How organizing visions influence the adoption and use of reverse auctions

This research investigates strategic and tactical approaches to reverse auction use, and how they are influenced by organizing visions. Organizing visions are real and perceived forces that influence the adoption of information technology. We use an extensive literature review and a case study of a reverse auction provider, that has managed thousands of auctions for organizations, to investigate how organizing visions impact on decision making in relation to reverse auction adoption and use. The findings from the study show that e-auctions are used to reduce procurement costs and improve efficiency and are more likely to be used for commodity purchases. The narrower tactical role for e-auctions that is now evident in some organizations is shaped by the fear and disdain surrounding past use and in particular the perception of the damage to supplier relationships that their widespread adoption in procurement could create. The reverse auction vendor legitimates tactical adoption through the type of service provided. The paper makes an original contribution to theory in extending the concept of organizing visions. It concludes that although an organizing vision is often viewed as a force for adopting technology it can also be a limiting force that inhibits organizations from obtaining significant benefits from technological opportunities.     

Back to the shed: gendered visions of technology and domesticity

One of the tropes of the age of ubiquitous computing is the migration of computation into new spaces. Domestic environments have been a particular focus of attention for many. However, these spaces are neither empty nor neutral. They are already populated by people and practices which shape both their physical form and cultural meaning. We want to consider here some questions of technology and domesticity. In order to give some critical perspective, we want to approach domestic space from the edge, and in particular, from the shed.

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Moving the goal posts: a reply to Dawson and Piercey

Berkeley [Minds Machines 10 (2000) 1] described a methodology that showed the subsymbolic nature of an artificial neural network system that had been trained on a logic problem, originally described by Bechtel and Abrahamsen [Connectionism and the mind. Blackwells, Cambridge, MA, 1991]. It was also claimed in the conclusion of this paper that the evidence was suggestive that the network might, in fact, count as a symbolic system. Dawson and Piercey [Minds Machines 11 (2001) 197] took issue with this latter claim. They described some lesioning studies that they argued showed that Berkeley’s (2000) conclusions were premature. In this paper, these lesioning studies are replicated and it is shown that the effects that Dawson and Piercey rely upon for their argument are merely an artifact of a threshold function they chose to employ. When a threshold function much closer to that deployed in the original studies is used, the significant effects disappear.     

The Changing Software Business: Moving from Products to Services

The dramatic changes in the software business over the past few years have important implications for both users and producers of software products and services. Traditional product sales and license fees have declined, and product company revenues have shifted to services such as annual maintenance payments that entitle users to patches, minor upgrades, and often technical support. A dramatic shift is under way in the enterprise-software industry as established vendors embrace services in the wake of declining product revenues. It remains to be seen whether life-cycle dynamics or business-model choices are behind the long-term trend.     

Perspectives: Moving the market to embedded memory

Memory plays a critical role in achieving an electronic system's performance, power, or cost goals. Until now, system designers have generally used stand-alone memories, which are inexpensive because manufacturers optimize them for yield and manufacture them in high volume. However, stand-alone memories don't often come in the exact configuration required and may limit system performance. Many designers are now using embedded memory, as increasingly more systems are implemented on a single chip. Such systems on a chip can lend additional capability to the end product. When designed correctly, a SoC incorporating embedded memory can offer higher speeds or lower power consumption and maintain the same or lower cost than a system designed with stand alone memory     

Computing with the social fabric: The evolution of social intelligence within a cultural framework

Cultural algorithms employ a basic set of knowledge sources, each related to knowledge observed in various animal species. These knowledge sources are then combined to direct the decisions of the individual agents in solving optimization problems using an influence function inspired by the marginal value theorem from population biology. We briefly describe an implementation of this approach, the cultural algorithms toolkit (CAT) in the Repast agent-based simulation environment. Next we introduce the notion of "social fabric" which provides a framework in which the knowledge sources can access the social networks to which individuals can belong. A computational version of the social fabric idea is then implemented as an extension of the influence function in the CAT system. We then apply the enhanced system to a problem in engineering design, the "pressure vessel problem". For this problem, we show that the enhanced system with the social fabric outperforms the CAT system without it. We demonstrate also that the frequency with which the knowledge sources are able to access the network can affect the problem solving process.     

