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Abstract: Two system-based views exist regarding managerial value chain analysis: Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Activity-Based Costing (ABC). There has been considerable debate whether TOC or ABC is the more optimal approach for strategic planning. This study seeks to compare TOC and ABC, while keeping constant the level of environmental turbulence each of the approaches encounter. With regard to organizational systems, literature regarding complex adaptive systems supports the idea that bottom-up approaches are more resilient to volatility. Consequently, this study hypothesizes that the bottom-up ABC approach will prove more agile and less limiting than the top-down TOC approach. This study then performs two computational experiments. The first experiment reveals that the ABC approach generated more PROFIT than the TOC approach, while the TOC produced a larger amount of REVENUE, for all instances of the simulation. The second experiment reveals that a hybrid TOC+ABC approach is the most optimal in the midst of environmental turbulence out of four possibilities. This hybrid TOC+ABC selects a first cut of orders that will generate the highest REVENUES per the TOC approach, and then selects a second cut of orders that will have the lowest COSTS and thus the highest PROFIT per the ABC approach. These results challenge the established literature espousing the TOC approach alone.
Theory of Constraints (TOC), Activity-Based Costing (ABC), value chain analysis, strategic planning, bottom-up approaches, environmental turbulence
Abstract: In this paper, I suggest and review four perspectives within the literature surrounding knowledge management (KM) research at the organizational level: information systems, management, organizational learning, and strategy perspectives.
knowledge-based theory of the firm, knowledge management strategy, information systems, organizational learning
Abstract: Virtual worlds are now a reality. Virtual worlds such as the growing Second Life and Entropia Universe, allow everyone to create a digital character representing themselves and interact with other computer-generated individuals, landscapes, and even virtually-run global businesses in real-time. Fascinatingly, both endogenously produced economies and social orders are emerging in these virtual worlds.
emerging virtual institutions, virtual worlds, augmented reality, augmented group cognition, governance, social orders
Abstract: James G. March conceived organizational learning as a balance between the exploration of new alternatives and the exploitation of existing competencies in an organization. This study extends March's model to consider exploration and exploitation in a hierarchical organization. First, the effect of additional tiers in a hierarchical organization is analyzed and related to March's original constructs of exploration, exploitation, personnel turnover, and environmental turbulence. Second, the study evaluates additional effects of a knowledge management system that collects and shares knowledge from expert individuals in an organization. This study finds that in the absence of personnel turnover, a knowledge strategy of high exploitation and low exploration for a multi-tiered hierarchical organization reduces the veracity of average individual knowledge levels when compared to alternative strategies. The magnitude of this reduction in veracity increases as the number of tiers in a hierarchical organization increase; flat organizations will see less of a reduction compared to multi-tiered organizations. A weighted least-squares regression performed on a second set of data corroborates this central observation. Cumulative findings have strategic relevance for both organizational theory and the application of knowledge management systems.
organizational learning, exploration, exploitation, personnel turnover, environmental turbulence, hierarchical organizations, knowledge management
Abstract: We extend March's model of exploration and exploitation to consider how environmental turbulence impacts organizational knowledge in hierarchies of varying size and depth. We then evaluate additional effects of a knowledge management (KM) system that collects and shares knowledge from expert individuals in an organization. We find that in the absence of personnel turnover, a management strategy of high exploitation and low exploration for a multi-tier hierarchical organization, representative of a top-down knowledge management strategy, reduces the accuracy of average individual knowledge levels compared to alternative strategies. The magnitude of this reduction in accuracy increases as the number of tiers in a hierarchical organization increase. Managers operating in a flat organization will see less of a reduction compared to a multi-tier organization. Two weighted-least-squares regressions performed on two additional data sets corroborate this central observation: a bottom-up strategy demonstrates greater resiliency to environmental turbulence than a top-down knowledge management strategy for hierarchical organizations.
knowledge-based theory of the firm, knowledge management strategy, environmental turbulence, exploitation, exploration, turnover, flow, bottom-up, top-down
Abstract: Virtual worlds like Second Life are becoming important tools for, among other activities, socialization, social networking, entertainment, collaboration, and business development. These environments offer information systems researchers a unique opportunity to study how these environments are built and managed by operators, how they are used and misused by users, and the impact that they have on users, communities, organizations, and societies at large. This panel is designed to introduce the information systems community to this topic. We have assembled both academic and practitioners involved in building, managing, and using virtual worlds to discuss a roadmap for research on virtual worlds.
