Modeling the Aesthetic Axis of Information Organization Frameworks, Part 2: Case Studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework, based on contemporary philosophical aesthetics, from which principled assessments of the aesthetic value of information organization frameworks may be conducted.Design/methodology/approach – This paper identifies appropriate discourses within the field of philosophical aesthetics, constructs from them a framework for assessing aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks. This framework is then applied in two case studies examining the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), and Sexual Nomenclature: A Thesaurus. Findings – In both information organization frameworks studied, the aesthetic analysis was useful in identifying judgments of the frameworks as aesthetic judgments, in promoting discovery of further areas of aesthetic judgments, and in prompting reflection on the nature of these aesthetic judgments. Research limitations/implications – This study provides proof-of-concept for the aesthetic evaluation of information organization frameworks. Areas of future research are identified as the role of cultural relativism in such aesthetic evaluation and identification of appropriate aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks.Practical implications – By identifying a subset of judgments of information organization frameworks as aesthetic judgments, aesthetic evaluation of such frameworks can be made explicit and principled. Aesthetic judgments can be separated from questions of economic feasibility, functional requirements, and user-orientation. Design and maintenance of information organization frameworks can be based on these principles.Originality/value – This study introduces a new evaluative axis for information organization frameworks based on philosophical aesthetics. By improving the evaluation of such novel frameworks, design and maintenance can be guided by these principles.Keywords Evaluation, Analysis, Bibliographic systems, Indexes, Retrieval languages, Philosophy

Project Success through Effective Decisions: Case Studies on Project Goal Setting, Success Evaluation and Managerial Decision Making

The objective of the thesis is to structure and model the factors that contribute to and can be used in evaluating project success. The purpose of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of three research topics. The goal setting process, success evaluation and decision-making process are studied in the context of a project, business unitand its business environment. To achieve the objective three research questionsare posed. These are 1) how to set measurable project goals, 2) how to evaluateproject success and 3) how to affect project success with managerial decisions.The main theoretical contribution comes from deriving a synthesis of these research topics which have mostly been discussed apart from each other in prior research. The research strategy of the study has features from at least the constructive, nomothetical, and decision-oriented research approaches. This strategy guides the theoretical and empirical part of the study. Relevant concepts and a framework are composed on the basis of the prior research contributions within the problem area. A literature review is used to derive constructs of factors withinthe framework. They are related to project goal setting, success evaluation, and decision making. On the basis of this, the case study method is applied to complement the framework. The empirical data includes one product development program, three construction projects, as well as one organization development, hardware/software, and marketing project in their contexts. In two of the case studiesthe analytic hierarchy process is used to formulate a hierarchical model that returns a numerical evaluation of the degree of project success. It has its origin in the solution idea which in turn has its foundation in the notion of projectsuccess. The achieved results are condensed in the form of a process model thatintegrates project goal setting, success evaluation and decision making. The process of project goal setting is analysed as a part of an open system that includes a project, the business unit and its competitive environment. Four main constructs of factors are suggested. First, the project characteristics and requirements are clarified. The second and the third construct comprise the components of client/market segment attractiveness and sources of competitive advantage. Together they determine the competitive position of a business unit. Fourth, the relevant goals and the situation of a business unit are clarified to stress their contribution to the project goals. Empirical evidence is gained on the exploitation of increased knowledge and on the reaction to changes in the business environment during a project to ensure project success. The relevance of a successful project to a company or a business unit tends to increase the higher the reference level of project goals is set. However, normal performance or sometimes performance below this normal level is intentionally accepted. Success measures make project success quantifiable. There are result-oriented, process-oriented and resource-oriented success measures. The study also links result measurements to enablers that portray the key processes. The success measures can be classified into success domains determining the areas on which success is assessed. Empiricalevidence is gained on six success domains: strategy, project implementation, product, stakeholder relationships, learning situation and company functions. However, some project goals, like safety, can be assessed using success measures that belong to two success domains. For example a safety index is used for assessing occupational safety during a project, which is related to project implementation. Product safety requirements, in turn, are connected to the product characteristics and thus to the product-related success domain. Strategic success measures can be used to weave the project phases together. Empirical evidence on their static nature is gained. In order-oriented projects the project phases are oftencontractually divided into different suppliers or contractors. A project from the supplier's perspective can represent only a part of the ¿whole project¿ viewed from the client's perspective. Therefore static success measures are mostly used within the contractually agreed project scope and duration. Proof is also acquired on the dynamic use of operational success measures. They help to focus on the key issues during each project phase. Furthermore, it is shown that the original success domains and success measures, their weights and target values can change dynamically. New success measures can replace the old ones to correspond better with the emphasis of the particular project phase. This adjustment concentrates on the key decision milestones. As a conclusion, the study suggests a combination of static and dynamic success measures. Their linkage to an incentive system can make the project management proactive, enable fast feedback and enhancethe motivation of the personnel. It is argued that the sequence of effective decisions is closely linked to the dynamic control of project success. According to the used definition, effective decisions aim at adequate decision quality and decision implementation. The findings support that project managers construct and use a chain of key decision milestones to evaluate and affect success during aproject. These milestones can be seen as a part of the business processes. Different managers prioritise the key decision milestones to a varying degree. Divergent managerial perspectives, power, responsibilities and involvement during a project offer some explanation for this. Finally, the study introduces the use ofHard Gate and Soft Gate decision milestones. The managers may use the former milestones to provide decision support on result measurements and ad hoc critical conditions. In the latter milestones they may make intermediate success evaluation also on the basis of other types of success measures, like process and resource measures.

