Enablers and barriers to the use of ICT in primary schools in Turkey: A comparative study of 2005–2011

The purpose of this study was to reveal barriers encountered by Turkish primary school teachers in the integration of ICT, to propose potential enablers to overcome those barriers, and to compare the current status of ICT integration (in 2011) with the status of ICT integration in 2005. Part of the data for this comparison was gathered in 2005 as part of a doctoral study by Goktas (2006). A survey design was used to investigate the barriers and enablers. Data were collected from 1373 teachers from 52 schools in 39 provinces. The results indicate that ‘lack of hardware’, ‘lack of appropriate software materials’, ‘limitations of hardware’, ‘lack of in-service training’, and ‘lack of technical support’ were the most important barriers. The highest ranked enablers were ‘allocation of more budget’, ‘allocation of specific units for peer support’, ‘allocation of support offices and personnel for teachers’, and ‘offering higher quality pre-service training for ICT’. Other leading enablers were ‘supporting teachers to enable effective ICT use’, ‘having technology plans’, ‘offering higher quality and more quantity of in-service training’, and ‘designing appropriate course content/instructional programs’. Analysis of an independent t-test revealed that most barriers showed significant differences and most enablers showed moderate or low differences between teachers' perceptions of their situation in 2005 and in 2011.     

A mathematical model to evaluate the role of agility enablers and criteria in a manufacturing environment

Modern manufacturing arena necessitates the need for responsiveness by practicing agile manufacturing (AM) principles. AM imposes the transformation of the manufacturing organisation so as to respond to dynamic market changes. This article focuses towards the application of graph theory (GT) for conceptual modelling the agile system and to compute the dependencies among the individual agile enabler, criteria and attributes as a top-down approach. Using GT approach, digraphs were systematically constructed for agile enablers and variable permanent matrix values were computed for different scenarios and the relative importance of agility enablers were determined. The permanent values of ‘Management responsibility’ enabler and technology enabler are found to be 920 (minimum) and 3529?×?10¹⁴, respectively for the existing situation, whereas for the practically base case situation, it was found to be 1185 (minimum) and 5081.17?×?10¹⁴ (maximum), respectively. The Comprehensive Agility Index was found to be 1.3996?×?10⁴⁵, which can be even used to benchmark with other best-in-class agile organisations.     

Future Internet technologies for environmental applications

This paper investigates the usability of Future Internet technologies (aka “Generic Enablers of the Future Internet”) in the context of environmental applications. The paper incorporates the best aspects of the state-of-the-art in environmental informatics with geospatial solutions and scalable processing capabilities of Internet-based tools. It specifically targets the promotion of the “Environmental Observation Web” as an observation-centric paradigm for building the next generation of environmental applications. In the Environmental Observation Web, the great majority of data are considered as observations. These can be generated from sensors (hardware), numerical simulations (models), as well as by humans (human sensors). Independently from the observation provenance and application scope, data can be represented and processed in a standardised way in order to understand environmental processes and their interdependencies. The development of cross-domain applications is then leveraged by technologies such as Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Big Data Processing and Analytics. For example, “the cloud” can satisfy the peak-performance needs of applications which may occasionally use large amounts of processing power at a fraction of the price of a dedicated server farm. The paper also addresses the need for Specific Enablers that connect mainstream Future Internet capabilities with sensor and geospatial technologies. Main categories of such Specific Enablers are described with an overall architectural approach for developing environmental applications and exemplar use cases.     

航空装备智能保障系统论证研究

为适应未来智能化战争形态演变的大趋势,以及大规模持久作战保障和高机动敏捷保障的现实需求,支撑新一代航空装备发展,破解目前装备保障规模大、战备完好率低、出动准备时间长等瓶颈问题,急需将智能技术与装备保障有机结合起来,发展和构建新一代航空装备智能保障系统。剖析了高端对抗条件下航空装备保障现状、问题和需求,提出智能保障系统的概念、目标图像,并从态势感知、行动决策、作业执行、评估验证4个方面论证了发展智能保障系统的关键技术。     