Enacting resilience: Adventure racing as a microcosm of resilience organizing

In this inductive study we explore the relational microdynamics of organizational resilience in adventure racing. Drawing from an organizing lens, we frame resilience as an ongoing process by which organizational actors work together to absorb strain and maintain functioning within dynamically uncertain and adverse environments. Adventure racing exemplifies such a context: stress, technological breakdowns, and untoward environmental conditions are both frequent and unpredictable. By analyzing and triangulating interview data from 103 members of 53 adventure racing teams, we found that racers experienced ongoing adversity punctuated by discrete acute shocks. Moreover, resilience was accomplished and re-accomplished through processes of interrelating, in which racers worked together to mutually adjust roles and engagement, coordinated through distributed sensemaking. These processes allowed racers to better align with reality from one moment to the next, not only responding to and absorbing adversity as it arose but also shaping their emergent context. The patterns of interrelating established in response to adversity fuelled cycles of resilience or vulnerability and the capability to manage strain over the longer term. Our findings suggest resilience in organizations is more impermanent, enacted and relational than conceptual models currently portray.     

动摄像机下基于SIFT特征匹配和MHI的目标检测

摄像机的运动使得复杂背景下动目标的检测复杂化。为了应对动态变化的背景,本文提出基于SIFT特征匹配和运动历史图的目标检测算法。首先用SIFT算法提取特征点,采用RANSAC方法求得仿射变换模型参数并实现图像的全局运动补偿,最后利用运动历史图的方法检测出动目标。SIFT特征点匹配的准确性和RANSAC方法去除异常点的有效性使得仿射变换模型参数计算准确,运动历史图则给出了动目标清晰的轮廓,并指明了动目标的运动方向。与Ninad Thakoor实验结果对比说明:该算法能够准确地检测出动目标,并且显示了动目标的运动方向。     

From real to metaphoric maps: Cartography as a visual language for organizing and sharing knowledge

In this paper we discuss about geographic representations as a basis for describing, organizing, accessing and understanding heterogeneous shared information on the web. Maps are popular on the web, because of the reference to space, the most important domain of human experience, the proliferation of location aware devices and services and the availability of a set of tools that enable an heterogeneous population of users to explore and even modify these representations.Metaphorical maps, representing concepts and relations of a specific knowledge domain with symbols taken from another well known and widely used domain, couple the benefits of cartographic representation with the power and intuitiveness of the metaphor, permitting the communication and sharing of such knowledge.We introduce a classification of maps based on antinomies between real and imaginary worlds, and between direct and metaphoric knowledge; we argue that cartography can be used as a visual language for organizing and sharing knowledge related to different semantic domains, supporting our arguments with examples. Finally, we define a set of functions and related data structures able to support a user in browsing cartographic representations using state-of-art tools and systems available on the web.     

Moving from computer literate to technologically compotent: The next educational reform

This article proposes that educators must go beyond computer literacy to achieve technological competence if successful integration of technology into the classroom is to occur. An educator who is technologically competent understands the relationship between basic computer functions and student learning. They use this understanding to design, facilitate, and manage a student-centered multidimensional learning environment that embeds the use of technology into the curriculum. Technological competence also requires a transition from using the computer as an instructional delivery system (traditional computer-based instruction) to one of using the computer as a learning tool (computer-supported instruction). With the computer-supported instruction approach, students do not learn about computers, but rather learn with computers by using them in the same way as they are used in the workplace to solve real-world, meaningful problems.     

The power of gifts: organizing social relationships in open source communities

Abstract. In writings on the open source software development model, it is often argued that it is successful as a result of the gift economy that embraces activities in online communities. However, the theoretical foundations for this argument are seldom discussed and empirically tested. Starting with the 'classic' theories of gift giving, we discuss how they need to be developed in order to explain gift-giving practices in digital domains. In this paper, we argue that the gift economy is important, not only because it creates openness, but also because it organizes relationships between people in a certain way. Open source software development relies on gift giving as a way of getting new ideas and prototypes out into circulation. This also implies that the giver gets power from giving away. This power is used as a way of guaranteeing the quality of the code. We relate this practice to how gifts, in the form of new scientific knowledge, are given to the research community, and how this is done through peer review processes.     

