The impact of information technology on organizations: A study of enterprise resource planning system influences on job design and organizational culture

The primary purpose of this research is to study the linkage between perceived job design characteristics and information system environment characteristics before and after the replacement of a legacy information system with a new type of information system (referred to as an Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system). A public state University implementing an academic version of an ERP system was selected for the study. Three survey instruments were used to examine the perception of the information system, the job characteristics, and the organizational culture before and after the system implementation. The research participants included two large departments resulting in a sample of 130 workers. Research questions were analyzed using multivariate procedures including factor analysis, path analysis, step-wise regression, and matched pair analysis. ^ Results indicated that the ERP system has introduced new elements into the working environment that has changed the perception of how the job design characteristics and organization culture dimensions are viewed by the workers. The understanding of how the perceived system characteristics align with an individual's perceived job design characteristics is supported by each of the system characteristics significantly correlated in the proposed direction. The stronger support of this relationship becomes visible in the causal flow of the effects seen in the path diagram and in the step-wise regression. The perceived job design characteristics aligning with dimensions of organizational culture are not as strong as the literature suggests. Although there are significant correlations between the job and culture variables, only one relationship can be seen in the causal flow. ^ This research has demonstrated that system characteristics of ERP do contribute to the perception of change in an organization and do support organizational culture behaviors and job characteristics. ^

Effectiveness of peer counseling on high school students who failed two or more classes in a nine week quarter

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of peer counseling on high school students who have previously failed two or more classes in a nine week quarter.^ This study was constructed by comparing students who previously failed and were subsequently given peer counseling with a matched group of students who failed and did not receive peer counseling.^ To test the proposed research question, 324 students from a large urban school system were randomly chosen from a computer generated list of students who failed courses, matched on variables of number of classes failed, grade level and gender. One student from each matched pair was randomly placed in either the experimental or control group. 162 students from Group 1 (experimental) were assigned a peer counselor with their pair assigned to Group 2 (control). Group 1 received peer counseling at least 4 times during the third nine week academic quarter (Quarter 3) while Group 2 did not.^ The Grade Point Averages (GPA) for all students were collected both at the end of Quarter 2 and Quarter 3, at which time peer counseling was terminated. GPA's were also collected nine weeks after counseling was terminated.^ Results were determined by multiple regression, analysis of covariance and t-test. A level of significance was set at.05. There was significant increase in the GPA's of those counseled students immediately after peer counseling and also nine weeks after counseling was terminated, while the group not receiving peer counseling showed no increase. It was noted that there were significantly more school drop-outs from the non-counseled group than the counseled group. The number of classes failed, high school attended, grade level and gender were not found to be significant.^ The conclusion from this study was that peer counseling does impact significantly on the GPA's of students experiencing academic failure. Recommendations from this study were to implement and expand peer counseling programs with more failing students, continue counseling for longer than one quarter, include students in drop-out programs and students from different socio-economic and racial backgrounds, and conduct subsequent evaluation. ^

Implications of FIN 46 for Accruals Quality and Investment Efficiency

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Interpretation No. 46 (FIN 46), Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities – An Interpretation of ARB No. 51, in January 2003 and revised it in December 2003, with the objective to improve the transparency of financial information. Under FIN 46, companies are required to consolidate variable interest entities (VIEs) on financial statements if they are the primary beneficiaries of the VIEs. This dissertation empirically examines whether the implementation of this new financial reporting guidance affects firms’ accruals quality and investment efficiency. A manually collected sample comprised of firms affected by FIN 46 and firms disclosing no material impact from FIN 46 is used in the empirical analyses.The first part of the dissertation investigates the effects of FIN 46 on accruals quality. By using different accrual quality measures in prior studies, this study found that firms affected by FIN 46 experienced a decrease in accrual quality compared to firms reporting no material impact from FIN 46. Among the firms affected by FIN 46, firms consolidating VIEs were compared with firms terminating or restructuring VIEs. The accruals quality of firms consolidating VIEs was found to be lower than that of firms terminating or restructuring VIEs. These results are consistent in tests using alternative control samples.The second part of this dissertation examines the effects of FIN 46 on investment efficiency. Mixed results were found from using two different proxies used in prior literature. Using the investment-cash flow sensitivity to proxy for investment efficiency, firms affected by FIN 46 experienced a decrease in investment efficiency compared to firms reporting no material impact. It was also found that higher investment-cash flow sensitivity for firms consolidating VIEs during post-FIN 46 periods compared to both the no-impact firms and the matched pair control sample. Contrasting results were found when the deviation from expected investment is used as another proxy for investment efficiency. Empirical analyses show that FIN 46 firms experienced improved investment efficiency measured by the deviation from expected investment after their adoption of FIN 46. This study also provides explanations for the opposite results from the two different proxies.

