.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Tirrell, Benjamin M. "ORGANIZATIONAL ECONOMICS AND THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY." UKnowledge, 2004. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/171.
Full textAbstract:
The food processing industry is dominated by large corporations. These firms play a critical role in forming the derived demand faced by agricultural producers, but little is understood about how these companies make strategic choices. Organizational economics provides a framework for exploring the firm's decision process. However, several theories exist in this discipline, operating in fundamentally different ways. This paper examines the two prevalent organizational theories, Transaction Cost Economics and Agency Theory, through a study of the food processing industry. This sector is thoroughly analyzed in order to make predictions from each theory regarding the aspects of capital structure and firm expansion. With accounting data for a sample of food processing firms, these predictions are then tested empirically using an ICAPM model in a cross-section of expected stock returns. Our results indicate that Agency Theory is the relevant organizational model for food manufacturers, making it the appropriate tool for evaluating the actions of these firms in agricultural markets.
2
Laitinen, N. (Niilo). "Organizational culture as source of innovations." Bachelor's thesis, University of Oulu, 2016. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201605131729.
Full textAbstract:
In now-a-days competitive global markets, organizations are required to become more flexible and adaptable in order to survive in the rapidly changing business environment. The ability to innovate is touted to be the key factor for ensuring the continuity and increased competitiveness of organizations. However, many attempts to create and implement innovations in organizations turn out to be unsuccessful due to the fact that organizational culture is unsuitable for the innovation effort. This thesis contributes to the discussion of innovation supportive culture by identifying the most essential aspects of organizational culture related to organizations’ ability to innovate. It is argued, that despite the extensive research on the subject of organizational culture, the terminology and definitions are found to vary greatly within researchers, thus complicating the research subject. Nevertheless, organizational culture, and especially it’s aspects of innovative values, organizational climate and leadership, are identified as crucial components for successful creation and implementation of innovations.
3
Cukrowski, Jacek, and Manfred M. Fischer. "Efficient Organization of Collective Data-Processing." WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 1998. http://epub.wu.ac.at/4148/1/WSG_DP_6498.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
The paper examines the application of the concept of economic efficiency to
organizational issues of collective information processing in decision making. Information
processing is modeled in the framework of the dynamic parallel-processing model of
associative computation with an endogenous set-up cost of the processors. The model is
extended to include the specific features of collective information processing in the team of
decision makers which could cause an error in data analysis. In such a model, the conditions
for efficient organization of information processing are defined and the architecture of the
efficient structures is considered. We show that specific features of collective decision
making procedures require a broader framework for judging organizational efficiency
than has traditionally been adopted. In particular, and contrary to the results presented in
economic literature, we show that in human data processing (unlike in computer systems),
there is no unique architecture for efficient information processing structures, but a number of
various efficient forms can be observed. The results indicate that technological progress
resulting in faster data processing (ceteris paribus) will lead to more regular information
processing structures. However, if the relative cost of the delay in data analysis increases
significantly, less regular structures could be efficient. (authors' abstract)Series: Discussion Papers of the Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience
4
Remington, William S. (William Seth). "The Organizational Consequences of Information Deployment." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1991. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279093/.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigates the influence that increasing end user autonomy has on organizational data models. The independence offered by microcomputer technology offers users increasing independence in their information-handling activities. As independence increases, uniformity of data models across the organization is theorized to diminish. The problem motivating this study is the potential for improper allocation of resources that may result from a misinterpretation of organizational data. This study suggests that the expanding use of microcomputers in the business setting will contribute to diversity of data models. This may eventually lead to confusion and even lack of confidence in the information produced.
5
Krauter, Nina, and Eva Mayer. "Does structure matter? : The influence of organizational structure on information overload." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-157330.
Full textAbstract:
The Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT) was used as a tool to analyze the collected data. It was found that, when Information Processing Requirements (IPR) outweigh Information Processing Capacities (IPC), information overload can be the result. Organizational structure should be chosen to enable successful task execution, if that is the case information overload is unlikely to occur. Structural elements that were found to especially increase IPC and therefore reduce the likelihood of information overload are: clarity, transparency and adherence to definitions of job responsibilities or roles.
6
Lin, Felix. "Modelling complex organizational coordination processes : a case study of engineering change processing." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/14541.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1988.Title as it appeared in MIT Graduate list, June, 1988: Modelling complex coordination process : a case study of engineering change processing.
Includes bibliographical references.
by Felix Lin.
M.S.
7
Maijanen, K. (Karri). "Building inter-organizational trust by implementing information security management system:a review from trust building perspective." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2016. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201612033197.
Full textAbstract:
Inter-organisational trust is increasingly important among supply chain participants, where threats are building up from sources out of organisational control. The same problem is faced in the cyber security field, where threat level increases from the changes outside organisational boundaries. Each value chain participating in the supply chain must be secured. Trust building is mandated among all trust network members. The business interaction between supply chain participants is enabled by building inter-organisational trust first. This study provided ways to build this inter-organisational trust by considering steps to take in information security management system (ISMS) implementation. ISMS is set of processes, documentation, activities and resources that together secure assets within an organisation. It must be assembled to support strategic business goals and comply selected requirement criteria. Due to different ways and purposes, organisations implement ISMS’s and obtain the security standard certification; it is not a proof of secure business processes or trust per se. Instead, it is a good starting point for trust building. This study used narrative literature review to find supporting and resisting elements of inter-organisational trust that can consider in ISMS. The study limited the research into a very narrow area between information processing science, behaviour sciences and discipline of management. The research found several elements (102) that can be considered in ISMS to have the effect to interorganisational trust building. The findings were categorised using ISO/IEC 27001 (2013) ISMS implementation steps to provide concrete support for security professionals. There are none or very limited number of research literature on exact combined topic of inter-organisational trust building and ISMS. The multidisciplinary phenomenon of information security coupled with inter-organisational trust requires more attention from the research community. Schools teaching information security should develop their course coverage to support this multidisciplinary phenomenon in several view points, not just from their own discipline to achieve producing suitable resources for the industryYritysten välinen luottamus on yhä tärkeämpää toimitusketjuihin osallistuvien organisaatioiden keskuudessa, missä uhat syntyvät yritysten tietoturvakontrollien ulkopuolelta. Sama ongelma kohdataan kyberturvallisuudessa, missä uhkataso kasvaa muutoksista organisaatiorajojen ulkopuolella. Jokaisen toimitusketjuun osallistuvan on suojauduttava. Luottamuksen rakentamisen tehtävä on kaikkien jäsenien yhteinen asia luottamusverkostossa. Toimitusketjuun osallistuvien on rakennettava organisaatioiden välinen luottamus ennen liiketoiminnan aloittamista. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarjotaan keinoja kehittää organisaatioiden välistä luottamusta tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmän toteuttamisessa. Tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmä koostuu prosessien, dokumentaation, toimintojen ja resurssien yhdistelmästä, mitkä yhdessä turvaavat tietovarannot organisaation sisällä. Se on koostettava tukemaan liiketoiminnan strategisia tavoitteita ja täyttää valitut kriteeristöt. Koska tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmiä sertifioidaan eri tavalla, sekä eri tarkoituksia varten, niin sertifioitu standardi ei itsessään takaa turvallisia liiketoimintaprosesseja, vaan se toimii hyvänä lähtöpisteenä luottamuksen rakentamiselle. Tässä tutkimuksessa sovellettiin kirjallisuuskatsausta yritysten välisten luottamusta edistävien ja estävien elementtien löytämiseksi, mitä tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmän toteutuksessakin voitaisiin soveltaa. Tutkimus toteutettiin rajatulla alueella tietojenkäsittely-, käyttäytymis-, sekä hallintotieteiden yhtymäkohdassa. Tutkimus löysi useita elementtejä (102), mitkä huomioimalla tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmässä voidaan vaikuttaa yritysten välisen luottamuksen rakentamiseen. Löydökset jaoteltiin ISO/IEC 27001 (2013) tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmän toteutusaskelien mukaisesti, jotta tulokset tukisivat parhaiten tietoturvallisuuden asiantuntijaa konkreettisella tasolla. Tutkimuspapereita ei ole yhtään, tai niitä on hyvin rajoitetusti missä tietoturvallisuuden hallintajärjestelmän ja yritysten välisen luottamuksen rakentaminen yhdistetään. Monitieteinen tietoturvan ilmiö yhdistettynä yritysten välisen luottamuksen rakentamiseen vaatii enemmän huomiota tiedeyhteisöltä. Tietoturvallisuutta kouluttavien oppilaitosten tulisi kehittää tietoturvallisuuden kurssitarjontaansa tukemaan monitieteellistä lähestymistapaa ei vain oman tutkimusalan näkökulmaa, jotta teollisuus saisi sopivampia resursseja käyttöönsä
8
Qian, Yuxia. "A Communication Model of Employee Cynicism toward Organizational Change." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1195512463.
