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Industrial control system cybersecurity situation awareness: A multiple case analysis
No full textThe purpose of this study is to apply a situation awareness model to describe the state of ICS cybersecurity situation awareness. Drawing from the literature and empirical research in situation awareness of similar highly dynamic, highly stressful environments (e.g., air traffic controllers, military command and control, fighter pilots, aircraft cockpit crews), a candidate model will emerge from among various complementary and competing situation awareness models. The candidate will be then applied to multiple cybersecurity cases studies involving ICS security incidents, to assess its fit to describe ICS cybersecurity situation awareness.INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM
CYBERSECURITY SITUATION AWARENESS:
A MULTIPLE CASE ANALYSIS
By
Mark Francis Leary
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland University College, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Management
2011
Advisory Committee:
Dr. Thomas Mierzwa, Chair
Dr. Yung-Chi Sung
Dr. Michael A. Evanchik © Copyright by
Mark Leary
2011 v
DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Mortimer John Leary. Unknown to either of us at the time, we would both become dramatically affected by the explosion of the field of information technology in our personal and professional lives - just in different ways and at different times of our lives. Unfortunately, he left us much too early. Dad - I miss you.
vi
ACKNOWEDGEMENTS
I want to acknowledge the support and sacrifice of my family, for the many missed vacations and long absences during the course of my professional and academic journey. This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and understanding of my wife, Deanna, and our two children, Sean and Megan. Likewise, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my mother and cheerleader, Connie Leary. I love you all.
I also wish to acknowledge the support and guidance of my dissertation committee: Dr. Thomas Mierzwa, Dr. Yung-Chi Sung, and Dr. Michael Evanchik. Likewise, I must also recognize my fellow students in the Doctor of Management cohort, whose friendship, support, and encouragement was key to my success in this program.
Lastly, I would like to thank my professional colleagues -- Jim Holtzclaw, Tim McKnight, and Barbie Bigelow -- for their leadership, mentorship, and unwavering support of my professional and academic pursuits.
vii
Table of Contents
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ ix
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ x
Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Problem .............................................................................. 1
Introduction to the Problem ............................................................................................ 1
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 4
Purpose of the Research .................................................................................................. 5
Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 5
Relevance and Significance ............................................................................................ 5
Discussion of Key Terms ................................................................................................ 7
Scope ............................................................................................................................... 8
Dissertation Chapters .................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 2: Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 11
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 11
Resilience ...................................................................................................................... 11
Theoretical foundations ............................................................................................ 11
Operational resilience ............................................................................................... 13
Decision-making Under Stress ..................................................................................... 15
Theoretical foundations ............................................................................................ 15
Situation Awareness...................................................................................................... 22
Individual Situation Awareness Theories and Models ............................................. 24
Team Situation Awareness Theories and Models ..................................................... 30
ICS Cybersecurity ......................................................................................................... 35
ICS Architecture ....................................................................................................... 35
ICS Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities ..................................................................... 38
ICS Cybersecurity and Situation Awareness ............................................................ 42
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 43
Chapter 3: Conceptual Model ....................................................................................................... 44
Individual-level Cybersecurity Situation Awareness .................................................... 45
Team-level Cybersecurity Situation Awareness ........................................................... 49
ICS Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model ........................................................... 52
Research Thesis ............................................................................................................ 54
Chapter 4: Research Approach .................................................................................................... 56
Units of Analysis........................................................................................................... 56
Research Design............................................................................................................ 57
Develop the research questions. ................................................................................ 58
Conduct literature review. ......................................................................................... 59
Conduct subject matter expert review of initial concept model. .............................. 60
Data collection using multiple cases studies. ............................................................ 61
Data collection using comparable secondary case study research data. ................... 63
Conduct data analysis. .............................................................................................. 64
Validity Threats ............................................................................................................ 69
Construct validity threats. ......................................................................................... 69