Why evolution matters for species conservation: perspectives from three case studies of plant metapopulations

We advocate the advantage of an evolutionary approach to conservation biology that considers evolutionary history at various levels of biological organization. We review work on three separate plant taxa, spanning from one to multiple decades, illustrating extremes in metapopulation functioning. We show how the rare endemics Centaurea corymbosa (Clape Massif, France) and Brassica insularis in Corsica (France) may be caught in an evolutionary trap: disruption of metapopulation functioning due to lack of colonization of new sites may have counterselected traits such as dispersal ability or self-compatibility, making these species particularly vulnerable to any disturbance. The third case study concerns the evolution of life history strategies in the highly diverse genus Leucadendron of the South African fynbos. There, fire disturbance and the recolonization phase after fires are so integral to the functioning of populations that recruitment of new individuals is conditioned by fire. We show how past adaptation to different fire regimes and climatic constraints make species with different life history syndromes more or less vulnerable to global changes. These different case studies suggest that management strategies should promote evolutionary potential and evolutionary processes to better protect extant biodiversity and biodiversification.

Developing A Knowledge Management Process Model for Internal IT Organization, Case: Stora Enso Oyj, Corporate IT

The objectives of this Master’s Thesis were to find out what kind of knowledge management strategy would fit best an IT organization that uses ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework for IT Service Management and to create a knowledge management process model to support chosen strategy. The empirical material for this research was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews of a case organization Stora Enso Corporate IT. The results of the qualitative interviews indicate that codification knowledge management strategy would fit best for the case organization. The knowledge management process model was created based on earlier studies and a literature of knowledge management. The model was evaluated in the interview research and the results showed that the created process model is realistic, useful, and it responds to a real life phenomenon.

Understanding value congruence : a sport organization case study

With the recent growth in cultural complexity, many organizations are faced with increasingly diverse employee pools. Gaining a greater understanding of the values that employees possess is the first step in effectively satisfying their needs and achieving a more productive workforce (lung & Avolio, 2000). Values playa significant role in influencing individual behaviours. It is therefore necessary to assess the qualities of employee value systems and directly link them to the values of the organization. The importance of values and value congruence has been emphasized by many organizational behaviour researchers (cf. Adkins & Caldwell, 2004; Erdogan, Kraimer, & Liden, 2004; Jung & Avolio, 2000; Rokeach, 1973); however the emphasis on value studies remains fairly stagnant within the sport industry (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2002). In order to examine the realities that were constructed by the participants in this study a holistic view of the impact of values within a specific sport organization were provided. The purpose of this case study was to examine organizational and employee values to understand the effects of values and value congruence on employee behaviours within the context of a large Canadian sport organization. A mUltiple methods case study approach was adopted in order to fully serve the purpose and provide a comprehensive view of the organization being examined. Document analysis, observations, surveys, as well as semi-structured interviews were conducted. The process allowed for triangulation and confirmability of the findings. Each method functioned to create an overarching understanding of the values and value congruence within this organization. The analysis of the findings was divided into qualitative and quantitative sections. The qualitative documents were analyzed twice, once manually by the researcher and once via AtIas.ti Version 4 (1998). The a priori and emergent coding that took place was based on triangulating the findings and uncovering common themes throughout the data. The Rokeach Value Survey (1973) that was incorporated into the survey design of the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics, as well as Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis formulas. These were deemed appropriate for analysis given the non-parametric nature of the survey instrument (Kinnear & Gray, 2004). The quantitative survey served to help define the values and value congruence that was then holistically examined through the qualitative interviews, document analyses, and observations. The results of the study indicated incongruent value levels between employees and those stated or perceived as the organization's values. Each finding demonstrated that varying levels of congruence may have diverse affects on individual behaviours. These behaviours range from production levels to interactions with fellow employees to turnover. In addition to the findings pertaining to the research questions, a number of other key issues were uncovered regarding departmentalization, communication, and board relations. Each has contributed to a greater understanding of the organization and has created direction for further research within this area of study.

