The process of introducing information technology

Abstract

This paper outlines the strategies adopted by the psychologists and ergonomists of the HUSAT Research Group to help organizations learn about information technology and systematically review and plan its organizational ramifications. An essential point is that it is not enough to understand the technology; effective implementation demands the ability to establish organizational needs and to choose a form of technology which will meet them.

The paper examines three ways of designing systems. Firstly, a technology-led approach which leads to 'fire fighting' when the negative organizational effects become apparent. A second method has tried to compensate for this by involving users in the design process. Unfortunately by the time the users have come to terms with their new task and are able to make a contribution, the system has usually been designed.

The third method of design expressly seeks to give users the time and opportunity to learn how to contribute to design, by making the design process evolutionary; i.e. by building slowly from small systems to large ones and retaining the flexibility to change. Within this concept user learning and adaptation is promoted by pilot systems, user design exercises, user support and evaluation procedures. It is only by these methods that users can be given the confidence and knowledge to exploit the potential of the new technology.     

创建计算机基础课的动态生成式教学过程

本文从计算机基础教学的实践出发,在分析学生学习特点的基础上,阐述了计算机基础课堂教学过程是师生交往、积极互动、共同发展的动态生成过程的观点,取得了良好的教学效果,建立了和谐的师生关系。     

The impact of information technology on information asymmetry

While much research has been undertaken on the impact and consequences of information systems on direct users of the systems and on their organizations, comparatively little recent work has addressed the impact on users of the information. For instance, accounting is the most widespread quantitative information system in use and one which has been profoundly affected by information technology (IT). Yet, existing studies of the impact of IT on accounting focus only on accountants themselves and internal financial reporting and they ignore external users of accounting information. As a first step toward a broader perspective, this paper empirically examines the effect of IT use on the information asymmetry (IA) between managers and external users by contrasting the role of IT in internal and external reporting. The paper suggests that IA has been aggravated, and IT use has played a role in this exacerbation. The implication is that the effect of IT use in accounting is not confined to accountants and individual organizations but extends to external stakeholders.     

The philosophical view of information and information technology

Various approaches to the definition of the concept “information,” viz., mathematical-physical, semantic, pragmatic, hermeneutic-existential, and angeletic, are considered. The relevance of the study of the history of philosophy in terms of information technology (IT) is noted. Two contradictory views of information technology, that is, engineering and anthropocentric, are addressed. The future promising lines in IT philosophy are considered.     

计算机信息技术的应用初探

近几年的数字科技发展的非常快,计算机更是走进行千家万户,人们的生活越来越离不开它,计算机信息为适合社会的不断发展,技术的发展也成为当前科技的发展重心,而且由于社会的需求,也为计算机技术发展提供了一个广大的空间.在此文中,主要对计算机信息向哪个方向发展,以及其在现实中的应用做了系统的研究和分析.     

The advanced information technology innovation roadmap

The AIT (Advanced Information Technology for the European Manufacturing Industry) initiative is focusing on IT innovations and their integration in the users enterprise. This is achieved through the deployment of the AIT Innovation Cycle starting with the AIT strategic planning (development of a common master plan) and finishing with the business integration of complete IT innovative solutions. The IT integration includes two major action streams supported by various R&D projects belonging to the ESPRIT and Brite Euram research programmes, which are: The technological integration which is achieved in strong cooperation with IT vendors through the development of integration platforms based on emerging standards such as STEP, CORBA, JAVA, etc. In this integration context, the CIMOSA framework has been used to build the AIT IT Reference Model (ITRM). The IT innovations integration into the users' enterprise which consider the usage of all the CIMOSA views (function view, information view, organisation view, resources view including Human, Financial and IT resources) as well as their aggregation in order to support the development of generic networked enterprise (re)engineering methodologies, processes and associated IT supporting tools. This paper is focusing on the second integration stream by describing the progress achieved to date in the AIT-IMPLANT project. The aim of this ESPRIT project is to develop a generic enterprise change management methodology and associated IT tools to support the integration of IT Innovations into the networked manufacturing enterprises.     