virtual worlds, synthetic worlds, online games, virtual reality, human computer interaction, Second Life, World of Warcraft, research frameworks
Abstract: Let us welcome you the modern age, so full of promise both in terms of human and technological progress! In this chapter, we address the role of innovation and being a systems innovator. Without systems innovators, it is quite possible that our modern age would not be so full of promise and potential. In fact, without systems innovators, humanity might never have reached modernity at all. Several historians say we humans are "modern" when we do not automatically reject new or foreign elements in society. For human society, modernity begins when communities began to explore, tolerate, and accept the new and diverse. Thus, modernity includes a receptiveness of human societies to new ideas. Living in the modern age allows us to expect that modern enterprises and markets will tolerate and potentially reward to new ideas and new practice. In a modern age, those individuals who design insightful innovations (i.e., innovators) can be highly praised if their innovations are well timed, well designed, and well implemented. As systems innovators, we welcome the modern age and strive to be open to new and beneficial ideas of change. Human societies value and evaluate new ideas by expected impact and effect. Modern markets and firms represent particular types of human organizations. Markets and firms can incorporate innovations by changing either their design or practices.
innovation, design, information systems, organizational systems, modernity
Abstract: Knowledge itself may rapidly lose its relevance due to hyperturbulent environments involving rapid changes in human systems. Compared to ordinary turbulent environments, hyperturbulent environments require greater interindividual knowledge exchanges to adapt. Examples of such environments include 9/11, the anthrax events of 2001, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Organizations that must confront such seemingly chaotic environments include those involved with intelligence gathering and public health emergency response, to include the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I contend that organizations like the CIA and CDC represent the future of business. Both organizations comprise globally distributed individuals, who must exchange time-sensitive knowledge to deal with hyperturbulent environments, increase organizational adaptedness, and increase organizational survivability.
knowledge management, knowledge ecosystems, hyperturbulent environments, organizational adaptedness, organizational survivability, knowledge cultivation
Abstract: We develop and subsequently test a model detailing how knowledge technologies, embodied in intra-organizational information systems (IS), provide opportunities that influence individual-level human motivations to engage in knowledge exchange processes, thereby influencing organizational responsiveness. Our model both explains and predicts the different contributions of IS-driven antecedents influencing organizational responsiveness, to include knowledge technologies, employee motivations, and processes to exchange knowledge. We specifically examine a large government agency charged with responding to national security threats, public health outbreaks, and environmental disasters. For knowledge-intensive enterprises confronting such challenges, organizational responsiveness represents their ability to respond to emergent opportunities or concerns. Our results shed light on both the importance of and macro-level manner in which such organizations can to pair decision support for extreme events with strategic information systems encouraging relevant knowledge exchanges and processes.
intra-organizational information systems, decision support for extreme events, knowledge exchanges, exploration, exploitation, formal incentives, normative values, competence-based trust, social dilemmas, knowledge technologies
Abstract: I enclose a general submission piece discussing information pollution and the problems associated with this phenomenon. I detail how information pollution arises, what challenges it brings for us as IS professionals, and future avenues of research and development that might remedy this problem. Specifically, the average knowledge worker - someone who is part of the growing information economy - loses 2.1 hours a day to interruptions associated with multi-tasking. If those workers make an average of $21 an hour, that adds up to $588 billion a year, more than the gross domestic product of Argentina. Another recent study finds knowledge workers experienced interruptions approximately once every 10 minutes and it took an average of 23 minutes for them to return to their original task. What can we do as IS professionals to address information pollution? This paper seeks to provide answers and stimulate future endeavors.
