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The impact of e-commerce on the supply chain B2B in Ireland
Get PDFThe ability to redefine inter-firm relationships and processes, internetenabled and other Business to Business (B2B) mechanisms facilitate the integration and management of inter- or intra-organisational business processes that produce value for customers. B2B ecommerce in supply chain management (SCM) becomes more important due to its performance implications. Process integration involves upstream and downstream coordination with supply chain partners. In these interactions, supply chain B2B ecommerce helps minimize complexity and increase flexibility while enhancing a higher degree of communication and operational efficiency
Computing careers and Irish higher education: A labour market anomaly
Get PDFThis paper explores the impact of developments in the Irish economy and labour market on computing course development in the Irish Higher Education (HE)\ud
sector. Extant computing courses change, or new courses are introduced, in attempts to match labour market demands. The conclusion reached here, however, is that Irish HE is producing insufficient numbers of computing graduates notwithstanding the\ud
anomalous fact that the capacity to produce them is available in the Irish HE sector. Manpower planning is inefficient and IT skill shortages remain not as a result of poor industry/HE relations but because of a lack of understanding of Irish student perceptions, preferences and expectations. Pressures for radical institutional change are probably unlikely to emerge as skill gaps are being filled by immigrants with the requisite skills
Life cycle cost estimation tool for decision-making in the early phases of the design process
Get PDFDesign is a process that involves information processing and decision-making. As cost is an important factor that must be considered in the decision-making at this phase, proper information about costs is extremely important for designers. The authors present a cost model and tool developed to help designers estimate the life cycle cost of their products and to permit them to make more cost-effective design decisions. The tool can be used in a concurrent engineering environment to provide cost estimates for different design alternatives. What-if analyses can be performed to compare costs when using different components, materials or manufacturing processes
An analysis of the use of photogrammetric sorting to audit construction and demolition waste production on site
Get PDFThis study analyses the area of construction and demolition waste (C & D W) auditing.\ud
The production of C&DW has grown year after year since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first published a report in 1996 which provided data for\ud
C&D W quantities for 1995 (EPA, 1996a). The most recent report produced by the EPA is based on data for 2005 (EPA, 2006). This report estimated that the quantity of C&DW produced for that period to be 14 931 486 tonnes. However, this is a ‘data update’ report containing an update on certain waste statistics so any total provided would not be a true reflection of the waste produced for that period. This illustrates that a more construction site-specific form of data is required. The Department of Building and Civil Engineering in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology have carried out two recent research projects (Grimes, 2005; Kelly, 2006)\ud
in this area, which have produced waste production indicators based on site-specific data. This involved the design and testing of an original auditing tool based on visual characterisation and the application of conversion factors. One of the main recommendations of these studies was to compare this visual characterisation\ud
approach with a photogrammetric sorting methodology.\ud
This study investigates the application of photogrammetric sorting on a residential construction site in the Galway region. A visual characterisation study is also carried out on the same project to compare the two methodologies and assess the practical application in a construction site environment. Data collected from the waste management contractor on site was also used to provide further evaluation. From this, a set of waste production indicators for new residential construction was produced:\ud
□ 50.8 kg/m2 for new residential construction using data provided by the visual characterisation method and the Landfill Levy conversion factors.\ud
□ 43 kg/m2 for new residential construction using data provided by the photogrammetric sorting method and the Landfill Levy conversion factors.\ud
□ 23.8 kg/m2 for new residential construction using data provided by Waste Management Contractor (WMC).\ud
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The acquisition of the data from the waste management contractor was a key element for testing of the information produced by the visual characterisation and\ud
photogrammetric sorting methods. The actual weight provided by the waste management contractor shows a significant difference between the quantities provided
The design and validation of a multi-layer model of human skin
Get PDFHuman skin is a complex multi-layered material consisting of the epidermis,\ud
dermis and underlying hypodermis. For several decades, much effort has gone into the\ud
development of mathematical and computer models of skin. A physically accurate and\ud