Institutional arrangements in the emerging biodiesel industry: Case studies from Minas Gerais-Brazil

Connecting (small) family farmers to the emerging biodiesel industry requires careful design of the institutional arrangements between the producers of oil crops and the processing companies. According to institutional economics theory, the design of effective and efficient arrangements depends on production and transaction characteristics, the institutional environment, and the organizational environment supporting the transaction between producers and the industry. This paper presents a comparative study on two cases in the feedstock-for-biodiesel industry in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The two case studies represent the production and transaction system of soybeans (Glycine max L Merrill) and castor beans (Ricinus communis L). Important elements of effective and efficient institutional arrangements are farmer collective action, availability of technical and financial support, and farmer experience with particular crops. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health planning methods : case studies from the 1978 International Workshop.

Pt. 2 sold only by National Technical Information Service.

A configuration framework of manufacturing strategy paradigm in state owned enterprises within China's petrochemical industry:building context-embedded configurations for the paradigm of strategic manufacturing management from exploratory case studies

The role of the production system as a key determinant of competitive performance of business operations- has long been the subject of industrial organization research, even predating the .explicit conceptua1isation of manufacturing, strategy in the literature. Particular emergent production issues such as the globalisation of production, global supply chain management, management of integrated manufacturing and a growing e~busjness environment are expected to critically influence the overall competitive performance and therefore the strategic success of the organization. More than ever, there is a critical need to configure and improve production system and operations competence in a strategic way so as to contribute to the long-term competitiveness of the organization. In order to operate competitively and profitably, manufacturing companies, no matter how well managed, all need a long-term 'strategic direction' for the development of operations competence in order to consistently produce more market value with less cost towards a leadership position. As to the long-term competitiveness, it is more important to establish a dynamic 'strategic perspective' for continuous operational improvements in pursuit of this direction, as well as ongoing reviews of the direction in relation to the overall operating context. However, it also clear that the 'existing paradigm of manufacturing strategy development' is incapable of adequately responding to the increasing complexities and variations of contemporary business operations. This has been factually reflected as many manufacturing companies are finding that methodologies advocated in the existing paradigm for developing manufacturing strategy have very limited scale and scope for contextual contingency in empirical application. More importantly, there has also emerged a deficiency in the multidimensional and integrative profile from a theoretical perspective when operationalising the underlying concept of strategic manufacturing management established in the literature. The point of departure for this study was a recognition of such contextual and unitary limitations in the existing paradigm of manufacturing strategy development when applied to contemporary industrial organizations in general, and Chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in particular. As China gradually becomes integrated into the world economy, the relevance of Western management theory and its paradigm becomes a practical matter as much as a theoretical issue. Since China markedly differs from Western countries in terms of culture, society, and political and economic systems, it presents promising grounds to test and refine existing management theories and paradigms with greater contextual contingency and wider theoretical perspective. Under China's ongoing programmes of SOE reform, there has been an increased recognition that strategy development is the very essence of the management task for managers of manufacturing companies in the same way as it is for their counterparts in Western economies. However, the Western paradigm often displays a rather naive and unitary perspective of the nature of strategic management decision-making, one which largely overlooks context-embedded factors and social/political influences on the development of manufacturing strategy. This thesis studies the successful experiences of developing manufacturing strategy from five high-performing large-scale SOEs within China’s petrochemical industry. China’s petrochemical industry constitutes a basic heavy industrial sector, which has always been a strategic focus for reform and development by the Chinese government. Using a confirmation approach, the study has focused on exploring and conceptualising the empirical paradigm of manufacturing strategy development practiced by management. That is examining the ‘empirical specifics’ and surfacing the ‘managerial perceptions’ of content configuration, context of consideration, and process organization for developing a manufacturing strategy during the practice. The research investigation adopts a qualitative exploratory case study methodology with a semi-structural front-end research design. Data collection follows a longitudinal and multiple-case design and triangulates case evidence from sources including qualitative interviews, direct observation, and a search of documentations and archival records. Data analysis follows an investigative progression from a within-case preliminary interpretation of facts to a cross-case search for patterns through theoretical comparison and analytical generalization. The underlying conceptions in both the literature of manufacturing strategy and related studies in business strategy were used to develop theoretical framework and analytical templates applied during data collection and analysis. The thesis makes both empirical and theoretical contributions to our understanding of 'contemporary management paradigm of manufacturing strategy development'. First, it provides a valuable contextual contingency of the 'subject' using the business setting of China's SOEs in petrochemical industry. This has been unpacked into empirical configurations developed for its context of consideration, its content and process respectively. Of special note, a lean paradigm of business operations and production management discovered at case companies has significant implications as an emerging alternative for high-volume capital intensive state manufacturing in China. Second, it provides a multidimensional and integrative theoretical profile of the 'subject' based upon managerial perspectives conceptualised at case companies when operationalising manufacturing strategy. This has been unpacked into conceptual frameworks developed for its context of consideration, its content constructs, and its process patterns respectively. Notably, a synergies perspective towards the operating context, competitive priorities and competence development of business operations and production management has significant implications for implementing a lean manufacturing paradigm. As a whole, in so doing, the thesis established a theoretical platform for future refinement and development of context-specific methodologies for developing manufacturing strategy.

