SKMA - A Key Management Architecture for SCADA Systems

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are widely used in the management of critical infrastructure such as electricity and water distrubution systems. Currently there is little understanding of how to best protect SCADA systems from malicious attacks. We review the constraints and requirements for SCADA security and propose a suitable architecture (SKMA) for secure SCADA communications. The architecture includes a proposed key management protocol (SKMP). We compare the architecture with a previous proposal from Sandia Labs.

Applying integrated resource and environmental management to transmission right-of-way maintenance

The concept of a substantive integrator is introduced as a method for integrated resource and environmental management as a means to assimilate different resource values at the operational or field level. A substantive integrator is a strategic management tool for integrating multiple uses into coprorate management regimes that traditionally manage for single values. Wildlife habitat management is presented as a substantive integrator for managing vegetation on electric utility power line corridors. A case study from northern British Columbia provides an example of wildlife habitat management as a means to integrate other resource values such as aesthetics, access and subsistence along British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority's transmission rights-of-way.

The impact of unique characteristics of projects and project-based organisations on knowledge transfer

Knowledge has been recognised as an important organisational asset that increases in value when shared; the opposite to other organisational assets which decrease in value during their exploitation. Effective knowledge transfer in organisations helps to achieve and maintain competitive advantage and ultimately organisational success. So far, the research on knowledge transfer has focused on traditional (functional) organisations. Only recently has attention been directed towards knowledge transfer in projects. Existing research on project learning has recognised the need for knowledge transfer within and across projects in project-based organisations (PBOs). Most projects can provide valuable new knowledge from unexpected actions, approaches or problems experienced during the project phases. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of unique projects characteristics on knowledge transfer in PBO. This is accomplished through review of the literature and a series of interviews with senior project practitioners. The interviews complement the findings from the literature. Knowledge transfer in projects occurs by social communication and transfer of lessons learned where project management offices (PMOs) and project managers play significant roles in enhancing knowledge transfer and communication within the PBO and across projects. They act as connectors between projects and the PBO ‘hub’. Moreover, some project management processes naturally facilitate knowledge transfer across projects. On the other hand, PBOs face communication challenges due to unique and temporary characteristics of projects. The distance between projects and the lack or weakness of formal links across projects, create communication problems that impede knowledge transfer across projects. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that both social communication and explicit informational channels play important role in inter-project knowledge transfer. Interviews also revealed the important role organisational culture play in knowledge transfer in PBOs.

Attributes of service delivery modes and their impact on consumer satisfaction

Consumersatisfaction is fundamental to organisational success. It is well recognised that personal service is important in achieving consumer satisfaction. However, the application of self-service technology (SST) is widcning and is attennuating traditional exchanges between consumers and service employees. The effect of this reduction of personal service on consumer satisfaction judgements is not well understood. This study addresses this gap by investigating the relative effects of SST and personal service attributes on overall consumer satisfaction. Thc study highlights important service attributes applicable to SST and personal service. The conceptual framework is tested using data collected from 241 leisure and business travellers drawn from premium hotels in a regional area. Structural equation modelling techniques support the conceptual framework. As expected, the attributes of personal service and SST contribute to consumer satisfaction. However, thc impact of personal service attributes 011 consumer satisfaction is much stronger than the effects of SST attributes. Though SST is an important determinant of consumer satisfaction, interactions with staff are critical. These results have applications for the theory and practice of services marketing, and high light avenues for further investigation.

The guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide) : applicability and contribution to project success in Australia

The PMBOK Guide is one of the most influential publications concerning the knowledge of the project manangement. Moreover, the pervasion of this guide seems to be set to increase as the basis of accreditation - in conjunction with the increasing global trend toward obtaining project management professional status. However, despite the influence and strengthening profile of this guide, reports continue to be published that detail numerous project failures in a wide range of different industries. The PMBOK Guide comprises mainly declarative (know-what) and procedural (know-how) information. In this sense, the guide is largely normative and provides a very good example of the limitations of this approach as highlighted by proponents of a move to the genuine application of positibe theory in project management.----- The aim of this paper is to determine the applicability of the guide in Australia and to determine the extent to which project success can be attributed to the guide. Project Managers from a variety of organisations were surveyed. This postal survey yielded 48 replies. Descriptive statistics was used to assess the incidence and effectivieness of all the processes in the guide. The results indicate that there were no processes that could be considered as peripheral or as a candidate for elimination from the guide. More specifically, all the processes were identified as either a key routine process or a key selective process and positively related to the level of project success. However, the results also indicated that other major factors pertaining to causal knowledge (know-why) are, at least, equally important determinants of project success. It is concluded that declarative, procedural and causal knowledge are all valuable, and given the preponderance of the first two types of knowledge, there seems to be an urgent need to now ensure an equal quest for causal knowledge. In terms of developing causal knowledge, a good starting point would appear to be both positive theory from production and economics.

Urban sustainability and growth management in south-east Asian city-regions : the case of Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong

Major South-East Asian city-regions have experienced considerable physical, economic and social transformations during the past three decades. The rapid pace of globalisation and economic restructuring has resulted in these city-regions receiving the full impact of urbanisation pressures. In an attempt to ease these pressures, city-regions such as Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have advocate growth management approaches giving particular interest to urban sustainability. These approaches promote efforts to achieve the triple bottom line sustainability by balancing economic and social development, and environmental protection, and putting more emphasis on compact and optimum development of urban forms. This paper evaluates the case of two South-East Asian city-regions, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, and assesses their experiences in managing their urban forms whilst promoting sustainable patterns of urban development. The findings show that sustainable urban development initiatives employing a top down approach has yielded encouraging results in these case study city-regions. However the need for a more concerted effort towards the overall sustainability agenda still remains vital.

