Alternative futures of globalisation a socio-ecological study of the world social forum process

Inspired by the initial World Social Forum in Porto Alegre Brazil, over the past decade over 200 local and regional social forums have been held, on five continents. This study has examined the nature of this broader social forum process, in particular as an aspect of the movement for 'another globalisation'. I discuss both the discourses for 'another world', as well as the development of an Alternative Globalisation Movement. As an action research study, the research took place within a variety of groups and networks. The thesis provides six accounts of groups and people striving and struggling for 'another world'. I provide a macro account of the invention and innovation of the World Social Forum. A grassroots film-makers collective provides a window into media. A local social forum opens up the radical diversity of actors. An activist exchange circle sheds light on strategic aspects of alternative globalisation. An educational initiative provides a window into transformations in pedagogy. And a situational account (of the G20 meeting in Melbourne in 2006) provides an overview of the variety of metanetworks that converge to voice demands for global justice and sustainability. In particular, this study has sought to shed light on how, within this process, groups and communities develop 'agency', a capacity to respond to the global challenges they / we face. And as part of this question, I have also explored how alternatives futures are developed and conceived, with a re-cognition of the importance of histories and geo-political (or 'eco-political') structures as contexts. I argue the World Social Forum Process is prefigurative, as an interactional process where many social alternatives are conceived, supported, developed and innovated into the world. And I argue this innovation process is meta-formative, where convergences of diverse actors comprise ‘social ecologies of alternatives’ which lead to opportunities for dynamic collaboration and partnership.

Early childhood teachers' mathematical content knowledge

The process of becoming numerate begins in the early years. According to Vygotskian theory (1978), teachers are More Knowledgeable Others who provide and support learning experiences that influence children’s mathematical learning. This paper reports on research that investigates three early childhood teachers mathematics content knowledge. An exploratory, single case study utilised data collected from interviews, and email correspondence to investigate the teachers’ mathematics content knowledge. The data was reviewed according to three analytical strategies: content analysis, pattern matching, and comparative analysis. Findings indicated there was variation in teachers’ content knowledge across the five mathematical strands and that teachers might not demonstrate the depth of content knowledge that is expected of four year specially trained early years’ teachers. A significant factor that appeared to influence these teachers’ content knowledge was their teaching experience. Therefore, an avenue for future research is the investigation of factors that influence teachers’ content numeracy knowledge.

Using developmental theories to inform the design of technology for children

Electronic Blocks are a new programming environment, designed specifically for children aged between three and eight years. As such, the design of the Electronic Block environment is firmly based on principles of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. The Electronic Blocks are physical, stackable blocks that include sensor blocks, action blocks and logic blocks. Evaluation of the Electronic Blocks with both preschool and primary school children shows that the blocks' ease of use and power of engagement have created a compelling tool for the introduction of meaningful technology education in an early childhood setting. The key to the effectiveness of the Electronic Blocks lies in an adherence to theories of development and learning throughout the Electronic Blocks design process.

Preparing students for international study : the use of technology

About 1.6 million students currently study outside their home country. Despite this, and the fact that Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and many of the other host countries of international students are themselves extremely culturally diverse communities, business education remains essentially mono-cultural in form and Anglo American in content. Whilst it is true that these international students may want to understand the "Western" way of doing things, they may not be familiar or comfortable with the processes used to facilitate learning. This paper explores a project undertaken to create a tool that provides essential pre-orientation information and advice to students before they leave home. Where cultural adjustment is required, catching students before departure is a very effective time to introduce key information about lifestyle, culture and approaches to teaching and learning that would assist students with the complex and difficult adjustment to studying abroad, so that they could make a smoother transition to their new place of learning. Welcome to Studying Business at QUT is a Data DVD with 19 short videos capturing a student perspective on life and study. Forty percent of the content is related to living and studying and includes sections on accommodation, lifestyle, food and transport etc., and 60% takes an in-depth look at studying business, featuring students and academics talking about issues such as assessment, academic writing and working in groups. This paper outlines the process of developing the DVD and the range of issues addressed.

