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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan and Shafique, Muhammad
- Abstract:
- Model-based testing (MBT) is about testing a software system by using a model of its behaviour. To benefit fully from MBT, automation support is required. This paper presents a systematic review of prominent MBT tool support where we focus on tools that rely on state-based models. The systematic review protocol precisely describes the scope of the search and the steps involved in tool selection. Precisely defined criteria are used to compare selected tools and comprise support for test coverage criteria, level of automation for various testing activities, and support for the construction of test scaffolding. The results of this review should be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders: software companies interested in selecting the most appropriate MBT tool for their needs; organizations willing to invest into creating MBT tool support; researchers interested in setting research directions.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan, Torre, Damiano, and Genero, Marcela
- Abstract:
- Context: The Unified Modeling Language (UML), with its 14 different diagram types, is the de-facto standard modeling language for object-oriented modeling and documentation. Since the various UML diagrams describe different aspects of one, and only one, software under development, they are not independent but strongly depend on each ot her in many ways. In other words, diagrams must remain consistent. Dependencies between diagrams can become so intricate that it is sometimes even possible to synthesize one diagram on the basis of others. Support for synthesizing one UML diagram from other diagrams can provide the designer with significant help, thus speeding up the design process, decreasing the risk of errors, and guaranteeing consistency among the diagrams. Objective: The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive summary of UML synthesis techniques as they have been described in literature to date in order to obtain an extensive and detailed overview of the current research in this area. Method: We have performed a Systematic Mapping Study by following well-known guide-lines. We selected ten primary studies by means of a search with seven search engines per-formed on October 2, 2013. Results: Various results are worth mentioning. First it appears that researchers have not frequently published papers concerning UML synthesis techniques since 2004 (with the exception of two papers published in 2010). Only half of the UML diagram types are involved in the synthesis techniques we discovered. The UML diagram type most frequently used as the source for synthesizing another diagram is the sequence diagram (66.7%), and the most synthesized diagrams are the state machine diagram (58.3%) and the class diagram (25%). Conclusion: The fact that we did not obtain a large number of primary stud ies over a 14 year period (only ten papers) indicates that synthesizing a UML diagram from other UML diagrams is not a particularly active line of research. Research on UML diagram synthesis is nevertheless relevant since synthesis techniques rely on or en force diagram consistency , and studying UML diagram consistency is an active line of research. Another r esult is that research is need ed to investigate synthesis techniques for other types of UML diagrams than those involved in our primary studies.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-01
-
- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan, Genero, Marcela, and Torre, Damiano
- Abstract:
- Context: The Unified Modeling Language (UML), with its 14 different diagram types, is the de-facto standard tool for objectoriented modeling and documentation. Since the various UML diagrams describe different aspects of one, and only one, software under development, they are not independent but strongly depend on each other in many ways. In other words, the UML diagrams describing a software must be consistent. Inconsistencies between these diagrams may be a source of the considerable increase of faults in software systems. It is therefore paramount that these inconsistencies be detected, analyzed and hopefully fixed. Objective: The aim of this article is to deliver a comprehensive summary of UML consistency rules as they are described in the literature to date to obtain an extensive and detailed overview of the current research in this area. Method: We performed a Systematic Mapping Study by following well-known guidelines. We selected 94 primary studies from a search with seven search engines performed in December 2012. Results: Different results are worth mentioning. First it appears that researchers tend to discuss very similar consistency rules, over and over again. Most rules are horizontal (98.07%) and syntactic (88.03%). The most used diagrams are the class diagram (71.28%), the state machine diagram (42.55%) and the sequence diagram (47.87%). Conclusion: The fact that many rules are duplicated in primary studies confirms the need for a well accepted list of consistency rules. This paper is a first step in this direction. Results indicate that much more work is needed to develop consistency rules for all 14 UML diagrams, in all dimensions of consistency (e.g., semantic and syntactic on the one hand, horizontal, vertical and evolution on the other hand).
- Date Created:
- 2014-01-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan and Alkhalid, A.
- Abstract:
- The practitioner interested in reducing software verification effort may found herself lost in the many alternative definitions of Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing that exist and their relation to the notion of system testing. One result of these many definitions is that one may end up testi ng twice the same parts of the Software Under Test (SUT), specifically the application logic code. To clarify two important testing activities for the avoidance of duplicate testing effort, this paper studies possible differences between GUI testing and system testing experimentally. Specifically, we selected a SUT equipped with system tests that directly exercise the application code; We used GUITAR, a well-known GUI testing software to GUI test this SUT. Experimental results show important differences between system testing and GUI testing in terms of structural coverage and test cost.