Internal validity threats. ............................................................................................ 70 viii
External validity threats. ........................................................................................... 70
Chapter 5 Analysis of Findings .................................................................................................. 71
ICS Cybersecurity Case Studies Analysis .................................................................... 71
Olympic Pipeline Explosion Case Study .................................................................. 71
Maroochy Water Plant Attack Case Study ............................................................... 77
CSX Corporation Virus Attack ................................................................................. 82
DaimlerChrysler Automotive Virus Attack .............................................................. 86
Harrisburg Water Sewage Plan Attack ..................................................................... 90
Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 95
Comparison with other situation awareness research…………………………………99
Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 102
Chapter 6: Implications for Management .................................................................................. 103
Management Theory ................................................................................................... 103
Management Practice .................................................................................................. 104
Recommendations for Future Research ...................................................................... 105
References .................................................................................................................................. 107
Appendix A: Subject Matter Expert Review .............................................................................. 129
Appendix B: Case Study Narratives .......................................................................................... 132
Appendix C: Case Study Codification ....................................................................................... 146
ix
List of Tables
Table 2-1. Team Situation Awareness Enablers. ............................................................. 32
Table 4-1. NIST SP 800-53 Recommended Security Controls. ...................................... 65
Table 4-2. Situation Awareness Error Taxonomy. .......................................................... 68
Table 4-3. Team-level Situation Awareness Error Taxonomy. ....................................... 68
Table 5-1. Olympic Pipeline Incident Control Weaknesses ............................................ 73
Table 5-2. Maroochy Water Plant Breach Control Weaknesses ...................................... 79
Table 5-3. CSX Virus Attack Control Weaknesses ......................................................... 84
Table 5-4. DaimlerChrysler’s Attack Control Weaknesses ............................................. 88
Table 5-5. Harrisburg’s Water Plant Attack Control Weaknesses .................................. 92 x
List of Figures
Figure 2-1. Recognition-primed model with options. ...................................................... 19
Figure 2-2. Boyd’s OODA loop diagram. ....................................................................... 21
Figure 2-3. Endsley’s Three-level situation awareness model. ....................................... 25
Figure 2-4. Endsley’s situation awareness model ............................................................ 26
Figure 2-5. Goal-directed task analysis. .......................................................................... 27
Figure 2-6. Smith and Hancock’s situation awareness model. ........................................ 28
Figure 2-7. Endsley’s team situation awareness model. .................................................. 31
Figure 2-8. Stanton’s distributed situation awareness (DSA) model ............................... 34
Figure 2-9. Industrial Control System architecture.. ........................................................ 38
Figure 3-1. Translation of Endsley’s three levels of situation awareness........................ 46
Figure 3-2. Goal-based task analysis exemplar for cybersecurity role. ........................... 47
Figure 3-3. Individual ICS cybersecurity awareness requirements. ................................ 49
Figure 3-4. Information to role relationship in ICS cybersecurity situation awareness. . 50
Figure 3-5. Individual and team ICS situation awareness components. .......................... 52
Figure 3-6. ICS cybersecurity situation awareness model and decision-making. ........... 53
Figure 4-1. Research approach for exploring ICS cybersecurity situation awareness. .. 58
Figure 5-1. Olympic Pipeline Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model ...................... 72
Figure 5-2. Maroochy Water Plant Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model ............. 78
Figure 5-3. CSX Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model. ......................................... 82
Figure 5-4. DaimlerChrysler Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model. ...................... 87
Figure 5-5. Harrisburg Water Plant Cybersecurity Situation Awareness Model............. 91 1
Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Problem
Introduction to the Problem
While the Internet brings great opportunities to information-intensive organizations, it also exposes them to great peril. The interconnectedness of the Internet, and the extension of the World Wide Web as part of the enterprise information system, have exposed critical systems to disruption due to natural events, focused attacks from malicious individuals, and even simple misuse by unwitting insiders. Cyber events in the form of attacks pose a significant risk of imposing huge economic costs in loss of productivity or performance. Further, they may incur costs that cannot be quantified, such as the loss of intellectual property, financial fraud, damage to reputation, and third party liability. Lewis (2002) pointed out that
Hurricane Andrew, the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, caused 11 billion. In contrast, the Love Bug virus is estimated to have cost computer users around the world somewhere between 15 billion. (p 9)
The nature of the Internet allows cyber attacks to emanate from anywhere in the world with relative ease and incredible speed, while inflicting widespread damage. As a result, ―cybersecurity‖ has been a growing focus of national security strategy to protect critical commercial infrastructure, particularly those elements that depend on the Internet as a communications medium (Cronin & Crawford, 1999; Cullather, 2003; Hancock, 2001; Keegan, 2002; Kshetri, 2005; Paton, Smith & Violanti, 2000; Ranum, 2007; Schneier, 2007). As a working definition, cybersecurity refers to the comprehensive set of people, processes, and technologies that protect physical and virtual information assets (McClair 2007, Garner 2010).
