Examining Stakeholders' Roles in Influencing IT Project Cancellation Decisions

2011 ◽  
pp. 92-104
Author(s):  
Gary Pan
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Theory ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
End Users ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
The Status ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Theoretical Overview ◽  
Practical Recommendations

The goal of any product is to be used. In a very real sense, people judge the success or failure of any product by the extent to which it is used by intended users in their daily practice. Understanding a product from the perspective of the end-user is one of the most important and often overlooked keys to the success of any project. Many products suffer from a lack of widespread utilization because developers and managers often have a deterministic view of the relationship between technology and users. This deterministic view leads to an over reliance on technical specifications as the driving force in the end users’ decision to adopt and use a product. However, a wide variety of human, organizational, social, and cultural factors also affect the acceptance and use of any product. Any organization, even those in the most highly technical and advanced fields, is, in reality, a dynamic example of a sociotechnical system in which people and machines interact, negotiate usage, compete for primacy, and generally co-exist. This chapter will provide a broad theoretical overview of the critical role that end-users play in the adoption, implementation, utilization, and institutionalization of any technology. A number of relevant theories will be discussed, including diffusion theory (e.g., Rogers, 1995), technological determinism (e.g., Ellul, 1967), sociotechnical systems (e.g., Volti, 2006), and utopian and dystopian philosophical perspectives (e.g., Rubin, 1996). In addition to a theoretical overview, this chapter will provide practical recommendations for developers and managers who wish to increase the utilization of their products by bringing the user into the development process. The practical recommendations will include a discussion of Ely’s (1999) conditions that facilitate the implementation of innovations. These conditions include developing a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo, providing sufficient time to become familiar with a new technology, and generating meaningful commitment to the project by upper level managers. Also included in the practical recommendations will be a brief discussion of various organizational components that enable the introduction of innovations (Surry, Ensminger, & Haab, 2005). These components include the development and maintenance of an adequate infrastructure of supporting technologies, an emphasis on shared decision making, and ongoing support systems. Other recommendations to be discussed in this chapter will be derived from rapid prototyping models of development (e.g., Tripp & Bichelmeyer, 1990) and recent surveys of user-centered design methods.

A Review on Important Histone Acetyltransferase (HAT) Enzymes as Targets for Cancer Therapy

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-130
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ghanbari ◽  
Reza Safaralizadeh ◽  
Kiyanoush Mohammadi
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Histone Acetyltransferase ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cancer Treatments ◽  
Control Of Gene Expression ◽  
Post Translational Modifications ◽  
Therapeutic Drugs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Acetyl Group ◽  
Increase Gene Expression

At the present time, cancer is one of the most lethal diseases worldwide. There are various factors involved in the development of cancer, including genetic factors, lifestyle, nutrition, and so on. Recent studies have shown that epigenetic factors have a critical role in the initiation and development of tumors. The histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and other PTMs are important mechanisms that regulate the status of chromatin structure and this regulation leads to the control of gene expression. The histone acetylation is conducted by histone acetyltransferase enzymes (HATs), which are involved in transferring an acetyl group to conserved lysine amino acids of histones and consequently increase gene expression. On the basis of similarity in catalytic domains of HATs, these enzymes are divided into different groups such as families of GNAT, MYST, P300/CBP, SRC/P160, and so on. These enzymes have effective roles in apoptosis, signaling pathways, metastasis, cell cycle, DNA repair and other related mechanisms deregulated in cancer. Abnormal activation of HATs leads to uncontrolled amplification of cells and incidence of malignancy signs. This indicates that HAT might be an important target for effective cancer treatments, and hence there would be a need for further studies and designing of therapeutic drugs on this basis. In this study, we have reviewed the important roles of HATs in different human malignancies.