Two case studies on generating administrative process applications with AdminDSL

Some organizations end up reimplementing the same class of business process over and over: an "administrative process", which consists of managing a form through several states and involving various roles in the organization. This results in wasted time that could be dedicated to better understanding the process or dealing with the fine details that are specific to the process. Existing virtual office solutions require specific training and infrastructure andmay result in vendor lock-in. In this paper, we propose using a high-level domain-specific language (AdminDSL) to describe the administrative process and a separate code generator targeting a standard web framework. We have implemented the approach using Xtext, EGL and the Django web framework, and we illustrate it through two case studies: a synthetic examination process which illustrates the architecture of the generated code, and a real-world workplace survey process that identified several future avenues for improvement.

Factors influencig software migration decision: case studies of acerlormittal Tubarão and the city government of Serra, Espirito Santo

The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence the migration of free software to proprietary software, or vice-versa. The theoretical framework was developed in light of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DIT) proposed by Rogers (1976, 1995), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) proposed by Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003). The research was structured in two phases: the first phase was exploratory, characterized by adjustments of the revised theory to fit Brazilian reality and the identification of companies that could be the subject of investigation; and the second phase was qualitative, in which case studies were conducted at ArcelorMittal Tubarão (AMT), a private company that migrated from proprietary software (Unix) to free software (Linux), and the city government of Serra, in Espírito Santo state, a public organization that migrated from free software (OpenOffice) to proprietary (MS Office). The results show that software migration decision takes into account factors that go beyond issues involving technical or cost aspects, such as cultural barriers, user rejection and resistance to change. These results underscore the importance of social aspects, which can play a decisive role in the decision regarding software migration and its successful implementation.

Structural and stratigraphic control on hypogene dissolution in carbonate rocks: case studies of cave analogues and implications for karst reservoirs

The aim of this research is to improve the understanding of the factors that control the formation of karst porosity in hypogene settings and its associated patterns of void-conduit networks. Subsurface voids created by hypogene dissolution may span from few microns to decametric tubes providing interconnected conduit systems and forming highly anisotropic permeability domains in many reservoirs. Characterizing the spatial-morphological organization of hypogene karst is a challenging task that has dramatic implications for the applied industry, given that only partial data can be acquired from the subsurface by indirect techniques. Therefore, two outcropping cave analogues are examined: the Cavallone-Bove Cave in the Majella Massif (Italy), and the karst systems of the Salitre Formation (Brazil). In the latter, a peculiar example of hypogene speleogenesis associated with silicification has been studied, providing an analogue of many karstified reservoirs hosted in cherts or cherty-carbonates within mixed sedimentary sequences. The first part of the thesis is focused on the relationships between fracture patterns and flow pathways in deformed units in: 1) a fold-and-thrust setting (Majella Massif); 2) a cratonic block (Brazil). These settings represent potential playgrounds for the migration and accumulation of geofluids, where hypogene conduits may affect flow pathways, fluid storage, and reservoir properties. The results indicate that localized deformation producing cross-formational fracture zones associated with anticline hinges or fault damage zones is critical for hypogene fluid migration and karstification. The second part of the thesis deals with the multidisciplinary study of hydrothermal silicification and hypogene dissolution in Calixto Cave (Brazil). Petrophysical analyses and a geochemical characterization of silica deposits are used to unravel the spatial-morphological organization of the conduit system and its speleogenesis. The novel results obtained from this cave shed new light on the relationship between hydrothermal silicification, hypogene dissolution and the development of multistorey cave systems in layered carbonate-siliciclastic sequences.