Full text
9
Leweling, Tara A. "Extending organizational contingency theory to team performance : an information processing and knowledge flows perspective /." Monterey, Calif. : Naval Postgraduate School, 2007. http://bosun.nps.edu/uhtbin/hyperion-image.exe/07Sep%5FLeweling%5FPhD.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D. in Information Sciences)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2007.Dissertation Advisor(s): Nissen, Mark ; Arquilla, John "September 2007." Description based on title screen as viewed on October 22, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-277). Also available in print.
10
Aderoju, Suraju Akanni. "Efficacy of management information on organizational performance in the chemical processing industry / S.A. Aderoju." Thesis, North-West University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2632.
Full textAbstract:
Every aspect of management in the modern age relies on information to thrive. Nothing moves without information. It is generally believed that information is power and that he who has it has power. Information is an important resource needed to develop other resources. Changing circumstances and environments have necessitated the need for the proper dissemination of information at various levels of management.
Based on the full realisation of the above, this case study research was carried out in an establishment in the chemical processing industry (CPI) to evaluate the impact of management information on the organizational performance. The choice of the industry is instructive as the primary process in the industry has little to do with information technology.
The results provide useful insights into the connection between management information (and indeed the role played by it) and the overall performance of an organization.
Firstly, for an organization whose primary business is wax production, the level of reliance of management on information was remarkable. This fact is underscored by the number of systems that have been implemented for the purpose of information generation for management. On a second look, however, this becomes understandable as there is the need for accurate information, especially on safety, due to the potential danger of the conditions of operations in the chemical processing industry. In spite of the existence of these management information generating systems, the outcome of the research shows that there is still the need for management of the case study organization to integrate the systems in order to enhance the effectiveness of the generated information on the organization’s performance.
Another insight from the study is the fact that despite the negative impact on organizational performance (due to the non-achievement of defined goals), managers do withhold information and decide not to undertake any action. One plausible reason for this might be that using the information could result in a negative impact on the managers’ personal interests.
The results of the study also show that the degree of effectiveness of management information may vary from one area of the same organization to the other depending on factors such as the quality/integrity of the generated information and the priority attached to each area by management amongst others.
Ability of managers to accurately specify the information they require was also observed as a factor that affects the effectiveness of management information, as management decision based on inadequate or wrong information invariably does not lead to the organization’s set goals, thereby adversely affecting its performance at the end of the day.
In summary, the study results show that information made available to management indeed has an impact on the overall performance of the organization. However, the degree of the impact varies in different areas of the organization due to certain factors. For this research work, the major factors responsible for the variation in these areas as well as the overall impact are as identified in the previous four paragraphs. Using ABC Wax plant, one of the world’s leading specialists in the production of petroleum and synthetic waxes related products, as a case study, the research work was concluded with guidelines recommended to enhance the effectiveness of management information on the overall performance of organizations in the chemical processing industry. Remarkably, most of the guidelines are also applicable to organizations outside the CPI.Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.
11
Vlok, Daniël. "An assessment of the knowledge processing environment in an organisation : a case study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003806.
Full textAbstract:
Knowledge Management is associated with organisational initiatives in response to the demands of a knowledge-based economy in which the potential value of knowledge as a source for competitive advantage is recognised. However, the lack of a common understanding about knowledge itself, its characteristics and how it is constructed has led to diverse approaches about how to "manage" it. This study presents a critical overview of traditional and contemporary KM approaches. The main focus of this study was to discover and apply a suitable methodology for assessing an organisation's knowledge processing environment. This includes an analysis of the current practices and behaviours of people within the organisation relating to the creation of new knowledge and integrating such knowledge into day-to-day work. It also includes inferring from the above practices those policies and programmes that affect knowledge outcomes. This research makes extensive use of the Knowledge Life Cycle (KLC) framework and the Policy Synchronisation Method (PSM) developed by advocates of the New Knowledge Management movement. A case study approach was followed using a range of data collection methods, which included personal interviews, a social network survey and focus group discussions. The selected case is the small IT department at the East London campus of Rhodes University. Evidence from the case suggests that the knowledge processing environment within the IT department is unhealthy. The current knowledge processing practices and behaviours are undesirable and not geared towards the creation of new knowledge and the integration of such knowledge within the business processes of the IT department. There is little evidence of individual and organisational learning occurring and the problem solving process itself is severely hampered by dysfunctional knowledge practices. The study concludes that the above state of affairs is a reflection of the quality and appropriateness of policies and programmes in the extended organisation. Equally, the local definition of rules, procedures and the execution thereof at a business unit level is mostly lacking. The study illustrates that a systematic assessment of the knowledge processing environment provides the organisation with a sound baseline from where knowledge-based interventions can be launched.
12
Simosi, Maria. "The processing of conflict in organizational groups : a case study in a Greek industrial company." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1997. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1491/.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of the research was to investigate the way in which employees in two departments of a Greek industrial company resolved conflict situations encountered in the context of their department. The premises are that (a) the positive effects of conflict for the organization are related to the way in which it is resolved; (b) the investigation of the phenomenon of conflict resolution necessitates the examination of employees' conflict handling behaviour during a conflict episode, as well as of their representation of the particular episode; (c) the bureaucratic culture of the organization and the wider social culture determine the conditions within which employees represent and deal with conflict situations. The research used a single case design to develop new ways to model the conflict resolution process. The use of open-ended interviews constituted the methods of data collection. Employees from two departments (Research/Design and Supplies) of the organization were selected. The analysis of data in the first part of the thesis led to the development of a net model, indicating patterns of conflict handling behaviour during any conflict episode; the generic structure of the net model, which was found to be common to both departments, was discussed in the light of Greek culture, as well as of the bureaucratic practices of that particular organization. On the basis of this analysis, a further analysis was made of the data relating to those nodes of the net model where employees were found to be involved in a decision making process. The methodology selected enabled the representation of the process of the conflict management problem by organizational members. The basic assumption incorporated within this methodology is that the conflict management problem can be represented in more than one way. The identification, via employees' discourse, of the way in which conflict situations are conceptualized in the context of the two departments, indicated how this representation relates to the wider social and organizational nexus within which it is embedded. The contribution of this study lies in identifying the conflict resolution structures and processes within two departments of the organization studied and, to a certain extent, the wider organization, while offering an insight into how this organization shapes the way in which conflict situations are processed by organizational members, using their own discourse.
13
Valley, Kristin. "Financial Service Leaders' Incorporation of Knowledge Management Systems in Overall Organizational Strategy." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5805.
Full textAbstract:
Financial service industry leaders successfully incorporating a knowledge management system (KMS) into the overall organizational strategy experience several benefits over firms that do not implement an effective KMS. This multiple case study was an exploration of the strategies financial service industry leaders use to incorporate a KMS in organizational strategy. The case population consisted of 5 leaders from 4 financial services organizations with successful experience implementing a KMS into their overall organizational strategy. The conceptual framework for this study was knowledge conversion theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, interview notes, and review of company documents. Data were compiled and organized, disassembled into fragments, reassembled into a sequence of groups, and interpreted for meaning. Methodological triangulation and member checking validated the trustworthiness of those interpretations. Three themes emerged from the 5 interviews: a continuous improvement environment facilitated KMS incorporation, supportive leadership facilitated KMS incorporation, and a learning organization environment improved KMS incorporation. Financial services leaders could use these themes to increase knowledge-sharing capabilities and the potential for innovation and creative capabilities of their organizations to ensure long-term organizational sustainability. The implications for positive social change include the potential for increased revenue that leaders could use to make charitable contributions to further the development of local communities. In addition, leaders' use of lean processing could reduce environmental waste, which would benefit the local community because its residents could enjoy a cleaner environment.
14
Zeng, Tao. "An organizational communication protocol based on speech acts : design, verification and formal specifications." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29410.