Eternal Guests, Mimics, and Dönme: The Place of German and Turkish Jews in Modern Turkey

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 5-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kader Konuk
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Turkish Republic ◽  
German Jews ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Turkish Culture ◽  
The Status ◽  
Modern Turkey ◽  
The One ◽  
European Civilization

AbstractThe place of Jews was highly ambiguous in the newly founded Turkish Republic: In 1928 an assimilationist campaign was launched against Turkish Jews, while only a few years later, in 1933, German scholars—many of them Jewish—were taken in so as to help Europeanize the nation. Turkish authorities regarded the emigrants as representatives of European civilization and appointed scholars like Erich Auerbach to prestigious academic positions that were vital for redefining the humanities in Turkey. This article explores the country's twofold assimilationist policies. On the one hand, Turkey required of its citizens—regardless of ethnic or religious origins—that they conform to a unified Turkish culture; on the other hand, an equally assimilationist modernization project was designed to achieve cultural recognition from the heart of Europe. By linking historical and contemporary discourses, this article shows how tropes of Jewishness have played—and continue to play—a critical role in the conception of Turkish nationhood. The status of Erich Auerbach, Chair of the Faculty for Western Languages and Literatures at İstanbul University from 1936 to 1947, is central to this investigation into the place of Turkish and German Jews in modern Turkey.

Production Information Systems Usability in Jordan

2010 ◽  
pp. 270-286
Author(s):  
Emad Abu-Shanab ◽  
Heyam Al-Tarawneh
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Diffusion Theory ◽  
Enterprise Systems ◽  
Accounting Information Systems ◽  
Innovation Diffusion Theory ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
The Status ◽  
It Usage ◽  
Future Work

Enterprise systems are becoming more important as they support the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and reduce cost. In this chapter we explored the literature related to production information systems (PIS), enterprise systems, and other applications and their influence in an industrial zone in Jordan. Constructs from the Innovation Diffusion Theory were used, where results indicated that the adoption rate is acceptable and all variables have high means with respect to their evaluation by managers, but only two variable significantly predicted intention to use. In a second study that explored the status of IT usage in manufacturing firms using a different sample, results indicated that accounting information systems were widely used and distribution systems and manufacturing aiding systems were the least used. Other findings, conclusions and future work are stated at the end of the chapter.

Performance and Accountability in E-Budgeting Projects

2008 ◽  
pp. 722-734
Author(s):  
Gabriel Puron-Cid ◽  
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Information Systems Research ◽  
The Status ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Complex Relationships

An influential theoretical tradition in information systems research suggests that information and communication technology has the power to transform organizational structures and individual behaviors. This approach has been called “technological determinism.” In contrast, recent studies have found evidence of more complex relationships between information technologies and the organizational and institutional contexts in which those technologies are embedded (Fountain, 2001; Kling & Lamb, 2000; Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991). The theories that Orlikowski and Iacono (2001) have categorized as the “ensemble view” explain that information technologies should not be conceptualized as physical artifacts only, but that the social relations around those artifacts should also be considered. In addition, the relationship between information technologies and social structures is at least bidirectional, and therefore organizational characteristics and institutional arrangements also have an impact on government ICT projects (Fountain; García, 2005; Kraemer, King, Dunkle, & Lane, 1989). As a result of this embedment of ICT in government settings, certain characteristics of the information technologies are expected to reflect important aspects of the institutional and organizational environment and, therefore, help preserve the status quo instead of promoting change (Fountain; Kraemer et al.).

scholarly journals Assessment of Physical Water Scarcity in Africa Using GRACE and TRMM Satellite Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Hasan ◽  
Aondover Tarhule ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
Berrien Moore
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Status ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Available Water ◽  
The Status ◽  
Trmm Precipitation