information pollution, knowledge overload, attention spans, information systems, cognitive distortion, social distortion, evolutionary biology
Abstract: Presently, certain U.S. government agencies face hyperturbulent environments, where organic, information-intensive changes occur rapidly with little warning. No one individual harbors sufficient knowledge to either mitigate negative outcomes or capitalize on positive opportunities. Knowledge exchanges in these government agencies must transcend physical group proximity, social networks, and the institutions themselves. I submit that these organizations represent the future of business, as they comprise globally distributed individuals who must exchange time-sensitive knowledge to increase organizational adaptedness and survivability. For these environments, top-down knowledge "management" is indeterminate. Instead, researchers and practitioners alike should think like a crime scene investigator and uncover: (1) who had opportunity to exchange knowledge, (2) who had motive, and (3) how was it done regarding method? I detail three research efforts, one completed and two in-progress, designed to test these conjectures. I hypothesize that altering organizational structure or technology should alter human perceptions of incentives, values, and trust - even when the same choices and rewards for exchanging knowledge are presented to individuals. The challenge for organizations is to "cultivate" indirectly a knowledge ecosystem that both fosters knowledge exchange opportunities among employees and allows dynamic knowledge exchange activities to evolve as environmental circumstances require.
Abstract: We seek to develop eight theoretical propositions relating use of a knowledge management system to improved performance in either the public or private sectors if employee perceptions of an organization's (1) formal incentives, (2) normative values, (3) inter-employee trust, and (4) enabling knowledge technologies cumulatively motivate employees to believe the benefits to knowledge exchange behaviors exceed the costs. Together, these four elements represent an organization's motivational attributes, which indirectly determine the net effect knowledge management has on organizational performance. These motivational attributes influence adoption of an organization's knowledge processes as supported by information systems. Favorable perceptions translate into successful adoption of an organization's knowledge processes. In turn, employee process adoption directly influences the contribution of knowledge management to improved organizational performance, to include organizational efficiency and organizational responsiveness. Either (1) low reports of or (2) large variances in employee perceptions of an organization's motivational attributes may result indirectly in negligible improved organizational performance by knowledge management. Similarly, (1) low reports of or (2) large variances in the adoption of an organization's knowledge processes may result directly in negligible improved organizational performance. We then employ a parsimonious mathematical model to demonstrate our theoretical propositions, recognizing other variables may also influence knowledge exchange behaviors in an organization. Seeking to urge future empirical research to support the theoretical propositions presented herein, our paper's conclusions strongly suggest that knowledge exchange research provides an intriguing venue where variance, not just magnitude, in employee perceptions and process adoption can influence improved or reduced organizational performance.
motivational attributes, knowledge processes, formal incentives, normative values, inter-employee trust, enabling knowledge technologies
Abstract: The web is increasingly relied upon as a reflection of reality, which raises a number of key issues not yet fully recognized or articulated, warranting further study. This new digital reality and the unprecedented capabilities it embodies in terms of searchability, aggregatability, temporal persistence, and so on, give rise to great challenges in the areas of Digital Identity Management, Social Impacts, Currency and Accuracy of Digital Data, Distorting Factors, Legal Issues and Implications, among others, that are only just becoming recognized and articulated. This paper reports on a panel exploring these issues and speculating creatively on how they might be addressed in IS academic research by adopting a fundamental information processing approach to design, incorporating analogs from evolutionary biology, for example.
digital reality, information systems, cognitive distortion, social distortion, evolutionary biology
Abstract: Within modern society, we frequently rely on strangers for professional services. This course will examine the role of professionals and the professions in society. Specifically, this course will examine the role of ethics in maintaining autonomy of the professions as social institutions, as well as helping to ensure that we (as customers who rely on professional services) generally can place trust in professionals to do the right thing even when no one is watching - because often no one is.
ethics, modernity, professions, autonomy, social institutions, course instruction, syllabus
Abstract: James G. March conceived organizational learning as a balance between the exploration of new alternatives and the exploitation of existing competencies in an organization. This study extends earlier work by employing a computational simulation to evaluate the effect of additional tiers in a hierarchical organization; specifically regarding March's original constructs of exploration, exploitation, personnel turnover, and environmental turbulence. Next, the study evaluates the effects of homogenous and heterogeneous social networks within two independent multi-tier hierarchical organizations. This study reaches four major findings. (1) Increasing exploitation has negative consequences for multi-tier organizations, but not for flat organizations. (2) Homogenous social networks help an organization stabilize itself when confronted with environmental turbulence. (3) If overused, a strategy of social networks can preclude the benefits offered by increased positive effects of exploitation and personnel turnover. (4) As an organization increases its number of tiers, the cumulative effect of heterogeneous social networks is more beneficial statistically. Cumulative findings have strategic relevance for organizational theory and future empirical studies.