While previous research on cybersecurity seemed to be limited in scope to fighting the next war, focus has slowly shifted to the private sector’s role in cybersecurity. Much of the 2
national infrastructure is privately owned, such as energy, transportation, chemical and public utilities. Likewise, the operation of the national infrastructure is highly dependent on the proper functioning of industrial control systems (ICS). ICS are highly distributed, geographically dispersed control systems used to monitor and control automated industrial systems, such as electrical power grids, water distribution and wastewater collection systems, oil and natural gas pipelines, and railway transportation systems. These control systems, which are often highly interconnected and mutually dependent, are critical to the operation of the United States’ critical infrastructures. Accordingly, governments, companies, and individuals are concerned about the possibility and impacts of cyber attacks against these critical infrastructures (Brown, 2002; Singer and Weiss, 2005; Johnson and Edwards, 2007, Wiess, 2007).
Prior to the emergence of the Internet, ICS monitoring and controlling critical infrastructures and processes operated in relatively isolated environments. An ICS communicated using an isolated proprietary network, and rarely shared information with external systems. However, with the advent of the public Internet providing extended low-cost connectivity, control systems have become interconnected using Internet-based standards, and as control networks have become integrated into larger corporate networks in order to share valuable data, the probability and potential impact of a cyber attack has increased. For example, in June 2010, malicious software was discovered that was purposely developed to attack a defined type of ICS - a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system employed to control and monitor industrial processes. Known as the ―Stuxnet‖ worm, the malicious software was specifically written to reprogram the SCADA system’s programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and directly targets the Siemens brand SCADA control systems. Stuxnet is described as a new type of cyber-weapon that will lead to the creation of a new arms race in 3
cyber space (DeBolt, 2010; Gorman, 2010; Blitz, Dombey and Menn, 2010). Government and commercial organizations must decide what kind of cybersecurity defenses to deploy in light of the only limited knowledge of the threats they face, the probable consequences should an attack occur, and the unexpected impact of collateral damage.
As a result of cyber attacks, the public and private sectors that support critical infrastructure must establish a resilience strategy in order to recognize, understand, and respond to cyber events, much like they do for natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods, hurricanes) (Grow, Epstein and Tschang, 2008; Vatis, 2006). Any resilience strategy requires an effective capability to react and respond under stressful conditions. Leaders, individuals, and groups are often forced to make rapid decisions, complicated by uncertainty and risk. To make effective decisions under these circumstances, they need as much relevant information as possible. In any decision-making process, individuals and groups rely on a shared perspective of what is occurring based on available, but often incomplete, information. Similarly, in cases where the amount of information is voluminous, both individuals and teams attempt to determine what is important or relevant to make an effective decision. Therefore, the ability to organize and process information quickly-- to identify threats, develop courses of action, and execute them-- becomes critical in effective individual and group decision-making.
Situation awareness refers to the vantage point from which an organization gathers and processes information. Good situation awareness leads to good decision making, which is then expected to result in a favorable outcome. In the realm of protecting their enterprise against cybersecurity attacks, organizations now recognize the need for cybersecurity situation awareness, and are becoming increasingly concerned with developing situation awareness techniques that can be applied to cybersecurity. Cybersecurity situation awareness will increase 4
an organization’s ability to monitor its current operational status at a defined level, and quickly gather and process information in order to ensure an intelligent and well-informed response to an attack. To this end, the identification of an operator-level and team-level cybersecurity situation awareness model will promote effective, coordinated responses to dramatic cybersecurity events through a common understanding or operational view. A cybersecurity situation awareness model quickly organizes information; presents it in a meaningful, relevant manner; supports faster effective individual and team decision-making; and optimizes the defensive posture of the modern firm.