The critical role of water in enabling or constraining human well-being and socioeconomic activities has led to an interest in quantitatively establishing the status of water (in)sufficiency over space and time. Falkenmark introduced the first widely accepted measure of water status, the Water Scarcity Index (WSI), which expressed the status of the availability of water resources in terms of vulnerability, stress, and scarcity. Since then, numerous indicators have been introduced, but nearly all adopt the same basic formulation; water status is a function of “available water” resource—by the demand or use. However, the accurate assessment of “available water” is difficult, especially in data-scarce regions, such as Africa. In this paper, therefore, we introduce a satellite-based Potential Available Water Storage indicator, PAWS. The method integrates GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite Total Water Storage (TWS) measurements with the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation estimates between 2002 and 2016. First, we derived the countries’ Internal Water Storage (IWS) using GRACE and TRMM precipitation data. Then, the IWS was divided by the population density to derive the PAWS per capita. Following the Falkenmark thresholds, 54% of countries are classified in the same water vulnerability status as the AQUASTAT Internal Renewable Water Resources (IRWR) method. Of the remaining countries, PAWS index leads to one or two categories shift (left or right) of water status. The PAWS index shows that 14% (~160 million people) of Africa’s population currently live under water scarcity status. With respect to future projections, PAWS index suggests that a 10% decrease in future water resources would affect ~37% of Africa’s 2025 population (~600 million people), and 57% for 2050 projections (~1.4-billion people). The proposed approach largely overcomes the constraints related to the data needed to rapidly and robustly estimate available water resources by incorporating all stocks of water within the country, as well as underscores the recent water storage dynamics. However, the estimates obtained concern potential available water resources, which may not be utilizable for practical, economic, and technological issues.

Satiric TV in the Americas

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Entertainment Media ◽  
Media Spectacle ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Media ◽  
Tv Shows ◽  
Critical Humor

In the post-truth era, postmodern satiric media have emerged as prominent critical voices playing an unprecedented role at the heart of public debate, filling the gaps left not only by traditional media but also by weak social institutions and discredited political elites. Satiric TV in the Americas analyzes some of the most representative and influential satiric TV shows on the continent (focusing on cases in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, and the United States) in order to understand their critical role in challenging the status quo, traditional journalism, and the prevalent local media culture. It illuminates the phenomenon of satire as resistance and negotiation in public discourse, the role of entertainment media as a site where sociopolitical tensions are played out, and the changing notions of journalism in today’s democratic societies. Introducing the notion of “critical metatainment”—a postmodern, carnivalesque result of and a transgressive, self-referential reaction to the process of tabloidization and the cult of celebrity in the media spectacle era—Satiric TV in the Americas is the first book to map, contextualize, and analyze relevant cases to understand the relation between political information, social and cultural dissent, critical humor, and entertainment in the region. Evaluating contemporary satiric media as distinctively postmodern, multilayered, and complex discursive objects that emerge from the collapse of modernity and its arbitrary dichotomies, Satiric TV in the Americas also shows that, as satiric formats travel to a particular national context, they are appropriated in different ways and adapted to local circumstances, thus having distinctive implications.

scholarly journals Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a New Bin Filler for Apple Harvesting and In-Field Sorting Machine

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1839-1849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Zhang ◽  
Anand Kumar Pothula ◽  
Renfu Lu
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Automatic Control ◽  
Mechanical System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Arduino Microcontroller ◽  
Sorting System

Abstract. The bin filler, which is used for filling the fruit container or bin with apples coming from the sorting system, plays a critical role in the self-propelled apple harvest and in-field sorting (HIS) machine that is being developed in our laboratory. Two major technical challenges in developing the bin filler are limited space in the HIS machine and high throughput. A literature review showed that despite many different types of bin fillers currently available for in-field use, none of them is suitable for the HIS machine because of their large size, use of the bin rotating design concept, and high unit cost. Effort has thus been made on the development of new bin filling technology for use with the HIS machine. The new bin filler mainly consists of a mechanical system with a pinwheel design and an automatic control system. A key innovation in the mechanical system is the use of two foam rollers to catch freely falling apples, which has greatly simplified the bin filler design and also made the system compact and lower in cost. The control system is mainly composed of an onboard Arduino microcontroller and three sensors (one infrared sensor and two Hall effect sensors) to monitor and measure the status of apples filling the bin as well as the rotational speed of the pinwheel. A program was developed for the Arduino microcontroller to record and process the data from the sensors in real-time to achieve automatic control of the bin filling. Laboratory tests with ‘Gala’ apples demonstrated that 97% of apples that had been handled by the new bin filler were rated Extra Fancy grade, and its performance exceeded the industry’s requirement for bruising damage to apples. Keywords: Apples, Automatic control, Bin filling, Bruising, Harvest, Sensors, Sorting and grading.