organizational learning, exploration, exploitation, personnel turnover, environmental turbulence, hierarchical organizations, social networks, simulation
Abstract: In this paper, I suggest and review four perspectives within the information systems (IS) literature exploring the enterprise value of information systems from the perspective of traditional and transactional cost economics (TCE), agency theory and concerns surrounding a "productivity paradox", the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, and a general category of IS-influenced "organizational enablers".
enterprise value, information systems, resource-based view of the firm, organizational enablers
Abstract: James G. March conceived organizational learning as a balance between the exploration of new alternatives and the exploitation of existing competencies. This study extends March's model to consider exploration and exploitation in hierarchical organizations. First, the effect of additional tiers is analyzed and related to March's original constructs. Second, the study evaluates additional effects of a knowledge management system that collects and shares knowledge from expert individuals in an organization. This study finds that in the absence of personnel turnover, a knowledge strategy of high exploitation and low exploration for a multi-tiered hierarchical organization reduces the veracity of average individual knowledge when compared to alternative strategies. The magnitude of this reduction in veracity increases as the number of tiers in a hierarchical organization increase; a flat organization will see less of a reduction. A weighted least-squares regression performed on a second set of data corroborates this central observation. This study is the first of three dissertation papers planned by the author, examining the organizational dynamics associated with knowledge management systems.
Abstract: The proximate objective behind a bioterrorism event is to cause fear, with morbidity or mortality as secondary effects. Information technology must empower professionals to respond rapidly and effectively. This paper links detection and identification of a bioterrorism event with opportunities for information technology to aid such efforts, drawing specifically from real-world uses of technology with the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2000 to the present. Information technology challenges and innovations will be highlighted, as well as lessons learned from the program's response to the anthrax attacks in 2001 and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003.
bioterrorism preparedness, emergency response, information technology, innovations
Abstract: Recently there has been a surge in dialogue both among public health partners and within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding efforts to identify a consolidated set of "best practices" of software application development, specifically to fit the mold of public health information technology (IT). While the intentions behind these motivations are to be applauded -- such talk recognizes the truth that public health IT is a complicated and difficult field which attempts to provide workable, viable technology solutions for additional public health capacity -- intentions toward a single set of consolidated IT approaches risk surrendering the strength of public health to adapt and respond to unforeseen challenges, such as outbreaks or emergency scenarios. Not all areas of public health have the same set of requirements. Epidemiological response to a sudden disease outbreak, for example, will be quite different in its approaches and investigative methods from a response to an increase in chronic disease in a specific population group. Unique disease outbreaks each unfold differently. Similarly, laboratory methods for clinical specimens vs. environmental samples are not expected to follow precisely similar practices either, for each is a unique entity.
public health information technology, emergency response, outbreak scenarios, innovations
Abstract: This course will bring together a group of students studying information systems (IS), primarily in business, though we welcome additional perspectives to include IS in medicine, public health, law, environmental sciences, neurobiology, or other fields. As a class, we will analyze and discuss the issues of individual and group cognitive sustainability in multitasking, knowledge-driven economies. Specifically, as developed societies increasingly become knowledge-driven economies, the risk of eroding cognitive sustainability and emotional well-being of humans also increases. Similar to the effect of pollution on the Earth's natural environment, information pollution can erode the limited attention spans of individuals and cause detrimental stress-related effects for both individuals and societies as a whole.
Abstract: This theoretical paper discusses re-appropriating social dilemmas research to inform service science research. Service science researchers wishing to encourage collaborative, inter-individual exchanges may want individuals to behave such that individuals are not motivated solely by their own economic self-interests, but ultimately pursue actions that benefit the overarching good of multiple groups.
inter-organizational systems, knowledge-based systems, cooperation, participation
Abstract: The Internet that we access isn't self-organizing; instead, it's relatively limited in its intelligent abilities and exists as a wonderful example as to how the processes of creation can quickly become cluttered and entropic. Human beings create and remix information streams, adding to the web. The promise with Web 2.0 was that human beings would organize all the clutter of the web; that human beings would provide the missing intelligence of networks. Alas, human beings have limited cognitive capabilities and the ever-growing amounts of information on the web probably will exceed our abilities to organize it. I suggest, as demonstrated by the Internet, there are iterative causalities (i.e., links) to its data, information, and knowledge. This gives hope that one day the Internet, and other smart business networks, will become capable of self-organizing itself without human intervention. Would such smart business networks then not become alive?
information systems, evolution, ecosystems, environments, adaptedness, survivability, intelligence
Abstract: Our case study starts by describing the Sermo business model, the knowledge application, company financials, and potential indicators of success. Second, we examine the metrics behind the performance of Sermo and the challenges faced by its model. Third, we extend our inquiry to consider how Sermo demonstrates its value as and new ways an abstracted Sermo model could measure performance outcomes.