Call for action : investigating the role of business process management in green IS

Sustainable practices are more than ever on the radar screen of organizations, triggered by a growing demand of the wider population towards approaches and practices that can be considered "green" or "sustainable". Our specific intent with this call for action is to immerse deeper into the role of business processes, and specifically the contributions that the management of these processes can play in leveraging the transformative power of information systems (IS) in order to create environmentally sustainable organizations. Our key premise is that business and information technology (IT) managers need to engage in a process-focused discussion to enable a common, comprehensive understanding of process, and the process-centered opportunities for making these processes, and ultimately the organization as a process-centric entity, "green". Based on a business process lifecycle model, we propose possible avenues for future research.

Fragment-based version management for repositories of business process models

As organizations reach higher levels of Business Process Management maturity, they tend to accumulate large collections of process models. These repositories may contain thousands of activities and be managed by different stakeholders with varying skills and responsibilities. However, while being of great value, these repositories induce high management costs. Thus, it becomes essential to keep track of the various model versions as they may mutually overlap, supersede one another and evolve over time. We propose an innovative versioning model, and associated storage structure, specifically designed to maximize sharing across process models and process model versions, reduce conflicts in concurrent edits and automatically handle controlled change propagation. The focal point of this technique is to version single process model fragments, rather than entire process models. Indeed empirical evidence shows that real-life process model repositories have numerous duplicate fragments. Experiments on two industrial datasets confirm the usefulness of our technique.

Exploring the impact of entrepreneur optimism on the new venture process

By integrating two theoretical foundations of entrepreneurship research, behaviour and process, this conceptual paper proposes a new model to examine the behaviour of the entrepreneur across the new venture development process. Existing macro level research on the new venture creation process recognises the entrepreneur as a central agent in the process yet generally avoids, at each stage of the process, an examination of the micro level psychological experiences of the individual entrepreneur. Similarly, behavioural research examining entrepreneur individual differences has failed to systematically explore the emotion and behaviour of the entrepreneur across the cycle of the new venture creation process. We propose a conceptual framework to integrate the new venture creation process of opportunity discovery, evaluation and exploitation, with the psychological capital (efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism) of the individual entrepreneur. Propositions for future research to facilitate deeper insight into the impact of entrepreneur behaviour on the new venture creation process and ultimately the success or failure of the new venture are provided.

Information and communication technology for E-regions

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are essential components of the knowledge economy, and have an immense complementary role in innovation, education, knowledge creation, and relations with government, civil society, and business within city regions. The ability to create, distribute, and exploit knowledge has become a major source of competitive advantage, wealth creation, and improvements in the new regional policies. Growing impact of ICTs on the economy and society, rapid application of recent scientific advances in new products and processes, shifting to more knowledge-intensive industry and services, and rising skill requirements have become crucial concepts for urban and regional competitiveness. Therefore, harnessing ICTs for knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has a significant impact on urban and regional growth (Yigitcanlar, 2005). In this sense, e-region is a novel concept utilizing ICTs for regional development. Since the Helsinki European Council announced Turkey as a candidate for European Union (EU) membership in 1999, the candidacy has accelerated the speed of regional policy enhancements and adoption of the European regional policy standards. These enhancements and adoption include the generation of a new regional spatial division, NUTS-II statistical regions; a new legislation on the establishment of regional development agencies (RDAs); and new orientations in the field of high education, science, and technology within the framework of the EU’s Lisbon Strategy and the Bologna Process. The European standards posed an ambitious new agenda in the development and application of contemporary regional policy in Turkey (Bilen, 2005). In this sense, novel regional policies in Turkey necessarily endeavor to include information society objectives through efficient use of new technologies such as ICTs. Such a development seeks to be based on tangible assets of the region (Friedmann, 2006) as well as the best practices deriving from grounding initiatives on urban and local levels. These assets provide the foundation of an e-region that harnesses regional development in an information society context. With successful implementations, the Marmara region’s local governments in Turkey are setting the benchmark for the country in the implementation of spatial information systems and e-governance, and moving toward an e-region. Therefore, this article aims to shed light on organizational and regional realities of recent practices of ICT applications and their supply instruments based on evidence from selected local government organizations in the Marmara region. This article also exemplifies challenges and opportunities of the region in moving toward an e-region and provides a concise review of different ICT applications and strategies in a broader urban and regional context. The article is organized in three parts. The following section scrutinizes the e-region framework and the role of ICTs in regional development. Then, Marmara’s opportunities and challenges in moving toward an e-region are discussed in the context of ICT applications and their supply instruments based on public-sector projects, policies, and initiatives. Subsequently, the last section discusses conclusions and prospective research.

