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.     

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     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The towers of Hanoi revisited: Moving the rings by counting the moves

A non-recursive algorithm, distinct from the one already in the literature, is presented for solving the n-ring Towers of Hanoi problem in the minimum 2ⁿ?1 moves. In addition, a simple relation is found between the binary representation of k and the position of the rings after k moves, allowing either to be obtained from the other in O(n) operations. Thus the position of the rings can be effectively stored in a work of n bits.     

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.     

Errors in the heat of battle: taking a closer look at shared cognition breakdowns through teamwork

OBJECTIVE: We developed a theoretically based taxonomy for classifying shared cognition breakdowns related to teamwork which contribute to fratricide incidents. BACKGROUND: Fratricide on the battlefield is an inescapable cost of war. A number of technological advancements have been made in terms of combat identification systems to reduce the risk of these incidents. However, fratricide continues to occur at alarming rates. METHOD: We take a human-centered approach to understanding errors leading to fratricide incidents by focusing on shared cognition. We turn to the literature and provide the theoretical foundations for an error classification taxonomy to improve understanding of why fratricide incidents occur. RESULTS: Based on our review of the literature, we identified a number of problem areas leading to fratricide incidents. However, many of the cited contributing factors were broad terms (e.g., poor coordination) and did little to tell us why the breakdown occurred and where improvements are needed. Therefore, we chose to focus on one specific area--teamwork breakdowns--and discuss in depth how these breakdowns contribute to fratricide. CONCLUSION: In this paper, we take a first step toward proposing a taxonomy that allows for the diagnostic assessment of what causes teamwork breakdowns in fratricide. We understand that a taxonomy is only as good as the data available and encourage richer case studies from which to learn. APPLICATION: To apply this taxonomy in an operational setting, we provide a set of behavioral markers that can be used to identify teamwork breakdowns on the battlefield.     

From measured physical parameters to the haptic feeling of fabric

Abstract real-time cloth simulation involves the solution of many computational challenges, particularly in the context of haptic applications, where high frame rates are necessary for obtaining a satisfactory tactile experience. In this paper, we present a real-time cloth simulation system that offers a compromise between a realistic physically-based simulation of fabrics and a haptic application with high requirements in terms of computation speed. We place emphasis on architecture and algorithmic choices for obtaining the best compromise in the context of haptic applications. A first implementation using a haptic device demonstrates the features of the proposed system and leads to the development of new approaches for haptic rendering using the proposed approach.     

Is the software engineering state of the practice getting closer to the of the art?

How do the state of the art and the state of the practice of software engineering differ? Having surveyed them using current frameworks, the author identifies missing research areas and good practices and identifies eight critical success factors that can help managers close the gap.     

Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in north-east England

This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach.

西门子PLC组网技术的研究与应用

西门子PLC在工业控制领域应用非常广泛,市场占有率非常高,它的网络通讯技术是非常先进的。我们利用西门子PLC先进的组网技术,建立了一个基于工业以太网和现场总线的工业控制网络实验系统。本系统组网和通讯方式灵活多变,可以选用工业匕各种通讯方式,灵活组网,开设了多个网络通讯实验,为科研和开发提供了一个很好的平台。     

The social shaping of technology: the case of a CNC lathe

Abstract

The design of most automated equipment is guided primarily by technical and economic considerations. The social science aspects of the system, if considered at all, are usually confined to the important questions of work organization, or man-machine interface design, or both. Social scientists are rarely given the opportunity to participate in the design of the often complex details of the actual technology that lies behind the man-machine interface. This paper gives consideration to the social shaping of computer numerically controlled lathe technology, which implies that social, technical and economic considerations are used in the design of the technology. The characteristics of a decision support system, which was designed jointly by engineers and social scientists with the aim of allowing the existing skills of machinists to evolve into new skills in relation to the changed technology, are described. The implications for the role and values of system designers that this system implies are also discussed.     

The social shaping of technology: the case of a CNC lathe

The design of most automated equipment is guided primarily by technical and economic considerations. The social science aspects of the system, if considered at all, are usually confined to the important questions of work organization, or man-machine interface design, or both. Social scientists are rarely given the opportunity to participate in the design of the often complex details of the actual technology that lies behind the man-machine interface. This paper gives consideration to the social shaping of computer numerically controlled lathe technology, which implies that social, technical and economic considerations are used in the design of the technology. The characteristics of a decision support system, which was designed jointly by engineers and social scientists with the aim of allowing the existing skills of machinists to evolve into new skills in relation to the changed technology, are described. The implications for the role and values of system designers that this system implies are also discussed.