Throughout our case study, we will attempt to link the findings of our investigation with relevant literature streams - thus situating an empirical investigation with extant literature and theory. We do this both to extend existing literature and to synthesize our findings with relevant research. We will conclude our case study by consider a emergent themes from this case that could have universal relevance to subsequent research and practitioner-related investigations.
distributed problem solving networks, knowledge ecosystem, organizational adaptedness, knowledge cultivation
Abstract: For knowledge-intensive, information-sensitive organizations, we suggest two orthogonal constructs, namely the perceived levels of knowledge sharing and knowledge protection, influence the perceived levels of organizational performance, to include the constructs of organizational responsiveness and organizational efficiency. For a large organization of more than 10,000 employees, we observe that a knowledge-worker's role criticality directly and indirectly shapes perceived organizational performance. First, we find that greater perceived levels of knowledge protection and knowledge sharing strongly correlate with greater perceived levels of organizational performance (for both responsiveness and efficiency). Second, we find that workers with greater role-criticality negatively discount the contribution of knowledge protection to organizational performance, while they also positively accentuate the contribution of knowledge sharing to organizational performance (again, for both measures). Cumulatively, our research underscores the need to balance knowledge sharing and protection particularly when knowledge workers engage in critical organizational functions.
knowledge protection, knowledge sharing, organizational responsiveness, organizational effectiveness, role criticality, information systems, knowledge technologies
Abstract: Knowledge ecosystems include the influential relationships among knowledge technologies, motivational antecedents, knowledge transfer processes, and organizational performance outcomes. I perform three studies to investigate these elements of knowledge ecosystems and further contribute to the extant literature. First, I seek to research how knowledge technologies and organizational structure influence the accuracy of organizational knowledge in turbulent environments - to include research as to whether a top-down or a bottom-up approach to managing knowledge in organizations confronting environmental turbulence is superior. This premise of a bottom-up approach is embodied in knowledge ecosystems, which this dissertation explores from multiple perspectives across the three studies. As part of my inquiry, I suggest that knowledge technologies present knowledge transfer opportunities that augment organizational structure. This specific study employs an agent-based simulation as part of its investigation. Second, I seek to research how knowledge technologies augment the motivational antecedents of incentives, values, and competence-based trust. As part of this inquiry, I also seek to research whether knowledge technologies and motivational antecedents ultimately influence organizational responsiveness. Of note, I suggest that knowledge technologies influence the contexts associated with knowledge exchange in ways similar to how communication technologies influence the contexts associated with social dilemmas. This specific study develops and refines a survey instrument as part of its investigation. Third, I seek to research how the role criticality of personnel influences knowledge sharing vs. knowledge protection. As part of this inquiry, I also seek to research whether the role criticality of personnel ultimately influences organizational responsiveness and efficiency. Of note, I suggest that organizational responsiveness represents a performance outcome distinct from organization efficiency - thus separating two performance outcomes typically treated (to date) as a single performance construct in the extant literature. This study also develops and refines a survey instrument as part of its investigation. These three interwoven studies inform each other, integrating four elements that conceptually comprise knowledge ecosystems. Cumulatively, this dissertation examines closely both the theoretical and empirical dynamics present in knowledge ecosystems.
knowledge technologies, motivational antecedents, knowledge transfer, organizational performance, knowledge-based theory of the firm, knowledge management strategy, environmental turbulence, information systems, organizational structure
Abstract: In order to understand how public health information technology (IT) can aid public health preparedness in terms of bioterrorism preparedness and associated emergency response, it is apt to start with a definition of bioterrorism. In establishing the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program (BPRP), located under the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), internal to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) framed the context of bioterrorism as the use or threatened use of biological agents or toxins against civilians, with the objective of causing fear, illness, or death.