Literature analysis of humor therapy research

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-47
Author(s):  
Laura E. Harkins
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Therapies ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Recreational Therapy ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Specific Analysis ◽  
The Status ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
Facilitation Techniques

Alternative therapies and creative facilitation techniques assist professionals in overcoming common client barriers such as boredom, passivity, and indifference or unresponsiveness to treatments. Humor therapy or therapeutic humor is one such facilitation technique that is no laughing matter, as research indicates its effectiveness extends much further than fun and smiles. Humor therapy is creating a humorous environment implemented through active and/or passive means to treat participants’ symptoms by eliciting laughter and joy. Little exists, however, that summarizes the status of data-based research on this topic. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a literature analysis comprising the physiological and psychological benefits of humor therapy utilizing research published within the last 10 years. In addition, specific analysis of methodology, identification of limiting factors, exploration of future research implications, and practical recommendations for recreational therapy professionals are addressed.

scholarly journals Socio-Economic Impact on Opioid Addiction Susceptibility

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Clairmont Griffith ◽  
Bernice La France
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Family Relationship ◽  
Opioid Addiction ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
The Status ◽  
Individual Decisions ◽  
Socio Economic Impact

The primary purpose of the study is to determine the socio-economic impact on opioid addiction susceptibility. Over the last few years, there has been a general increasing population of people addicted to opioids. Although the drug is often used for pain management, it is highly addictive. A descriptive research design was used to conduct the study, where twelve journal articles were used to analyze the status of opioid addiction and relationship to socio-economic factors. The results section identified several socioeconomic variables increasing people’s vulnerability to opioid addiction including unemployment, income level, family relationship, community participation, and opium usage in households. Additionally, easy access to opioids that are sold in local drug store increases susceptibility to addiction and the study also notes doctors are prescribing opioids for patients particularly those individuals enrolled in public health insurance programs. Low socioeconomic status is associated with higher risk of opioid addiction compared to high socioeconomic status, but individual decisions also play a critical role in facilitating the crisis.

scholarly journals Toward a rational and ethical sociotechnical system of autonomous vehicles: A novel application of multi-criteria decision analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256224
Author(s):  
Veljko Dubljevic ◽  
George List ◽  
Jovan Milojevich ◽  
Nirav Ajmeri ◽  
William A. Bauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Analysis ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
The Status ◽  
Potential Benefits

The impacts of autonomous vehicles (AV) are widely anticipated to be socially, economically, and ethically significant. A reliable assessment of the harms and benefits of their large-scale deployment requires a multi-disciplinary approach. To that end, we employed Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to make such an assessment. We obtained opinions from 19 disciplinary experts to assess the significance of 13 potential harms and eight potential benefits that might arise under four deployments schemes. Specifically, we considered: (1) the status quo, i.e., no AVs are deployed; (2) unfettered assimilation, i.e., no regulatory control would be exercised and commercial entities would “push” the development and deployment; (3) regulated introduction, i.e., regulatory control would be applied and either private individuals or commercial fleet operators could own the AVs; and (4) fleets only, i.e., regulatory control would be applied and only commercial fleet operators could own the AVs. Our results suggest that two of these scenarios, (3) and (4), namely regulated privately-owned introduction or fleet ownership or autonomous vehicles would be less likely to cause harm than either the status quo or the unfettered options.

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