- Date Created:
- 2016-09-08
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Mehrfard, Hossein and Labiche, Yvan
- Abstract:
- Reverse-engineering object interactions from source code can be done through static, dynamic, or hybrid (static plus dynamic) analyses. In the latter two, monitoring a program and collecting runtime information translates into some overhead during program execution. Depending on the type of application, the imposed overhead can reduce the precision and accuracy of the reverse-engineered object interactions (the larger the overhead the less precise or accurate the reverse-engineered interactions), to such an extent that the reverse-engineered interactions may not be correct, especially when reverse-engineering a multithreaded software system. One is therefore seeking an instrumentation strategy as less intrusive as possible. In our past work, we showed that a hybrid approach is one step towards such a solution, compared to a purely dynamic approach, and that there is room for improvements. In this paper, we uncover, in a systematic way, other aspects of the dynamic analysis that can be improved to further reduce runtime overhead, and study alternative solutions. Our experiments show effective overhead reduction thanks to a modified procedure to collect runtime information.
- Date Created:
- 2015-11-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Torre, Damiano, Elaasar, Maged, Genero, Marcela, and Labiche, Yvan
- Abstract:
- UML diagrams describe different views of one piece of software. These diagrams strongly depend on each other and must therefore be consistent with one another, since inconsistencies between diagrams may be a source of faults during software development activities that rely on these diagrams. It is therefore paramount that consistency rules be defined and that inconsistencies be detected, analyzed and fixed. The relevant literature shows that authors typically define their own UML consistency rules, sometimes defining the same rules and sometimes defining rules that are already in the UML standard. The reason might be that no consolidated set of rules that are deemed relevant by authors can be found to date. The aim of our research is to provide a consolidated set of UML consistency rules and obtain a detailed overview of the current research in this area. We therefore followed a systematic procedure in order to collect and analyze UML consistency rules. We then consolidated a set of 116 UML consistency rules (avoiding redundant definitions or definitions already in the UML standard) that can be used as an important reference for UML-based software development activities, for teaching UML-based software development, and for further research.
- Date Created:
- 2016-07-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan and Khalsa, Sunint Kaur
- Abstract:
- For functional testing based on the input domain of a functionality, parameters and their values are identified and a test suite is generated using a criterion exercising combinations of those parameters and values. Since software systems are large, resulting in large numbers of parameters and values, a technique based on combinatorics called Combinatorial Testing (CT) is used to automate the process of creating those combinations. CT is typically performed with the help of combinatorial objects called Covering Arrays. The goal of the present work is to determine available algorithms/tools for generating a combinatorial test suite. We tried to be as complete as possible by using a precise protocol for selecting papers describing those algorithms/tools. The 75 algorithms/tools we identified are then categorized on the basis of different comparison criteria, including: the test suite generation technique, the support for selection (combination) criteria, mixed covering array, the strength of coverage, and the support for constraints between parameters. Results can be of interest to researchers or software companies who are looking for a CT algorithm/tool suitable for their needs.
- Date Created:
- 2014-01-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Labiche, Yvan and Asoudeh, Nesa
- Abstract:
- In this paper we propose a method and a tool to generate test suites from extended finite state machines, accounting for multiple (potentially conflicting) objectives. We aim at maximizing coverage and feasibility of a test suite while minimizing similarity between its test cases and minimizing overall cost. Therefore, we define a multi-objective genetic algorithm that searches for optimal test suites based on four objective functions. In doing so, we create an entire test suite at once as opposed to test cases one at a time. Our approach is evaluated on two different case studies, showing interesting initial results.
- Date Created:
- 2013-10-01
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Araujo, Wladimir, Briand, Lionel Claude, and Labiche, Yvan
- Abstract:
- Design by Contract (DbC) is a software development methodology that focuses on clearly defining the interfaces between components to produce better quality object-oriented software. The idea behind DbC is that a method defines a contract stating the requirements a client needs to fulfill to use it, the precondition, and the properties it ensures after its execution, the postcondition. Though there exists ample support for DbC for sequential programs, applying DbC to concurrent programs presents several challenges. Using Java as the target programming language, this paper tackles such challenges by augmenting the Java Modelling Language (JML) and modifying the JML compiler to generate Runtime Assertion Checking (RAC) code to support DbC in concurrent programs. We applied our solution in a carefully designed case study on a highly concurrent industrial software system from the telecommunications domain to assess the effectiveness of contracts as test oracles in detecting and diagnosing functional faults in concurrent software. Based on these results, clear and objective requirements are defined for contracts to be effective test oracles for concurrent programs whilst balancing the effort to design them. Main results include that contracts of a realistic level of completeness and complexity can detect around 76% of faults and reduce the diagnosis effort for such faults by at least ten times. We, therefore, show that DbC can not only be applied to concurrent software but can also be a valuable tool to improve the economics of software engineering.
