Search results for: business software systems development and enhancement projects
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10258

Search results for: business software systems development and enhancement projects

9088 Botswana and Nation-Building Theory

Authors: Rowland M. Brucken

Abstract:

This paper argues nation-building theories that prioritize democratic governance best explain the successful postindependence development of Botswana. Three main competing schools of thought exist regarding the sequencing of policies that should occur to re-build weakened or failed states. The first posits that economic development should receive foremost attention, while democratization and a binding sense of nationalism can wait. A second group of experts identified constructing a sense of nationalism among a populace is necessary first, so that the state receives popular legitimacy and obedience that are prerequisites for development. Botswana, though, transitioned into a multi-party democracy and prosperous open economy due to the utilization of traditional democratic structures, enlightened and accountable leadership, and an educated technocratic civil service. With these political foundations already in place when the discovery of diamonds occurred, the resulting revenues were spent wisely on projects that grew the economy, improved basic living standards, and attracted foreign investment. Thus democratization preceded, and therefore provided an accountable basis for, economic development that might otherwise have been squandered by greedy and isolated elites to the detriment of the greater population. Botswana was one of the poorest nations in the world at the time of its independence in 1966, with little infrastructure, a dependence on apartheid South Africa for trade, and a largely subsistence economy. Over the next thirty years, though, its economy grew the fastest of any nation in the world. The transparent and judicious use of diamond returns is only a partial explanation, as the government also pursued economic diversification, mass education, and rural development in response to public needs. As nation-building has become a project undertaken by nations and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Botswana may provide best practices that others should follow in attempting to reconstruct economically and politically unstable states.

Keywords: Botswana, democratization, economic development, nation-building.

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9087 A Supervisory Scheme for Step-Wise Safe Switching Controllers

Authors: Fotis N. Koumboulis, Maria P. Tzamtzi

Abstract:

A supervisory scheme is proposed that implements Stepwise Safe Switching Logic. The functionality of the supervisory scheme is organized in the following eight functional units: Step- Wise Safe Switching unit, Common controllers design unit, Experimentation unit, Simulation unit, Identification unit, Trajectory cruise unit, Operating points unit and Expert system unit. The supervisory scheme orchestrates both the off-line preparative actions, as well as the on-line actions that implement the Stepwise Safe Switching Logic. The proposed scheme is a generic tool, that may be easily applied for a variety of industrial control processes and may be implemented as an automation software system, with the use of a high level programming environment, like Matlab.

Keywords: Supervisory systems, safe switching, nonlinear systems.

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9086 Access of Small and Medium Enterprises to Finance in Rural Areas: Case of Indonesia and Thailand

Authors: N. Ikasari, T. Sumransat, U. Eko, R. Kusumastuti

Abstract:

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the engine for economic development, notwithstanding their continuous financing conundrum. In the case of developing countries, access to finance is a reflection of the effectiveness of government policy. The widely accepted perspective to assess small businesses’ access to finance is that of economic view. The existing body of literature presents access to finance in three dimensions; they are accessibility, eligibility and affordability. Within this perspective, the role of socio-cultural has not explored. This study is aimed at investigating the existence of any socio-cultural factors within access to finance issue in Asian countries where governance is enriched by countries’ values and beliefs. The significance of this study is the instigation of supplementary dimension to assess access to finance that eventually contributes to the development of micro-finance policy. Indonesia and Thailand are selected as cases in point, where distinction is drawn on the level of cultural diversity and micro-finance policy in respective country. A questionnaire is used to collect information related to the three dimensions of access to finance as well as to explore alternative financing reasoning to elaborate the issue from the demand side. Questionnaires are distributed to 60 small business owners operating in Indonesia and the same number in Thailand. In order to present a complete understanding on the matter at hand, interviews with banks are conducted to capture the perspective as presented by the supply side. Research findings show that small business owners and banks in Indonesia and Thailand are in agreement that access to finance is not deemed as an issue. However, trust issue that exists mutually between financing users and providers leads small business owners in Indonesia to look for alternative financing other than banks. The findings contribute to the refinement of micro-financing policy in Indonesia and Thailand.

