The IT Value Hierarchy: Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a Metaphor for Gauging the Maturity Level of Information Technology Use within Competitive Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to present a hierarchy of progressive IT maturity using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a metaphor for articulating the increasing value that can be derived by the application of Information Technology within competitive organizations. The authors refer to this maturity model as the IT Value Hierarchy. Each level of the IT Value Hierarchy is described using examples and comparisons to Maslow's Hierarchy. The model can be used by IT executives as a framework for better explaining and discussing the value of increasingly sophisticated Information Technology use within the enterprise.     

School leaders, ICT competence and championing innovations

The implementation of new technology is becoming more important to schools and the success of such implementations is often due to the presence of ICT champions. This article examines ICT champions to determine whether the intention to champion ICT is determined by the ICT competence of school leaders. This article, based on responses from 64 school leaders in New Zealand, reports that professional development and ICT usage are antecedents of ICT competency and that school leaders are ICT competent and willing ICT champions. These findings are contrary to existing research which has found that school leaders have poor ICT competency.     

Globalization of the Automobile Industry

ABSTRACT

The Japanese automobile industry has spearheaded a globalization drive that began before World War II with its use of foreign technology. This internationalization effort relied on the export of initially subcompact cars to the United States followed by capital investments in overseas manufacturing plants and the transfer of technology. A concerted move into the luxury car market has brought the Japanese into direct competition with European makers even as joint ventures and equity investments are made in Europe. In this article, corporate decisions to expand abroad are discussed along with how these moves were facilitated by the revolution in global finance and the concurrent growth of the Japanese financial sector.     

Leadership and Cultures of Lithuanian and Dutch Construction Firms

This paper addresses both firm cultures and top leadership styles in construction firms in a West and an East-European country, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Human Resource managers filled in valid questionnaires during an interview on the premises of 16 construction firms in each country. The significant differences between the two countries pertain predominantly to the desired firm cultures and leadership styles. Construction firms in Lithuania strive toward more job autonomy, a more external orientation, an improved human resource orientation, a stronger interdepartmental orientation, and more of an improvement orientation in general. The Dutch respondents seek firm-culture improvements only in terms of a more external and interdepartmental orientation. Concerning desired transformational and transactional leadership, both leadership styles are significantly more desired by Lithuanian construction firms. Dutch top managers appear to rely already on transformational leadership with some transactional style components. Lithuanian managers have started to rely more on transformational leadership, whereas transactional leadership remains important in Lithuanian construction firms. Combining transformational and transactional leadership styles is highly recommended by current leadership research. Also, learning from “the best of both worlds” in terms of firm culture is recommended.     

Assessment with 360° Evaluations of Leadership Behavior in Construction Project Managers

Although the literature documents substantial research on enhancing the performance of construction project managers, one central component has been inadequately researched: leadership behaviors. This study of a major construction company had two objectives: (1) to analyze the differences in leadership behaviors between a top performing group and a control group of construction project managers; and (2) to identify the causal influences for those leadership behavior differences. This paper addresses the first objective. Of 335 construction project managers, 40 were identified as top performers and 40 were selected randomly from the remaining 295 to serve as controls. The final two groups (35 top performers and 33 controls who completed the evaluation) were not significantly different in terms of age, gender, type/amount of formal education, or type of project experience. A 360° leadership evaluation found that the top performers had quantifiably better leadership behaviors than the controls. These findings may indicate a need in the construction industry for a comprehensive leadership culture, including leadership training and development programs.     

LEED-NC4．0与LEED—NC2009建筑节能评价指标对比研究

LEED-NC是美国建筑绿色评价体系,适用于新建建筑和旧建筑重大改造项目。以该体系中建筑节能评价指标为研究对象,在建立LEED-NC4．0版本和LEED-NC2009版本相关评价指标对应关系的基础上,对新旧版本中建筑节能评价指标进行了对比分析,总结LEED-NC4．0在建筑节能评价方面的变化,包括进一步降低建筑的运行能耗、加强性能计量、注重系统调试、鼓励智能电网计数的应用,并对LEED-NC建筑节能评价指标的发展趋势进行了分析。通过分析,加深对LEED-NC建筑节能评价的理解,为我国绿色建筑评价标准的发展提供借鉴。     

SKF斯凯孚上海办公室LEED CI金级认证项目简介

LEED CI为美国绿色建筑委员会针对商业建筑内部装修的LEED认证评价体系。本文简要介绍了SKF上海世博园办公室改造项目的节能环保相关设计,以供读者参考和借鉴。     

Joint-free construction in rich concretes

The established approach to construction in mass concrete by reduced cement content cannot now be developed for casting large pours for cement-rich heavily reinforced structural sections. A new approach is needed, says the author, who is chief advisory engineer (Midlands Region) of the UK Cement and Concrete Association, who here gives his personal views based on a special study of site experience in large-pour concreting.     

Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers

This study examines the leadership competency profiles of successful project managers in different types of projects. Four hundred responses to the Leadership Development Questionnaire (LDQ) were used to profile the intellectual, managerial and emotional competences (IQ, MQ and EQ, respectively) of project managers of successful projects. Differences by project type were accounted for through categorization of projects by their application type (engineering & construction, information & telecommunication technology, organizational change), complexity, importance and contract type. Results indicate high expressions of one IQ sub-dimension (i.e. critical thinking) and three EQ sub-dimensions (i.e. influence, motivation and conscientiousness) in successful managers in all types of projects. Other sub-dimensions varied by project type. Comparison was made to existing profiles for goal oriented, involving and engaging leadership styles. Implications derived are the need for practitioners to be trained in the soft factors of leadership, particular for their types of projects. Theoretical implications include the need for more transactional styles in relatively simple projects and more transformational leadership styles in complex projects.