Full textAbstract:
Current technologies are not sufficient to support the full spectrum of organizational communications because organizations are open systems and organizational communication is rather complex (e.g., involves negotiations). Speech Acts is a branch of Linguistics which views speaking to be the same as acting. Recently, Speech Acts theory has been introduced into the design of computer systems, like organizational information systems (OISs), that require complex interactions among themselves. By doing so, it is hoped that actions can be incorporated into man-machine and machine-machine communications. In this thesis, one tractable portion of the speech act theory
was identified which can provide a basis for the automation of a class of semi-structured communications (e.g., simple negotiations) in a distributed organizational environment. This portion of rather abstract Linguistics theory
was transformed into a concrete application layer communication protocol
(namely, the SACT protocol), which was then validated using a protocol
validation tool (i.e., VALIRA), specified in a standard formal specification
language LOTOS, and simulated using a protocol development toolkit (i.e., the Ottawa University LOTOS Toolkit). This protocol can be used by computer-based organizational systems to automate simple negotiations, as well as recurring tasks of collecting information in an organizational environment.
In addition, a communication scheme (called SACT network) was added to the Woo and Lochovsky's MOAP (Micro Organization Activity Processor)
model to automate inter-micro-organizational communications using the SACT protocol. The usefulness of this scheme is demonstrated through an example application.Science, Faculty of
Computer Science, Department of
Graduate
15
Howell, Gwyneth Veronica James. "Using the informational processing paradigm to design commercial rumour response strategies on the World Wide Web." UWA Business School, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0024.
Full textAbstract:
[Truncated abstract] Rumours can lead to unpredictable events: the manner in which an organisation responds to a commercial rumour can alter its reputation, and can affect its profitability as well as, ultimately, its survival. Commercial rumours are now a prominent feature of the business environment. They can emerge from organisational change, pending workforce layoffs, mergers, and changes to management, in addition, commercial rumours can lower morale and undermine productivity. There are several well-known examples of commercial rumours that have been, or continue to be, circulated. Commercial rumours are typically either about a conspiracy or contamination issue. Conspiracy rumours usually target those organisational practices or policies which are identified as undesirable by the stakeholders. This form of rumour is often precipitated by situations where people do not have all the information about a situation, for example the rumour about Proctor & Gamble being run by the Moonies. Snapple, the soft drink company, was rumoured in 1992 to be supporting the Ku Klux Klan in closing abortion clinics. Contamination rumours are wide-ranging and typically have revulsion theme, such as McDonald’s "worms in the burger", Pop Rock’s candies which exploded in the stomach, and poison in Herron’s paracetamol . . . Marketers suggest that web sites Commerical Rumour Responses on the Web represent the future of marketing communications on the Internet. The key implication of this study for organisations is when faced with a negative rumour, specific and selected Web pages can be used manage company’s stakeholders recall the rumour and organisational stakeholders can be persuaded by the company’s rumour response strategies.
16
Sabri, Ayoub Diar. "Leveraging Artificial Intelligence For Sustained Organizational Competitive Advantage : A Study In Natural Language Processing And Dynamic Capabilities." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekonomi och organisation (Inst.), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-301650.
Full textAbstract:
Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)are disrupting industries worldwide and are being categorized as drivers of a technological revolution. The economic impact is hypothesized to amount to hundreds of billions of US dollars in losses of wages, affecting governmental tax revenue streams consequentially. Firms that manage to leverage these technologies by developing sustained competitive advantage are ultimately the firms that will prosper. Competitive advantage stems from the dynamic capabilities, characterizing the organizational and managerial processes in place to withstand the effects of external environmental turbulence, as with the technological revolution galvanized by AI. This research aimed to analyze how a tele- & cloud-communication company manages to leverage AI to materialize competitive advantage. The research was conducted in two principal parts. First, by developing an ML model for language agnostic document retrieval (LaDPR) and evaluating the performance vs. Facebook’s Dense Passage Retrieval (DPR) model. The ML experiments show that the developed LaDPR model outperforms Facebook’s DPR model by over 2x on average, on multilingual document retrieval. This performance increase rises to over 4x when excluding English, which is the language that DPR was trained on. Secondly, interviews were conducted with key representatives to research how such technological advancements can be exploited in the organizational goal for competitive advantage. Specific vital capabilities such as automated decision-making, knowledge integration, and platform maturity are the three prominent organizational and managerial processes that advanced AI systems can undergird. The results pinpoint that the process of a high-technology department focused solely on developing such AI systems, packaging them with engineering competence to then transfer ownership internally in the organization, ultimately coalesce into hard-to-imitate dynamic capabilities, materializing competitive advantage.Teknologier som Artificiell Intelligens (AI) och Maskininlärning (ML) splittrar industrier världen över, och kategoriseras som drivkrafter bakom en teknologisk revolution. Effekterna på ekonomin spekuleras uppnå hundratals miljarder USD, som påverkar staters skatteintäkter markant. Företag som lyckas begagna sådan teknologi genom att utveckla långvariga konkurrensfördelar är i slutändan de företag som kommer se framgång. Dessa fördelar härstammar från de dynamiska förmågorna i ett företag, och karakteriseras av organisationella och lednings-orienterade processer som används för att stå emot effekterna av utomstående fluktuationer i marknaden, exemplifierat av den teknologiska revolutionen driven av AI. Den bedrivna forskningen ämnade att analysera hur ett företag inom tele- och molnkommunikation begagnar AI för att materialisera konkurrensfördelar. Forskningen bedrevs i två primära delar. Först, genom att utveckla en ML modell för språkagnostisk dokumenthämtning (LaDPR), och utvärdera prestandan i jämförelse med Facebooks Dense Passage Retrieval (DPR) modell. ML experimenten visar att den utvecklade LaDPR modellen presterar i snitt 2x bättre än Facebooks DPR modell på flerspråkig dokument-hämtning. Prestandaförbättringarna stiger upp till 4x, ifall engelska exkluderas, vilket är det språk som DPR tränades på. Genom att föra intervjuer med nyckelpersoner undersöktes det hur sådana teknologiska framsteg exploateras i de organisationella målen för konkurrensfördelar. Specifika nyckelförmågor som automatiserat beslutsfattande, kunskapsintegrering och plattformmognad är tre huvudsakliga organisationella och ledningsorienterade processer som avancerade AI system kan underbinda. Resultaten visar att processen av en högteknologisk avdelning som fokuserar på utveckling av avancerade AI system, som sedan paketeras tillsammans med ingenjörskompetens, för slutgiltig överföring av ägarskap, i slutändan förenas i svårimiterade dynamiska förmågor, som materialiseras i konkurrensfördelar.
17
Noel, Larry Kenneth. "The relationship between need for cognition and organizational signals and their effects on the processing of expository prose /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1997. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9841177.
Full text
18
Beavan, Robert Benjamin. "Leadership in local government computer service organizations within the state of California." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1993. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/654.
Full text
19
Abdullah, Philip Rodger. "Executing a process enhancement intervention on the processing lines at Seavuna Fishing Company." Thesis, Nelson Mandela University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13592.
Full textAbstract:
The fresh hake processing lines at Seavuna fishing company in Mossel Bay are not consistently achieving their volume output standards and this is resulting in higher processing costs and loss of processing opportunities. The company’s senior management are concerned about this trend and require a complete review of the effectiveness of the resources deployed on the lines. This with the view of establishing the causes of poor process volume output. In order to resolve the process inefficiency challenges mentioned, this study used both empirical and time studies to investigate the effectiveness of the company’s resources directly deployed in the processing unit. The study focused on investigating the human factor, machinery and equipment, the environment and the current efficiency standards. Relevant literature in the field of process efficiency improvement was consulted to assist in identifying factors that are known to cause process inefficiencies, and also to establish which improvement techniques would be relevant in correcting the situation. From the Literature reviewed, it was evident that a ‘one size fits all’ solution to resolving inefficiencies is almost non-existent and that a solution that is relevant to the problem is more effective. In addition, a benchmarking exercise was also done to establish how Seavuna’s current volume output standards fair against its major rivals. Once data from both studies were collected, the results were analysed using the some of the basic quality tools. Thereafter, lean manufacturing principles were used to attempt to resolve the current efficiency challenges. The study recommended that the company construct a business strategy and a corresponding organisational culture to direct its continuous improvement interventions. The use of strategic quality planning would go a long way in assisting the company to execute some of the interventions recommended.
20
RICKMANN, JEROME. "MARKET SMART, NOT MARKET DRIVEN. ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSING AT SWEDISH UNIVERSITIES AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF TUITUION FEES FOR INTERNATIONAL NON-EU-STUDENTS." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/116457.
Full textAbstract:
L’introduzione di tasse universitarie rivolte agli studenti internazionali è un trend sempre più
in aumento in tutti i paesi europei. Tale fenomeno ha sollevato preoccupazioni riguardanti un
possibile impatto negativo che tale mercatizzazione potrebbe avere sui principi fondanti delle
Università. Ciò si tradurrebbe nell’indebolimento della missione educativa e di ricerca
accompagnato dal mancato conseguimento della missione sociale dell’Università.