Keywords: Access to finance, Indonesia, small and medium enterprises, Thailand.

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9085 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Implications

Authors: Ahed Abugabah, Louis Sanzogni

Abstract:

ERP systems are the largest software applications adopted by universities, along with quite significant investments in their implementation. However, unlike other applications little research has been conducted regarding these systems in a university environment. This paper aims at providing a critical review of previous research in ERP system in higher education with a special focus on higher education in Australia. The research not only forms the basis of an evaluation of previous research and research needs, it also makes inroads in identifying the payoff of ERPs in the sector from different perspectives with particular reference to the user. The paper is divided into two parts, the first part focuses on ERP literature in higher education at large, while the second focuses on ERP literature in higher education in Australia.

Keywords: Enterprise resource planning system, higher education, implementation, user level.

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9084 Numerical Analysis of Air Flow and Conjugated Heat Transfer in Internally Grooved Parallel- Plate Channels

Authors: Hossein Shokouhmand , Koohyar Vahidkhah, Mohammad A. Esmaeili

Abstract:

A numerical investigation of surface heat transfer characteristics of turbulent air flows in different parallel plate grooved channels is performed using CFD code. The results are obtained for Reynolds number ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 and for arc-shaped and rectangular grooved channels. The influence of different geometric parameters of dimples as well as the number of them and the geometric and thermophysical properties of channel walls are studied. It is found that there exists an optimum value for depth of dimples in which the largest wall heat flux can be achieved. Also, the results show a critical value for the ratio of wall thermal conductivity to the one of fluid in which the dependence of wall heat flux to this ratio almost vanishes. In most cases examined, heat transfer enhancement is larger for arc-shaped grooved channels than rectangular ones.

Keywords: dimple, heat transfer enhancement, Numerical, optimum value, turbulent air flow.

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9083 Cloud Computing for E-Learning with More Emphasis on Security Issues

Authors: Sajjad Hashemi, Seyyed Yasser Hashemi

Abstract:

In today's world, success of most systems depend on the use of new technologies and information technology (IT) which aimed to increase efficiency and satisfaction of users. One of the most important systems that use information technology to deliver services is the education system. But for educational services in the form of E-learning systems, hardware and software equipment should be containing high quality, which requires substantial investment. Because the vast majority of educational establishments can not invest in this area so the best way for them is reducing the costs and providing the E-learning services by using cloud computing. But according to the novelty of the cloud technology, it can create challenges and concerns that the most noted among them are security issues. Security concerns about cloud-based E-learning products are critical and security measures essential to protect valuable data of users from security vulnerabilities in products. Thus, the success of these products happened if customers meet security requirements then can overcome security threats. In this paper tried to explore cloud computing and its positive impact on E- learning and put main focus to identify security issues that related to cloud-based E-learning efforts which have been improve security and provide solutions in management challenges.

Keywords: Cloud computing, E-Learning, Security.

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9082 Corporate Social Responsibility and Creating Shared Value: Case of Latvia

Authors: Inga Lapiņa, Indra Borkus, Olga Stariņeca

Abstract:

Creating shared value (CSV) is a newly introduced concept whose essence and expressions, relationship to Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and implications for the business and society is now at the core of management and social responsibility debates of the scientific world. The aim of the paper is to gain clearer understanding of the CSR and CSV concepts, their implementation and role in sustainable development of organizations in Latvia. In this paper the authors discuss and compare the two conceptsand, based on the results of Sustainability Index (SI) initiative and analysis of publically available company information, evaluate their implementation in Latvia and draw conclusions on the development trends and potential of these approaches in Latvian market.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Creating Shared Value, Sustainability Index.

