Semantic service discovery in the service ecosystem

Electronic services are a leitmotif in ‘hot’ topics like Software as a Service, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Service oriented Computing, Cloud Computing, application markets and smart devices. We propose to consider these in what has been termed the Service Ecosystem (SES). The SES encompasses all levels of electronic services and their interaction, with human consumption and initiation on its periphery in much the same way the ‘Web’ describes a plethora of technologies that eventuate to connect information and expose it to humans. Presently, the SES is heterogeneous, fragmented and confined to semi-closed systems. A key issue hampering the emergence of an integrated SES is Service Discovery (SD). A SES will be dynamic with areas of structured and unstructured information within which service providers and ‘lay’ human consumers interact; until now the two are disjointed, e.g., SOA-enabled organisations, industries and domains are choreographed by domain experts or ‘hard-wired’ to smart device application markets and web applications. In a SES, services are accessible, comparable and exchangeable to human consumers closing the gap to the providers. This requires a new SD with which humans can discover services transparently and effectively without special knowledge or training. We propose two modes of discovery, directed search following an agenda and explorative search, which speculatively expands knowledge of an area of interest by means of categories. Inspired by conceptual space theory from cognitive science, we propose to implement the modes of discovery using concepts to map a lay consumer’s service need to terminologically sophisticated descriptions of services. To this end, we reframe SD as an information retrieval task on the information attached to services, such as, descriptions, reviews, documentation and web sites - the Service Information Shadow. The Semantic Space model transforms the shadow's unstructured semantic information into a geometric, concept-like representation. We introduce an improved and extended Semantic Space including categorization calling it the Semantic Service Discovery model. We evaluate our model with a highly relevant, service related corpus simulating a Service Information Shadow including manually constructed complex service agendas, as well as manual groupings of services. We compare our model against state-of-the-art information retrieval systems and clustering algorithms. By means of an extensive series of empirical evaluations, we establish optimal parameter settings for the semantic space model. The evaluations demonstrate the model’s effectiveness for SD in terms of retrieval precision over state-of-the-art information retrieval models (directed search) and the meaningful, automatic categorization of service related information, which shows potential to form the basis of a useful, cognitively motivated map of the SES for exploratory search.

Competing through service innovation : the role of bricolage and entrepreneurship in project-oriented firms

The criticality of service innovation in building and sustaining competitive advantage is gaining increasing recognition in the marketplace. Using empirical data from US and Australian project-oriented firms, the study uses a multi-staged multi-method research program to demonstrate how entrepreneurial service firms strategically combine resources at hand (bricolage) to innovate and stay ahead of rivals. The research shows that service entrepreneurship (SE) and bricolage influence two forms of service innovation (interactive and supportive), which in turn is associated with sustained competitive advantage (SCA). The results suggest that SE and bricolage indirectly relate to SCA through service innovation. The findings offer novel insights into how project-oriented service firms engage in innovation. In short, the findings encourage the “making do by combining resources at hand” as higher levels of entrepreneurial bricolage are associated with higher levels of interactive and supportive innovation enabling SCA, suggesting a new model.

Dealing with unfinished business : preparing pre-service social education teachers for curriculum change

Pre-service teacher education is unfinished business. New social education teachers face the challenge of fluid policy environments in which curriculum content and pedagogy are continually changing. The evolving Australian curriculum is the most recent example of such fluidity with its emphasis on shifting the educational agenda to a focus on discipline-based approaches. This paper addresses the concerns of final year pre-service and early career social education teachers, in terms of their professional development needs, by drawing on the findings of a pilot study with students and recent graduates from a university in south-east Queensland. It concludes that social education curriculum units which embed links to professional practice and professional development in teaching, learning and assessment may provide the way forward for enhancing the transition to practice for beginning teachers and assist them in navigating constant change.

Digital Storytelling within a Service-Learning Partnership: Technology as Product and Process for University Students and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse High School Youth

This chapter describes a university/high school partnership focused on digital storytelling. It also explains the multi-stage process used to establish this successful partnership and project. The authors discuss the central role that technology played in developing this university/high school partnership, a collaboration that extended the impact of a digital storytelling project to reach high school students, university students, educators, high school administrators, and the local community. Valuing a reflective process that can lead to the creation of a powerful final product, the authors describe the impact of digital storytelling on multiple stakeholders, including the 13 university students and 33 culturally and linguistically diverse high school youth who participated during the fall of 2009. In addition, the chapter includes reflections from university and high school student participants expressed during focus groups conducted throughout the project. While most participants had a positive experience with the project, complications with the technology component often caused frustrations and additional challenges. Goals for sharing this project are to critically evaluate digital storytelling, describe lessons learned, and recommend good practices for others working within a similar context or with parallel goals.

