Building Trust and Cooperation through Technology Adaptation in Virtual Teams: Empirical Field Evidence

Abstract

This article reports findings of a study of how leaders of virtual information systems development teams improve team trust and cooperation by managing adaptation of information and communications tools. Results indicate how Theory X (command and control) and Theory Y (facilitate and support) styles of leadership enable and hinder effective outcomes.     

On input‐to‐state stability‐based design for leader/follower formation control with measurement delays

This paper addresses the design of low‐level controllers for leader–follower formations of nonholonomic vehicles in the presence of bounded measurement delays. The concept of input‐to‐state stability is extended to encompass the effect of bounded delays and restrictions on the input. A method is proposed to integrate a Smith predictor in a backstepping design on the basis of nested saturations and nonlinear small‐gain assignment, which allows for time delays in the feedback loop. Robustness analysis under uncertain bounded time delays is provided, and design tradeoffs resulting from the use of bounded controls are discussed. Illustrative simulations are shown to validate the design and robustness analysis in the context of a simple leader–follower trailing control problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Categorizing health-related cues to action: using Yelp reviews of restaurants in Hawaii

Yelp, a social media site, undeniably has an influence on consumers' food choice in spite of its ability to reflect consumers' real voice being criticized. Since unhealthy food choices contribute to health problems, such as obesity and malnourishment, we attempted to examine these problems by better understanding consumers through health-related cues to action—a construct from the Health Belief Model (HBM)— on Yelp Honolulu's restaurant reviews. Our research revealed 13 main categories: Ingredient, Type of food, Taste, Lifestyle, Cooking, Option, Price, Portion, Well-being, Nutrition, Hygiene, Emotional attachment and indulgence, and Feeling. We argue that these categories may ultimately lead consumers to make healthier food choices. In search of the most appealing way to communicate with the target group, underlying concepts that derived from these categories can be tested. Marketers in food industry (or public health policy-makers) can craft their strategies for healthy food brands/products (or healthy eating scheme) based on the concept test research. Moreover, Yelp can apply these insights in the development of their algorithm and filter system in order to help consumers find healthy food if they wish to do so. Restaurants can also improve their strategy, menu, and communication execution to meet the growing demands of health conscious consumers.     

中医医院信息系统的标准化建设

当前,医院的信息化建设飞速发展,很多中医院具备一流的网络设施和计算机设备,但是“信息孤岛”的现象却广泛存在,究其原因就是缺乏统一的信息系统标准。本文分析了中医院信息系统标准化建设存在的问题,问题出现的原因,初步探讨了解决中医院信息系统标准化建设的办法。     

在嵌入式系统中实现热备份

在要求高可靠性的系统设计中要求系统能够实现双机热备份,从而保证在出现问题时能够快速恢复服务。详细解读了在开发的调度机中如何实现热备份。     

整合Blackboard的资源管理平台的开发研究

目前普通高等教育和基础教育都建有比较完善的数字化教学资源和相应的资源管理平台,但可与Blackboard在线教学系统整合的资源平台还很少见。为此,在立足本校实际情况,依照LOM元数据规范,设计数字化教学资源管理平台的系统框架与功能。该平台不仅具有资源管理功能,并能与Blackboard在线教学系统和图书资源目录实现整合。     

Robust Kalman filtering for uncertain discrete-time systems with probabilistic parameters bounded within a polytope

We consider the problem of finite horizon discrete-time Kalman filtering for systems with parametric uncertainties. Specifically, we consider unknown but deterministic uncertainties where the uncertain parameters are assumed to lie in a convex polyhedron with uniform probability density. The condition and a procedure for the construction of a suboptimal filter that minimizes an expected error covariance over-bound are derived.     

Potential pedagogical benefits and drawbacks of multimedia use in the English language classroom equipped with interactive whiteboard technology

This paper analyses the process of multimedia integration in English language classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology, and offers insights into the theoretical underpinnings of multimedia use in language learning from the perspective of cognitive learning theory. The data discussed here are drawn from a study carried out as part of a PhD research programme at Lancaster University (UK). The study was conducted within an interpretative research paradigm, and data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach. In the first part, the paper discusses some perceived pedagogical benefits of adopting a multimedia-oriented approach in the IWB-based classroom. Secondly, it discusses a variety of potential problems related to the use of multimedia resources in the language classroom in question. Finally, the paper draws upon the literature on multimedia learning to address the potential pedagogical implications of these research findings.     

Business intelligence approach to supporting strategy-making of ISP service management

The recent deregulation of telecommunication industry by the Taiwanese government has brought about the acute competition for Internet Service Providers (ISP). Taiwan’s ISP industry is characterized by the heavy pressure for raising revenue after hefty capital investments of last decade and the lack of knowledge to develop competitive strategies. To attract subscribers, all ISP dealers are making an all-out effort to improve their service management. This study proposes a Business Intelligence process for ISP dealers in Taiwan to assist management in developing effective service management strategies. We explore the customers’ usage characteristics and preference knowledge through applying the attribute-oriented induction (AOI) method on IP traffic data of users. Using the self-organizing map (SOM) method, we are able to divide customers into clusters with different usage behavior patterns. We then apply RFM modeling to calibrate customers’ value of each cluster, which will enable the management to develop direct and effective marketing strategies. For network resource management, this research mines the facility utilization over various administrative districts of the region, which could assist management in planning for effective network facilities investment. With actual data from one major ISP, we develop a BI decision support system with visual presentation, which is well received by its management staff.     

On the model-based networked control for singularly perturbed systems

In this paper, the control of a two-time-scale plant, where the sensor is connected to a linear controller/actuator via a network is addressed. The slow and fast systems of singularly perturbed systems are used to produce an estimate of the plant state behavior between transmission times, by which one can reduce the usage of the network. The approximate solutions of the whole systems are derived and it is shown that the whole systems via the network control are generally asymptotically stable as long as their slow and fast systems are both stable. These results are also extended to the case of network delay.