加密技术下的信息安全

计算机和通信网络的广泛应用,一方面为人们的生活和工作带来了极大的方便,另一方面也带来了许多亟待解决的问题,以“棱镜门”事件为例,信息的安全性就是其中的重中之重.信息安全性主要体现在两个方面:信息的保密性和认证性.保密性的目的是防止对手破译系统中的机密信息.认证的目的主要有两个,一个是验证信息发送者是真的而不是冒充的;另一个是验证信息的完整性,即信息在传输和处理的过程中没有被篡改.加密技术是保证信息安全的关键技术,常用的加密技术有:对称密钥加密、公开密钥加密、哈希函数加密等,其应用有:数字认证及授权,安全协议等.而一系列的加密技术都依赖于密码学技术.本文将主要通过对密码学及各种加密技术的研究与分析,来论述加密技术与信息安全之间的不可分割的关系及应用.     

The dark side of information technology use

A large body of research has considered the positive aspects of information technology (IT) use. However, emerging research and practice commentary is beginning to focus on complex and often alarming ways in which use of IT affects organisational and social life. This Special Issue focuses on these ‘dark’ effects of IT use.     

Assessing the suitability of process and information technology in supporting tacit knowledge transfer

The transfer of tacit knowledge, one of the most important issues in the knowledge sharing context, needs a multi-dimensional perception in its process. Information technology's (IT) supporting role has already been addressed in the process of tacit knowledge transfer. However, IT has its own characteristics, and in turn, may have dissimilar support suitability. On the basis of the knowledge transfer process proposed by Garavelli et al. (Garavelli, C., Gorgoglione, M., Scozzi, B., 2002. Managing knowledge transfer by knowledge technologies. Technovation 22, 269–279), this study conducts an assessment using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique to disclose (1) importance rank of transfer stages for the transfer efficacy and (2) the support suitability of IT types for the transfer stages. The assessment hierarchy has three levels, which are the goal, process and support levels. According to the 21 domain scholars and specialists' assessment analysis, the main results suggest that (1) for goal level, both the knowledge provider's and receiver's cognitive system are of more importance, (2) for process level, database techniques and information system applications obtain the higher importance in supporting the provider's cognitive system and externalisation, and (3) software tools and information system applications are more likely to support the receiver's cognitive system and interpretation. Discussion and implications are also addressed.     

信息技术与中职教学英语的学科整合

二十一世纪现代化社会发展对英语教学提出了新的要求,本文以建构主义理论为指导,在其先进科学的视角下探讨多媒体信息技术与中职英语学科的有机整合,使得中职英语学习与教学达到更高水平.     

信息技术对管理沟通的影响

随着现代化企业管理制度的不断革新,企业的管理者逐渐对信息交流以及员工间的信息沟通给予了高度重视。在信息技术的高度发展下,管理者与员工间的沟通更为便捷、高效,达到的沟通效果也是更加令人满意。文中首先对信息技术及其重要性进行分析,然后,探索信息技术的不断改进对管理沟通的重要促进作用。     

The changing role of information technology in manufacturing

Although its role in manufacturing has keen move to support processes, IT is evolving to become a catalyst for process and product change. In this case study, an apparel manufacturer used an enterprise modeling framework (EMF) developed by Georgia Tech (USA) to implement multiple IT solutions. It was then able to rapidly shift production resources between two separate product lines     

The measurement of information technology absorption into information handling processes in business

The need for a comparative measure of information technology absorption in business is discussed. Studies of various forms of technological change are reviewed in terms of three issues; the level of measurement used, the research techniques/methods used and the approaches to the measurement of technology absorption. The requisite properties for an assessment of information technology absorption within business are outlined. A framework for a structured interview schedule is proposed which could assess approaches to information handling at several levels of analysis (e.g. departments, sites, organizations, industries). A pilot factor analysis of the IT items within the schedule across a sample of businesses reveals a sensible three-factor structure of IT influence within information handling. This form of measure is shown to offer sufficient sensitivity to assess technological changes within organizations and be relatable to behavioural outcomes. The extent of changes in management roles is shown to be correlated with degree of IT change along the three dimensions identified. The needs for further research are discussed.     