The Raw microprocessor: a computational fabric for software circuits and general-purpose programs

Wire delay is emerging as the natural limiter to microprocessor scalability. A new architectural approach could solve this problem, as well as deliver unprecedented performance, energy efficiency and cost effectiveness. The Raw microprocessor research prototype uses a scalable instruction set architecture to attack the emerging wire-delay problem by providing a parallel, software interface to the gate, wire and pin resources of the chip. An architecture that has direct, first-class analogs to all of these physical resources will ultimately let programmers achieve the maximum amount of performance and energy efficiency in the face of wire delay.     

Moving from lean manufacturing to lean construction: Toward a common sociotechnological framework

Since the early 1990s, the construction industry has taken some interest in the application of lean production to its own case. A new body of research led by the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) has been exploring new techniques for the industry. In this article the techniques developed for lean construction are compared with those of lean manufacturing. Differences between the manufacturing and the construction cases showed why lean production does not fully suit the construction industry. Although some elements are in an embryonic state, lean construction has built a set of techniques that are transferable to any constructor. Lean manufacturing and lean construction share many common elements despite their different techniques. The need for a joint combination of technical and human elements shows that both approaches conform to a common sociotechnological design. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 15: 233–245, 2005.     

In search of simplicity: a self‐organizing group communication overlay

Group communication primitives have broad utility as building blocks for distributed applications. The challenge is to create and maintain the distributed structures that support these primitives while accounting for volatile end‐nodes and variable network characteristics. Most solutions proposed to date rely on complex algorithms or on global information, thus limiting the scale of deployments and acceptance outside the academic realm. This article introduces a low‐complexity, self‐organizing solution for building and maintaining data dissemination trees, which we refer to as Unstructured Multi‐source Overlay (UMO). UMO uses traditional distributed systems techniques: layering, soft‐state, and passive data collection to adapt to the dynamics of the physical network and maintain data dissemination trees. The result is a simple, adaptive system with lower overheads than more complex alternatives. We implemented UMO and evaluated it on a 100‐node PlanetLab testbed and on up to 1024‐node emulated ModelNet networks. Extensive experimental evaluations demonstrate UMOs low overhead, efficient network usage compared with alternative solutions, and the ability to quickly adapt to network changes and to recover from failures. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The location of a hospital in a rural region: The case of the Negev

This paper reports on the strategic planning of hospital services in the Negev region of Israel, a sparsely populated region experiencing rapid population growth. One of the questions that concerned the decision-makers was whether to increase the medical services in the area by expanding the existing hospital or by building an additional one. The suggestion to build a new hospital raised questions of location. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem. Objective and subjective approaches were employed in a three-stage procedure in order to find the best location. First the problem was analyzed using established location models to generate a set of candidate locations. In the next stages experts evaluated the alternative locations by employing a subjective multicriteria model—the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, a recommended solution was presented and analyzed in light of the strategic plan.     

Moving Out of the Lab: Deploying Pervasive Technologies in a Hospital

The authors deployed a distributed system containing a location-tracking system, a context-awareness system, wall-sized displays, and mobile phones in a Danish hospital's operating ward. This article presents the lessons they learned from deploying these pervasive computing technologies and a checklist of questions for researchers to consider relating to hardware, software, and organizational issues when moving pervasive systems out of the laboratory. This article is part of a special issue on Real-World Deployments.     

Designing crowdsolving Ba: A closer look at the features of crowdsolving platforms to manage organizational knowledge

This conceptual article contains a proposed four-part categorization of crowdsolving platform features: contest, idea, participant, and community. A related conceptual framework depicts the relationships of these features with the outcomes of creating, transferring, and assimilating knowledge for the platform and its client firms, according to the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) model. Arguments based in Social Capital Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory inform the predictions about the spiral of interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge that occurs during a contest on a crowdsolving platform. The findings suggest ways to design a crowdsolving ba (shared space for creativity) and platform-level absorptive capacity. For platform managers, this study also offers new insights into the important decisions they must make to develop their platforms’ features.