Statement of the Problem
The lack of a defined, validated situation awareness model directly affects one’s ability for effective decision-making during a cybersecurity crisis targeting an ICS. Leaders, individuals, and groups are often forced to make rapid decisions and maneuver through the initial, immediate period of cybersecurity crisis based on their personal experiences and ability to organize reality through ―sense-making,‖ rather than on the quality of relevant information and their capacity for effective decision-making. Making decisions under these conditions may incur significant damage to the physical infrastructure, as well as to the critical infrastructure provider’s profitability, reputation, and long-term viability. A situation awareness model promotes effective decision-making and a coordinated response to dramatic events. A cybersecurity situational awareness model thus has the potential to organize external and internal information quickly; present information in a meaningful, relevant manner; and support faster, effective individual and team decision-making. 5
Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this study is to apply a situation awareness model to describe the state of ICS cybersecurity situation awareness. Drawing from the literature and empirical research in situation awareness of similar highly dynamic, highly stressful environments (e.g., air traffic controllers, military command and control, fighter pilots, aircraft cockpit crews), a candidate model will emerge from among various complementary and competing situation awareness models. The candidate will be then applied to multiple cybersecurity cases studies involving ICS security incidents, to assess its fit to describe ICS cybersecurity situation awareness.
Research Questions
The research questions that guided the exploratory literature review were based upon factors of resilience, s
Privatization, ownership structure and performance of China listed companies in spilt share structure reform
No full textThis dissertation investigates the effects of privatization on corporate management performance before and after the Split Share Structure Reform in China. The study selects the published information of ownership structure and corporate performance from 2002-2007, among 952 listed companies, to analyze the relationship between ownership structure and corporate management performance and addresses the research hypothesis and regression model through the study of ownership concentration, ownership structure, listed period of time, industry influences, and information before and after Split Share Structure Reform. Based on the results, this study tests the hypothesis by descriptive statistical analysis and regression analysis and then conducts linear regression and quadratic non-linear regression analysis on the relationship between ownership structure and corporate management performance according to time and industry. The result shows the ownership concentration degree has a significant positive impact on corporate management performance and the greater differences between the shareholding ratio of the first and second largest shareholders will result in worse performance. For the relationship between ownership structure and corporate management performance, the regression analysis result indicates the tradable shareholding ratio is negatively correlated with performance. The institutional shareholding ratio is positively correlated with performance, and a U shaped relationship exists between the state-owned shareholding ratio and performance. Afterwards, based on the theoretical analysis and empirical research results, and combined with the characteristic of current industrial environment and management system of China listed companies, this study provides some beneficial opinions and recommendations.Privatization, Ownership Structure and Performance
of China Listed Companies in Spilt Share Structure
Reform
by
Di Yu Lei
A Thesis Submitted to
The University of Maryland University College
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Management
April 2009
ii
Table of Contents
Title Page……………………………………………………………………………... i
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………...ii
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………….....iv
List of Figures………………………………………………………………………...vi
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………vii
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
1.1 Purpose and definition of the research .......................................................... 1
1.1.1 Research background and objectives ................................................. 1
1.1.2 Development of China capital market ................................................ 6
1.1.3 Research definition ........................................................................... 11
1.2 Research content and research topics ......................................................... 12
1.2.1 Research content ............................................................................. 12
1.2.2 Research topics ............................................................................... 13
1.3 Research framework .................................................................................. 14
Chapter 2 Theory and analysis of ownership structure ............................................. 17
2.1 Theory of fundamental ownership structure ............................................... 17
2.1.1 The intension of ownership structure ............................................... 17
2.1.2 The impacts of ownership structure on corporate management
performance ............................................................................................. 19
2.1.3 Corporate management theory ......................................................... 22
2.2 The impact of ownership structure on corporate governance and performance
........................................................................................................................ 28
2.2.1 The impact of internal governance on corporate governance and
performance ............................................................................................. 29
2.2.2 The impact of external governance on corporate governance and
performance ............................................................................................. 33
2.2.3 The study of the impact of ownership structure on corporate
governance and management performance ............................................... 36
