Opinion Dynamics

As a key sub-field of social dynamics and sociophysics, opinion dynamics utilizes mathematical and physical models and the agent-based computational modeling tools, to investigate the spreading of opinions in a collection of human beings. This research field stems from various disciplines in social sciences, especially the social influence models developed in social psychology and sociology. A multidisciplinary review is given in this paper, attempting to keep track of the historical development of the field and to shed light on its future directions. In the review, the authors discuss the disciplinary origins of opinion dynamics, showing that the combination of the social processes, which are conventionally studied in social sciences, and the analytical and computational tools, which are developed in mathematics, physics and complex system studies, gives birth to the interdisciplinary field of opinion dynamics. The current state of the art of opinion dynamics is then overviewed, with the research progresses on the typical models like the voter model, the Sznajd model, the culture dissemination model, and the bounded confidence model being highlighted. Correspondingly, the future directions of this academic field are envisioned, with an advocation for closer synthesis of the related disciplines.

Using Network Analysis and Visualization to Analyze Problematic Enterprise Information Systems

Society is demanding larger and more complex information systems to support increasingly complex and critical organisational work. Whilst troubleshooting socio-technical issues in small-to-medium scale situations may be achievable using approaches such as ethnography, troubleshooting enterprise scale situations is an open research question because of the overwhelming number of socio-technical elements and interactions involved. This paper demonstrates proof-of-concept tools for network analysis and visualisation that may provide a promising avenue for identifying problematic elements and interactions among an overwhelming number of socio-technical elements. The findings indicate that computers may be used to aid the analysis of problematic large-scale complex socio-technical situations by using analytical techniques to highlighting elements, or groups of interacting elements, that are important to the overall outcome of a problematic situation.

Total System Intervention for System Failure

In this paper, total system intervention for system failure (TSI for SF) is proposed for preventing further occurrences of system failures. TSI is a critical system practice for managing complex and differing viewpoints. First, the authors introduce meta-methodology called “system of system failures” (SOSF) as a common language among various stakeholders to improve their understanding of system failures. The actual application scenario is proposed: “TSI for SF.” The SOSF and related methodologies are used in the course of the subsequent discussion and debate to agree on who is responsible for the failure and identify the preventative measures to be applied. An application example in information and communication technologies engineering demonstrates that using the proposed “TSI for SF” helps prevent future system failures by learning from previous system failures. Three actions are identified for preventing further system failures: closing the gap between the stakeholders, introducing absolute goals, and enlarging system boundary.

A Study of Organizational Narrative Simulation for Decision Support

This paper presents an overview of current decision making approaches. For some approaches abstract information is provided, whereas others require a large amount of labor and time resources to facilitate decision making. However, few address the issues of assisting participants in learning how to make decisions and provide prompt responses to the situations. Harnessing lessons learned from making inappropriate decisions is expensive. To redress this problem, this paper presents a pilot study of the investigation of the psychological behaviors of humans to improve decision making processes with the use of organizational narrative simulation (ONS). By using the ONS method, possible and plausible narrative-based environments can be simulated. Participants can take actions based on their decisions; they can also observe the changes and the consequences. The decisions for handling new challenges generated purposely are validated in a trial that allows prompt responses to the situations. The ONS method is implemented in a selected reference site. The implementation processes, findings, and benefits are presented.

Clarification of Abilities and Qualities of Knowledge Coordinators

Abilities and qualities of key persons in regional revitalization projects are unclear, although in connection with the recognition of the importance of these projects, fostering talent is an urgent task. Based on the concept that a key person in regional revitalization projects is the knowledge coordinator, this paper explores abilities and qualities of knowledge coordinators. As a result, the knowledge coordinator in regional revitalization projects is a person who has abilities and qualities as shown by the i-System, and is a person who puts a comprehensive and process-like approach for knowledge creation into practice. This paper visualizes and structures their abilities and qualities from the viewpoint of knowledge coordination by using the i-System.

A New Method for Ranking Intuitionistic Fuzzy Numbers

In this paper the ranking method for intuitionistic fuzzy numbers is studied. The authors first define a possibility degree formula to compare two intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. In comparison with Chen and Tan’s score function, the possibility degree formula provides additional information for the comparison of two intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Based on the possibility degree formula, the authors give a possibility degree method to rank intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, which is used to rank the alternatives in multi-criteria decision making problems.

Delivering Knowledge Services in the Cloud

Cloud computing has become a buzzword in various academic and business domains in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to look into this term within a different proposition as a knowledge delivery ecosystem instead of being merely a model for technology deployment. This paper tries to explore various topics and resources in recent years which have appeared in both scientific and business literatures that focus on providing “knowledge-as-a–service” (KaaS) based on the cloud’s value-added environment.

Systems of Communication

Three fundamental systems of communication are defined: information, explanation, and imagination. Information is based on analytic distinctions between objects in the world. Explanatory communication provides knowledge through discourse, narration, logic, rhetoric and other forms of systemic elaboration. Intellectual discovery relies on a third system of communication, that of imagination. Rather than distinction or elaboration, imagination is rooted in intuition and analogy. The most powerful medium of the imagination is antonymous insight. The article discusses examples of the latter from warfare, politics, and science.

Knowledge Mining Wikipedia

The organization of information in the knowledge economy has become a primary business process in many enterprises. The better information is organized and stored, the easier it can be retrieved, so that the most relevant information will always be available. Ontology is a versatile technology for organizing information; however, the main obstacle that prevents ontology prevailing is the difficulty in its management, that is, the building and maintaining of ontology. To solve this problem, a structured knowledge source is needed. In this paper, a thorough review on the feasibility of using Wikipedia as the source for ontology management is presented. Different approaches that are based on the use of Wikipedia for such purposes are also discussed. Finally, an ontology management system, based on the use of Wikipedia as the knowledge source, is proposed.

Evaluation of Technological Influence Power of Enterprises through the Enterprise Citation Network

As an important source for discovering new competitive technological intelligence involved in enterprises, patents can be analyzed to identify the technological strategy and the potential competitors. Based on the patent citation information, the weighted and directed enterprise citation network is established. Based on the modified PageRank algorithm, a novel method is provided to evaluate the technological influence power of enterprises. Experiments with this method have been done using the patent dataset in the field of fluid-pressure and analogous brake systems during the 25-year period from 1975 to 1999 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Compared with the traditional assessment indicator based on the citation count method, the proposed method is more reasonable in identifying the technological influential enterprises, as it gives a comprehensive consideration of the amount of citing enterprises, the influence of citing enterprises and the citation strength between them. This study helps enterprises discover potential technological competitors, which take the lead in the industry.