- Date Created:
- 2013-09-01
-
- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Kolbah, Bojana and Labiche, Yvan
- Abstract:
- This paper discusses reverse engineering source code to produce UML sequence diagrams, with the aim to aid program comprehension and other software life cycle activities (e.g., verification). As a first step we produce scenario diagrams using the UML sequence diagram notation. We build on previous work, now combining static and dynamic analyses of a Java software, our objective being to obtain a lightweight instrumentation and therefore disturb the software behaviour as little as possible. We extract the control flow graph from the software source code and obtain an execution trace by instrumenting and running the software. Control flow and trace information is represented as models and UML scenario diagram generation becomes a model transformation problem. Our validation shows that we indeed reduce the execution overhead inherent to dynamic analysis, without losing in terms of the quality of the reverse-engineered information, and therefore in terms of the usefulness of the approach (e.g., for program comprehension).
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-01
-
- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Humeny, Courtney
- Abstract:
- The Iowa Gamb ling Task (IGT) is widely used to assess the role of emotion in decision making. However, there is only indirect evidence to support that the task measures emotion. There are inconsistencies in performance within in healthy populations who display risk tak ing traits. Two hundred and fifty participants were assessed for psychopathy, sensation seeking, and impulsiveness. The IGT was compared with modified versions that directly manipulated emotion within in the task by indexing reward and punishment cards wit h images varying in emotional content. Participants continued to learn to avoid risky decks in all versions of the IGT. The manipulation of emotional content within the task did affect performance: fearful images contributed to greater risky deck selection s. Across the tasks, psychopathy showed the strongest relationship to risky deck selections, and lower levels of psychopathy was associated decreased risky deck selections. However, psychopathy did not affect learning in the modified versions. Exploratory analysis on image valance found that negative images (compared to neutral) benefited learning for individuals with higher levels of psychopathy. Discussion will center on the benefits of manipulating emotion directly within the task as a means to assess th e validity of the IGT.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-02
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Humeny, Courtney
- Abstract:
- The debate surrounding how emotion and c ognition are organized in the brain often lead s to Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis. This theory endorses a highly interactive process between emotion and cognition, but has been criticized for being too broad to capture the specific links between the t wo. It also implies that emotion operates from a neural architecture that is dissociable from cognition. Although empirical findings from the Iowa Gambling Task lend support for the theory, this can promote a false dichotomy between emotion and cognition. Issues will be raised regarding the view that the theory and the task are ill - formulated to account for the phases of decision making. Further theoretical work may be required to align the task with Damasio’s view of emotion as integrated with cognition.
- Date Created:
- 2016-01-05
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Yisa, Felix
- Abstract:
- My study attempted to find out if the old part of our brain (limbic system) had a significant role in influencing how we detect the valence of blurry words without conscious awareness of what the words are. 10 participants were shown blurry words that could not be read and were asked to guess valence, without a time limit. The hypotheses for this study was that participants would be accurate in detecting valence of blurred words and that participants would rate negative words the most accurately. I also predicted that participants would attempt to read words before rating valence and they would attempt to read the words only in the beginning. The stimuli were shown to the participants on printed-paper. There were 10 blurred words per page with accompanying 5-point Likert scales by each blurred word with a reference scale at the top of every page. My research data found that there was a significant statistical difference between people’s ability to detect the valence of blurred words compared to the normal ability (which is 100% accuracy). The comparison showed that the participants were significantly worse at detecting the valence of blurred words than unblurred words. There was no significant statistical difference between people’s ability to detect the valence of blurry neutral words compared to the valence of blurry nonsensical words. Participants were equally accurate at both of these word-types. Participant responses also showed that they were statistically better at detecting the valence of negative blurry words than positive blurry words. So they were better at detecting negative valence than those of other valences.
- Date Created:
- 2015-01-06
-
- Resource Type:
- Conference Proceeding
- Creator:
- Duimovich, George
- Abstract:
- Presentation to Data Science Seminar at Carleton University, Institute for Data Science, May 11, 2016.
- Date Created:
- 2016-05-11
-
- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Duxbury, Linda E. and Bennell, Craig
- Abstract:
- Police in schools In an era where the costs of policing are constantly under scrutiny from governing municipalities, the time has come for police agencies to re-evaluate the services they provide. To do this, they need to answer questions relating to the value that different activities they perform create in the communities they serve. In other words, they need to change the focus of the conversation from “what does this service cost” to “what value does this service provide.” This document summarizes key findings from a longitudinal (2014-2017), multi-method (quantitative, qualitative, and ethnographic analysis, along with a Social Return on Investment [SROI] analysis) case study undertaken to identify the value of School Resource Officers (SROs) that are employed by Peel Regional Police and work in the service’s Neighborhood Police Unit (NPU). Of note is the application of SROI techniques in this evaluation process. SROI, a methodology that emerged from the not-for-profit sector, helps researchers identify sources of value outside of those considered through traditional valuation techniques, such as cost-benefit analysis. Evaluation of Peel Police’s SRO program was motivated by a number of factors. First, the costs of this program are both easy to identify and significant (just over $9 million per year). Second, it is very challenging to identify the value that this program provides to students and the community. The challenges of quantifying the value offered by assigning full-time SROs to Canadian high schools is evidenced by the fact that such programs are rare, as police services around the world have responded to pressures to economize by removing officers from schools and either eliminating the role of the SRO or having one officer attend to many schools.