Using virtual worlds for collaborative business process modeling

Purpose Process modeling is a complex organizational task that requires many iterations and communication between the business analysts and the domain specialists. The challenge of process modeling is exacerbated, when the process of modeling has to be performed in a cross-organizational, distributed environment. In this paper we suggest a 3D environment for collaborative process modeling, using Virtual World technology. Design/methodology/approach We suggest a new collaborative process modeling approach based on Virtual World technology. We describe the design of an innovative prototype collaborative process modeling approach, implemented as a 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life. We use a case study to evaluate the suggested approach. Findings Based on our case study application, we show that our approach increases user empowerment and adds significantly to the collaboration and consensual development of process models even when the relevant stakeholders are geographically dispersed. Research limitations implications – We present design work and a case study. More research is needed to more thoroughly evaluate the presented approach in a variety of real-life process modeling settings. Practical implications Our research outcomes as design artifacts are directly available and applicable by business process management professionals and can be used by business, system and process analysts in real-world practice. Originality/value Our research is the first reported attempt to develop a process modeling approach on the basis of virtual world technology. We describe a novel and innovative 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life.

Business process simulation in virtual worlds

This is an invited presentation made as a short preview of the virtual environment research work being undertaken at QUT in the Business Process Management (BPM) research group, known as BPMVE. Three projects are covered, spatial process visualisation, with applications to airport check-in processes, collaborative process modelling using a virtual world BPMN editing tool and business process simulation in virtual worlds using Open Simulator and the YAWL workflow system. In addition, the relationship of this work to Organisational Psychology is briefly explored. Full Video/Audio is available at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BPMVE#p/u/1/rp506c3pPms

The lived experience of being a sole mother in Taiwan

Aim: To explore the lived experience of being a sole mother in Taiwan Background: The number of sole mothers in Taiwan has increased by 55 % in the last decade due to changes in the social and economic status of women (e.g. earlier divorce, the development of national policies for the protection of women, the rise of feminism, and changing work practices which have seen an increase in the number of women in the workforce) (Taiwan Department of Statistics, 2010). Issues confronting sole mothers as part of daily living involve inability to cope with daily life stressors, little social support, experiencing feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and lack of self-confidence to assume responsibility for the physical and mental health needs of themselves and their children (Cairney, 2007; Loxton, Mooney & Young, 2006; Samuels-Dennis, 2006; Waldron et al., 1996). Although there have been a number of studies conducted concerning what it means to be a sole mother, few Taiwanese studies have been undertaken. In light of the absence of research on this topic from a Taiwanese perspective, this study was undertaken. Design:A descriptive phenomenological approach was used for this study. Methods: In-depth audio-taped interviews were conducted with 15 sole Taiwanese mothers. The audiotapes were later transcribed, translated into English, and then back translated into Chinese to ensure accuracy of participants‘ information. Colaizzi‘s phenomenological approach to analysis with one additional step (eight steps in all) informed the analytical process. Findings: The process of analysis identified six central themes: 1. Enduring the burdensome, 2. Survival means living day-by-day, 3. Living in the shadows of insomnia, depression and suicidal thoughts, 4. Living with rejection and social isolation, 5. Living with uncertainty, and 6. Transcending difficult times through being resilient. Conclusion: For the participants of this study, the lived world of Taiwanese sole mothers was replete with daily difficulties marked by isolation, loneliness, social disapproval and rejection. Feelings of sadness and dejection were their daily companions. However, amid their myriad hardships, the participants found strength and solace in their children and close friends. Rather than succumb to the pressures of being a sole mother, the participants forged new paths spurred on by their own hopes and dreams for a better future. The findings of this study have the potential to make significant contributions to extant knowledge concerning the lived experiences of sole mothers in Taiwan.

