Australian Computer Society: ACS Digital Library
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Meeting Ethical Demands in a Multi-Agent Project
Get PDFVarious health service and voluntary sector agencies dealing with drug misusers in a large city in the North of England have set up a task group to co-ordinate their assessment and referral process. An IT solution to their needs was believed to be desirable but raises serious issues concerning confidentiality, and the suitability of an IT solution to the particular information problem. The approach is informed by Social Informatics and utilises Soft Systems Methodology within the framework of Joint Application Development
Integrated Multimedia Based Intelligent Group Decision Support System for Electrical Power Network
Get PDFElectrical Power Network in recent time requires an intelligent, virtual environment based decision process for the coordination of all its individual elements and the interrelated tasks. Its ultimate goal is to achieve maximum
productivity and efficiency through the efficient and effective application of generation, transmission, distribution, pricing and regulatory systems. However, the complexity of electrical power network and the presence of conflicting multiple goals and objectives postulated by various groups emphasized the need of an intelligent group decision support system approach in this field. In this paper, an Integrated Multimedia based Intelligent Group Decision Support System (IM1GDSS) is presented, and its main components are analyzed and discussed. In particular attention is focused on the Data Base, Model Base, Central Black Board (CBB) and Multicriteria Futuristic Decision Process (MFDP) module. The model base interacts with Electrical Power Network Load Forecasting and Planning (EPNLFP) Module; Resource Optimization, Modeling and Simulation (ROMAS) Module; Electrical Power Network Control and Evaluation Process (EPNCAEP) Module, and MFDP Module through CBB for strategic planning, management control, operational planning and transaction processing. The richness of multimedia channels adds a totally new dimension in a group decision making for Electrical Power Network. The proposed IMIGDSS is a user friendly, highly interactive group decision making system, based on efficient intelligent and multimedia communication support for group discussions, retrieval of content and multi criteria decision analysis
Models of Governance - A Viable Systems Perspective
Get PDFThis paper suggests a framework for examining governance issues spanning the corporate, public and nonprofit sectors that draws on existing frames-in-use, and that reflects the systemic communality apparent within varied attempts to describe and effect change in governance. The paper surveys alternative conceptualisations of governance that have surfaced in the academic and practitioner literature and draws attention to the cybernetic and systemic features of diverse views of governance. Beer's viable systems framework is used to reinterpret alternative views of governance and to suggest a means of diagnosing the completeness/coherence of governance systems
Evaluating the Benefits of Electronic Commerce in Small and Medium Enterprises
Get PDFThis paper outlines and analyses the behaviours of small and medium enterprises with respect to the evaluation of electronic commerce investments, and the subsequent realisation of the anticipated benefits from those investments. The responses of executives who participated in the study suggested that on-going involvement in electronic commerce did not come cheaply. Nonetheless, our study suggests that there were generally ad hoc approaches to evaluation of the proposed electronic commerce investments, almost non-existent post-implementation reviews, few measures of success, and generally speaking, there was little evidence of there being proactive management of the realisation of benefits of those investments. Perhaps not surprisingly, the group interviewed seemed somewhat disappointed with the outcomes of their electronic commerce initiatives. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly for countries where small and medium enterprises contribute a large proportion of total economic activity, and where thus it is vital for small and medium enterprises to successfully engage in electronic commerce if the country is to derive the benefits of the new economy
Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) and Information Ethics in Call Centres - 'You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye!'
Get PDFThis paper catalogues the rise and rise of call centres in the North West of England, UK and their use of CRM systems. CRM systems often imply new technologies and new ways of working. However, in this account we explore the historical development of the telegraph and work in early telephone exchanges and find the same old story. Our consideration of the ethics of CRM system use and some inherent contradictions are in terms of privacy,
communication richness, management methods and computer ethics in an organizational context. Call centres today are viewed by some as offering satisfying employment of intrinsic value, for others, they are the 'new sweatshops of the 21st century' (Belt et al 2000). Our interpretative field study makes a contribution to this debate
The Foundation Role for Theories of Agency in Understanding Information Systems Design
Get PDFIn this paper we argue that theories of agency form a foundation upon which we can build a deeper understanding of information systems design. We do so by firstly recognising that information systems are part of purposeful sociotechnical systems and that consequently theories of agency may help in understanding them. We then present two alternative theories of agency (deliberative and situational), mainly drawn from the robotics and artificial intelligence disciplines, and in doing so, we note that existing information system design methods and ontological studies of those methods implicitly adhere to the deliberative theory of agency. We also note that while there are advantages in specific circumstances from utilising the situated theory of agency in designing complex systems, because of their differing ontological commitments, such systems would be difficult to analyse and evaluate using ontologies currently used in information systems. We then provide evidence that such situational information systems can indeed exist, by giving a specific example (the Kanban system), which has emerged from manufacturing practice. We conclude that information systems are likely to benefit from creating design approaches supporting the production of situational systems
A Critique of Generalizability in Interpretive Research
Get PDFThis paper is about generalizability in interpretive systems research. The authors are concerned that, in its search for appropriate inquiry methods, the discipline of Information Systems (IS) does not slip into the errors of other social disciplines and become a dismal science. Many systems thinkers have repeatedly argued that the purpose of IS research needs to be to produce what Argyris calls actionable knowledge and Ulrich, critique heuristics. That is, rules of thumb which managers can use to solve design problems, not too vague and not too detailed. This is a different concept from generalizability, which aligns with the scientific notion of seeking universal objective laws. The paper uses the argumentative inquiry in its reflexive capacity to critique knowledge claims on a chapter by Baskerville and Lee that discusses generalizability to bring out the differences between this cornerstone of universal truths and the more systems thinking concepts of actionable knowledge or critical heuristics
Mobile Data Technology for Small Businesses: needs, uses and adoption
Get PDFThe technological environment in which Australian SMEs operate can be best described as dynamic and vital. The rate of technological change provides the SME owner/manger a complex and challenging operational context. Wireless applications are being developed that provide mobile devices with Internet content and E-business services. In Australia, the adoption of commerce by large organisations has been relatively high, however, the same cannot be said for SMEs, where adoption has been slower than other developed countries. In contrast, however, mobile telephone adoption and diffusion is relatively high by SMEs. Will SMEs who have been reluctant to adopt ecommerce technologies in the past be more ready to go on-line with the merging of the Internet and mobile data technologies?
This exploratory study identifies attitudes, perceptions and issues for mobile data technologies by regional SME owner/managers across a range of industry sectors. The major issues include the sector the firm belongs to, the current adoption status of the firm, the level of mistrust of the IT industry, the cost of the technologies, and the applications and attributes of the technologies
Diffusion of Electronic Commerce in Small and Medium Enterprises
Get PDFUsing the Internet for electronic business has become an area of action for the Australian Government. This paper presents research results from two regional areas which indicate that while most manufacturing SMEs use email, very few are involved in elecronic commerce activities. Major barriers are concern about security and privacy of transactions, cost of consultants, and lack of IT expertise of staff. Employing people with appropriate knowledge has been added to current training methods such as on-the-job training. Results from the two regional areas are found to be consistent. Comparisons between small and medium organisations highlight some differences
Quality of Goals - a key to the human-oriented technology
Get PDFA kind of an essay on some social and ethical impact of new technologies has been given in the first five sections. The next two sections bring a study on quality referred to the software process. Then some ethical issues are presented in the context of IT development and computer applications. The need for a quality of goals has been emphasized. Human objectives should gain the top position, especially in a coming post-computer era. Some conceptual research in the topic of quality of goals has been suggested to safe humanistic values