The TRiTS model: teacher roles in introducing digital technology into a school curriculum

The wide use of digital technology for educational purposes opens up some issues regarding its integration within the school curriculum. Our research aims to contribute to the current discussion about how mobile/portable technology can be integrated into formal education. In this perspective, we consider digital technology and media as a potential integral part of school activity that could effectively support educational achievement. However, the way in which it is applied by teachers in a real context can substantially change its impact on effective achievements. In our research, we extensively investigated the role of the teacher in using digital technology for stimulating and prompting classroom activities in class in-line with the school curriculum. In this paper, we first present a model that illustrates the roles of teachers in transforming digital technology as a resource for developing skills as required in educational curricula. The teacher role in introducing technology at school—TRiTS—model has been conceived by combining relevant literature and findings from a case study that we have been running in a primary school over the last 4 years. We then discuss the influence of the different teacher roles on students (their attitude and level of participation), as emerged from our study.     

An empirical study of information technology enabled business process redesign and corporate competitive strategy

Business process redesign (BPR) has been widely touted as a means for leveraging the power of information technology to change business processes radically, resulting in substantial improvements in organizational effectiveness and efficiency. This study represents an early attempt at examining the strategic nature of the phenomenon. Because BPR is radical change and has the ability to alter both the competitive and operational nature of the corporation, it is critical that BPR be coordinated with corporate strategy. Through a survey of information system executives, the relationships between corporate competitive strategy and three types of BPR – intrafunctional, interfunctional and interorganizational – were examined. It was found that organizations following a cost strategy tended to do more BPR projects on interfunctional processes. Furthermore, the positive effect of a cost strategy on interfunctional BPR was found to be strengthened by the degree of integration of IS and business planning. It was also found that while interorganizational BPR was not related to a specific strategy, it was strongly related directly with IS–business planning integration.     

浅论信息技术与信息技术课程教学的全面整合

信息技术与信息技术课程教学的整合为信息技术与其他课程教学整合提供技术支持。本文从论述信息技术与信息技术课程教学整合的地位入手,分析了当前信息技术与信息技术课程教学的整合的问题之所在,并尝试着提出了解决问题的办法。     

Inside the adaptive enterprise: an information technology capabilities perspective on business process agility

Recent innovations in utility computing, web services, and service-oriented architectures, combined with a growing array of IT skills, have improved firms’ ability to be more agile in responding to change. Using the resource-based view of the firm, prior research suggests that IT resources, in isolation, are unlikely to yield superior performance and so as firms try to boost their agility, the question becomes how to configure IT resources to prepare for, or react to, change. In this paper, we posit that managerial IT capabilities based on IT-business partnerships, strategic planning, and ex-post IT project analysis lead to the development of technical IT capabilities associated with a flexible IT infrastructure which in turn drives agility or a firm’s ability to react to change in its products and markets. Using data from matched surveys of IT and business executives in 241 firms, we find that managerial and technical capabilities affect agility. In further testing, we reveal that in a stable setting, technical IT capabilities are more important to agility than managerial IT capabilities, while in a dynamic setting, the opposite is true. Thus, for firms operating in volatile markets, effective models of managerial IT governance are essential for delivering superior agility or adaptiveness.

学校信息化应用的影响因素研究

要推进学校信息化应用的步伐,其中一个重要步骤就是明确影响学校信息化应用的相关影响因素,只有明确了这些影响因素,才能有助于学校制定出有效的推进策略.笔者对近年来学者对学校教育信息化影响因素方面的相关研究情况进行了整理和总结,得出影响学校信息化应用的因素很多,且这些因素之间存在较为复杂的关系.本文现围绕学校信息化应用影响因素展开论述,先分析了学校信息化的具体应用情况,然后总结了影响学校信息化应用的影响因素.