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9081 Identification of Risks Associated with Process Automation Systems

Authors: J. K. Visser, H. T. Malan

Abstract:

A need exists to identify the sources of risks associated with the process automation systems within petrochemical companies or similar energy related industries. These companies use many different process automation technologies in its value chain. A crucial part of the process automation system is the information technology component featuring in the supervisory control layer. The ever-changing technology within the process automation layers and the rate at which it advances pose a risk to safe and predictable automation system performance. The age of the automation equipment also provides challenges to the operations and maintenance managers of the plant due to obsolescence and unavailability of spare parts. The main objective of this research was to determine the risk sources associated with the equipment that is part of the process automation systems. A secondary objective was to establish whether technology managers and technicians were aware of the risks and share the same viewpoint on the importance of the risks associated with automation systems. A conceptual model for risk sources of automation systems was formulated from models and frameworks in literature. This model comprised six categories of risk which forms the basis for identifying specific risks. This model was used to develop a questionnaire that was sent to 172 instrument technicians and technology managers in the company to obtain primary data. 75 completed and useful responses were received. These responses were analyzed statistically to determine the highest risk sources and to determine whether there was difference in opinion between technology managers and technicians. The most important risks that were revealed in this study are: 1) the lack of skilled technicians, 2) integration capability of third-party system software, 3) reliability of the process automation hardware, 4) excessive costs pertaining to performing maintenance and migrations on process automation systems, and 5) requirements of having third-party communication interfacing compatibility as well as real-time communication networks.

Keywords: Distributed control system, identification of risks, information technology, process automation system.

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9080 A Framework to Support the Design of Mobile Applications

Authors: E. Platzer

Abstract:

This paper introduces a framework that aims to support the design and development of mobile services. The traditional innovation process and its supporting instruments in form of creativity tools, acceptance research and user-generated content analysis are screened for potentials for improvement. The result is a reshaped innovation process where acceptance research and usergenerated content analysis are fully integrated within a creativity tool. Advantages of this method are the enhancement of design relevant information for developers and designers and the possibility to forecast market success.

Keywords: design support, innovation support, technology acceptance, user-generated content analysis.

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9079 Implementation of an On-Line PD Measurement System Using HFCT

Authors: F. Haghjoo, M. Sarlak, S.M. Shahrtash

Abstract:

In order to perform on-line measuring and detection of PD signals, a total solution composing of an HFCT, A/D converter and a complete software package is proposed. The software package includes compensation of HFCT contribution, filtering and noise reduction using wavelet transform and soft calibration routines. The results have shown good performance and high accuracy.

Keywords: Partial Discharge, Measurement, On-line, HFCT

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9078 The Supplier Relationship Management Market Trends

Authors: Eulálio G. Campelo F., Wolffried Stucky

Abstract:

The paper introduces and discusses definitions and concepts from the supplier relationship management area. This review has the goal to provide readers with the basic conditions to understand the market mechanisms and the technological developments of the SRM market. Further on, the work gives a picture of the actual business environment in which the SRM vendors are in, and the main trends in the field, based on the main SRM functionalities i.e. e-Procurement, e-Sourcing and Supplier Enablement, which indicates users and software providers the future technological developments and practises that will take place in this area in the next couple of years.

Keywords: Supplier Relationship Management, e-Procurement, e-Sourcing, Supplier Enablement.

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9077 IRIS: An Interactive Video Game for Children with Long-Term Illness in Hospitals

Authors: Ganetsou Evanthia, Koutsikos Emmanouil, Austin Anna Maria

Abstract:

Information technology has long served the needs of individuals for learning and entertainment, but much less for children in sickness. The aim of the proposed online video game is to provide immersive learning opportunities as well as essential social and emotional scenarios for hospital-bound children with long-term illness. Online self-paced courses on chosen school subjects, including specialized software and multisensory assessments, aim at enhancing children’s academic achievement and sense of inclusion, while doctor minigames familiarize and educate young patients on their medical conditions. Online ethical dilemmas will offer children opportunities to contemplate on the importance of medical procedures and following assigned medication, often challenging for young patients; they will therefore reflect on their condition, re-evaluate their perceptions about hospitalization, and assume greater personal responsibility for their progress. Children’s emotional and psychosocial needs are addressed by engaging in social conventions, such as interactive, daily, collaborative mini games with other hospitalized peers, like virtual competitive sports games, weekly group psychodrama sessions, and online birthday parties or sleepovers. Social bonding is also fostered by having a virtual pet to interact with and take care of, as well as a virtual nurse to discuss and reflect on the mood of the day, engage in constructive dialogue and perspective-taking, and offer reminders. Access to the platform will be available throughout the day depending on the patient’s health status. The program is designed to minimize escapism and feelings of exclusion and can flexibly be adapted to offer post-treatment and a support online system at home.

Keywords: Hospitalized children, interactive games, long-term illness, cognitive enhancement, socioemotional development.

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9076 Surface Morphology and Formation of Nanostructured Porous GaN by UV-assisted Electrochemical Etching

Authors: L. S. Chuah, Z. Hassan, C. W. Chin, H. Abu Hassan

Abstract:

This article reports on the studies of porous GaN prepared by ultra-violet (UV) assisted electrochemical etching in a solution of 4:1:1 HF: CH3OH:H2O2 under illumination of an UV lamp with 500 W power for 10, 25 and 35 minutes. The optical properties of porous GaN sample were compared to the corresponding as grown GaN. Porosity induced photoluminescence (PL) intensity enhancement was found in these samples. The resulting porous GaN displays blue shifted PL spectra compared to the as-grown GaN. Appearance of the blue shifted emission is correlated with the development of highly anisotropic structures in the morphology. An estimate of the size of the GaN nanostructure can be obtained with the help of a quantized state effective mass theory.

Keywords: Photoluminescence, porous GaN, electrochemical etching, Si, RF-MBE.

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9075 Design, Implementation and Testing of Mobile Agent Protection Mechanism for MANETS

Authors: Khaled E. A. Negm

Abstract:

In the current research, we present an operation framework and protection mechanism to facilitate secure environment to protect mobile agents against tampering. The system depends on the presence of an authentication authority. The advantage of the proposed system is that security measures is an integral part of the design, thus common security retrofitting problems do not arise. This is due to the presence of AlGamal encryption mechanism to protect its confidential content and any collected data by the agent from the visited host . So that eavesdropping on information from the agent is no longer possible to reveal any confidential information. Also the inherent security constraints within the framework allow the system to operate as an intrusion detection system for any mobile agent environment. The mechanism is tested for most of the well known severe attacks against agents and networked systems. The scheme proved a promising performance that makes it very much recommended for the types of transactions that needs highly secure environments, e. g., business to business.

Keywords: Mobile agent security, mobile accesses, agent encryption.

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9074 Instruction and Learning Design Consideration for the Development of Mobile Learning Application

Authors: M. Sarrab, M. Elbasir

Abstract:

The use of information technology in education have changed not only the learners learning style but also the way they taught, where nowadays learners are connected with diversity of information sources with means of knowledge available everywhere. The advantage of network wireless technologies and mobility technologies used in the education and learning processes lead to mobile learning as a new model of learning technology. Currently, most of mobile learning applications are developed for the formal education and learning environment. Despite the long history and large amount of research on mobile learning and instruction design model still there is a need of well-defined process in designing mobile learning applications. Based on this situation, this paper emphasizes on identifying instruction design phase’s considerations and influencing factors in developing mobile learning application. This set of instruction design steps includes analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation and continuous has been built from a literature study, with focus on standards for learning, mobile application software quality and guidelines. The effort is part of an Omani-funded research project investigating the development, adoption and dissemination of mobile learning in Oman.

Keywords: Instruction design, mobile learning, mobile application.