- Date Created:
- 2018-01-10
-
- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Acheson, Keith and Maule, Christopher
- Abstract:
- An earlier version of this paper was prepared for a Symposium, Cultural Policies in Regional Integration, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade and the Mexican Center of the Institute of Latin American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, February 2, 1998.
- Date Created:
- 1998-02-28
-
- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Rowlands, Dane and Calleja, Rachael
- Abstract:
- The analysis of official development assistance has always struggled with the contradiction between its more altruistic motivations for global development and its easy adaptation as an instrument for the donor’s pursuit of self-interested foreign policy objectives. In the international system foreign aid may thus become a forum for both cooperative and competitive interactions between donors. This chapter explores the interdependence of aid by reviewing the literature on donor interdependence, with a particular focus on donor competition for influence in recipient states. We then present a simple theoretical framework to examine donor competition, and provide some preliminary empirical testing of resulting hypotheses. We conclude that while the evidence about competition is fixed, the behaviour of some donors is consistent with their pursuit of influence in certain recipient states.
- Date Created:
- 2015-03-01
-
- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Kilberg, Joshua, Vidino, Lorenzo, Lefkowitz, Josh, and Kohlmann, Evan
- Abstract:
- Since the early 2000s the Internet has become particularly crucial for the global jihadist movement. Nowhere has the Internet been more important in the movement’s development than in the West. While dynamics differ from case to case, it is fair to state that almost all recent cases of radicalization in the West involve at least some digital footprint. Jihadists, whether structured groups or unaffiliated sympathizers, have long understood the importance of the Internet in general and social media, in particular. Zachary Chesser, one of the individuals studied in this report, fittingly describes social media as “simply the most dynamic and convenient form of media there is.” As the trend is likely to increase, understanding how individuals make the leap to actual militancy is critically important. This study is based on the analysis of the online activities of seven individuals. They share several key traits. All seven were born or raised in the United States. All seven were active in online and offline jihadist scene around the same time (mid‐ to late 2000s and early 2010s). All seven were either convicted for terrorism‐related offenses (or, in the case of two of the seven, were killed in terrorism‐related incidents.) The intended usefulness of this study is not in making the case for monitoring online social media for intelligence purpose—an effort for which authorities throughout the West need little encouragement. Rather, the report is meant to provide potentially useful pointers in the field of counter‐radicalization. Over the past ten years many Western countries have devised more or less extensive strategies aimed at preventing individuals from embracing radical ideas or de‐radicalizing (or favoring the disengagement) of committed militants. (Canada is also in the process of establishing its own counter‐radicalization strategy.)
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-01
-
- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Acheson, Keith and Liu, Xiguang
- Date Created:
- 1998-03-19
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Morris, Marika
- Description:
- The study was initiated as Canada’s contribution to the Wilson’s Centre Global Women’s Leadership Initiative Women in Public Service Project initiated by Hilary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. In partnership with the Centre for Women in Politics and Public Leadership, Gender Equality Measurement Initiative, and Centre for Research on Women and Work at Carleton University and the Public Service Commission of Canada.
- Abstract:
- This study was undertaken to determine whether women in leadership positions in the Canadian federal Public Service (PS) have had an impact on policy, programs, operations, administration or workplace conditions, what that impact might be, and how to measure it. Drawing from qualitative interviews with current and retired Executives and Deputy Ministers in the Canadian federal public service, it provides recommendations and considerations around gender and impact moving forward.
- Date Created:
- 2016-06-22
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Duxbury, Linda E. and Higgins, Christopher
- Abstract:
- The study examined work-life experiences of 25,000 Canadians who were employed full time in 71 public, private and not-for-profit organizations across all provinces and territories between June 2011 and June 2012. Two-thirds of survey respondents had incomes of $60,000 or more a year and two-thirds were parents. Previous studies were conducted in 1991 and 2001. “It is fascinating to see what has changed over time and what hasn’t,’’ said Duxbury. Among the findings: Most Canadian employees still work a fixed nine-to-five schedule – about two-thirds. Overall, the typical employee spends 50.2 hours in work-related activities a week. Just over half of employees take work home to complete outside regular hours. The use of flexible work arrangements such as a compressed work week (15 per cent) and flexible schedules (14 per cent) is much less common. Fifty-seven per cent of those surveyed reported high levels of stress. One-third of working hours are spent using email. Employees in the survey were twice as likely to let work interfere with family as the reverse. Work-life conflict was associated with higher absenteeism and lower productivity. Succession planning, knowledge transfer and change management are likely to be a problem for many Canadian organizations. There has been little career mobility within Canadian firms over the past several years.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-25
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- Resource Type:
- Report
- Creator:
- Higgins, Christopher and Duxbury, Linda E.