La presente attività di ricerca si pone l’obiettivo di analizzare le minacce reali e potenziali
derivanti dalla mercatizzazione attraverso un’indagine empirica in grado di investigarne
l’impatto sulle università in contesti di vita reali.
La ricerca si focalizza sulle modalità di elaborazione ed adattamento alla nuova policy di tre
università svedesi, selezionate poiché hanno applicato le sopraccitate tasse nell’arco di dieci
anni a partire dal 2011/12, periodo considerato sufficientemente lungo per riscontrare
cambiamenti significativi all’interno delle organizzazioni (Perser & Petranker, 2005). Il
metodo di raccolta dei dati e di analisi si basa su quello delle interviste attive di Holstein e
Gubrium (1995, 2009) per la raccolta dati, e sul metodo di Glaser e Laudel (2010) per l’analisi
qualitativa del contenuto. L’impostazione della ricerca si basa sull’approccio di Yin (2018) per
quanto riguarda i case study e su quello di teoria dei sistemi di Luhmann (2006). Il singolo caso
e il cross-case-synthesis forniscono le basi per le generalizzazioni analitiche.
I risultati del presente studio mostrano un quadro variegato. Da una prospettiva longitudinale
di stakeholder universitario ne deriva che nonostante alcuni effetti negativi, le università hanno
beneficiato in diversi modi del cambiamento di policy. Un ulteriore sviluppo della capacità
organizzativa e dell’eterogeneità ha permesso alle università di agire in maniera indipendente
e di scegliere liberamente. Esse sono state in grado di delineare il concetto di “mercatizzazione”
e “orientamento al mercato” all’interno del loro contesto, bilanciando le logiche educative con
quelle di mercato. La capacità di adattamento è stata molto evidente all’interno
dell’amministrazione universitaria. Lo staff accademico non ha rilevato ripercussioni
sull’integrità del proprio operato nonostante l’introduzione delle tasse. Si è rilevato che lo stile
IV
di leadership unita all’agency personale hanno avuto un forte impatto sia sull’orientamento al
mercato che sul suo radicamento istituzionale.
La presente tesi dottorale offre due importanti contributi al dibattito sull’internazionalizzazione
e la mercatizzazione dell’istruzione universitaria. L’introduzione di un nuovo approccio teorico
e metodologico fornisce approfondimenti in merito all’importanza della percezione individuale
e organizzativa nei confronti dei processi di adattamento. La ricerca dimostra come le
università svedesi si siano adattate alla loro idea di quello che il cambiamento di politica sulle
tasse universitarie avrebbe significato nel loro contesto, tenendo conto delle proprie peculiarità.
Ciò suggerisce che un cambiamento organizzativo a seguito di una riforma non può essere
inteso solo come una risposta diretta a degli stimoli esterni. L’analisi deve per forza tener conto
anche dei meccanismi di elaborazione interni delle università.
Il secondo contributo significativo è rilevare il bisogno di un’attività di ricerca caratterizzata
da una differenziazione meno netta tra “mercatizzazione” intesa come “ideologia” e
mercatizzazione quale “implementazione di pratiche aziendali”. La tesi argomenta che
l’ideologia della mercatizzazione è da considerarsi problematica quando diventa il paradigma
dominante nella regolamentazione dell’ambito dell’istruzione universitaria, considerato che le
sue premesse teoriche presentano dei vizi di forma. La mercatizzazione, se intesa come
implementazione di pratiche aziendali, è in grado di fornire alle università strumenti adeguati
per operare all’interno di una realtà in parte già orientata al mercato, consentendo loro una
valutazione delle criticità e delle opportunità ai fini di una pianificazione a lungo termine.There is a growing trend for countries in Europe to introduce tuition fees for international students. The introduction of such fees has raised concerns that marketization will have a negative impact on the fundamental nature of universities. That it undermines their purpose in research and education and prevents them from fulfilling their social mission. The general purpose of this research it to better understand the real and potential threats posed by marketization through empirical inquiry that investigates the impact of marketization on universities within real-life contexts. The focus of the research is on how three Swedish universities processed and adapted to the policy change. Swedish universities were selected for the research, since tuition fees were introduced within the last ten years (2011/12), a long enough period to detect significant changes within organizations (Purser & Petranker, 2005). The method of data collection and analysis is based on Holstein and Gubrium’s (1995, 2009) active interview-method for datacollection and Gläser and Laudels’s (2010) qualitative content analysis. The research design is based on Yin’s (2018) approach to case studies and Luhmann’s (2006) systems-theory. Single-case and cross-case-synthesis provide the basis for analytical generalizations. The results of this study offer a mixed picture. From a longitudinal university stakeholder perspective universities have benefited in several ways from the policy shift despite some negative effects. Additional organizational capacity development and hybridity enabled the universities to exert agency, acting independently and making their own free choices. They deliberately shaped what “marketization” and “market-orientation” meant in their local context and were able to balance educational and commercial logics. Adaptation was most prominent in university administration. Academic staff did not report that the integrity of their work was compromised by the introduction of tuition fees. Leadership style and personal agency were found to have had a significant impact on both assertion of marketorientation and its institutional embeddedness. II This study makes two major contributions to the discussion of higher education internationalization and marketization. The introduction of a new theoretical and methodological approach provides insights into the importance of organizational and individual perception for adaptation processes. The research demonstrates that Swedish universities responded to their specific idea of what the policy shift would mean for them, suggesting that organizational change following reform cannot be understood as a direct response to external stimuli. Thus, analysis must consider university internal processing mechanisms. The second major contribution of this study is the need for a more nuanced differentiation in research and commentary between marketization as “ideology” and marketization as “application of business practices”. The thesis argues that the first is problematic as dominant paradigm for higher education sector regulation because its theoretical premises are flawed. Marketization as “application of business practices” however provides universities with a toolbox for manoeuvring within the realities of a partially marketized global higher education landscape, evaluating threats and opportunities and planning for the future.
21
Heo, Gyeong Mi 1971. "A systematic review of technology to support adult learning in communities of practice /." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=29506.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents a systematic review regarding the way technology supports adult learning in communities of practice. It presents the systematic review procedure that was developed, based on NBS CRD (2001) protocol, from publication sources relevant to the topic. It includes the identification of research from an initial question that is: how does technology support adult learning in communities of practice. In addition, it presents a search strategy, a study quality assessment, a data extraction strategy and a synthesis of findings. Because most of the pertinent research is qualitative, a typology of qualitative research and a critical appraisal checklist for quality assessment were designed and are presented. The results presented have synthesized evidence from studies that meet certain quality criteria and they are discussed in terms of (a) the kinds of technologies applied in communities of practice, and (b) successful features of the technology that seem to contribute to learning.
22
Ngary, Clency. "The role of business informatics in business transformation : a case of a company in Cape Town." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2354.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.The objective of the thesis is to determine the role Business Informatics plays in transforming an organisation using a selected organisation in Cape Town as a case study. Business informatics is an emerging discipline that combines various aspects of business management, information technology and informatics. Informatics is broadly defined as the science of processing information; thus, increasingly, it involves processing and analysing information digitally with the aid of computers. Therefore the aim of the research was to understand what components of business informatics are being leveraged to transform businesses, and the challenges thereof. This was done using a social theory – duality of technology from Orlikowski adapted from Giddens’ Structuration Theory (ST) as a theoretical framework, particularly, the dimensions of duality of structure. The theory was used as a lens to understand and interpret this social phenomenon - the role business informatics can play in business transformation. It is argued that business informatics concepts are able to assist in business transformation through effective use of information systems and business management concepts. In that regard, ERP system in a Cloud platform was recommended to illustrate these concepts. The concepts helped to device guidelines for determining the challenges of a business to use informatics to transform and become sustainable and competitive. Therefore, the research explained and recommended why business entities have begun to move from an application-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to cloud computing-based ERP (cloud-ERP) system. The study used the interpretive approach where qualitative philosophy was applied together with the underpinning theory and literature reviewed to design a semi-structured interview schedule as a data collection instrument. It was a case study of an Organisation where the units of analysis were the IT, Finance, HR and Sales and Marketing departments and object of analysis was 50 employees. The output is a general framework to guide businesses as to how to apply the concepts of business informatics to achieve improved business transformation.
23
Briks, Jeffrey Edward. "The Influence of Emotions on Interviewers’ Information Search Behaviors: A Test of an Information Processing Model." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1258051753.
Full text
24
Green, Tonya Merlene. "The Refusal Problem and Nonresponse in On-Line Organizational Surveys." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332568/.