Comparison of ion pair and buffered mobile phase chromatography of haloacetic acids using direct and indirect UV and fluorescence detection

Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic methods for the analysis of Haloacetic acids have been developed and compared to conventional direct detection methods. Haloacetic acids commonly found in drinking water, including monochloro-, dichloro-, bromo-, iodo- and trichloroacetic acids- have been studied. The ion pairing agent benzyltributylammonium ion was studied in detail using indirect UV and indirect fluorescence detection. Five different competing ions were evaluated to decrease analysis times and lower the detection limit by this new method. The direct detection method utilized an ammonium sulfate buffer and UV detection yielding a detection limit of 100 ppb. The indirect method developed has the advantage of being able to simultaneously analyze UV and non-UV absorbing ions and molecules but requires long equilibration times and demonstrated lower sensitivity than the direct method. ^

Nonlinear dynamics and chaos simulation system analysis for improved design

Small errors proved catastrophic. Our purpose to remark that a very small cause which escapes our notice determined a considerable effect that we cannot fail to see, and then we say that the effect is due to chance. Small differences in the initial conditions produce very great ones in the final phenomena. A small error in the former will produce an enormous error in the latter. When dealing with any kind of electrical device specification, it is important to note that there exists a pair of test conditions that define a test: the forcing function and the limit. Forcing functions define the external operating constraints placed upon the device tested. The actual test defines how well the device responds to these constraints. Forcing inputs to threshold for example, represents the most difficult testing because this put those inputs as close as possible to the actual switching critical points and guarantees that the device will meet the Input-Output specifications. ^ Prediction becomes impossible by classical analytical analysis bounded by Newton and Euclides. We have found that non linear dynamics characteristics is the natural state of being in all circuits and devices. Opportunities exist for effective error detection in a nonlinear dynamics and chaos environment. ^ Nowadays there are a set of linear limits established around every aspect of a digital or analog circuits out of which devices are consider bad after failing the test. Deterministic chaos circuit is a fact not a possibility as it has been revived by our Ph.D. research. In practice for linear standard informational methodologies, this chaotic data product is usually undesirable and we are educated to be interested in obtaining a more regular stream of output data. ^ This Ph.D. research explored the possibilities of taking the foundation of a very well known simulation and modeling methodology, introducing nonlinear dynamics and chaos precepts, to produce a new error detector instrument able to put together streams of data scattered in space and time. Therefore, mastering deterministic chaos and changing the bad reputation of chaotic data as a potential risk for practical system status determination. ^

Multimode Analysis of Nanoscale Biomolecular Interactions

Biomolecular interactions, including protein-protein, protein-DNA, and protein-ligand interactions, are of special importance in all biological systems. These interactions may occer during the loading of biomolecules to interfaces, the translocation of biomolecules through transmembrane protein pores, and the movement of biomolecules in a crowded intracellular environment. The molecular interaction of a protein with its binding partners is crucial in fundamental biological processes such as electron transfer, intracellular signal transmission and regulation, neuroprotective mechanisms, and regulation of DNA topology. In this dissertation, a customized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been optimized and new theoretical and label free experimental methods with related analytical calculations have been developed for the analysis of biomolecular interactions. Human neuroglobin (hNgb) and cytochrome c from equine heart (Cyt c) proteins have been used to optimize the customized SPR instrument. The obtained Kd value (~13 µM), from SPR results, for Cyt c-hNgb molecular interactions is in general agreement with a previously published result. The SPR results also confirmed no significant impact of the internal disulfide bridge between Cys 46 and Cys 55 on hNgb binding to Cyt c. Using SPR, E. coli topoisomerase I enzyme turnover during plasmid DNA relaxation was found to be enhanced in the presence of Mg2+. In addition, a new theoretical approach of analyzing biphasic SPR data has been introduced based on analytical solutions of the biphasic rate equations. In order to develop a new label free method to quantitatively study protein-protein interactions, quartz nanopipettes were chemically modified. The derived Kd (~20 µM) value for the Cyt c-hNgb complex formations matched very well with SPR measurements (Kd ~16 µM). The finite element numerical simulation results were similar to the nanopipette experimental results. These results demonstrate that nanopipettes can potentially be used as a new class of a label-free analytical method to quantitatively characterize protein-protein interactions in attoliter sensing volumes, based on a charge sensing mechanism. Moreover, the molecule-based selective nature of hydrophobic and nanometer sized carbon nanotube (CNT) pores was observed. This result might be helpful to understand the selective nature of cellular transport through transmembrane protein pores.