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9073 A Business-to-Business Collaboration System That Promotes Data Utilization While Encrypting Information on the Blockchain

Authors: Hiroaki Nasu, Ryota Miyamoto, Yuta Kodera, Yasuyuki Nogami

Abstract:

To promote Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 and so on, it is important to connect and share data so that every member can trust it. Blockchain (BC) technology is currently attracting attention as the most advanced tool and has been used in the financial field and so on. However, the data collaboration using BC has not progressed sufficiently among companies on the supply chain of the manufacturing industry that handle sensitive data such as product quality, manufacturing conditions, etc. There are two main reasons why data utilization is not sufficiently advanced in the industrial supply chain. The first reason is that manufacturing information is top secret and a source for companies to generate profits. It is difficult to disclose data even between companies with transactions in the supply chain. Blockchain mechanism such as Bitcoin using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) requires plaintext to be shared between companies in order to verify the identity of the company that sent the data. Another reason is that the merits (scenarios) of collaboration data between companies are not specifically specified in the industrial supply chain. For these problems, this paper proposes a Business to Business (B2B) collaboration system using homomorphic encryption and BC technique. Using the proposed system, each company on the supply chain can exchange confidential information on encrypted data and utilize the data for their own business. In addition, this paper considers a scenario focusing on quality data, which was difficult to collaborate because it is top-secret. In this scenario, we show an implementation scheme and a benefit of concrete data collaboration by proposing a comparison protocol that can grasp the change in quality while hiding the numerical value of quality data.

Keywords: Business to business data collaboration, industrial supply chain, blockchain, homomorphic encryption.

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9072 Transformation of the Business Model in an Occupational Health Care Company Embedded in an Emerging Personal Data Ecosystem: A Case Study in Finland

Authors: Tero Huhtala, Minna Pikkarainen, Saila Saraniemi

Abstract:

Information technology has long been used as an enabler of exchange for goods and services. Services are evolving from generic to personalized, and the reverse use of customer data has been discussed in both academia and industry for the past few years. This article presents the results of an empirical case study in the area of preventive health care services. The primary data were gathered in workshops, in which future personal data-based services were conceptualized by analyzing future scenarios from a business perspective. The aim of this study is to understand business model transformation in emerging personal data ecosystems. The work was done as a case study in the context of occupational healthcare. The results have implications to theory and practice, indicating that adopting personal data management principles requires transformation of the business model, which, if successfully managed, may provide access to more resources, potential to offer better value, and additional customer channels. These advantages correlate with the broadening of the business ecosystem. Expanding the scope of this study to include more actors would improve the validity of the research. The results draw from existing literature and are based on findings from a case study and the economic properties of the healthcare industry in Finland.

Keywords: Ecosystem, business model, personal data, preventive healthcare.

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9071 Modeling, Simulation and Monitoring of Nuclear Reactor Using Directed Graph and Bond Graph

Authors: A. Badoud, M. Khemliche, S. Latreche

Abstract:

The main objective developed in this paper is to find a graphic technique for modeling, simulation and diagnosis of the industrial systems. This importance is much apparent when it is about a complex system such as the nuclear reactor with pressurized water of several form with various several non-linearity and time scales. In this case the analytical approach is heavy and does not give a fast idea on the evolution of the system. The tool Bond Graph enabled us to transform the analytical model into graphic model and the software of simulation SYMBOLS 2000 specific to the Bond Graphs made it possible to validate and have the results given by the technical specifications. We introduce the analysis of the problem involved in the faults localization and identification in the complex industrial processes. We propose a method of fault detection applied to the diagnosis and to determine the gravity of a detected fault. We show the possibilities of application of the new diagnosis approaches to the complex system control. The industrial systems became increasingly complex with the faults diagnosis procedures in the physical systems prove to become very complex as soon as the systems considered are not elementary any more. Indeed, in front of this complexity, we chose to make recourse to Fault Detection and Isolation method (FDI) by the analysis of the problem of its control and to conceive a reliable system of diagnosis making it possible to apprehend the complex dynamic systems spatially distributed applied to the standard pressurized water nuclear reactor.