2.3 The Comparison between Eastern and Western ownership structure models 46
2.3.1 British and American models ........................................................... 46
2.3.2 Japanese and German models .......................................................... 49
2.3.3 The ownership revolution and privatization in former Soviet Union
and east European countries ..................................................................... 52
2.4 The causes and consequences of China’s Split Share Structure Reform in
2005 ................................................................................................................ 57
2.4.1The characteristics of China’s ownership structure ........................... 57
2.4.2 The abuses of the ownership structure in China’s listed companies and
iii
the needs for an urgent reform .................................................................. 59
2.4.3 The impact of Split Share Structure Reform and current studies....... 62
Chapter 3: The establishment of the relationship model between ownership structure
and corporate management performance .................................................................. 69
3.1 Research method ........................................................................................ 69
3.2 Sample selection and data sources .............................................................. 69
3.3 Research hypothesis ................................................................................... 71
3.4 Variable selection ....................................................................................... 74
3.5 Regression model creation ......................................................................... 81
Chapter 4: The empirical analysis on the change of corporate management
performance before and after the Split Share Structure Reform ................................ 82
4.1 Descriptive statistics analysis ..................................................................... 82
4.2 Validity test on model and variables ........................................................... 88
4.3 Overall analysis ......................................................................................... 95
4.4 Dimensional analysis on time ....................................................................102
4.5 Dimensional analysis on industry ..............................................................108
4.6 Research summary and recommendations .................................................124
Chapter 5: Conclusions and constraints ..................................................................129
5.1 Conclusions ..............................................................................................129
5.2 Constraints ................................................................................................130
References ..............................................................................................................132
iv
List of Tables
Table 2-1 The ownership structure of British companies .......................................... 47
Table 2-2 The ownership structure of American companies ..................................... 47
Table 2-3 The owernship structure of America’s non-financial institution in 1999 ... 48
Table 2-4 The international comparison of ownership concentration ........................ 50
Table 2-5 The Ownership structure of the companies in German ............................. 51
Table 2-6 The comparison between Japanese and German models and British and
American models .................................................................................................... 51
Table 2-7 The Split Share Structure Reform plans of China’s listed companies ........ 62
Table 2-8 The descriptive statistics of the degree of ownership concentration before
and after Split Share Structure Reform .................................................................... 65
Table 2-9 The descriptive statistics of ownership control before and after Split Share
Structure Reform ..................................................................................................... 66
Table 3-1 Definition of variables ............................................................................. 78
Table 4-1 Descriptive statistics for the ROE、EPS of China listed companies ......... 84
Table 4-2 Descriptive statistics for the ownership concentration of China listed
companies ............................................................................................................... 85
Table 4-3 Descriptive statistics for the ownership structure of China listed companies
............................................................................................................................... 86
Table 4-4 Test result for multicollinearity (VIF) ....................................................... 89
Table 4-5 Test result for serial correlation of model ................................................. 90
Table 4-6 Person correlation between corporate management performance and
independent variables, control variables（99% confidence interval） ..................... 94
Table 4-7 Regression test of corporate management performance and ownership
concentration ........................................................................................................... 96
Table 4-8 Regression test of corporate management performance and ownership
structure .................................................................................................................. 98
Table 4-9 Test results of regression analysis for ownership concentration and
corporate management performance from 2002 to 2005 .........................................103
Table 4-10 Test results of regression analysis for ownership concentration and ROE
from 2005 to 2007 ..................................................................................................104
Table 4-11 Test results of regression analysis for ownership concentration and EPS
from 2005 to 2007 ..................................................................................................105
Table 4-12 Test results of regression analysis for ownership structure and corporate
management performance from 2002 to 2005 .........................................................106
Table 4-13 Test results of regression analysis for ownership structure and corporate
management performance from 2005 to 2007 .........................................................107