bioterrorism preparedness, emergency response, information technology, threat detection
Abstract: In November 2007, an international strategy design team composed of government, business, and academic experts met in Glasgow to consider the elements, objectives, and requirements for a strategic intelligence capability on energy and environmental security. The discussion built on the proceedings of a workshop held in D.C. on 19 September, which assembled nearly forty experts to consider models for a similar capability (see Annex 1 for this workshop paper). In developing the concept for a strategic intelligence capacity on energy and environmental security, the Glasgow Group made the following observations: - At the national level, decision-makers lack sufficient knowledge regarding how key energy and the environmental security relationships can affect regional and global stability - A viable strategic intelligence capability for energy and environmental security issues does not lend itself to the traditional national security framework - Today's strategic environment features security-related challenges that are global in scale and systemic in nature, and can best be assessed with a strategic intelligence capability that is similarly global and systemic - The Glasgow Group suggests building a new global commons security capability; i.e., an energy and environmental knowledge ecosystem in which a broad diversity of entities contribute to knowledge creation, aggregation, filtering and sense-making - The proposed knowledge ecosystem could fill a current void in communicating to both public and private-sector decision-makers the national and international security implications of energy and environmental issues - This strategic intelligence knowledge ecosystem will be open to government, commercial, and not-for-profit interests, enabling early warning for informed decision-making about possible energy and environmental impacts on a global scale - The system will draw on diverse expertise, such as virology, evolutionary biology, network research, developmental economics, disaster management, political science, international relations, and various dynamical systems assessments methodologies in order to consider interdependent security-related phenomena - There is a critical role for system cultivators who foster and sustain the collaborative, knowledge-creating community by targeting its activities to produce actionable, strategic intelligence on energy and environmental security concerns What follows in this paper are the views of the Glasgow Group, a team that met informally at the facilities of the Scottish Enterprise Network in a gathering co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence's Energy and Environmental Security Directorate. Participants in the meeting included experts from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's Center for Security Studies, the New School University in New York, Emory University in Atlanta, Idaho National Laboratory, and additional business and academic experts from both Europe and the United States. This paper does not necessarily represent the official positions of any institutions or governments with which the participants are affiliated.
energy and environment, strategic intelligence, knowledge ecosystem, national security, global security, environmental turbulence
Abstract: Most analyses of possible future bioterrorism events predict they may be similar to the anthrax events of 2001. Specifically: a limited population of individuals may experience morbidity or mortality, but the concern, panic, and worry stirred up by the threat will catch the attention of the entire nation. If public health IT is to help with bioterrorism preparedness, it needs to not only address mitigation of civilian illnesses and deaths, but also help to manage individual and societal fears springing from the real or threatened occurrence of such an event.
bioterrorism preparedness, emergency response, information technology, technology strategies
Abstract: Government occupies a central role in our world of inter-connected human systems of work, transportation, utilities, commerce, healthcare, and public education. Focusing on the U.S. federal government, this essay advances the lens of our government as an information processing system that monitors, regulates, funds, and provides certain services. Government, as an information processing system, organizes and influences other human systems at local, state, and national levels. However, what if one of the subcomponents comprising our system of government fails? How fragile is our system of government? What insights into the organization of information systems can better reform our system of government to be more effective and flexible? This essay encourages the reader to explore ways that inter-agency government efforts are analogous to information processing among distributed components. With this lens, new research opportunities emerge to re-organize our system of government to better share information across departments, to protect citizens from harm, and to prevent future disasters similar to Katrina and 9/11.
organizational design, information systems, government agencies, information flows, inter-agency collaborations
Abstract: Discussion of how virtual, web-based interactions provide (1) a malformed context for human emotions, (2) a forum for publicizing of traditionally private workplace discussions, and (3) a source of information overload - potentially addressable through an evolutionary view. Subsequent discussion details examples of virtual worlds from 1991 to the present. This discussion is intended as a working paper.
Abstract: Our case study seeks to investigate how Seriosity operates as a distributed problem solving network (DPSN) with the goals of addressing the organizational challenges of limited attention spans - embodied both by information pollution and knowledge overload. We first consider the background behind such challenges and why they will increasingly diminish organizational performance if not successfully mitigated by organizations of the future. We then consider how Seriosity measures the performance outcomes of its technologies - specifically, how does Seriosity know it is successful at translating elements of MMORPG's to help individuals better collaborate and coordinate their activities?
distributed problem solving networks, limited attention spans, information pollution, knowledge overload
Abstract: This paper analyzes dual- and multiple-use approaches for new and existing bioterrorism preparedness and response technology, made possible by the large infusion of funds to the states and territories through the 2002 Cooperative Agreement Award Notice and Grant Guidance given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Informatics benefits and trade-offs among existing infrastructures are discussed and highlighted.