Scavenging processes of atmospheric particulate matter: a numerical modeling of case studies

Below cloud scavenging processes have been investigated considering a numerical simulation, local atmospheric conditions and particulate matter (PM) concentrations, at different sites in Germany. The below cloud scavenging model has been coupled with bulk particulate matter counter TSI (Trust Portacounter dataset, consisting of the variability prediction of the particulate air concentrations during chosen rain events. The TSI samples and meteorological parameters were obtained during three winter Campaigns: at Deuselbach, March 1994, consisting in three different events; Sylt, April 1994 and; Freiburg, March 1995. The results show a good agreement between modeled and observed air concentrations, emphasizing the quality of the conceptual model used in the below cloud scavenging numerical modeling. The results between modeled and observed data have also presented high square Pearson coefficient correlations over 0.7 and significant, except the Freiburg Campaign event. The differences between numerical simulations and observed dataset are explained by the wind direction changes and, perhaps, the absence of advection mass terms inside the modeling. These results validate previous works based on the same conceptual model.

Dating minerals by ID-TIMS geochronology at times of in situ analysis: selected case studies from the CPGeo-IGc-USP laboratory

Since 1964, the Center for Geochronological Research - CPGeo, one of the interdepartmental centers of the Instituto de Geociências (IG) of São Paulo University, has developed studies related to several geological processes associated with different rock types. Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry Isotopic Dilution (ID-TIMS) has been the technique widely used in the CPGeo U-Pb Laboratory. It provides reliable and accurate results in age determination of superposed events. However, the open-system behavior such as Pb-loss, the inheritance problem and metamictization processes allow and impel us to a much richer understanding of the power and limitations of U-Pb geochronology and thermochronology. In this article, we present the current methodology used at the CPGeo-IGc-USP U-Pb laboratory, the improvements on ID-TIMS method, and report high-precision U-Pb data from zircon, monazite, epidote, titanite, baddeleyite and rutile from different rock types of several domains of the Brazilian south-southeast area, Argentina and Uruguay.

Natural and human forcing in recent geomorphic change; case studies in the Rio de la Plata basin

An analysis of geomorphic system`s response to change in human and natural drivers in some areas within the Rio de la Plata basin is presented The aim is to determine whether an acceleration of geomorphic processes has taken place in recent years and, if so, to what extent it is due to natural (climate) or human (land-use) drivers Study areas of different size, socio-economic and geomorphic conditions have been selected: the Rio de la Plata estuary and three sub-basins within its watershed Sediment cores were extracted and dated ((210)Pb) to determine sedimentation rates since the end of the 19th century. Rates were compared with time series on rainfall as well as human drivers such as population, GDP, livestock load, crop area, energy consumption or cement consumption, all of them related to human capacity to disturb land surface Data on river discharge were also gathered Results obtained indicate that sedimentation rates during the last century have remained essentially constant in a remote Andean basin, whereas they show important increases in the other two, particularly one located by the Sao Paulo metropolitan area Rates in the estuary are somewhere in between It appears that there is an intensification of denudation/sedimentation processes within the basin. Rainfall remained stable or varied very slightly during the period analysed and does not seem to explain increases of sedimentation rates observed. Human drivers, particularly those more directly related to capacity to disturb land surface (GDP, energy or cement consumption) show variations that suggest human forcing is a more likely explanation for the observed change in geomorphic processes It appears that a marked increase in denudation, of a ""technological"" nature, is taking place in this basin and leading to an acceleration of sediment supply This is coherent with similar increases observed in other regions (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Urban upgrading interventions and engaging residents in fuzzy management: Case studies from Novos Alagados, Salvador, Brazil

International theory and practice have promoted state-assisted upgrading of `informal` urban areas worldwide since the late 1970s, with various forms of monitoring and assessment of impact. Two independent studies of how residents perceive and evaluate such interventions have recently been undertaken for neighbouring parts of the upgraded area of Novos Alagados on the Itapagipe peninsula in the northwestern part of Salvador, Brazil`s third largest city. These studies start from different premises and have been implemented in very different ways, but both have the objective of permitting the `voice` of the residents to be heard concerning the upgrading process. Comparing them helps highlight the essential `fuzzy` nature of values concerning urban interventions of this nature and leaves us with thought-provoking questions concerning the role of local society in relation to the state in urban development, and the potential this has for on-going forms of urban management in cities which are emerging globally. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.