- Abstract:
- This report provides key findings and recommendations from a study of work-life conflict and employee well-being that involved 4500 police officers working for 25 police forces across Canada. Findings from this study should help police forces across Canada implement policies and practices that will help them thrive in a "sellers market for labour."
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-01
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- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Chen, Zhiqi and West, Edwin
- Abstract:
- People's satisfaction from some goods and services depends on their relative as distinct from their absolute position as consumers. Such items are called "positional goods", and a restriction of their supply in the situation of general income growth is conducive to expenditure escalation as in an arms race. If education is a positional good in this sense, arrangements are needed that will best prevent such an outcome. The introduction of education vouchers of a value egual to the average per capita public school expenditure, it is argued, will only hinder not help. This is because some recipients will be tempted to obtain more education with marginal additions to their vouchers from their own pockets. Vouchers are thus welfare reducing because they encourage rather than discourage "arms race" situations. Using a formal median voter model we show that concerns over possible escalation of expenditure will prompt a majority of voters to reject a universal voucher system. We examine, as an alternative, a selective voucher system that will remove the escalation problem. Under this system only low-income families will receive vouchers. We demonstrate that the median voter will favor such a selective voucher system provided that the voucher-induced increase in competition lowers costs and/or improves guality of education.
- Date Created:
- 1997-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Lee, Minjoon
- Abstract:
- Older households face health-related risks, including risk of being in need of long-term care and mortality risk. How these risks affect financial portfolio choice of households depends on household preferences for long-term care and bequest. Using linked survey-administrative data on clients of a mutual fund company, this paper finds that the desire to have enough resources for long-term care and bequests are overall strong but also heterogeneous across households. The estimated relationship between actual stock share of households and the strength of these preferences is qualitatively similar but quantitatively much weaker compared to the predictions from the life-cycle model with the estimated preference heterogeneity. Based on the predictions from the model, this paper discusses what financial instruments would better meet the needs of households.
- Date Created:
- 2018-07-22
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- Resource Type:
- Research Paper
- Creator:
- Given, Brian J.
- Abstract:
- The ethnographic treatment of "rites de Passage" is discussed with reference to material relating to religious initiation. It is suggested that the major transitions engendered through the Tibetan Buddhist Tantric W a n g Kur rituals may be profitably analyzed not simply as changes in social status but rather as tools for the re-ordering of phenomenology which are designed to engender long-term alterations in the initiates' experience of the world. The initiation provides a rationale and instruction conjunctive with ritual technique which is consciously designed to globally and permanently alter the consciousness of the practitioner. Suggestions for studies of rites of passage which take into account this dimension of the ritual control of experience are offered.
- Date Created:
- 1992-10-22
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Pollanen, Raili
- Abstract:
- This survey study of senior municipal administrators examines the use of evaluative criteria in managerial performance evaluation and extends previous findings in the public sector context. The results reveal that the use of evaluative criteria is very similar to that found in Otley and Pollanen's (2000) public-sector study, but significantly different from those reported in several private-sector studies. Substantially lower proportions of budget-based criteria are found in both public-sector studies than in private-sector studies. Performance is higher under low- than high-uncertainty conditions and in larger than smaller organizations. The findings suggest that different evaluative criteria may be appropriate in the public and he findings suggest that different evaluative criteria may be appropriate in the public and private sectors, and that uncertainty and organizational size may affect performance.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Thomas, Roland, Cedzynski, Marzena, and Lu, Irene
- Abstract:
- Partial least squares (PLS) is sometimes used as an alternative to covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM). This paper briefly reviews currently available SEM techniques, and provides a critique of the perceived advantages of PLS over covariance-based SEM as commonly cited by PLS users. Specific attention is drawn to the primary disadvantage of PLS, namely the lack of consistency of its parameter estimates. The instrumental variables (IV) /two stage least squares (2SLS) method of estimation is then described and presented as a potential alternative to PLS that might yield its perceived advantages without succumbing to its primary disadvantage. Preliminary simulation results show that: PLS parameter estimates exhibit substantial bias when the number of items is moderate; SEM-based methods yield lower bias; and IV/2SLS estimates may indeed provide a viable ordinary least squares (OLS)-based alternative to PLS.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Grant, Gerald and Liebenau, Jonathan
- Abstract:
- Research emphasizing evolutionary and resource-based perspectives of the firm highlights the importance of core capabilities as sources of superior performance, and views capabilities in computer-based IT systems as instrumental in leading to strategic advantage. However, the asymmetrical results from such systems present a somewhat confusing picture as to the key issues that managers should be addressing. We present an approach to IS capability development that applies a combined evolutionary and resource-based perspective. We propose that IS capability is determined along three strategic dimensions and will result from effective and sustained efforts in three complementary areas that are discussed in this paper. We use three case studies to illustrate the use of the proposed IS capability framework in analyzing information systems in organizations.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Cray, David
- Abstract:
- A study of citations in four prominent journals indicates how deeply Hofstede's conceptualization dominates the understanding of culture in international business research. The implications of this intellectual hegemony for the development of the field are examined After considering some critiques of Hofstede's approach, three diverse alternatives to the value-based approach are discussed.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Pollanen, Raili
- Abstract:
- This paper provides a critical review of literature on management controls and their context. The review indicates that more emphasis has been placed on organizational than environmental factors and that the effectiveness of different controls in different contexts remains practically unaddressed. In general, research has been ad hoc and focused on results-oriented financial controls, short-term efficiency, and individual level of analysis. Even for commonly studied topics (e.g., budget controls), evidence has often been inconsistent and limited to manufacturing organizations, with little integration and refinement of previous theoretical models based on new evidence. Further research is required to investigate the relative importance of different financial and nonfinancial controls in different types of organizations in order to develop more comprehensive performance measurement and management frameworks.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Elliot, Statia and Papadopoulos, Nicolas G.