The heart of quality teaching : a values-based pedagogy for pre-service teacher education

In an ever changing world the adults of the future will be faced with many challenges. To cope with these challenges it seems apparent that values education will need to become paramount within a child.s education. A considerable number of research studies have indicated that values education is a critical component within education (Lovat & Toomey, 2007b). Building on this research Lovat (2006) claimed that values education was the missing link in quality teaching The concept of quality teaching had risen to the fore within educational research literature in the late 20th century with the claim that it is the teacher who makes the difference in schooling (Hattie, 2004). Thus, if teachers make such a difference to student learning, achievement and well-being, then it must hold true that pre-service teacher education programmes are vital in ensuring the development of quality teachers for our schools. The gap that this current research programme addressed was to link the fields of values education, quality teaching and pre-service teacher education. This research programme aimed to determine the impact of a values-based pedagogy on the development of quality teaching dimensions within pre-service teacher education. The values-based pedagogy that was investigated in this research programme was Philosophy in the Classroom. The research programme adopted a nested case study design based on the constructivist-interpretative paradigm in examining a unit within a pre-service teacher education programme at a Queensland university. The methodology utilised was qualitative where the main source of data was via interviews. In total, 43 pre-service teachers participated in three studies in order to determine if their involvement in a unit where the focus was on introducing pre-service teachers to an explicit values-based pedagogy impacted on their knowledge, skills and confidence in terms of quality teaching dimensions. The research programme was divided into three separate studies in order to address the two research questions: 1. In what ways do pre-service teachers perceive they are being prepared to become quality teachers? 2. Is there a connection between an explicit values-based pedagogy in pre-service teacher education and the development of pre-service teachers. understanding of quality teaching? Study One provided insight into 21 pre-service teachers. understandings of quality teaching. These 21 participants had not engaged in an explicit values-based pedagogy. Study Two involved the interviewing of 22 pre-service teachers at two separate points in time . prior to exposure to a unit that employed a values-explicit pedagogy and post this subject.s lecture content delivery. Study Three reported on and analysed individual case studies of five pre-service teachers who had participated in Study Two Time 1 and Time 2, as well as a third time following their field experience where they had practice in teaching the values explicit pedagogy. The results of the research demonstrate that an explicit values-based pedagogy introduced into a teacher education programme has a positive impact on the development of pre-service teachers. understanding of quality teaching skills and knowledge. The teaching and practice of a values-based pedagogy positively impacted on pre-service teachers with increases of knowledge, skills and confidence demonstrated on the quality teaching dimensions of intellectual quality, a supportive classroom environment, recognition of difference, connectedness and values. These findings were reinforced through the comparison of pre-service teachers who had participated in the explicit values-based pedagogical approach, with a sample of pre-service teachers who had not engaged in this same values-based pedagogical approach. A solid values-based pedagogy and practice can and does enhance pre-service teachers. understanding of quality teaching. These findings surrounding the use of a values-based pedagogy in pre-service teacher education to enhance quality teaching knowledge and skills has contributed theoretically to the field of educational research, as well having practical implications for teacher education institutions and teacher educators.

The influence of service quality and trade show effectiveness on post-show purchase intention

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrative services framework to investigate the role of perceived trade show effectiveness on overall trade show service outcome, conceptualised as the intention to purchase a related product after, rather than during, a show. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the services marketing and trade show literature, the authors test a model of trade show effectiveness with data collected from 592 attendees at a major automotive trade show in a large metropolitan centre. Findings Results show that improving trade show visitors' perceived service quality positively affects visitor perceptions of trade show effectiveness. Furthermore, both trade show effectiveness and service quality directly influence future purchase intention. Research limitations/implications Employing a services theoretical framework to evaluate trade show visitor experiences provides an alternative to the traditional marketing communications approach. By viewing such visits as service encounters, managers must inevitably consider the effects of service quality and service outcomes in determining the likely success of their shows. The study primarily focuses on one large consumer show and therefore does not constitute a complete, nor necessarily representative, sample of the trade show industry. Originality/value The original contribution of the paper stems from the paucity of research conceptualising trade shows as services and the comparative lack of emphasis placed on visitors rather than exhibitors in the literature. The research not only has utility for trade show organisers but also provides necessary theory-based research in the trade show domain.

IS service quality as a multi-dimensional formative constuct

This study is motivated by, and proceeds from, a central interest in the importance of evaluating IS service quality and adopts the IS ZOT SERVQUAL instrument (Kettinger & Lee, 2005) as its core theory base. This study conceptualises IS service quality as a multidimensional formative construct and seeks to answer the main research questions: “Is the IS service quality construct valid as a 1st-order formative, 2nd-order formative multidimensional construct?” Additionally, with the aim of validating the IS service quality construct within its nomological net, as in prior service marketing work, Satisfaction was hypothesised as its immediate consequence. With the goal of testing the above research question, IS service quality and Satisfaction were operationalised in a quantitative survey instrument. Partial least squares (PLS), employing 219 valid responses, largely evidenced the validity of IS service quality as a multidimensional formative construct. The nomological validity of the IS service quality construct was also evidenced by demonstrating that 55% of Satisfaction was explained by the multidimensional formative IS service quality construct.