Keywords: Bond Graph, Modeling, Simulation, Monitoring, Analytical Redundancy Relations, Pressurized Water Reactor, Directed Graph.

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9070 The Status Info Processing and Keeping System for Production Equipment

Authors: So Jeong Nam, Seung Woo Lee, Jai-Kyung Lee

Abstract:

With the globalized production and logistics environment, the need for reducing the product development interval and lead time, having a faster response to orders, conforming to quality standards, fair tracking, and boosting information exchanging activities with customers and partners, and coping with changes in the management environment, manufacturers are in dire need of an information management system in their manufacturing environments. There are lots of information systems that have been designed to manage the condition or operation of equipment in the field but existing systems have a decentralized architecture, which is not unified. Also, these systems cannot effectively handle the status data extraction process upon encountering a problem related to protocols or changes in the equipment or the setting. In this regard, this paper will introduce a system for processing and saving the status info of production equipment, which uses standard representation formats, to enable flexible responses to and support for variables in the field equipment. This system can be used for a variety of manufacturing and equipment settings and is capable of interacting with higher-tier systems such as MES.

Keywords: DAS, Equipment Status, Regular Expression

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9069 How Prior Knowledge Affects User's Understanding of System Requirements?

Authors: Balsam Mustafa, Safaai Deris

Abstract:

Requirements are critical to system validation as they guide all subsequent stages of systems development. Inadequately specified requirements generate systems that require major revisions or cause system failure entirely. Use Cases have become the main vehicle for requirements capture in many current Object Oriented (OO) development methodologies, and a means for developers to communicate with different stakeholders. In this paper we present the results of a laboratory experiment that explored whether different types of use case format are equally effective in facilitating high knowledge user-s understanding. Results showed that the provision of diagrams along with the textual use case descriptions significantly improved user comprehension of system requirements in both familiar and unfamiliar application domains. However, when comparing groups that received models of textual description accompanied with diagrams of different level of details (simple and detailed) we found no significant difference in performance.

Keywords: Prior knowledge, requirement specification, usecase format, user understanding.

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9068 Applying the Extreme-Based Teaching Model in Post-Secondary Online Classroom Setting: A Field Experiment

Authors: Leon Pan

Abstract:

The first programming course within post-secondary education has long been recognized as a challenging endeavor for both educators and students alike. Historically, these courses have exhibited high failure rates and a notable number of dropouts. Instructors often lament students' lack of effort on their coursework, and students often express frustration that the teaching methods employed are not effective. Drawing inspiration from the successful principles of Extreme Programming, this study introduces an approach—the Extremes-based teaching model—aimed at enhancing the teaching of introductory programming courses. To empirically determine the effectiveness of the model, a comparison was made between a section taught using the extreme-based model and another utilizing traditional teaching methods. Notably, the extreme-based teaching class required students to work collaboratively on projects, while also demanding continuous assessment and performance enhancement within groups. This paper details the application of the extreme-based model within the post-secondary online classroom context and presents the compelling results that emphasize its effectiveness in advancing the teaching and learning experiences. The extreme-based model led to a significant increase of 13.46 points in the weighted total average and a commendable 10% reduction in the failure rate.

Keywords: Extreme-based teaching model, innovative pedagogical methods, project-based learning, team-based learning.

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9067 Flexible Development and Calculation of Contract Logistics Services

Authors: T. Spiegel, J. Siegmann, C. F. Durach

Abstract:

Challenges resulting from an international and dynamic business environment are increasingly being passed on from manufacturing companies to external service providers. Especially providers of complex, customer-specific industry services have to cope with continuously changing requirements. This is particularly true for contract logistics service providers. They are forced to develop efficient and highly flexible structures and strategies to meet their customer’s needs. One core element they have to focus on is the reorganization of their service development and sales process. Based on an action research approach, this study develops and tests a concept to streamline tender management for contract logistics service providers. The concept of modularized service architecture is deployed in order to derive a practice-oriented approach for the modularization of complex service portfolios and the design of customized quotes. These findings are evaluated regarding their applicability in other service sectors and practical recommendations are given.