Table 4-14 The distribution of the industry of sample companies（total 952 sample
v
companies） ..........................................................................................................108
Table 4-15 Descriptive statistics for variables of listed companies by industry ........109
Table 4-16 Test results of regression analysis for ownership concentration and
corporate management performance in 11 industries ............................................... 116
Table 4-17 Test results of regression analysis for ratio of tradable shares and corporate
management performance in 11 industries ..............................................................120
Table 4-18 Test results of regression analysis for ratio of state shares and corporate
management performance in 11 industries ..............................................................121
Table 4-19 Test results of regression analysis for ratio of institutional shares and
corporate management performance in 11 industries ...............................................122
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1-1 The framework of research ..................................................................... 16
Figure 2-1 The functional system of ownership structure on corporate performance 20
Figure 2-2 Structure of corporate governance .......................................................... 29
Figure 2-3 Ownership structure, corporate governance and corporate performance .. 35
Figure 4-1 Flow chart of empirical analysis ............................................................. 82
Figure 4-2 Descriptive statistics for the ROE、EPS of China listed companies
2002-2007 ............................................................................................................... 84
Figure 4-3 Descriptive statistics for the ownership concentration of China listed
companies 2002-2007 .............................................................................................. 86
Figure 4-4 Descriptive statistics for the ownership structure of China listed companies
2002-2007 ............................................................................................................... 87
Figure 4-5 Scatterplot matrix of ownership concentration and ROE ......................... 91
Figure 4-6 Scatterplot matrix of ownership concentration and EPS .......................... 91
Figure 4-7 Scatterplot matrix of tradable share and ROE ......................................... 91
Figure 4-8 Scatterplot matrix of tradable share and EPS .......................................... 92
Figure 4-9 Statistics for corporate management performance by industry ............... 110
Figure 4-10 Statistics for ownership concentration by industry ............................... 110
Figure 4-11 Statistics for ownership structure by industry ....................................... 111
vii
Privatization, Ownership Structure and Performance of China Listed
Companies in Spilt Share Structure Reform
by Di Yu Lei
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the effects of privatization on corporate
management performance before and after the Split Share Structure Reform in China.
The study selects the published information of ownership structure and corporate
performance from 2002-2007, among 952 listed companies, to analyze the
relationship between ownership structure and corporate management performance and
addresses the research hypothesis and regression model through the study of
ownership concentration, ownership structure, listed period of time, industry
influences, and information before and after Split Share Structure Reform. Based on
the results, this study tests the hypothesis by descriptive statistical analysis and
regression analysis and then conducts linear regression and quadratic non-linear
regression analysis on the relationship between ownership structure and corporate
management performance according to time and industry. The result shows the
ownership concentration degree has a significant positive impact on corporate
management performance and the greater differences between the shareholding ratio
of the first and second largest shareholders will result in worse performance. For the
relationship between ownership structure and corporate management performance, the
regression analysis result indicates the tradable shareholding ratio is negatively
correlated with performance. The institutional shareholding ratio is positively
correlated with performance, and a U shaped relationship exists between the
state-owned shareholding ratio and performance. Afterwards, based on the theoretical
analysis and empirical research results, and combined with the characteristic of
current industrial environment and management system of China listed companies,
viii
this study provides some beneficial opinions and recommendations.
1
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose and definition of the research
1.1.1 Research background and objectives
The relationship between ownership structure and corporate management
performance has become one of the spotlight concerning recent studies of corporate
theory. Ownership structure is the ground and key component of corporate
management structure. The ownership structure of a company affects the company’s
management performance through the operating and management system (Boycko,
Shleifer & Vishny , 1996). Different ownership structures lead to different corporate
management styles. In addition, ownership structure has many influences on the
incentive, restriction, supervision, external control and agency competition for a
corporation. For this reason, the relationship between ownership structure and
corporate management performance has a great significance in both theory and
practice (Barberis, Boycko, Shleifer & Tsukanova, 1996; Frydman, Gray, Hessel &
Rapaczynski, 1999; Villalonga, 2000).
The core of the modern corporate theory is the corporate management structure.
There are many factors impacting corporate management but the key factor is the
ownership structure. The effective ownership structure gives the major shareholder as
well as the controlling shareholder more power and motivation to establish an
efficient corporate management structure and monitor its function through the fair
distribution of the residual rights and control rights. Due to China’s historical
background, the separation of ownership is very common in China’s listed companies.
