Detecting Advanced Persistent Threats in Oracle Databases

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) have become a big problem for computer systems. Databases are vulnerable to these threats and can give attackers access to an organizations sensitive data. Oracle databases are at greater risk due to their heavy use as back-ends to corporate applications such as enterprise resource planning software. This chapter will describe a methodology for finding APTs hiding or operating deep within an Oracle database system. Using an understanding of Oracle normal operations provides a baseline to assist in discovering APT behavior. Incorporating these and other techniques such as database activity monitoring, machine learning, neural networks and honeypots/tokens can create a database intrusion detection system capable of finding these threats.

IT Strategic Planning through CSF Approach in Modern Organizations

Although the purpose of strategic planning is straightforward - to outline where an organization wants to go and how it's going to get there - its nature is complex and dynamic. The, critical success factor (CSF) method, can augment strategic planning efforts by illuminating an organization's present situation and potential future. This chapter explores the value of enhancing typical strategic planning techniques with the CSF method and presents an integrated framework for helping modern organizations to understand the broad range of interrelated elements that influence strategy development for Information Technology (IT). The chapter synthesizes documented theory and research in strategic planning and CSFs. It also provides insights and lessons re the pros and cons of integrated strategic planning framework in the context of IT in modern organizations. Through in-depth literature review and contextual analysis, the chapter incorporates suggestions to modern organizations for IT Strategic Planning with CSF Approach for a holistic and effective strategic planning process.

Information Technologies and Analytical Models for Strategic Design of Transportation Infrastructure

Statistical modeling, deterministic optimization, heuristic scheduling procedures, and computer simulation enable the strategic design of service systems while considering complex interdependencies in system operations. Performance on multiple dimensions may be investigated under alternative physical configurations and operating procedures while accommodating time-varying mixes of traffic and demands for service. This paper discusses how analytical tools and a conceptual framework developed for inland waterway transportation were extended and applied to the more complex operating environment of commercial airports. Networks of staged queues constitute the conceptual framework and discrete-event simulation provides the integrating modeling platform. Within the simulation model, statistical models represent time-varying behavior, traffic intensity is adjusted, resources are allocated to system users, traffic is controlled according to prevailing conditions, and decision rules are tested in pursuit of optimal performance.

E-Business and Analytics Strategy in Franchising

Franchising as a global growth strategy, especially in emerging markets, is gaining its popularity. For example, the U.S. Commercial Service estimated that China, having over 2,600 brands with 200,000 franchised retail stores in over 80 sectors, is now the largest franchise market in the world. The popularity of franchising continues to increase, as we witness an emergence of a new e-business model, Netchising, which is the combination power of the Internet for global demand-and-supply processes and the international franchising arrangement for local responsiveness. The essence of franchising lies in managing the good relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. In this paper, we showed how e-business and analytics strategy plays an important role in growing and nurturing such a good relationship. Specifically, we discussed: managing the franchisor/franchisee relationship, harnessing the e-business strategy with aligning the e-business strategy with application service providers, an attention-based framework for franchisee training and how big data and business analytics can be used to implement the attention-based framework.

Exploring Local Interaction Attributes Affecting Leadership Effectiveness on Assignment in Multinational Companies

Social cognitive theory is founded on the belief that learning is shared socially. Triadic reciprocal determinism explains the interrelationship and interaction between environmental cues, behavior, and biological determinants to shape and alter the perception of the self and how individuals assume agentic perspectives in social interactions to approach challenges and pursue goals. Knowing how learners perceived their likelihood to achieve success also provides for a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of a proposed learning solution. The purpose of this study was to explore the self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents as part of the analysis of the learners in the instructional design system (ISD) model in terms of entry behaviors for the design of a peer tutoring learning environment. The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) was used to interview participants, using the questions as open-ended questions. Observations of the social interactions between participants were collected during focus groups to discuss their responses to the GSE scale. The results of this study suggested that individuals with high self-efficacy not only assume a direct personal agentic perspective when acting alone but that they also assume and motivate others to engage in a collective agentic perspective. Individuals with low self-efficacy assume proxy or surrogate agentic perspectives in social interactions and require prompting to engage and participate. High self-efficacy indicates effective collaboration through the collective agency, which affects success positively in a peer tutoring learning environment. Low self-efficacy affects negatively success in peer tutoring, because individuals with low self-efficacy assume a proxy or surrogate agentic perspective detaching themselves from the interactions. However, individuals with low self-efficacy, through prompting and motivation from peers with high self-efficacy can improve their interactions and as goals are reached, improve self-efficacy.