Keywords: Contract Logistics, Modularization, Service Development, Tender Management.

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9066 Agent-Based Simulation and Analysis of Network-Centric Air Defense Missile Systems

Authors: Su-Yan Tang, Wei Zhang, Shan Mei, Yi-Fan Zhu

Abstract:

Network-Centric Air Defense Missile Systems (NCADMS) represents the superior development of the air defense missile systems and has been regarded as one of the major research issues in military domain at present. Due to lack of knowledge and experience on NCADMS, modeling and simulation becomes an effective approach to perform operational analysis, compared with those equation based ones. However, the complex dynamic interactions among entities and flexible architectures of NCADMS put forward new requirements and challenges to the simulation framework and models. ABS (Agent-Based Simulations) explicitly addresses modeling behaviors of heterogeneous individuals. Agents have capability to sense and understand things, make decisions, and act on the environment. They can also cooperate with others dynamically to perform the tasks assigned to them. ABS proves an effective approach to explore the new operational characteristics emerging in NCADMS. In this paper, based on the analysis of network-centric architecture and new cooperative engagement strategies for NCADMS, an agent-based simulation framework by expanding the simulation framework in the so-called System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (SEAS) was designed. The simulation framework specifies components, relationships and interactions between them, the structure and behavior rules of an agent in NCADMS. Based on scenario simulations, information and decision superiority and operational advantages in NCADMS were analyzed; meanwhile some suggestions were provided for its future development.

Keywords: air defense missile systems, network-centric, agent-based simulation, simulation framework, information superiority, decision superiority, operational advantages

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9065 Implementation and Demonstration of Software-Defined Traffic Grooming

Authors: Lei Guo, Xu Zhang, Weigang Hou

Abstract:

Since the traditional network is closed and it has no architecture to create applications, it has been unable to evolve with changing demands under the rapid innovation in services. Additionally, due to the lack of the whole network profile, the quality of service cannot be well guaranteed in the traditional network. The Software Defined Network (SDN) utilizes global resources to support on-demand applications/services via open, standardized and programmable interfaces. In this paper, we implement the traffic grooming application under a real SDN environment, and the corresponding analysis is made. In our SDN: 1) we use OpenFlow protocol to control the entire network by using software applications running on the network operating system; 2) several virtual switches are combined into the data forwarding plane through Open vSwitch; 3) An OpenFlow controller, NOX, is involved as a logically centralized control plane that dynamically configures the data forwarding plane; 4) The traffic grooming based on SDN is demonstrated through dynamically modifying the idle time of flow entries. The experimental results demonstrate that the SDN-based traffic grooming effectively reduces the end-to-end delay, and the improvement ratio arrives to 99%.

Keywords: NOX, OpenFlow, software defined network, traffic grooming.

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9064 Automated Java Testing: JUnit versus AspectJ

Authors: Manish Jain, Dinesh Gopalani

Abstract:

Growing dependency of mankind on software technology increases the need for thorough testing of the software applications and automated testing techniques that support testing activities. We have outlined our testing strategy for performing various types of automated testing of Java applications using AspectJ which has become the de-facto standard for Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP). Likewise JUnit, a unit testing framework is the most popular Java testing tool. In this paper, we have evaluated our proposed AOP approach for automated testing and JUnit on various parameters. First we have provided the similarity between the two approaches and then we have done a detailed comparison of the two testing techniques on factors like lines of testing code, learning curve, testing of private members etc. We established that our AOP testing approach using AspectJ has got several advantages and is thus particularly more effective than JUnit.

Keywords: Aspect oriented programming, AspectJ, Aspects, JUnit, software testing.