Full textAbstract:
Although the primary role of the computer has been in processing and analysis of survey data, it has increasingly been used in data collection. Computer surveys are not exempt from a common problem: some refuse to participate. Many researchers and practitioners indicate the refusal problem is less for computer surveys, perhaps due to the novelty of the method. What has not been investigated is the refusal problem when on-line surveys are no longer novel. This research study examines the use of one form of computer-assisted data collection, the electronic or on-line survey, as an organizational research tool. The study utilized historical response data and administered an on-line survey to individuals known to be cooperative or uncooperative in other on-line surveys. It investigated nonresponse bias and response effects of typical responders, periodic participants, and typical refusers within a sample of corporate employees in a computer-interactive interviewing environment utilizing on-line surveys. The items measured included: participation, respondent characteristics, response speed, interview length, perceived versus actual interview length, quantity of data, item nonresponse, item response bias, consistency of response, extremity of response, and early and late response. It also evaluated factors reported as important when deciding to participate, preferred data collection method, and preferred time of display. Past participation, attitudes toward on-line organizational surveys, response burden, and response error were assessed. The overall completion rate of 55.7% was achieved in this study. All effort was made to encourage cooperation of all groups, including an invitation to participate, token, on-line pre-notification, 800 number support, two on-line reminders, support of temporary exit, and a paper follow-up survey. A significant difference in the participation of the three groups was found. Only three demographic variables were found to be significant. No significant differences were found in speed of response, interview length, quantity, item nonresponse, item response bias, consistency, and extremity. Significant differences were found in the perceived and actual times to complete the survey.
25
McCann, Ryan D. "Strategic Human Resource Management implementation and organizational information processing| A multiple case study of Western Pennsylvanian oil and natural gas companies." Thesis, Robert Morris University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10133964.
Full textAbstract:
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has the potential to strengthen an organization in the long term by effectively leveraging the organization’s human resources to achieve the organization’s strategic goals. The problem this dissertation focuses upon is the extent to which SHRM has been implemented in oil and natural gas companies in Western Pennsylvania and whether the information needed to support SHRM is being communicated into and within these oil and natural gas companies. This included examining how HR leaders and staff are viewed in the company relative to its strategic efforts. Using Jacobson, Sowa, and Lambright’s (2014) models of SHRM implementation, three cases were examined to identify the degree to which SHRM has been implemented in the organizations. In addition, the communication of SHRM information was explored with regards to what information has been communicated, how is this information communicated, and who communicates such information. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 participants from three companies, including seven HR managers and employees and three non-HR managers. The interviews led the researcher to conclude that there is further opportunity for the strategic use of the HR departments and HR functions in the sampled companies. Additionally, there was an apparent lack of communication between the HR departments and the rest of the organization regarding strategic HR issues. The organizations with more traditional models of HR, with limited SHRM, demonstrated a weak focus on communicating SHRM information, as well as minimal information processing capabilities to support SHRM implementation.
26
Neeley, Concha Kaye Ramsey. "Connective Technology Adoption in the Supply Chain: The Role of Organizational, Interorganizational and Technology-Related Factors." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2006. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5217/.
Full textAbstract:
Supply chain management (SCM) is an area that offers organizations significant opportunities for both cost reductions and revenue enhancement. In their article, "Supply Chain Management: Implementation Issues and Research Opportunities," Lambert, Cooper and Pagh defined SCM as the "integration of key business processes from end user through original suppliers that provides products, services, and information that add value for customers and other stakeholders." Adopting and implementing appropriate technology has emerged as a source of competitive advantage for supply chain member firms through the integration of business processes with suppliers and customers. It is important to understand the factors influencing an organization's decision to acquire such technology. In the context of this study, connective technologies are defined as wireless communication devices and their accompanying infrastructure and software which may enhance coordination among supply chain partners. Building on previous literature in the areas of supply chain management, marketing strategy, and organizational innovation, a model was developed to test the relationships between organizational, interorganizational, and technology-related factors and the adoption of advanced connective technology, using radio frequency identification (RFID) as the test case, in the supply chain. A Web-based survey of supply chain professionals was conducted resulting in 224 usable responses. The overall model was statistically significant with four of the predictors significantly influencing the adoption of RFID in the supply chain. Size, centralization, new product advantage and time to achieve targeted ROI were significantly related to adoption of connective technology (RFID). Interorganizational related factors were not significant predictors of connective technology adoption. The study contributes to theory by testing scales from marketing and management in a supply chain context in order to better understand behavioral dimensions of supply chain management and logistics. The conceptualization and measurement of market orientation at the interfirm level advances the market orientation literature. Finally, the study contributes to the technology adoption literature by considering organizational-related, interorganizational-related, and technology-related factors that influence adoption of connective technology in the supply chain.
27
Gota, Grace. "The relationship between psychological capital, work engagement and organizational commitment amongst employees at a selected food processing plant in the Western Cape." University of the Western Cape, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5991.
Full textAbstract:
Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom (IPS)Business operational environments are constantly challenged by shifting trends in the economy, technology and market. The food processing industry is driven by rise in higher income and population growth as well as growing urbanization and internationalization of retail, which induce demand for food manufacturing products. More often than not, food processing is marked by voluminous production and mandatory stringent food processing standards (Henson & Cranfield, 2009). In a report by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2012), in 2011, the food production division of the South African economy was the most dominant in terms of output, followed by paper and beverages production. Given the scale of impact and the volatile nature of the industry, food processing plants require support from employees who resemble positive psychological states, work with energy and delight as well as employees who display desire to remain with the organization. Positive psychological capacities can be developed in employees and have been associated with higher employee performance and satisfaction, amongst other desirable organizational outcomes (Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007).
28
Newton, Sandra Kay. "The information technology professional's psychological contract viewed through their employment arrangement and the relationship to organizational behaviors." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0001416.
Full text
29
Hattingh, Martin. "An analysis of the current nature, status and relevance of data mining tools to enable organizational learning." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52659.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The use of technological tools has developed rapidly over the past decade or two. As one of the areas of business technology, Data Mining has been receiving substantial attention, and thus the study defined the scope and framework for the application of data mining in the first place. Because of the wide area of application of data mining, an overview and comparative analysis was given of the specific data mining tools available to the knowledge worker. For the purposes ofthe study, and because the goals of data mining involve knowledge extraction, the concept of organizational learning was analysed. The factors needed to facilitate this learning process were also taken into consideration, with a view towards enabling the process through their improved availability. Actual enablement of the learning process, through the improved factor availability described above, was analysed through the use of each specific tool reviewed. The salient conclusion of this study was that data mining tools, applied correctly, and within the correct framework and infrastructure, can enable the organizational learning process on several levels. Because of the complexity of the learning process, it was found that there are several factors to consider when implementing a data mining strategy. Recommendations were offered for the improved enablement of the organizational learning process, through establishing more comprehensive technology plans, creating learning environments, and promoting transparency and accountability. Finally, suggestions were made for further research on the competitive application of data mining strategies.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die gebruik van tegnologiese hulpmiddels het gedurende die afgelope dekade of twee snel toegeneem. As een afdeling van ondernemings tegnologie, is daar aansienlike belangstelling in 'Data Mining' (die myn van data), en dus het die studie eers die omvang en raamwerk van 'Data Mining' gedefinieer. As gevolg van die wye toepassingsveld van 'Data Mining', is daar 'n oorsig en vergelykende analise gegee van die spesifieke 'Data Mining' hulpmiddels tot beskikking van die kennis werker. Vir die doel van die studie, en omdat die doelwitte van 'Data Mining' kennisonttrekking behels, is die konsep van organisatoriese leer geanaliseer. Die faktore benodig om hierdie leerproses te fasiliteer is ook in berekening gebring, met die mikpunt om die proses in staat te stel deur verbeterde beskikbaarheid van hierdie faktore. Werklike instaatstelling van die leerproses, deur die verbeterde faktor beskikbaarheid hierbo beskryf, is geanaliseer deur 'n oorsig van die gebruik van elke spesifieke hulpmiddel. Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie was dat 'Data Mining' hulpmiddels, indien korrek toegepas, binne die korrekte raamwerk en infrastruktuur, die organisatoriese leerproses op verskeie vlakke in staat kan stel. As gevolg van die ingewikkeldheid van die leerproses, is gevind dat daar verskeie faktore is wat in ag geneem moet word wanneer 'n 'Data Mining' strategie geïmplementeer word. Aanbevelings is gemaak vir die verbeterde instaatstelling van die organisatoriese leerproses, deur die daarstelling van meer omvattende tegnologie planne, die skep van leer-vriendelike omgewings, en die bevordering van deursigtigheid en rekenskap. In die laaste plek is daar voorstelle gemaak vir verdere navorsing oor die kompeterende toepassing van 'Data Mining' strategieë.