- Abstract:
- Potential synergies between international trade and tourism are viewed optimistically by governments, yet research to assess their association is limited. To gain an understanding of trade and tourism relationships, this paper reports on a study which examines both product-related and tourism-related place image effects on consumer behavior simultaneously. Using the U.S. as the country of focus, key product and travel relationships are measured by structural equation modeling of consumer data from South Korea. Findings support the cross-over effect between one's beliefs about a country as a destination and as a producer, and one's willingness to travel to it and/or buy its products, and most strongly, that product beliefs affect views of travel destinations.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Murphy, Steven, Butt, Ifran, and Papadopoulos, Nicolas G.
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the role of affect in marketing positioning strategy and individual positioning judgements. We examine affect in both the marketing and positioning literatures and argue that vestiges of the dual mind perspective are alive and well in positioning. Viewing 'thinking' and 'feeling' as entirely separate (as in utilitarian vs. hedonic product distinctions) runs counter to advances in neuroscience and devalues individual differences and brain functioning. As a result of our own coding of positioning dimensions, we advocate for a greater understanding of the complex interplay between affect and cognition in positioning strategy and judgements.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Brouard, Francois
- Abstract:
- Entrepreneurship is a recognized concept both for research and practice. It is possible to find university courses, research published in specialized journals, associations dedicated to entrepreneurship promotion and governmental support. In a regional economic development context, a special form of entrepreneurship could achieve other objectives. Social entrepreneurship is an emergent concept earning more popularity than ever around the planet. However the concept is not well known. The objective of the paper is to present an overview of the social entrepreneurship concept.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Addas, Shamel and Pinsonneault, Alain
- Abstract:
- Information technology-based alliances are rapidly spreading in organizations, which calls upon researchers to develop an adequate theoretical lens to examine this phenomenon and its key associated outcomes, such as the business performance of alliance firms. However, strategic alliances are mostly examined from a transaction cost economics perspective, and the results on performance are inconclusive at best. This paper proposes an alternative lens - the resource-based view - and applies an extended version of it to explain the performance of firms in IT-based alliances. A conceptual model is developed that examines the impact of shared information technology resources on firm performance. Also, a measurement scale for these resources is developed and preliminarily validated.
- Date Created:
- 2007-02-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Alam, M. S.
