scholarly journals Assisting software architects in architectural decision-making using Quark

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ameller ◽  
Xavier Franch

Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs) and constraints are among the principal drivers of architectural decision-making. NFRs are improved or damaged by architectural decisions (ADs), while constraints directly include or exclude parts of the architecture (e.g., logical components or technologies). We may determine the impact of an AD, or which parts of the architecture are affected by a constraint, but at the end it is hard to know if we are respecting the NFRs and the imposed constraints with all the ADs made. In the usual approach, architects use their own experience to produce software architectures that comply with the NFRs and imposed constraints, but at the end, especially for crucial decisions, the architect has to deal with complex trade-offs between NFRs and juggle with possible incompatibilities raised by the imposed constraints. In this paper we present Quark, a method to assist software architects in architectural decision-making, and the conceptualization of the relationship between NFRs and ADs defined in Arteon, an ontology to represent and manage architectural knowledge. Finally, we provide an overview of the Quark and Arteon implementation, the ArchiTech tool.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 638-669
Author(s):  
Miriam Alzate ◽  
Marta Arce-Urriza ◽  
Javier Cebollada

When studying the impact of online reviews on product sales, previous scholars have usually assumed that every review for a product has the same probability of being viewed by consumers. However, decision-making and information processing theories underline that the accessibility of information plays a role in consumer decision-making. We incorporate the notion of review visibility to study the relationship between online reviews and product sales, which is proxied by sales rank information, studying three different cases: (1) when every online review is assumed to have the same probability of being viewed; (2) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most helpful mechanism; and (3) when we assume that consumers sort online reviews by the most recent mechanism. Review non-textual and textual variables are analyzed. The empirical analysis is conducted using a panel of 119 cosmetic products over a period of nine weeks. Using the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) method for dynamic models of panel data, our findings reveal that review variables influence product sales, but the magnitude, and even the direction of the effect, vary amongst visibility cases. Overall, the characteristics of the most helpful reviews have a higher impact on sales.


Author(s):  
Tianwei Geng ◽  
Hai Chen ◽  
Di Liu ◽  
Qinqin Shi ◽  
Hang Zhang

Exploring and analyzing the common demands and behavioral responses of different stakeholders is important for revealing the mediating mechanisms of ecosystem service (ES) and realizing the management and sustainable supply of ES. This study took Mizhi County, a poverty-stricken area on the Loess Plateau in China, as an example. First, the main stakeholders, common demands, and behavioral responses in the food provision services were identified. Second, the relationship among stakeholders was analyzed. Finally, this study summarized three types of mediating mechanisms of food provision services and analyzed the influence of the different types of mediating mechanisms. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Five main stakeholders in the study area were identified: government, farmers, enterprises, cooperatives, and middlemen. (2) Increasing farmers’ income is the common demand of most stakeholders in the study area, and this common demand has different effects on the behavioral responses of different stakeholders. (3) There are three types of mediating mechanisms in the study area: government + farmers mediating corn and mutton, government + enterprises mediating millet, and government + cooperatives mediating apples. On this basis, the effects of the different types of mediating mechanisms on variations in food yield, and trade-offs and synergies in typical townships, were analyzed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Yeo

One of the main issues in the long-form census controversy concerned the relationship between science and politics. Through analysis of the arguments and underlying assumptions of four influential and exemplary interventions that were made in the name of science, this paper outlines a normative account of this relationship. The paper nuances the science-protective ideals that critics invoked and argues that such conceptual resources are needed if science is to be protected from undue political encroachment. However, in their zeal to defend the rights of science critics claimed for it more than its due, eclipsing the value dimension of policy decisions and failing to respect the role of politics as the rightful locus of decision making for value issues. An adequate normative account of the relationship between science and politics in public policy must be capable not only of protecting science from politics but also of protecting politics from science.


Author(s):  
Nory B. Jones ◽  
Thomas R. Kochtanek

Practitioners and academics often assume that investments in technology will lead to productivity improvements. While the literature provides many examples of performance improvements resulting from adoption of different technologies, there is little evidence demonstrating specific, generalizable factors that contribute to these improvements. Furthermore, investment in technology does not guarantee effective implementation. This qualitative study examined the relationship between four classes of potential success factors on the adoption of a collaborative technology and whether they were related to performance improvements in a small service company. Users of a newly adopted collaborative technology were interviewed to explore which factors contributed to their initial adoption and subsequent effective use of this technology. The results show that several factors were strongly related to adoption and effective implementation. The impact on performance improvements was further explored. Results showed a qualitative link to several performance improvements including timesavings and improved decision-making. These results are discussed in terms of generalizability as well as suggestions for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Altahtooh ◽  
Thamir Alaskar

Despite the importance of milestone as a key knowledge in project management, there has been lack of research to understand the relationship between milestones and decision-making. This paper presents a pragmatic research context that aims understanding the nature of milestones and their relationship with different decision-making structures and responsibilities across projects. Data were collected through 14 semi-structured interviews with project managers and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings explore the concepts of project milestones among project managers in Saudi Arabia. The paper finds that there is a relationship between milestones and the impact on decision-making.