30
Thompson, John Ronald. "Development and Analysis of a Model for Change in the Workplace, Using Quasi-Experimentation with Computer Professionals in Northwestern Investor Owned Utilities." PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1248.
Full textAbstract:
Computer professionals have been agents of change in many organizations. In some cases the role inadvertently became theirs as they were the ones at the vanguard of implementing the new information processing technology in organizations. While in other cases they were the catalysts for change, to force new methods/procedures onto lethargic organizations. While introducing change on others in the organization and adapting to new technological changes themselves, the computer professionals have not really had to face a significant change in their status, power, or importance to the organization. The introduction of the personal computer has brought about significant change in the way the job of the computer professional is perceived by many in the business world. While this change is personally affecting the way they do their job, there has not been a noticeable attempt by those managing computer professionals to deal with the human emotions engendered by such a change. Part of the reason for this lack of attention may be due to the lack of a model as to how computer professionals react to change. Such a model would provide a system whereby it would be possible to recognize where efforts could be made to measure, predict, and modify situations so that a smooth transition can be made to the change. Toward this end a model was developed which presents a system as to how computer professionals react to change. This dissertation presents the model, surveys a population of computer professionals, and analyzes the model using data gathered from the population. The data was gathered in the form of a self administered survey which was given to computer professionals working for six investor owned electric and gas utilities in the Northwestern United states. They answered questions on a scale of from one to five as to their emotions and perceptions about the introduction of personal computers into their organizations. These questions spanned the timeframe as the organizations migrated from the early beginnings of personal computer introduction, to a situation where the use of personal computers was widespread in the company. In the case of three of the companies the personal computer had not yet achieved widespread use at the time of the survey. The data gathered from the computer professionals was statistically analyzed to see if relationships exist between the model and the data. Additionally, interesting demographic data was analyzed to see if certain other factors affected the computer professional's perception as to the impact of the personal computer on their quality of worklife.
31
Methawut, Elena. "The effect of computer mediated communication to communication patterns." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2644.
Full textAbstract:
Computer mediated communication (CMC) fundamentally influences the function of communication. It influences the organization's management and administration, but it most affects the dynamics of middle and lower level employees. The most simplistic model is that of an electronic office in which its employees need to know and understand the role of CMC. The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and satisfaction of co-workers who use CMC to communicate within their organization, and to check employees' performance when using CMC.
32
Stemmer, John K. "The Perception of Effectiveness in Merged Information Services Organizations: Combining Library and Information Technology Services at Liberal Arts Institutions." Ohio : Ohio University, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1178203531.
Full text
33
Kwon, Gyu Hyun. "A Model based Design Framework for Interoperable Communication Systems." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/28737.
Full textAbstract:
The need for interoperability in emergency communication systems has hastened the development of cognitive radio technology. However, even though a cognitive radio system technically interconnects participating agencies, interoperability depends not only on technical matters but also organizational issues related to the different individuals, working contexts and types of cooperative work involved. In order to support public safety workers such as police, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers appropriately, it is vital to consider the dynamics of the way they interact in any collaborative situation.
The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of interoperability and construct a new model based on this understanding, along with a working model of an interoperable communication system to serve as a design framework that (1) supports effective public safety communication and (2) incorporates cognitive radio capabilities to ensure optimal semantic interoperability. An adequate model for interoperability must include multiple dimensions to explain both the concept of interoperability in the public safety domain and its relationships with task characteristics and information needs. This model focuses primarily on the requirements for communication systems. The value perspective reflects the evaluation criteria for effective team communication such as semantic interoperability, task routineness, and information processing aspects. The design framework incorporates the proposed model into Work Domain Analysis (WDA).
To achieve these research objectives, a series of studies was conducted. The first was a qualitative exploratory study that identified how the concept of interoperability is manifested in the public safety work domain. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, communication patterns in terms of interoperability were placed in a real world context. The responses from the participants were categorized in terms of the dimensions of interoperability and reinterpreted using sensemaking as a theoretical framework. The dimensions of interoperability identified consisted of information sharedness, communication readiness, operational awareness, adaptiveness, and coupledness. Based on these findings, a new instrument was proposed to measure interoperability for communication systems. This instrument was then statistically validated. The second study identified the effects of different types of operation and types of organization on interoperability, as well as investigating the relationships among interoperability, task routineness and information processing using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Based on this understanding and theoretical perspective, a new interoperable communication structure was delineated in the model. A prototype of a public safety cognitive radio communication system was then developed based on the proposed framework and examined using a focus group in order to validate the proposed model and design framework and highlight any usability issues that may affect the prototype's operational effectiveness.Ph. D.
34
Villado, Anton James. "Face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication: An investigation of multiple outcomes across task-types." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2082.
Full textAbstract:
A novel approach was used to investigate differences between groups using computer-mediated and face-to-face communication. In a laboratory setting, three-person groups completed three survival themed tasks. The tasks were related in that the output of a preliminary task became the input of the sequent task.
35
Kandetu, Tengovandu Kakeni. "Business and information technology alignment : a case analysis at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (Namibia)." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20831.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The incumbent needs for business excellence has placed demands on seamless relations between the IT organization and the business. This is a relationship that can never be left to chance. Hence, the objectives of this research were to assess whether the information technology strategy is aligned to the business strategy of the Government Institutions Pension Fund in Namibia and to ascertain how to narrow the gap between IT and business strategies at GIPF. This research has utilized a questionnaire as the main data source. The questionnaire had a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient = 0.956, signaling a great internal consistency for the 33 questions of the survey instrument. The survey was performed on a random sample size limited to n=35, which indicates that the results may not be conclusive. The research revealed that the needs of the business should take pre-eminence in the alignment initiative and that IT implementations should be aimed at achieving those needs. However, there are times when IT needs to drive the business agenda in order to champion new opportunities and stimulate new efficiencies. In conclusion, it was established that the credibility of the IT organization, the management of demand for services and the relationship between IT and business executives are central to the quest for alignment. Proper consideration of these issues should be maintained to enable the use of IT for the benefit of business strategy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huidige behoeftes vir besigheids-uitnemendheid het hoe vereistes geplaas op 'n geoliede en foutloose verhouding tussen inligtingstegnologie (IT) en die besigheid. Daar kan nie aanvaar word dat hierdie verhouding vanself sal ontwikkel nie. Die doelwitte van hierdie navorsing is juis om vas te stel of die GIPF van Namibie se inligtingstegnologie strategie in Iyn is met die besigheidsstrategie en om te bepaal hoe hierdie gaping nouer gemaak kan word. Die navorsing het gebruik gemaak van 'n vraelys as die hoof bron van data. Die vraelys het 'n Cronbach alpha betrouebare koeffisient van 0.956, wat aandui dat daar groot interne konsekwentheid is vir die 33 vrae van die ondersoek instrument. Die ondersoek was gedoen op 'n willekeurige toetsgrootte waar n=35 wat mag aandui dat die resultate nie bepalend is nie. Die navorsing toon dat die behoeftes van die besigheid prominensie moet neem in die belynings inisiatief en dat IT implementering daarop gemik moet wees om hierdie doelwitte te bereik. Maar, daar is kere waar die inligtingstegnologie se behoetes die dryfveer vir die besigheidsagenda moet wees om nuwe geleenthede te ondersoek en om nuwe bekwaamhede te stimuleer. Ter samevatting, is dit vasgestel dat die aanneemlikheid van die IT organisasie, die bestuur van die vraag na dienste en die verhouding tussen IT en die besigheids bestuur sentraal is vir die soeke na 'n verhouding wat volkome in Iyn is. Daar moet deurlopend deeglik aandag aan hierdie aspekte geskenk word om te verseker dat IT gebruik word ter ondersteuning van die besigheidstrategie.
36
Schott, Doren Lee. "Fakability of a bio-data questionnaire and general intelligence." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1999. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1521.
Full text
37
Ginige, Jeewani A. "Change impact analysis to manage process evolution in web workflows." Thesis, View thesis, 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/32727.