- Abstract:
- The paper identifies the characteristics of firm activities that constitute its technology scanning dynamic capability, which enables the firm to translate information about customer needs into information about tangible ways to introduce new products and services to satisfy those needs. The ability to find a specific actionable way to address customer needs is proposed to be measured by a latent construct called technology scanning. Using the literature on marketing, innovation management, knowledge management, new product development, and economics, five dimensions are identified for a technology scanning scale. A strong presence of 'technology scanning' ensures that the firm's resources are targeted to find the solution of the problems that matters most, the ones that were identified as a consequence of high level of market orientation of the firm. This work would shed some light on how managers might solve the problems and needs of the customers identified through market orientation practices. When market orientation guides technology scanning activities, the outcomes are more desirable to the firm.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Daoudi, Jaouad and Bourgault, Mario
- Abstract:
- Working in collaborative and dispersed (C&D) settings is now common for project teams, especially for those active in multinational companies or in international contexts. The concept of "collaborative maturity" has recently been proposed by various authors in order to identify and measure the competence of a firm working in C&D mode. Many models of collaborative maturity have been proposed, reflecting the increasing importance of this area of research. However, the existing literature is spread among multiple journals in various fields of research. For a better understanding of collaborative maturity and how it is measured, a thorough literature review is conducted and an extension of existing research is proposed. This will serve as the theoretical background for future empirical research. The results should be useful for project managers and academicians with an interest in C&D projects.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Clarke, Amelia
- Abstract:
- Social problems, such unsustainable development, can be too large for any one organization to tackle alone so are increasingly being addressed through cross-sector multi-organizational collaborations. One of the approaches being taken is formulating and implementing a collective (alternatively named collaborative) strategy. Despite the increasing usage of collaborative strategic management in practice, there is relatively little literature on this approach, particularly when considering the implementation of the collaborative strategy. This paper builds on existing interorganizational collaboration theory and organizational strategy implementation theory to determine: 1) a conceptual process model of collaborative strategic management; and 2) factors which affect each phase of cross-sectoral social-oriented collaborative strategic managment.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Dyke, Lorraine and Elliot, Statia
- Abstract:
- Despite the prevalence of formal and informal standards for employee attire, research on its role is limited. Social psychological theories suggest that work attire can be a meaningful, expressive symbol associated with one's occupational identity. Organizational theories suggest that work attire can affect both individual and organizational outcomes. Bridging these perspectives, this study considers work attire's potential to influence micro and macro organizational dynamics. A framework of the dimensions influencing factors and outcomes of work dress is used to assess the results of a poll of members of the Canadian Forces, an organization whose work attire is highly conspicuous and rigidly homogeneous. Though a slight majority of participants responded that their uniform did not impact their operational focus, comments indicate both organizational influences and individual concerns with specific attributes of attire. Attitudes toward work attire may be indicative of broader issues of organizational identity.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Friedman, Perley-Ann
- Abstract:
- This paper identifies some of the challenges facing expatriates using an autoethnographic account of situations experienced by the author during her first year of work at a financial services company in Hong Kong. These experiences reveal an erratic business world of apparent nonsense and uncertainty, incomprehensible to an outsider. The challenges facing expatriates stem from the stress and anxiety affecting their work, family and social interactions within the foreign culture. Success in the new environment is dependent on the expatriate's ability to adjust to the new culture. An overview of the current research on the expatriate experience is provided to help the reader make sense of the autoethnographic situations.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Georgie, Vincent E.
- Abstract:
- This paper will provide insight into the personality dimensions that can be attributed to performing arts awards, and thus generate a scale to measure these dimensions. This area of work rests upon the idea that there is self-concept congruency between a viewer and product or service, and that there are instances where attributes of a human nature can be, in fact, attributed to them. The study will look particularly at a mixed sample of televised performing arts awards shows (The Academy Awards, The Prime-Time Emmy Awards, The Tony Awards, The Grammy Awards and The Golden Globe Awards) and the various motivations and interests of viewers to watch, or not watch, such shows. Based upon its position in the literature and its intended contribution, this study will propose a four-step scale development process.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Ismail, Jannatul Firdaus
- Abstract:
- Available data indicate that economic conditions, exports performance and foreign direct investment from Malaysia increased significantly in the 1990s. Existing literature on the internationalization of firms is based on the study of firms from developed countries and does not directly apply to the case of firms based in developing economies, and Malaysia particularly. Based on this phenomenon, this study attempts to examine the process of internationalization among Malaysian firms into the foreign markets and compare the internationalization process of Malaysian firms with other developed countries. This study will contribute to the knowledge gap with empirical data from rapidly internationalizing firms, in respect of the Malaysian firms' experiences, organizational learning and capability creation that will offer fruitful approaches to understanding the dynamic of firms' expansion. The resulting model could assist policy makers to improve existed support programs for businesses to overcome barriers and enhance performance in internationalization process.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Mills, Albert J. and McLaren, Patricia Genoe
- Abstract:
- Managers are often measured against an ideal that is treated as a tangible object which is stable across generations. It is the contention of this paper that the ideal manager is, in fact, a social construct that is a product of the political and social context within which it exists. Different periods in time create unique typifications of the construct, and the ideal manager is not independent of its environment. The socially constructed nature of the ideal manager will be illustrated through the analysis of the construct at one specific point in time, the internal Cold War in the years following the Second World War and ending in 1960. While widely studied in most disciplines, the Cold War has been largely ignored in the management literature, and therefore provides us with a unique perspective from which to assess the impact of context on the standard to which managers are held.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Miri Lavassani, Kayvan and Movahedi, Bahar