Handbook of service description

With the growth in number and sophistication of services widely available, there is a new urgency for comprehensive service descriptions that take into account both technical and business aspects. The last years have seen a number of efforts for best-of-breed service description focusing on specific aspects of services. The Handbook of Service Description provides the most advanced state of the art insights into these. The main parts of the book provide the most detailed documentation of the Unified Service Description Language (USDL) to date. USDL has been developed across several research institutes and publicly funded projects across Europe and Australia, currently extending to the Americas as part of a standardization push through W3C. The scope of services extends across IT and business, i.e., the socio-technical sense of services scaled to business networks. In this respect, purely human, purely automated and mixed human/automated services were considered, that have a boundary of cognizance that is available through the tasks of service provisioning, discovery, access and delivery. Taken together, the Handbook of Service Description provides a comprehensive reference suitable for a wide-reaching audience including researchers, practitioners, managers, and students who aspire to learn about or to create a deeper scientific foundation for service description and its methodological aspects.

Urban pre-service teachers’ conceptions of teaching in rural communities

Encouraging quality teaching staff to apply for and accept teaching placements in rural and remote locations is an ongoing concern internationally. The value of different support mechanisms provided for pre-service teachers attending a rural and remote practicum[1] are investigated through theories of place and the school-community nexus. Qualitative data regarding the experiences of the pre-service teachers were collected through interviews and case study notes. This project adds to our understanding of practicum in rural areas by employing a conceptual understanding of place to propose how the experiences of a four-week practicum may contribute to urban pre-service teachers’ conceptions of work and life in a rural community

International pre-service teachers' self-confidence in critical reflective thinking and writing through an intercultural Patches program

This paper describes part of an action research study that was designed to explore the outcomes of an ongoing program in which the participants, a group of domestic and international pre-service teachers and lecturers, worked together in reflective writing workshops. While the primary long-term goal of the program was to develop the intercultural competence and understanding of all of the participants through social activities, the development of social relationships was initiated and supported by involving the participants in weekly writing workshops that focused on shared salient skills of critical reflective thinking and writing. The focus of this paper is upon the outcomes for the international students, a cohort of second year pre-service teachers from Malaysia. Findings indicated that the program was successful in developing the Malaysian pre-service teachers’ self-confidence in perceiving themselves as writers and future teachers of writing, in shifting their focus from writing product to writing process and content, and in increasing the depth of their critical reflective thinking and writing

HRM in professional service firms : engendering commitment to what or whom?

Professional service firms (PSFs) present HR professionals with a number of unique challenges, as they share characteristics of both service and knowledge intensive organizations. While many of these firms are relying on High Commitment Work Practices (HCWPs) to enhance critical employee behaviors such as service quality and turnover, the analysis presented in this paper raises questions about traditional understandings of commitment in professional service environments. In particular, data from three Danish financial investment PSFs suggest that employees are more committed to developing and promoting their own professions than to the organization itself, which has important implications for the way in which HCWPs are designed and utilized. In addition, the focus of HCWP research has favored the use of social exchange theory as an underpinning framework for considering the impact of HR practices on employee commitment. In the context of PSFs, we question the applicability of social exchange theory and instead draw upon the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework (1982) to analyze how specific HRM practices contribute to the development of commitment, and to successful organizational outcomes in PSFs.

Cultural impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia : results from focus groups

This paper reports the results of focus groups obtained as part of a full study that uses a mixed method approach to answer the following question: what are the cultural values that impact on e-service use in Saudi Arabia? In order to answer this question we reviewed culture theories, dimensions, and models that have been identified in the literature. Four focus groups interviewing experts and general users (customers) of online services in Saudi Arabia have been completed aiming at the end to identify the uncovered elements of Saudi culture in the literature, which hopefully will result in developing a framework of cultural values that affect e-service use in Saudi context. This paper will firstly, introduce the importance of culture and define the aspects of Saudi culture. It will then describe the method used, and finally discussing the findings of the focus groups. Findings revealed four factors that have not been covered in the literature and need to be investigated namely: nepotism, the lack of human interaction, services oriented culture, and the career path.

Health monitoring of buildings during construction and service stages using vibration characteristics

Columns and walls in buildings are subjected to a number of load increments during the construction and service stages. The combination of these load increments and poor quality construction can cause defects in these structural components. In addition, defects can also occur due to accidental or deliberate actions by users of the building during construction and service stages. Such defects should be detected early so that remedial measures can be taken to improve life time serviceability and performance of the building. This paper uses micro and macro model upgrading methods during construction and service stages of a building based on the mass and stiffness changes to develop a comprehensive procedure for locating and detecting defects in columns and walls of buildings. Capabilities of the procedure are illustrated through examples.