A Framework for the Quality Evaluation of MDWE Methodologies and Information Technology Infrastructures

Diverse development web methodologies currently exist in the field of Model-Driven Web Engineering (MDWE), each of which covers different Levels of Abstraction on Model-Driven Architecture (MDA): Computation Independent Model (CIM), Platform Independent Model (PIM), Platform Specific Model (PSM), and Code. Given the high number of methodologies available, it has become necessary to define objective evaluation tools to enable development teams to improve their methodological environment and help designers of web methodologies design new effective and efficient tools, processes and techniques. Since proposals are constantly evolving, the need may arise not only to evaluate the quality but also to find out how it can be improved. This paper presents an approach named QuEF (Quality Evaluation Framework) oriented towards evaluating, through objectives measures, the quality of information technology infrastructure, mainly in MDWE methodology environments.

A Vertical Approach to Knowledge Management

Software process improvement is a practical concern in software companies today and it has been addressed in research. Part of this research has applied a knowledge management perspective. Researchers point out that two different strategies exist where a mixture is difficult to maintain: Personalization (focus on people and their collaboration) and codification (focus on documents and their accessibility). This paper addresses different knowledge management problems of a software company and how they can be alleviated. A prototype, which distinguishes between different organizational levels (e.g., software managers and software developers) and applies different knowledge management strategies, was built. It consists of a wiki and an enterprise system. This article shows how each part of the system focuses on one of the strategies and describes the differences for tool support. This combination could be beneficial because the connection between the two different parts of the prototype works. Further implications for practitioners are explained.

Engaging the Students in Activity Based Learning for Future Employability

The paper discusses the introduction of Activity Based Learning for professional issues for undergraduate students in the School of Computing and Communications at Southampton Solent University. Its aim is to assist the students with their final year project and future employability. The use of the university’s learning environment, based on the Moodle open source software as a key component of the Activity Based Learning, the preparation by the students prior to the tutorials, and the group work within the tutorials are described. The views of the students on this approach are discussed. The paper describes how the students become more self reliant and self motivated in their learning approach. This will be of direct benefit to them in maintaining lifelong learning in their future profession.

Facades of Attractive Employer in Indian IT Industry

Despite advances in technology and major shifts in economy, people remain an organizations most valuable resource. Human capital and intellectual assets make a difference to the competitive advantage of the firm in a knowledge based industry. Employer Attractiveness (EA) is the prerequisite to attract and retain superior quality talent. Employer attractiveness can be defined as the envisioned benefits that a potential employee sees in working for a specific organization. This study empirically examines the elements of employer attractiveness in Information Technology (IT) industry from the perspective of current employees and determines the most attractive employer in the Indian IT industry. Results show that Indian IT employees valued economic factors, global opportunities, development factors, and application factors. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the most attractive employer, followed by Infosys, Wipro, Polaris Software Lab and Hexaware.

A Dynamic Approach to Introduce Competency Frameworks

Although a wide consensus exists about potential business benefits derived from Competency based HR management practices, reality shows that in practice, Competency Management deployment cases are scarce and difficult to implement. This HR business related problem directly affects IT Software industries, both in HRMS applications development and consultancy related services. Market indicators reflect ‘unbalance’ between potential organizational benefits and actual applications deployment. In this context, defining useful, business-oriented Competency Frameworks has become an important challenge for many organizations willing to progress along through continuous HRM improvement processes. This paper addresses the major issues underlying this Competency Management unbalance. A new business-oriented approach proposing an alternative, scope extended methodology is outlined in this publication, after field validation and wide acceptance from experts in functional HR management and IT Systems professionals from various large size organizations. Therefore, the findings resulting from this research work have both theoretical and practical implications in helping IT management in defining efficient HRMS Competency based applications and deployment strategies.

IT Methods and Techniques Applied to Educational Quality Enhancement

European Union countries aspire to create, through the implementation of the Bologna Process, an open European Higher Education Area, which increases the attractiveness of European higher education and the competitiveness of Europeans in the international labour market. This paper examines the importance of the Bologna Process in countries outside Europe and how effective implementation of a Quality Assurance action plan can enhance education quality. The authors apply Information Technology (IT) methods and techniques, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Goal Question Metric (GQM) and Balanced ScoreCard (BSC), to Educational Management. The derivation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is discussed, as well as their application to a case study at the Cybernetics Faculty of the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA), regarding the implementation of an education quality enhancement strategy. As a result of the effort to align to European Higher Education Standards and the Bologna Process, a degree of Business Process Re-engineering (PBR) was necessary. The results show that the main reason for university strategy development is better relocation of resources and determination of which programmes and services are efficient and consistent with the university’s mission.

A Multidisciplinary Problem Based Learning Experience for Telecommunications Students

The Telecommunications Engineering degree contains the study and understanding of a wide range of knowledge areas, like signal theory and communications, computer networks, and radio propagation. This diversity makes it hard for students to integrate different concepts, which is essential to tackle real and practical problems that involve different subjects. As a response to this need of integration, a group of professors at Rey Juan Carlos University carried out an educational project based on Problem Based Learning (PBL), called the Wireles4x4 Project. In this project, groups of students build a complete system to autonomously drive a radio controlled car, involving different technologies such as wireless communications, positioning systems, power management, and system integration. The results show that the participating students improve not only their specific knowledge on the involved issues, but also their capability of integrating different subjects of the degree and the skills for autonomous learning.

Using People-CMM for Diminishing Resistance to ITIL

Information Technology (IT) now plays a fundamental role in most organizations. This increased responsibility and consequent impact in business performance leads to a higher demand and tighter control on IT Departments. To respond to these requirements, IT Departments have been implementing Service Management frameworks, with ITIL currently being the most popular. However, many ITIL projects fail, and the most commonly documented cause is organizational resistance. The main goal of this research work is to test the hypothesis that using best practices described in the People Capability Maturity Model (People-CMM) framework for improving organizational maturity has impact on achieving a greater ITIL maturity as well. This hypothesis was evaluated in three real-world case studies, and based on the results; the conclusion reached was that the hypothesis cannot be rejected. However, more research is needed to prove a cause-effect relation between People-CMM and ITIL.

The Effect of Music Listening, Personality, and Prior Knowledge on Mood and Work Performance of Systems Analysts

This research examined the effect of music use, personality and prior knowledge on mood and work performance of 62 Systems Analysts. Although the quality of the data modeling task did not appear to be affected by the experimental treatment of 10 minutes of music listening, the level of extraversion, modeling proficiency, and theoretical knowledge related to modeling showed significant effects. Nevertheless, the effects of music were demonstrated on several mood measures. The effect of music on negative and positive affect, along with their subscales, are presented. Finally, changes in the mood of participants who listened to the music are examined in the light of various demographic and personality variables.

Knowledge Base Development in Virtual Enterprise Network as Support for Workplace Risk Assessment

The article presents research results based on the concept of collaborative infrastructure (as the virtual enterprise network PREMINV e-platform from “Politehnica” University of Bucharest, Romania), in order to unify existing standards for supply chain management and to provide support in various decision making processes in manufacturing supply networks. The intent is to facilitate and enhance the required knowledge management processes linked with the business process management. The virtual enterprise network expects to reduce small and medium-sized enterprises involvement in networking efforts, enable better and faster decision processes and promote the development of the business services. In addition, the new product development paradigm requires software tools for risk estimation and assessment. For this purpose, the authors describe a knowledge bases method build and use for the professional risk assessment as part of risk management process. The risk level is established based on the probability and severity of its consequences.