realistic model of skin has applications in several diverse areas from artificial skin\ud
design to computer animation.\ud
There are many numerical models of skin in existence, which accurately simulate\ud
several of the skin’s complex mechanical characteristics. However, many of these\ud
models assume skin to be a homogeneous material and thus ignore the individual\ud
contribution of each layer. While these single-layer models may be adequate when\ud
simulating skin under homogeneous loading conditions, a multi-layer model is needed\ud
to simulate skin under more complex deformations such as wrinkling - a phenomenon\ud
common to all human skin.\ud
A multi-layer finite element model of skin, consisting of the stratum comeum,\ud
dermis and hypodermis, has been proposed to simulate skin under deformations that\ud
cause it to wrinkle. The stratum comeum is represented by a neo-Hookean function,\ud
the dermis by an orthotropic-viscoelastic function and the hypodermis by a Yeoh\ud
strain energy function with a Prony series to model viscoelasticity. In vivo wrinkling\ud
experiments on volar forearm skin were conducted to validate the skin model.\ud
Results from this study show that a model representing the stratum comeum,\ud
dermis and hypodermis more accurately simulates the wrinkling of skin than singlelayer\ud
models. The three-layer model represents a significant improvement over\ud
existing single and two-layer models. The model shows that the natural tension or prestress\ud
in living skin plays a significant role in the formation of wrinkles - a larger prestress\ud
delays the initiation and reduces the size of the wrinkles. The model predicts\ud
that a stiffer stratum comeum and a greater collagen fibre density increase the size of\ud
wrinkles - occurrences that are observed in aging skin. The model also predicts that\ud
larger wrinkles occur when they are parallel to the Langer’s lines in the skin.\ud
The model has also been used to explore the wrinkle formation around contracting\ud
healing scars. Comparison between the results of finite element analyses and\ud
simplified experiments of contracting scars show that the pre-stress and the\ud
orthotropic nature of skin play a significant role in the orientation of the wrinkles
Lifelong learning : the unheard voices
Get PDFMature Students are a unique group o f individuals because they share common\ud
characteristics that are distinct to this group. They have many other roles and\ud
responsibilities and therefore, have to ‘fit’ education into their lives unlike the\ud
traditional student who comes directly from secondary school. Mature Students\ud
have need for specific supports that need to be addressed particularly so in a\ud
‘Knowledge Based’ Economy where the ‘Employability Factor’ dominates;\ud
namely learning is for life. Consequently, specific adjustments need to be put in\ud
place for the successful route to, in and through education for adult students.\ud
The north and west o f Ireland is mainly rurally populated and many individuals\ud
from the stated group live in isolated communities; and because of this the\ud
reality is countless numbers are given little or no opportunity to avail o f further\ud
education; it is beyond their reach.\ud
This study has been carried out using qualitative and quantitative methods of\ud
research. The primary research made use of Focus Groups with volunteering\ud
students, followed by student Questionnaires and finishing with Interviews with\ud
Educator/Mentors from different educational settings.\ud
The findings show that Mature Students face and ascend many internal and\ud
external barriers and obstacles and addressing these barriers will make the path\ud
in and through education an easier and less pressurised one. However, the\ud
delivery of education has to be tailored to meet the educational needs of those\ud
most in need of further knowledge
The diffusion of WOZ: expanding the topology of IS innovations
Get PDFThe growth and diffusion of self-service technology (SST) over the last decade has resulted in an increasing number of business and government transactions being completed without human assistance. One innovation in this area, the speech-enabled business system, is characterised by complex implementations that bring together language processing technologies, applications development and end-user psychology. A resulting secondary innovation, the Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) experiment is a valuable technique for simulating and building human-machine prototypes to ensure successful deployment of the completed service. The objective of the paper is to examine these innovations in relation to the changing business landscape; the technology and innovation literature, and the population of likely adopters. The review is carried out by placing the author’s former experience as a practitioner within current theoretical research frameworks. The result is a number of suggestions relating to both IT technology research and IT innovation research. Firstly, it proposes the simplification and diffusion of the WOZ methodology to support the growth in demand for automated e-business transactions that is mindful of human and ethical challenges. Secondly, the paper argues that because self-service technology and business extends the traditional boundaries of the customer service function, it now needs to be incorporated into Swanson’s tri-core innovation typology. The paper concludes by presenting the suggested reorientation of IS research that incorporates an outward facing perceptive as a conceptual model