- Abstract:
- In this study we will discuss the historical changes in the work and life relationship which resulted in development of new theories. After an introduction to work-life relationships, different theories of work and life are presented in the second section of this paper. These theories are categories intro three generations based on their characteristics in the historical evolution of work-life studies. In the third section measures of work and life spillovers are described. In section four, critiques of the current methodologies which is being used in the work and life studies are presented. Discussion section which is presented in following section includes some arguments regarding the ways to select the most appropriate theories for work-life studies. Also in this section some recommendations are presented for enhancing the commonly used methodologies of the research on work and life relationships. Finally, in the last section, some recommendations for future studies are presented.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Mirowska, Agata
- Abstract:
- This study uses theories of motivation to analyze how performance changes over the life of a contract. Utilizing performance data for professional basketball players in the NBA for three seasons, the results show that performance does change over the life of a contract. Factors affecting how much control a player has over his performance are found to be important in how the players' performance changes as the contract completion nears.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Murray, William
- Abstract:
- The hospitality industry relies on front-line staff members to provide high quality service experiences to encourage repeat business. Unlike the manufacturing industry that separates the production of goods from the delivery to customers, professionals in the hospitality industry realize that customers evaluate their "product" through perceived service quality levels (Ottenbacher & Howley, 2005). Although types of service may differ, industry operators and researchers agree that both customer satisfaction and service quality are critical prerequisites for customer retention (Cronin & Taylor, 1992). Consistent service quality demands a workforce with strong emotional display management skills; however, displays of unfelt feelings, or "acting", can create intense emotional strain for service providers. This paper will examine the emotional labour pressures experienced by service workers and outline theoretical mitigating influences provided by high performance work practices (HPWP). Links will be drawn between decreased employee turnover, increased customer satisfaction and customer retention.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Pawliw, Pierre
- Abstract:
- Academic research into codes of ethics has given us valuable information on the subject but has failed to provide an all-encompassing understanding of the contents of actual codes. This paper looks at what is presently known about this subject, presents a conceptual model that integrates the different elements that go into a code of ethics, describes the dynamics that explains why each company's code of ethics has a distinct content, and presents preliminary results obtained after having analyzed a cross-section of the code of ethics of member companies of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Pyper, Rhonda L.
- Abstract:
- Labour shortages are imminent in a variety of different industries, particularly those that require high levels of skills. Organizations will need to plan for these shortages as many of the solutions will have fairly long lead times before an impact is felt. One area from which short-term gains may be achieved is the reduction of voluntary turnover, particularly the loss of productive employees. An area with potential for longer-term success in combating the labour shortage is in restructuring. Through restructuring, organizations can redesign the work processes so that when employees do leave, the position will have to be reworked and a replacement may not be needed. The organization will be shrinking in headcount, but it will remain as productive as it was before downsizing due to efficiencies gained; it will have successfully navigated "involuntary downsizing". The purpose of this paper is to develop the concept of involuntary downsizing" by expanding the definition of downsizing to include situations in which organizations are competing in diminishing labour markets. Similar to the current concept of downsizing, organizations will need to accomplish more, with fewer resources; however, the cause of the downsizing and the solutions that are available will be different.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Rostis, Adam
- Abstract:
- In the typology of harassment and aggression in the workplace, workplace incivility is situated as a non-aggressive, low intensity form of deviant behaviour with an uncertain intent to cause harm. The importance of incivility to organizational theory and human resource management is that it may have a negative effect on organizational outcomes and more importantly it may be a precursor for more overt forms of workplace violence. Two potential influences on the effects of incivility are personality and workplace context; the latter of these two has not been sufficiently explored in the literature. This paper will take one step towards addressing this gap by examining the ways in which incivility is moderated in the context of military organizations. The result of this contextual examination of incivility will be a proposal that incivility may have a positive effect through the development of coping strategies for stressful situations encountered by armed forces.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Tuer, Frances L.
- Abstract:
- One reason teams are seen to be a high-performance work practice (HPWP) is that the diversity of team member knowledge, skills and abilities, known as cognitive resource diversity supposedly brings new perspectives, information, ideas and resources to the solution of problems and the exploration and exploitation of opportunities. However, to date the performance of heterogeneous teams has been disappointing with the most common finding being increased conflict. Based on social identity and social exchange theories and building onto Mayer, Davis & Schoorman's (1995) classic integrative model of trust, this paper proposes that trust is a critical mediator in the relationship between cognitive resource diversity and within-team knowledge sharing.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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- Resource Type:
- Article
- Creator:
- Skowronski, Mark
- Abstract:
- Identification of effective and cost-efficient compensation practices for recruiting and retaining expatriate employees is becoming increasingly important in today's global labor market. This paper proposes a study to investigate perceptions of fair compensation for expatriate employment using the tenets of equity theory. Participants will specify an "equitable" monetary bonus for hypothetical overseas assignments of different lengths and locations. Relying on Konopaske's and Werner's (2002) propositions, the author predicts the following: 1) Short-term overseas assignments will require a larger "foreign service premium" (monetary bonus) than domestic relocation, 2) Long-term expatriate assignments will require a larger premium than short-term or domestic relocation, and 3) Relocation to a developing country will require a larger premium than relocation to an advanced industrialized nation or to a domestic location. A methodology and data analysis strategy are described.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-01
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