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9063 Understanding Work Integrated Learning in ICT: A Systems Perspective

Authors: Anneke Harmse, Roelien Goede

Abstract:

Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential to the operation of business, and create many employment opportunities. High volumes of students graduate in ICT however students struggle to find job placement. A discrepancy exists between graduate skills and industry skill requirements. To address the need for ICT skills required, universities must create programs to meet the demands of a changing ICT industry. This requires a partnership between industry, universities and other stakeholders. This situation may be viewed as a critical systems thinking problem situation as there are various role players each with their own needs and requirements. Jackson states a typical critical systems methods has a pluralistic nature. This paper explores the applicability and suitability of Maslow and Dooyeweerd to guide understanding and make recommendations for change in ICT WIL, to foster an all-inclusive understanding of the situation by stakeholders. The above methods provide tools for understanding softer issues beyond the skills required. The study findings suggest that besides skills requirements, a deeper understanding and empowering students from being a student to a professional need to be understood and addressed.

Keywords: Dooyeweerd, Maslow, Work Integrated Learning.

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9062 Changing of Macroeconomics under Influence by Internal and External Powers

Authors: E. Pyle

Abstract:

This paper shows that the economy of any country can be presented as three different shells such as: economic shell of a big, a medium and a small business. The new concepts were introduced such as: volume of an economic shell, coefficient of shell-s expansion (compression) etc. These shells can expansion or compress under action by internal or external powers and when shell expansions - it means the rising of a business activity and compression shows us that economy goes on recession. This process of an expansion or a compression can develop in the various ways like linear, logarithm or any other mathematical laws.

Keywords: Different kinds of deformation of macroeconomics'shells, shells of a big or a medium and a small business.

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9061 The Influence of Organisational Culture on the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning

Authors: Redha M. Elhuni

Abstract:

The critical key success factors, which have to be targeted with appropriate change management, are the user acceptance and support of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at the early implementation stages. This becomes even more important in Arab context where national and organisational culture with a different value and belief system, resulting in different management styles, might not complement with Western business culture embedded in the predefined standard business processes of existing ERP packages. This study explains and critically evaluates research into national and organizational culture and the influence of different national cultures on the implementation and reengineering process of ERP packages in an Arab context. Using a case study, realized through a quantitative survey testing five of Martinsons’s and Davison’s propositions in a Libyan sample company, confirmed the expected results from the literature review that culture has an impact on the implementation process and that employee empowerment is an unavoidable consequence of an ERP implementation.

Keywords: Enterprise resource planning, ERP systems, organisational culture, Arab context.

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9060 Data-Driven Decision-Making in Digital Entrepreneurship

Authors: Abeba Nigussie Turi, Xiangming Samuel Li

Abstract:

Data-driven business models are more typical for established businesses than early-stage startups that strive to penetrate a market. This paper provided an extensive discussion on the principles of data analytics for early-stage digital entrepreneurial businesses. Here, we developed data-driven decision-making (DDDM) framework that applies to startups prone to multifaceted barriers in the form of poor data access, technical and financial constraints, to state some. The startup DDDM framework proposed in this paper is novel in its form encompassing startup data analytics enablers and metrics aligning with startups' business models ranging from customer-centric product development to servitization which is the future of modern digital entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Startup data analytics, data-driven decision-making, data acquisition, data generation, digital entrepreneurship.

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9059 Analysis of the Impact of NVivo and EndNote on Academic Research Productivity

Authors: Sujit K. Basak

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of literature review software on researchers. The aim of this study was achieved by analyzing models in terms of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and acceptance level. Collected data were analyzed using WarpPLS 4.0 software. This study used two theoretical frameworks, namely, Technology Acceptance Model and the Training Needs Assessment Model. The study was experimental and was conducted at a public university in South Africa. The results of the study showed that acceptance level has a high impact on research productivity followed by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

Keywords: Technology acceptance model, training needs assessment model, literature review software, research productivity.

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