Abstract: More than 15 million people now inhabit virtual worlds. We posit that virtual worlds represent an interesting intersection of three parties wrestling for power, influence, and authority in these relatively new spaces. Specifically: (1) corporations, representing economic and business interests; (2) governments, representing political and legal interests; (3) vox populi, representing a heterogeneous third party, distinct in its dissociation from either corporate or government interests, and instead attempting to speak on behalf of digital citizens in virtual worlds.
We also suggest a way that an experiment could be done in a virtual world, borrowing from studies of experimental economics - specifically the "bargaining" or ultimatum game.
Abstract: Within the next few pages, we outline how the U.S. President might employ novel arrangements of human and technology elements to produce improved government efforts involving the collective insights of all government works to: (1) better serve the public, (2) protect our country, and (3) generate innovative solutions that both address present day problems and produce a better future for us all. We seek to discuss insights into collective intelligence in large organizations - which, for the most part, has not been discussed with regard to the U.S. government - and translate the themes of these books to improve the Executive Branch.
collective intelligence, government, innovation, collaboration, organizational improvements
Abstract: This document discusses a few versatile, tool-like crowd performance algorithms necessary for humans to employ internet technologies to make better decisions collectively. This document also readily acknowledges that true collective intelligence approaches are foremost about organizational culture change and encouraging shared group norms (i.e., values) of sharing, openness, transparency, and collaboration. Humans will need to buy-in to the approaches and technology tools for any collective intelligence approach to work. The scope of this document has two sections: The first section dives into some of the known theory and empirical evidence supporting a case that collective intelligence does, in fact, lead to better decision outcomes - specifically that collective intelligence employing recent advances in internet technologies can provide greater advantages than traditional organizational methods of making decisions. The second section takes these underpinnings and then extends them to consider a tool and associated crowd performance algorithms that could be coupled into a packaged generic system that serves as a staging ground for an organization to launch collective intelligence efforts. This discussion considers how different features would be aligned with desired human and organizational factors, as well as what outcomes could be expected from such a generic system approach.
collective intelligence, diversity, algorithms, innovation, collaboration
Abstract: Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper is intended to be a working paper on SSRN itself, for early comments and iterative improvements.
knowledge ecosystems, attention spans, attention economy, organizational science, social psychology, publications, recommendations, market
Abstract: The performance of prediction markets has been one driving force behind the renewed attention on distributed problem solving. This case reviewed the feasibility and performance of prediction or information markets, discussed some apparently successful applications, considered likely limitations of information markets, and identified important areas for future research.
distributed problem solving networks, internet, network, crowd sourcing, problem solving, organization, prediction markets, knowledge, collaboration, digital networks, information sharing
Abstract: Originating as a study of the online news aggregator Digg, which relies on user ratings to determine which articles to put on the frontpage, this study evolved into a comprehensive survey of the online news aggregator space. This case study explores the conditions under which crowds are smart, analyzes the bias of several modes of information aggregation, and shows the risk of mob behaviour.
distributed problem solving networks, internet, network, crowd sourcing, news aggregation, mobs, digg, problem solving, organization, knowledge, collaboration, digital networks, information sharing
Abstract: Virtual worlds like Second Life are becoming important tools for, among other activities, socialization, social networking, entertainment, collaboration, and business development. These environments offer information systems researchers a unique opportunity to study how these environments are built and managed by operators, how they are used and misused by users, and the impact that they have on users, communities, organizations, and societies at large. This paper summarizes the discussion of this topic that was presented at the ICIS 2007 panel entitled "Second Life and other Virtual Worlds: A Roadmap for Research." The paper provides an introduction to this topic and offers a roadmap for research on virtual worlds based on insights offered by several academics and practitioners who are actively involved in building, managing, and using virtual worlds.
virtual worlds, synthetic worlds, multi-user virtual environments, online games, virtual reality, human computer interaction, Second Life, research frameworks
Abstract: We sit at a double crossroads in human history: Mounting evidence suggests we are at or near tipping points in carbon energy supply and ecological climate change. These are related borderless issues with existential threat potential. As a way to improve decision-making, an ecosystem approach to inform government policy presents great promise, fostering information sharing among participants and encouraging transparency regarding global energy and environmental (E&E) concerns. Such an effort complements traditional national security organizational frameworks with an approach that cultivates international connections, brings together groups of experts across disciplines, and encourages a richness of diverse views.