Knowledge Management System from Individual Firm to National Scale

Knowledge management system (KMS) is capable of capturing explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge in a systematic manner. As any type of organization scales up, the issue in relation to, how to construct an effective knowledge sharing mechanism in KMS to covert individual knowledge into collective knowledge remains under surveyed. The rising concerns especially focus on the identification of individual knowledge worker, how firms facilitate knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of national knowledge management system. Communities of Practice (CoPs) are well known as effective mechanism to foster knowledge sharing theoretically and practically. This paper aims to explore the journey of CoPs driven KMS from the lens of individuals, firms' business strategies to the perspectives of national interest. On individual level, knowledge nodes are explored in the context of knowledge flow, which often transcend organizational boundaries and are distinct and different than workflow models. Thus, a CoPs centered knowledge flow model in a multinational organization is developed, implemented, and analyzed. On firm level, this model is underpinned in a CoPs framework built around four expected firms' major business strategies including four dimensions and sixteen criteria as a comprehensive mechanism to intensify knowledge sharing effect. Finally, a conceptual model of KMS embedded national innovation system is also addressed.

The Role of Knowledge Management Strategies in Cooperation Agreements

In this chapter, the role of knowledge management strategies (KMS) in cooperation agreements is analyzed in a technology-intensive company. Knowledge management in alliances implies to establish an organizational design to both explore and exploit knowledge for achieving competitive goals (for each partner). The importance of alliances for technological companies and the necessity of designing suitable KMS in alliances—in terms of objectives and goals, knowledge management tools, and support systems—are explained first of all. Moreover, the analysis of a case study on KMS in the alliances of a high-tech Spanish company with businesses in innovation intensive settings is developed by the authors. Finally, this chapter will conclude with a discussion on the way that the implementation aspects concerning KMS in cooperation agreements have been managed by the company in order to support technology development and product diversification.

Gaining a Continuous Retaining Relationship with Customers in Mobile Sector

One of the main characteristics of the global economy is the creation of oligopolistic markets. The decisions of those industries are characterised by interactivity. The risk arising from the domination of the power of oligopoly is the previous stage of manipulation of the market. This situation is against the concept of competitiveness and causes an entirely new situation to the customer's disadvantage. Mobile industry which is a typical oligopolistic market in Europe leads us to examine this specific market in Greece. Therefore, the present study examines the factors that influence the relationship marketing strategy of the industry. The research was conducted using a sample of 806 users of mobile phones. The method used for the quantitative analysis is chi-square test, discriminant analysis, which is based on Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The study has indicated that intense competition between mobile phone firms in Greece leads to the manipulation of consumers' behaviour. Also, findings of the current research demonstrate that firms create a unified policy in order to restrain their customers' consuming behaviour to a state of inertia, the customer passively re-buys the same service provider without much thought.

The Human Behavioral Response to Automated Trading

The use of computer algorithms by human traders in markets has been steadily increasing. These electronic agents or proxies vary in terms of purpose and complexity, however, most of them first require some input on the part of the human trader and then perform the rest of the trading task autonomously. This paper proposes a theoretical model of human behavior that can be used to detect behavioral biases in commodity markets populated by humans and electronic proxies. The model's predictions are tested with the help of laboratory experiments with economically-motivated human subjects. Results suggests that the usefulness of automated trading is initially diminished by behavioral biases arising from attitudes towards technology. In some cases, the biases disappear with experience and in others they do not.

Using Geospatial Information Systems for Strategic Planning and Institutional Research for Higher Education Institutions

This article has been updated since its initial publication in Hansel Burley's Cases on Institutional Research Systems in 2011. There have been additional uses for Geospatial Information Systems, or GIS, at The University of Texas at Dallas since this article originally was published. Many institutional research offices primarily focus on traditional statistical and analytical tools to provide data for assessing, developing or modifying institutional policies. However, Geospatial Information Systems, or GIS, can add a geospatial component to existing data sources to provide in-depth analysis on a wide array of research topics (Ormsby, Napoleon, Burke, Grossl, & Bowden, 2008). A suite of software tools introduced by ESRI in 1997 called ArcGIS has been useful for analytical purposes because it not only compiles and displays large amounts of data but can also plot this data onto maps, which can be particularly useful when analyzing demographic data (ESRI, 2010). This chapter will discuss the implementation and use of GIS at The University of Texas at Dallas in the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis (OSPA).