Author(s):  
Despoina Mantzari

Abstract UK sectoral regulatory authorities are hybrid communities of, among others, lawyers and economists. Since the liberalization of essential services, expert economists enjoy broad discretionary powers in advancing the agencies’ broad statutory objectives. Yet, despite the significant societal impact of economic regulation, existing scholarship in the fields of competition law and regulation and public law has, with very few exceptions, disregarded these actors and the very essence of their work. This article aims to address this gap in the literature by blending theoretical with empirical insights deriving from 14 semi-structured elite interviews with regulatory economists in the regulatory agencies for energy (Office for Gas and Electricity Markets), telecoms (Office for Communications), and water (Office of Water Services). It explores the increased reliance on economics in the regulatory decision-making process and the impact this has had on the authorities’ decision-making and discretion, when making complex trade-offs between the various goals of the regulatory enterprise. In doing so, it puts forward a theoretical framework inspired by Craig Parsons’ typology of political action so as to identify and examine the nature and scope of the constraints that inform and shape the influence of economics in the exercise of regulatory discretion. This endeavour is significant in the sense that it is the first of its kind and, in that it provides a normative framework of analysis that can be applied in other areas of regulation heavily infused with and influenced by economic evidence and analysis, such as ‘pure’ competition law enforcement by both sectoral and competition authorities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Liz Dolcemore

Traditional examinations of genocidal violence tend to focus on ethnic divisions and often fail to consider the impact of gender with respect to conflict. Building from the work that critical gender studies has made in post-conflict peacebuilding, this paper will look at cases that illustrate how targeting women within specific ethnic groups is an effective means of achieving genocidal goals. It will pay particular attention to the well-known events of the Rwandan genocide and draw comparisons to the legacies of the Indigenous genocide in Canada. Moreover, it will argue that the current crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada is related to a project of genocide fuelled by settler colonialism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-334
Author(s):  
Simone Lonati

Addressing the need to avoid punishing long past events that have fallen into oblivion, only to then come into play when the government, by means of proceedings, stages a re-enactment and thus a reminiscence of those events: statutes of limitations in criminal law are marked by an axiological ambiguity. The debate on their quomodo becomes particularly heated when the focus turns to the possible interferences between limitation periods and criminal proceedings. The discussion stems from the difficult attempt to balance primary and essentially heterogeneous interests: on the one hand, protecting the accused from the “punishment of trial” and, on the other, providing the criminal justice system with adequate time for prosecuting and adjudicating criminal offences as a way to effectively protect the interests harmed by the commission of certain crimes. Furthermore, there is a widespread concern to avoid instrumental conducts by the parties solely aimed at running out the clock. The matter is undoubtedly complex, as the issues and implications it gives rise to are multiple and varied. In an attempt to outline a possible statutory framework that may govern the relationship between the passage of time after the commission of an offence and the time needed for its adjudication, it may be useful to expand the knowledge base from which to draw upon in order to identify appropriate solutions: to look beyond domestic boundaries is, after all, good practice when faced with an impasse. This analysis aims to closely examine the choices made in two legal systems-Germany and Spain-whose legal traditions are the closest to Italy. Firstly, the study will describe the key features characterizing, in general, limitation periods for criminal offences. Subsequently, special attention will be paid to the rules governing the impact that the launch and dynamics of criminal proceedings have on the running of limitation periods. Based on the differences and especially the similarities between the respective rules in force in the two countries, it will be possible to formulate a number of observations regarding the provisions implemented by the Italian legislator. Lastly, comparing and contrasting the German and Spanish legal experiences will allow a closer look at the more recent reforms of statutes of limitations in Italy, to the extent that the latter appear roughly inspired by the principles applied in the aforementioned systems.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eivis Qenani ◽  
Neal MacDougall ◽  
Carol Sexton

Employability of graduates has taken more prominence in recent years due to the bleak economic situation, the impact of student debt, and an increasingly competitive global labor market. Given the substantial individual and public investment made in higher education, it is particularly important that graduates are employable upon graduation. The focus of this study is students’ self-awareness through a measure of their expectations of gaining employment. Through the use of regression analysis, we examine the relationship between students’ expectations of finding employment upon graduation and a series of related variables and identify those factors that serve as boosters to self-perceived employability. Findings point out to the increasingly important role university can play in developing and enhancing graduates’ employability.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Socrates John Moschuris

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to contribute to the assessment of the impact of a number of decision-making criteria in resolving tactical make-or-buy issues in enterprises operating in Greece. Moreover, it sheds light on the relationship between the impact of each criterion and a number of independent variables. Design/methodology/approach – Initially, depth interviews were made with purchasing managers in ten industrial firms operating in Greece. The findings of these interviews and the review of the pertinent literature provided the basis for the questionnaire design. Then, a copy of the questionnaire and a prepaid self-addressed return envelope were mailed to a stratified sample of 300 industrial firms operating in Greece. By the end of this process, 85 questionnaires were received, representing a 28.3 percent response rate. Findings – Cost and quality appear to be the criteria with the most impact, which indicates that companies usually resolve tactical make-or-buy issues in order to achieve short-term cost savings or operational advantage. The emphasis placed upon the other criteria tends to vary with the situation under which the particular make-or-buy issue is resolved. Originality/value – It develops a more precise assessment of the impact of each make-or-buy decision-making criterion and investigates the relationship between this impact and a number of independent variables.


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