Abstract: We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and the idea of smart business networks.
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies possible strategic objectives (StratCom and STRAT EFFECTS) to counter negative conspiracy theories regarding the activities of either the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) or U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A).
international security assistance force, afghanistan, strategy
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies the organizational entities that representatives from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) StratCom and U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) STRAT EFFECTS might collaborate with (in priority order), and then provides recommendations on how to collaborate with these groups.
International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan, strategy
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies possible themes, images, and additional nuances associated with preparing information operations (IO)-related operations for the 2009 Afghan Elections.
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies connections between counter-narcotics activities (CN) in Afghanistan and strategic objectives (StratCom) that the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) or U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) can implement.
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies a potential solution to improve internal situation awareness regarding the activities of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Abstract: As its purpose, this paper identifies a potential expanded communications outreach vision for Afghanistan, and highlights noteworthy strategic communication initiatives (StratCom and STRAT EFFECTS) to improve outreach efforts regarding the activities of either the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) or U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A).
Abstract: What if advances in multi-agent and computational modeling in silico were married with advances in instrumenting real-world phenomena of interest in situ in near real-time? Specifically, what if business, academic institutions, and government agencies were able to both computationally model and predict complex phenomena while also comparing in near real-time the empirical results of the same phenomena in the real-world? High-performance, standardized approaches to (1) collect in near real-time the instrumented results of real-world, in situ phenomena and (2) compare in parallel multiple computational models to real-world data and identify what parameters the best models share in common - need to exist to achieve this vision of a in silico-in situ hybrid.
networks, complexity, in situ, in silico, multi-agent, computational models, sensor technologies
Abstract: Concerned that the U.S. lacks a modern technology strategy for national security, this research paper discusses bottom-up approaches to inter-organizational collaborations that national security efforts must develop to successfully share knowledge within and across organizational assets. Without technology-aided collaborations and knowledge sharing activities that span agencies, U.S. national security will be limited in its ability to analyze intra- and international social transactions for aberrant patterns. For a fuller, more holistic approach to intelligence gathering, the U.S. government needs to cultivate more vibrant knowledge ecosystems.
Research regarding the application of collective intelligence and knowledge ecosystems to national security explores strategies that promote collaboration between government agencies - and encourage partnerships with members of the private and academic sectors - to share relevant knowledge for successful inter-agency collaborations. Such knowledge ecosystems can assist with the identification of potential geopolitical concerns and support appropriate response if necessary (e.g., law enforcement for terrorists or drug cartels, U.N. aid for refugees, or public health for infectious diseases). Through application of these findings, improved inter-organizational information collaborations, to include augmented group cognition and emerging virtual institutions, follow from this empirical research.
The CIA's Global Trends 2015 report predicts governments will have less control over flows of information, technology, diseases, migrants, arms, and financial transactions across their borders. The ability and agility to form partnerships to exploit increased information flows increasingly depends on effective governance. I believe all of this can be performed while preserving the freedom of privacy that is a core tenet of a free democracy.
collective intelligence, government, innovation, collaboration, organizational improvements, national security
Abstract: Virtual worlds are now a reality, representing intriguing environments for researchers from multiple fields to pursue collaborative investigations. To provide a background, we first highlight the basic business and sociological phenomena occurring in virtual worlds. Real world institutions, ranging from business to governmental organizations, are already experiencing the effects of increased growth in the number of individuals participating in these virtual world environments. We consider research paths from four representative perspectives: (1) information systems, (2) neurobiology, (3) political science, and (4) organizational governance research. Virtual world environments offer significant opportunities for research in many fields for study, including demonstration and examination of intra-world and inter-world practice and behavior.
information systems, inter-world, intra-world, neurobiology, organizational governance, political science, virtual businesses, virtual currencies, virtual governance, virtual property
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