Data and process requirements for product recall coordination

When an organisation becomes aware that one of its products may pose a safety risk to customers, it must take appropriate action as soon as possible or it can be held liable. The ability to automatically trace potentially dangerous goods through the supply chain would thus help organisations fulfill their legal obligations in a timely and effective manner. Furthermore, product recall legislation requires manufacturers to separately notify various government agencies, the health department and the public about recall incidents. This duplication of effort and paperwork can introduce errors and data inconsistencies. In this paper, we examine traceability and notification requirements in the product recall domain from two perspectives: the activities carried out during the manufacturing and recall processes and the data collected during the enactment of these processes. We then propose a workflow-based coordination framework to support these data and process requirements.

Maintenance strategy optimization using a continuous-state partially observable semi-Markov decision process

Due to the limitation of current condition monitoring technologies, the estimates of asset health states may contain some uncertainties. A maintenance strategy ignoring this uncertainty of asset health state can cause additional costs or downtime. The partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) is a commonly used approach to derive optimal maintenance strategies when asset health inspections are imperfect. However, existing applications of the POMDP to maintenance decision-making largely adopt the discrete time and state assumptions. The discrete-time assumption requires the health state transitions and maintenance activities only happen at discrete epochs, which cannot model the failure time accurately and is not cost-effective. The discrete health state assumption, on the other hand, may not be elaborate enough to improve the effectiveness of maintenance. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a continuous state partially observable semi-Markov decision process (POSMDP). An algorithm that combines the Monte Carlo-based density projection method and the policy iteration is developed to solve the POSMDP. Different types of maintenance activities (i.e., inspections, replacement, and imperfect maintenance) are considered in this paper. The next maintenance action and the corresponding waiting durations are optimized jointly to minimize the long-run expected cost per unit time and availability. The result of simulation studies shows that the proposed maintenance optimization approach is more cost-effective than maintenance strategies derived by another two approximate methods, when regular inspection intervals are adopted. The simulation study also shows that the maintenance cost can be further reduced by developing maintenance strategies with state-dependent maintenance intervals using the POSMDP. In addition, during the simulation studies the proposed POSMDP shows the ability to adopt a cost-effective strategy structure when multiple types of maintenance activities are involved.

The politics of technology adoption : Water metering in Progressive Era Chicago

This paper examines the interactions between knowledge and power in the adoption of technologies central to municipal water supply plans, specifically investigating decisions in Progressive Era Chicago regarding water meters. The invention and introduction into use of the reliable water meter early in the Progressive Era allowed planners and engineers to gauge water use, and enabled communities willing to invest in the new infrastructure to allocate costs for provision of supply to consumers relative to use. In an era where efficiency was so prized and the role of technocratic expertise was increasing, Chicago’s continued failure to adopt metering (despite levels of per capita consumption nearly twice that of comparable cities and acknowledged levels of waste nearing half of system production) may indicate that the underlying characteristics of the city’s political system and its elite stymied the implementation of metering technologies as in Smith’s (1977) comparative study of nineteenth century armories. Perhaps, as with Flyvbjerg’s (1998) study of the city of Aalborg, the powerful know what they want and data will not interfere with their conclusions: if the data point to a solution other than what is desired, then it must be that the data are wrong. Alternatively, perhaps the technocrats failed adequately to communicate their findings in a language which the political elite could understand, with the failure lying in assumptions of scientific or technical literacy rather than with dissatisfaction in outcomes (Benveniste 1972). When examined through a historical institutionalist perspective, the case study of metering adoption lends itself to exploration of larger issues of knowledge and power in the planning process: what governs decisions regarding knowledge acquisition, how knowledge and power interact, whether the potential to improve knowledge leads to changes in action, and, whether the decision to overlook available knowledge has an impact on future decisions.

A prototype augmented reality collaborative process modelling tool

Identifying, modelling and documenting business processes usually requires the collaboration of many stakeholders that may be spread across companies in inter-organizational business settings. While there are many process modelling tools available, the support they provide for remote collaboration is still limited. This demonstration showcases a novel prototype application that implements collaborative virtual environment and augmented reality technologies to improve remote collaborative process modelling, with an aim to assisting common collaboration tasks by providing an increased sense of immersion in an intuitive shared work and task space. Our tool is easily deployed using open source software, and commodity hardware, and is expected to assist with saving money on travel costs for large scale process modelling projects covering national and international centres within an enterprise.