Full textAbstract:
Organisations have processes to manage their business activities, often referred to as business processes. In today’s competitive global economy, automation of processes with appropriate technology is advantageous. However, the paradox of processes automation is the continuous evolution and change that occurs in business processes. As the business processes evolve and change, the underpinning automated systems need to reflect those changes. Even after a decade of research in the areas of business process automation (BPA) and business process evolution management (BPEM), organisations still find it challenging to manage evolution of automated processes. Therefore, this thesis finds answers to the question of “How can business process evolutions be accurately and effectively reflected in already implemented web-based workflow systems?” In order to provide a holistic solution to the above research question, this research introduces a framework named paradigm of process automation – PoPA framework and discusses its role in managing process evolution. This framework embodies a business process at four levels as pragmatic, semantic, syntactic, and implementation. Each of these levels deals with a distinctive representation of a business process. For example, the pragmatic level represents the contextual artefact elements such as Acts, policies, organisational structures, rules, and guidelines; that define a process, and the syntactic level denotes the models created for the purposes of automation. When a change takes place in any one of the levels of the PoPA framework, it creates a propagating impact on elements in the above-mentioned four levels. This propagation of impact takes place due to constraints, associations, dependencies (CAD) among elements within and across the levels (intra and inter-level CAD). When analysing intra and inter-level CAD most correlations are found to be hierarchical; therefore, a relational database structure is appropriate to capture these hierarchical associations. However, operational processes at the semantic level have complex associations, which are not hierarchical. Therefore, this research proposes to use Kleene Algebra with Test (KAT) for representing CAD at the semantic level. Propagating impact does not exclusively depend on inter and intra-level CAD, but is also closely associated with the nature of evolution. Depending on the nature of evolution, the propagating impact can be categorised as direct, indirect, secondary, and non-cautionary (DISN) impact. These DISN impacts suggest the severity of the propagating impact. The core contribution of this research is the Process Evolution and Change Impact Analysis (PECIA) Model, which enables the management of process evolution accurately and effectively in automated systems. In this research, a process automation project named Online Courses Approval System (OCAS) is used as an exploratory case study. The practical utility of the PECIA Model is validated using evolution scenarios of OCAS and epistemic utility is analysed based on a study of the literature. Amidst a plethora of literature on BPA and BPEM, this research is significant due to the following theoretical contributions that facilitate in managing automated processes in tandem with organisational process evolution: ���� PECIA Model holistically captures inter and intra-level CAD of process elements facilitating the propagating impact analysis within and across the four levels of the PoPA framework. • A novel use of KAT to capture CAD among process elements cohesively and completely into linear expressions, in order to analyse the impact propagation. • An algorithm that analyses KAT expressions of a process, to locate DISN impacts so that evolutions can be carried out accurately and effectively. The future works that arise from this work are manifold. These may include improving the use of the PECIA Model as a corporate process knowledge repository, and exploring possible other uses of the PECIA Model and KAT based process expressions.
38
Ngoqo, Bukelwa. "Small hospitality enterprises and the internet: an IT governance model for conducting business online." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/382.
Full textAbstract:
The Internet has made a considerable impact on how business is conducted. Empowered by technology consumers are using the Internet as a tool to communicate and transact online. E-commerce (electronic commerce) presents opportunities for business to gain a competitive advantage, however it also posses certain challenges. Small and Medium Hospitality Enterprises (SMHEs) sector within the tourism industry, is one of the sectors which stands to benefit from using the Internet for business. Researchers agree that the contribution made by the tourism sector in developing economies is substantial. However, SMHEs are noted for their failure to derive optimal benefits from using the Internet for business to improve their competitiveness. This study which seeks to develop a model for use by SMHEs as a guide when making the decision to adopt technology was necessitated by the importance of SMHE’s contribution in the economy of developing countries. This model is based on the examination of existing theories and models such as; the Delone and McLean IS success model (2004), and the ITGI’s (2007) IT governance focus areas model. To elicit the desired outcomes, additional data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The collected data was analysed and resulted in the development of a model that can be used by SMHEs in order to derive value from IT and to gain a competitive advantage.
39
Dworaczyk, William J. "Use of Stufflebeam's CIPP Model to Assess a Change Effort in a Division of a University Library." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1998. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc277820/.
Full textAbstract:
Reorganization efforts within colleges and universities are increasingly considered as institutions look for ways to streamline operations for financial cost savings or competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to assess a particular change effort in a university library which took place between August, 1996 and July, 1997. A team was formed to manage the change effort, and an outside consultant was hired to facilitate the process and guide the team. Stufflebeam's evaluation model was used as a conceptual framework to evaluate the entire process which included a particular change management model brought in by the consultant. The entire change effort was described by the author as a participating member of the team and assessed by gathering feedback from team members, library staff members affected by the effort, and members of the library administration.
40
Kanai, Rieko. "Case study: Applied Digital Solutions I3 services platform." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1734.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this project is to analyze whether i3 Strategy of Applied Digital Solutions (ADS) was necessary to meet the fast-moving IT industry. i3 Services Strategy is an integrated corporate strategy to reengineer the organizational structure of ADS.
41
Bermudez, Santana Clara Isabel. "tRNomics: Genomic Organization and Processing Patterns of tRNAs." Doctoral thesis, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2010. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-61063.
Full textAbstract:
Surprisingly little is known about the organization and distribution of
tRNAs and tRNA-related sequences on a genome-wide scale. While tRNA
complements are usually reported in passing as part of genome annotation
efforts, and peculiar features such as the tandem arrangements of tRNAs
in Entamoeba histolytica have been described in some detail,
comparative studies are rare. We therefore set out to systematically
survey the genomic arrangement of tRNAs in a wide range of eukaryotes
to identify common patterns and taxon-specific peculiarities. We found that tRNA
complements evolve rapidly and that tRNA locations are subject to rapid
turnover. At the phylum level, distributions of tRNA numbers are very broad,
with standard deviations on the order of the mean. Even within fairly closely related species, we observe dramatic changes in local organization. Consistent with this variability, syntenic conservation of tRNAs is also poor in general, with turn-over rates comparable to those of unconstrained sequence elements. We conclude that the genomic organization of tRNAs shows complex, lineage-specific patterns characterized by extensive variability, and that this variability is in striking contrast to the extreme levels of sequence-conservation of the tRNA genes themselves. Our comprehensive analysis of eukaroyotic tRNA distributions provides a basis for further studies into the interplay between tRNA gene arrangements and genome organization in general.
Secondly, we focused on the investigation of small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) from whole transcriptome data. Since ncRNAs constitute a significant part of the transcriptome, we explore this data to detect and classify patterns derived from transcriptome-associated loci. We selected three distinct ncRNA classes: microRNAs, snoRNAs and tRNAs, all of which undergo maturation processes that lead to the production of shorter RNAs. After mapping the sequences to the reference genome, specific patterns of short reads were observed. These read patterns appeared to reflect RNA processing and, if so, should specify the RNA transcripts from which they are derived. In order to investigate whether the short read patterns carry information on the particular ncRNA class from which they orginate, we performed a random forest classification on the three
distinct ncRNA classes listed above. Then, after exploring the potential
classification of general groups of ncRNAs, we focused on the identification of small RNA fragments derived from tRNAs. After mapping transcriptome sequence data to reference genomes, we searched for specific short read patterns reflecting tRNA processing. In this context, we devised a common tRNA coordinate system based on conservation and secondary structure information that allows vector representation of processing products and thus comparison of different tRNAs by anticodon and
amino acid.
We report patterns of tRNA processing that seem to be conserved across species.
Though the mechanisms and functional implications underlying these patterns remain to be clarified, our analysis suggests that each type of tRNA exhibits a specific pattern and thus appears to undergo a characteristic maturation process.
42
Kester, Jill Darcy. "Reduced processing resources, organization, elaboration and memory performance." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0028/MQ40685.pdf.
Full text
43
Boudonck, Kurt. "Dynamic organization of transcription and transcript processing components in plants." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.302341.
Full text
44
Hoell, Robert Craig. "Determinants of Union Member Attitudes Towards Employee Involvement Programs." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30741.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigates the role social information and personal dispositions play in the development of attitudes of unionized employees towards employee involvement programs. A theoretical model was developed in order to understand how social information and dispositions form union member attitudes towards employee involvement programs. This was designed from models of employee involvement and attitude formation.
Data were collected from employees at electrical power generation facilities. Measures of organizational and union commitment, locus of control, participativeness, social information provided by the company, social information provided by the union, and employee involvement attitudes were gathered through a survey distributed at the facilities. General affect and satisfaction towards four types of employee involvement programs union members are most likely to encounter were measured.
Specific hypotheses were developed in order to test and analyze parts of the theoretical model. While the results were at times contrary to the hypothesized relationships within the model, the data fit with the theorized model well enough to provide support for it. This model effectively demonstrated how employee involvement attitudes are formed from such data, and the relationships between the variables measured.Ph. D.