Cholesterol-lowering management of stroke : inconsistencies of evidence and practice

Cholesterol-lowering treatment by statins is an important and costly issue; however, its role in stroke has not been well documented. The aim of the present study was to review literature and current practice regarding cholesterol-lowering treatment for stroke patients. A literature review was conducted on lipids in stroke and their management with both statins and diet, including the cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy. Qualifying criteria and prescription procedures of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) were also reviewed. Data on lipid levels and statin prescriptions were analysed for 468 patients admitted to a stroke unit. The literature shows that management with both medication and diet can be effective, especially when combined; however, 60% of patients with an ischaemic event had fasting total cholesterol measures ≥4 mmol/L (n = 231), with only 52% prescribed statins on discharge (n = 120). Hypercholesterolaemia is an underdiagnosed and undertreated risk factor within the stroke population. It appears that the PBS has not kept pace with advances in the evidence in terms of statin use in the stroke population, and review is needed. The present review should address the qualifying criteria for the stroke population and recommendations on referral to dietitians for dietary advice. Cholesterol-lowering treatment for both stroke patients and the wider population is an area that needs awareness raising and review by the PBS, medical practitioners and dietitians. The role of dietary and pharmacological treatments needs to be clearly defined, including adjunct therapy, and the cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy realised.

Transport simulation : beyond traditional approaches

In recent years, the transport simulation of large road networks has become far more rapid and detailed, and many exciting developments in this field have emerged. In this perspective, the authors describe the simulation of automobile, pedestrian and rail traffic, coupled to new applications, such as the embedding of traffic simulation into driving simulators, to give a more realistic environment of driver behavior surrounding the subject vehicle.

Emerging strategies for sponsorship on the Internet

Internet sponsorship is a rapidly evolving communications platform at a fledgling stage for sponsorship-linked marketing. The complex and involving nature of the phenomena offers new research opportunities and the potential for innovative marketing strategies. The Internet presents the opportunity to combine aspects of traditional event/activity sponsorship and media sponsorship innovatively and to extend marketing strategy in new directions. This paper presents an overview of emerging Internet sponsorships strategies, identifies virtual and reality sponsorship opportunities, and explores emerging sponsorship extension strategies that relate to media, brand, channel development, consumer experience, and networking. Finally, future directions for researchers and practitioners are suggested.

Assessing the potential of inter-organisational shared services

Shared Services (SS) involves the convergence and streamlining of an organisation’s functions to ensure timely service delivery as effectively and efficiently as possible. As a management structure designed to promote value generation, cost savings and improved service delivery by leveraging on economies of scale, the idea of SS is driven by cost reduction and improvements in quality levels of service and efficiency. Current conventional wisdom is that the potential for SS is increasing due to the increasing costs of changing systems and business requirements for organisations and in implementing and running information systems. In addition, due to commoditisation of large information systems such as enterprise systems, many common, supporting functions across organisations are becoming more similar than not, leading to an increasing overlap in processes and fuelling the notion that it is possible for organisations to derive benefits from collaborating and sharing their common services through an inter-organisational shared services (IOSS) arrangement. While there is some research on traditional SS, very little research has been done on IOSS. In particular, it is unclear what are the potential drivers and inhibitors of IOSS. As the concepts of IOSS and SS are closely related to that of Outsourcing, and their distinction is sometimes blurred, this research has the first objective of seeking a clear conceptual understanding of the differences between SS and Outsourcing (in motivators, arrangements, benefits, disadvantages, etc) and based on this conceptual understanding, the second objective of this research is to develop a decision model (Shared Services Potential model) which would aid organisations in deciding which arrangement would be more appropriate for them to adopt in pursuit of process improvements for their operations. As the context of the study is on universities in higher education sharing administrative services common to or across them and with the assumption that such services were homogenous in nature, this thesis also reports on a case study. The case study involved face to face interviews from representatives of an Australian university to explore the potential for IOSS. Our key findings suggest that it is possible for universities to share services common across them as most of them were currently using the same systems although independently.

The development of a new four-year Construction Technology and Management Stream at QUT

This paper focuses on the development and delivery of a core construction management (CM) unit, which forms the capstone of a four-unit CM stream in an undergraduate programme in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology. UDB410 (Construction Management) is a final year unit that consolidates skills students have learned throughout their degree, hopefully graduating them as work-ready construction managers. It was developed in consultation with the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of Building (AIB) and is a final year unit in the undergraduate Bachelor of Urban Development (CM) course. The unit uses various tools such as the OSIRIS business database (Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing, 2009), the AROUSAL (UK Version) construction business simulation (Lansley, 2009) and the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (Denison, 2000) to facilitate the development of skills in managing a construction company. The objectives of the paper are: • To track the rationale and development of the UDB410 unit sand describe the way in which this final year unit integrates learning from other parts of the course within which it is located as well as capping-off the CM stream of core units; • To highlight the difficulties of blending a balance of technology and management in a single unit; and • To explain how partnering with the construction industry benefited the learning quality of the unit.