Relationships between lean product development enablers and problems

The lean product development (LPD) approach uses lean principles and enablers (tools, techniques and practices) to reduce waste and continuously improve the product development processes (PDP). Other than reducing product development lead time, LPD also aims at improving quality by reducing problems that might occur during the process. Several LPD enablers are proposed in the existing literature; however, there is limited knowledge on how these enablers may effectively counteract the occurrence of problems in the PDP. We empirically tested the association between 4 groups of LPD enablers and 11 groups of LPD problems in a sample of 64 companies that are undergoing lean implementation in the shop floor and administrative areas. There are two major contributions here. First, we propose an empirically validated instrument for assessing the adoption of LPD enablers and the incidence of LPD problems in companies filling an existing gap in the literature. Second, we provide understanding on how LPD enablers can mitigate the incidence of LPD problems, allowing companies undergoing lean implementation to better manage their PDP. Moreover, some results demonstrate that the association between enablers and problems may not be as suggested in the existing literature.     

Hybrid BWM-ELECTRE-based decision framework for effective offshore outsourcing adoption: a case study

The present study seeks to develop a decision framework of enabler to help managers in offshore outsourcing adoption by focusing on the relevant enablers and their intensities. A hybrid Best Worst Method (BWM) – ELimination and Choice Expressing REality approach is used to test the applicability of developed offshore outsourcing focused enabler’s across four automotive business organisations in India and the adoption score of framework among case organisations is evaluated too. The intensity of offshore outsourcing focused enablers is analysed through BWM and the ranking of organisations and adoption index scores are computed through ELimination and Choice Expressing REality method. The developed framework possesses high adoption rate in offshore outsourcing initiatives across the case organisations. Findings of the study reveal that among the main enablers; managerial and strategic enabler holds the highest weight followed by technological enablers and organisational enablers. This study further presents the sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of developed framework by conducting experiments in different conditions. This research work will facilitate managers and professionals involved in practising offshore outscoring initiatives and results in higher cost advantages on labour and raw material, increased economies of scale, and higher sustainable business development.     

创新管理的整体方法(Ⅰ)

在集成管理系统概念中提出了 3个基本的管理功能 :规划、运作和管理变革。这些功能相当于一个三维空间的相应坐标。同时 ,必须区分管理功能与使能器的区别。创新是本文的核心问题。在创新模型中有 5个方块 ,对其中前 3块作了详细描述。对战略协调块 ,利用GE的实例作了讨论 ,并介绍了它的两个使能器 :核心能力规划和文化问题。对组织创新性块应输出一系列设想并由选辑组合块加以筛选也作了说明。     

Applying path analysis method in defining effective factors in organisation agility

Changes in business environment are leading firms to adopt a new production model called agile manufacturing. This term moves away from the traditional mass production paradigm and focuses on manufacturing highly customised products when customers require them. In this paper, we present an initial approach to agile organisation based on case studies in an Iranian industrial organisation. An agile organisation conceptual model has been drawn up, based on the conclusions of the case study. The study presented here is of an exploratory factor analysis and the conclusions are drawn through path analysis, propose possible routes for future research in the field of agile organisation. By the definition of effective factor on organisation agility, as independent variables required information were compiled through questionnaires which are about an Iranian industrial organisation, and then direct and in-direct effects of the variables on organisation agility were surveyed as a depended variable by the path analysis method. Interior variables which directly affect on organisation agility are distinguished from exterior variables which indirectly affect on it due to t-value indicator and final model of path analysis which were defined for researched organisation. By this method, with partial standardised regression coefficient, the priority and grade of every independent variable could be defined based on effecting depended variable.     

Organizational enablers for governance and governmentality of projects: A literature review

This study identifies the organizational enablers for governance in the realm of projects. We first conceptualize organizational enablers as comprising of process facilitators and discursive abilities, each with its own factors and mechanisms. Then we apply this concept to the literature on project governance, governance of projects and governmentality. Outcomes indicate that governance is enabled through different forms of flexibility at different levels of governance, institutional setup and authority at the project level, flexible structures and mindsets of people at the organizational level, and through development of self-responsible, self-organizing people for governmentality in project settings. Questions for future research are indicated.     

基于CORBA/Web的应用信息集成系统体系结构及其实施模型

结合一个实际应用信息集成系统（SF-PDM）开发过程，对传统两层Client/Server、现阶段Web以及SF-PDM网络体系结构的特点进行了分析比较，并据此建立了SF-PDM的体系结构及其实施模型。