45
Bruhl, Analee. "The role of situations and thematic reorganization in the conceptual processing of abstract concepts." Thesis, Lyon 2, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LYO20040/document.
Full textAbstract:
Le système conceptuel humain est connu pour contenir deux types de concepts principaux: concrets et abstraits. Les concepts abstraits tels que l'opinion ou la détermination expriment les relations séquentielles entre les entités, ainsi que les états mentaux et introspectifs qui caractérisent la conscience humaine. Les recherches antérieures se sont très peu intéressées à la manière dont les concepts abstraits sont représentés tant sur le plan cognitif que conceptuel. Dans la littérature, la représentation, récupération et traitement des concepts abstraits dans le système conceptuel sont principalement attribués au phénomène connu sous le nom de l’effet de concrétude (avantage pour les mots concrets relativement aux mots abstraits par rapport aux processus cognitifs). Les théories actuelles de la cognition incarnée telles que la Théorie des Symboles Perceptifs proposent que les expériences réelles et les informations situationnelles pourraient jouer un rôle clé dans la façon dont les gens simulent, comprennent et utilisent les concepts abstraits. Le but principal de la présente thèse était d’explorer la structure conceptuelle, l'organisation et la représentation des concepts abstraits dans le système cognitif. Pour ce faire, quatre séries d'études expérimentales utilisant des tâches de catégorisation et de jugement de similarité ont été réalisées. Le premier objectif était de déterminer l’effet des informations situationnelles sur la réorganisation des concepts abstraits. Le deuxième objectif était de déterminer si une organisation taxonomique ou thématique pourrait être à la base de la représentation conceptuelle des concepts abstraits. Les résultats suggèrent que la réorganisation thématique et les informations situationnelles jouent un rôle central dans le traitement et la réorganisation conceptuels des concepts abstraitsThe human conceptual system is known to contain two main types of concepts: concrete and abstract. Abstract concepts such as opinion or determination express the sequences of relations between different entities. They also manifest the internal and introspective states of existence that characterize the human consciousness. The semantic representation and organization of abstract concepts has received very little attention in the cognitive psychology literature over the past decades, whereas the vast majority of studies have been dedicated to concrete concepts. Previous research on abstract concepts has explained how they are conceptually represented by focusing on their differences from concrete concepts i.e., the concreteness effect. Current theories of grounded cognition such as the Perceptual Symbol Systems Theory propose that situational knowledge and experiences could play a key role in how people simulate, understand and use abstract concepts.Our aim was to assess the principles that underlie the conceptual structure, organization and representation of abstract concepts within the cognitive system. Four series of behavioural experiments using categorization and similarity judgment tasks were designed to investigate the role of situational information and thematic organization in the processing of abstract concepts. The results indicated that the co-occurrences and the experiencing of unrelated abstract concepts in relevant situations significantly influenced the emergence of novel thematic reorganizations between the concepts compared to baseline. Thus, suggesting the central role that thematic reorganization and situational information play in the conceptual representation of abstract concepts
46
Clemmer, Patricia Raynes. "Postsecondary data processing advisory committees: organization, operation, effectiveness, and leadership style." Diss., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/88653.
Full textAbstract:
The purposes of this study were to identify which advisory committee functions data processing committees are performing, determine how effectively these functions are being performed, and assess the relationship between leadership style and advisory committee effectiveness. Two year postsecondary schools in the Southeast Region of the United States were studied for an academic year.
Descriptive statistic techniques were used to tabulate the operations and organization data of committee members and division heads. Mean scores on performed advisory committee functions determined the effectiveness level for each committee as rated by advisory committee members and business or technology division heads. The Leader Behavior Analysis II-Self provided leadership style for the chairperson.
Data processing advisory committees reported the most participation in identifying occupational skills, recommending content of the program, determining course relevancy, and evaluating on-going programs. The lowest reported participation was dealing with instruction for the disadvantaged and elimination of sex bias. Committee members felt they were most effective identifying occupational skills, recommending employment standards, and determining course relevancy. Division heads reported communication with the community was the most effective function the advisory committee performed.
Committees in this study did not conform on several aspects to the modal pattern for craft advisory committees in the literature--committee size, terms of appointment, and orientation of committee members. Forty-seven percent of the committees reported eight members or more and 33% appoint members for indefinite terms. Orientation of committee members was neglected by 26% of the committees. Many committees were inactive or nonexistent.
The study results indicated a relationship between committee leadership style and Factor II-Developing Curriculum items on the effectiveness instrument; this association was significant at the .05 level. However, no significant relationship could be shown between leadership style and effectiveness of the committee.Doctor of Education
47
Capek, Cheryl Monica. "The cortical organization of spoken and signed sentence processing in adults /." view abstract or download file of text, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3120613.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004.Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-166). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.
48
Van, Boening Mark Virgil. "Call versus continuous auctions: An experimental study of market organization." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185542.
Full textAbstract:
The results from 17 new experiments and 19 previously reported experiments are compared in an investigation of call and continuous auctions. The call auction used is the computerized PLATO sealed bid/offer (SBO), uniform price auction. The continuous auction used is the PLATO double auction (DA), a computerized version of the "open outcry" double auction. The SBO call auction has temporal consolidation of market orders and has limited information about trading activity. The continuous DA auction is characterized by sequential bilateral trades, and trading information (bids, offers, and prices) is publicly displayed. The paper first explores the effect of multiple crossings per trading period in the SBO call auction. Next, a comparison of SBO and DA is made, based on market experiments using flow supply and demand schedules. The institutional comparison is then extended to experimental asset markets. The results imply the following. First, multiple calls per period increase the efficiency of the SBO call auction, relative to one call per period, but they also induce greater misrepresentation of costs and values in the first crossing each period. Buyers and sellers also withhold units from the first crossing in a further attempt to gain strategic advantage. However, neither the withholding nor the misrepresentation appears to have any substantial influence on price. Second, the SBO auction with two calls per period is as efficient as the DA auction. In markets with a random competitive equilibrium (CE) each period, the SBO auction does a better job than DA at tracking the random CE price. Thus the SBO auction is equally as efficient as the DA, and has the further attributes of lower price volatility and greater privacy. Third, in laboratory asset markets, the SBO auction exhibits price bubbles similar to those observed in DA markets. Price dynamics in the two institutions are comparable, despite the stark differences in order flow and information dissemination.
49
Boettcher, Kevin L. "A methodology for the analysis and design of human information processing organizations." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/15189.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1986.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING.
Bibliography: leaves 189-191.
by Kevin L. Boettcher.
Ph.D.
50
Ragan-Kelley, Jonathan Millard. "Decoupling algorithms from the organization of computation for high performance image processing." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89996.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "June 2014."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-133).
Future graphics and imaging applications-from self-driving cards, to 4D light field cameras, to pervasive sensing-demand orders of magnitude more computation than we currently have. This thesis argues that the efficiency and performance of an application are determined not only by the algorithm and the hardware architecture on which it runs, but critically also by the organization of computations and data on that architecture. Real graphics and imaging applications appear embarrassingly parallel, but have complex dependencies, and are limited by locality (the distance over which data has to move, e.g., from nearby caches or far away main memory) and synchronization. Increasingly, the cost of communication-both within a chip and over a network-dominates computation and power consumption, and limits the gains realized from shrinking transistors. Driven by these trends, writing high-performance processing code is challenging because it requires global reorganization of computations and data, not simply local optimization of an inner loop. Existing programming languages make it difficult for clear and composable code to express optimized organizations because they conflate the intrinsic algorithms being defined with their organization. To address the challenge of productively building efficient, high-performance programs, this thesis presents the Halide language and compiler for image processing. Halide explicitly separates what computations define an algorithm from the choices of execution structure which determine parallelism, locality, memory footprint, and synchronization. For image processing algorithms with the same complexity-even the exact same set of arithmetic operations and data-executing on the same hardware, the order and granularity of execution and placement of data can easily change performance by an order of magnitude because of locality and parallelism. I will show that, for data-parallel pipelines common in graphics, imaging, and other data-intensive applications, the organization of computations and data for a given algorithm is constrained by a fundamental tension between parallelism, locality, and redundant computation of shared values. I will present a systematic model of "schedules" which explicitly trade off these pressures by globally reorganizing the computations and data for an entire pipeline, and an optimizing compiler that synthesizes high performance implementations from a Halide algorithm and a schedule. The end result is much simpler programs, delivering performance often many times faster than the best prior hand-tuned C, assembly, and CUDA implementations, while scaling across radically different architectures, from ARM mobile processors to massively parallel GPUs.
by Jonathan Ragan-Kelley.
Ph. D.