Bivalve ligament - a new source of DNA for historical studies
No full textBivalves are aquatic animals enclosed in 2 rigid shells that are held together by a hinge ligament. Features of the shell valves are important in taxonomy, and museums hold global collections of catalogued fossil, historical and contemporary specimens. Museum collections of plants and animals are routinely used for the retrieval of DNA, but to date this has not been extended to bivalves. We show that DNA can be extracted from the ligament of the bivalve shell. The use of this tissue for DNA extraction allows for the non-destructive sampling of archived specimens, as once a portion of the ligament has been removed, the remaining shell plus shell ligament scar, essential features in classical taxonomic identification, are left intact. We extracted DNA from the ligament of individual mussel shells collected in 1970, and compared population genetic structure using a nuclear DNA marker with a sample of recent (2006) shells from the same location. We present a new source of genetic data that can be used to expand many areas of bivalve taxonomy, population history and phylogeography
An investigation into the practice of critical success factors by Irish publicly listed companies in performance management
Get PDFOverview\ud
Globalisation, increased competition and the fact that both strategy and performance\ud
must stay abreast of rapidly changing conditions has led to an increase in the use of\ud
performance management tools by organisations to improve the quality of their\ud
products and services, providing a sense of direction for performance improvement\ud
which supports strategy execution.\ud
One such performance management tool is the critical success factor method. The\ud
performance indicators from the csf method provide an accurate indication of\ud
performance and determine how business processes could be improved to achieve\ud
strategic objectives, offering real-time performance management.\ud
Purpose\ud
This paper explores the practice of csfs within the performance management of the\ud
publicly listed companies in Ireland. It specifically focuses on the purpose and extent\ud
of their practice, while simultaneously acquiring the opinions of publicly listed\ud
companies on the merits and demerits of using csfs in performance management.\ud
Findings\ud
Csfs were found to be widely practiced in both strategic management and performance\ud
management and in general, organisations see the benefits of their use. However,\ud
discrepancies to the literature have occurred in the practice of csfs in both the strategic\ud
management and performance management processes with a possible gap emerging\ud
between strategy and execution leading the researcher to recommend further research\ud
to explore that gap.\ud
Future research\ud
The researcher also discovered that the balanced scorecard had perhaps, been used in\ud
every aspect except name only, prompting their recommendation for further research\ud
to evaluate this analysis
An investigation into audit choice for companies listed on the Irish stock exchange
Get PDFCompanies listed on the Irish stock exchange have complicated accounting \ud
requirements and procedures compared to the smaller private companies in Ireland. \ud
Many smaller audit firms cannot provide this type of work and therefore there is the \ud
perception that listed companies can only look to the Big Four. This then begs the \ud
question; ‘Do listed companies have a choice of auditor?’ \ud
\ud
Presently there is a lot of interest in the area of competition and choice in the audit \ud
market. In 2006 the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Financial \ud
Reporting Council (FRC) commissioned a report to Oxera into ‘Competition and \ud
choice in the UK audit market’. Previously in 2003 the General Accounting Office \ud
(GAO) in the USA made two reports to the US Senate on competition in the audit \ud
market in the USA. Since the collapse of the last big firm Arthur Anderson in 2002, \ud
there is much concern about what would happen if the present Big Four were to \ud
become the Big Three. \ud
\ud
The researcher did an extensive literature search on the area of choice in the audit \ud
market and then sent questionnaires to the Chief Financial Officer of every company \ud
listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. The researcher also interviewed a partner from a \ud
mid-tier firm to discover their views and opinion on the topic. \ud
\ud
It was found that more than 50 percent of respondents felt that there was currently \ud
enough choice in the audit market; however, the literature and the interviewee \ud
disagreed. Many respondents would not consider the mid-tier firms as their auditor \ud
and many mid-tier firms were not well known to the respondents. \ud
\ud
In conclusion it would seem that perception and reputation have a great deal of \ud
influence over the choice of auditor. Therefore if changes were made in the audit \ud
market to make information more freely available about the mid-tier firms’ \ud
capabilities, perhaps there would be more choice in the market that currently people \ud
just do not know about. The competition authorities in this country and others would \ud
need to consider choice in the audit market before there is no choice at all