The shares are divided into tradable and non tradable shares. This separation leads to
2
the abnormal ownership structure of the corporation and further creates the problem
of “one dominant shareholder’ – the largest shareholder totally controls the
shareholder meeting, board meeting, supervisory board, and management system.
Moreover, the tradable and non tradable shares are not equal in price and rights,
which will result in a decrease of the company’s effectiveness because different
shareholders have different concerns about the company. In order to solve this issue,
the ownership reform is an important solution to create an effective ownership
structure and improve a corporation’s efficiency (Yu, 2001; Driffield, 2007).
The absence of ownerships usually occurs when there is a combination structure
of the tradable and non tradable shares in China listed companies. The Split Share
Structure Reform refers to when non-tradable shareholders pay a price to tradable
shareholder for tradable shares. The price includes giving shares as bonuses,
transferring ownership, reducing shares, distributing cash, issuing warrants,
re-purchasing shares and asset re-structuring. In April 2005, the ownership reform for
listed companies started in China’s capital market. Through the first and second trial
reform and the official reform in September 2005, the goal of ownership structure
reform is completed in 2007 basically. The aim of the Split Share Structure Reform is
to promote the system change of the capital market, eliminate the difference in trading
tradable and non tradable shares and strengthen the market restraining system in order
to enhance corporate governance, further to boost company performance.
The Chinese government promulgated the “Notice Relevant to Ownership
Structure Pilot Reform of Listed Companies” on April 29th, 2005. This has been a
meaningful milestone in the history of China’s ownership reform. On May 5th, 2005,
the name list of the pilot reform group was officially announced. Hebei Jinniu Energy
Resources Co. Ltd., Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., Shanghai Zijiang Enterprises
Group Co. Ltd. and Tsinghua Tongfang Co. Ltd. became the first listed companies to
3
follow the regulations of the reform. It was the beginning of the Split Share Structure
Reform in China. On May 30th, of the same year, the Chinese government and
relevant authorities jointly promulgated the “Advice Relevant to Achievement of
Ownership Structure Reform” to urge medium, large and government-owned listed
companies to actively participate in the Split Share Structure Reform. The major
difference between this reform and several previous programs for reducing
state-owned shares is that non-tradable shareholders can pay a transfer price to
tradable shareholders for tradable shares. Moreover, this reform is used to solve the
root-cause of discrete problem of the ownership structure. The core value of this
reform is to make the long-term unreasonable ownership structure in capital market
become reasonable and to protect small and medium investors (profit attributable to
tradable shareholders) with more respect.
With China’s unique background and development in the stock market,
ownership structure refers to the differences in price and rights between non-tradable
and tradable shares of listed companies. The ownership structure has been taken as an
arrangement system controlled by the government according to China’s top-down
reform policies which designed by government. About two thirds of the stocks in
China’s stock market are non-tradable in 2005 according to the statistic data form
National Bureau of Statistics of China. Although the separate structure of ownership
has once solved the “control” problem of state-owned shares, the issue of the
inequality between tradable and non-tradable shares remained unresolved. This
problem of ownership absence further restrains the development in China’s securities
market. Since most of the shares are non-tradable, the non-tradable shareholders may
have different interests in profits than tradable shareholders. In other words, this
limited supply of tradable shares in China’s securities market is not favorable for
non-tradable shareholders. For example, no real profit can be attributed to
4
non-tradable shareholders w
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods
Rudy Watson
Program Director, Technology Management
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: November-December 2012
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies
(NOTE: This research has been supported by a UMUC Faculty Research Grant)
Introduction
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) student body is growing dramatically. As an
open-access institution, UMUC accepts all qualified students. These students have a broad range of
skills in terms of knowledge, experience, and practice. A small percentage of our students need
additional help to enhance their ability to use with greater effectiveness the quantitative methods
associated with finance, accounting, and statistical analysis. In the spring 2012 semester, we provided
information, reference sources, and tools related to these methods to students in three existing
classes. The purpose of the study was to test quantitatively the associated value and benefits of the
interventions.
Background
In a 2008 study using data that was self-reported by students entering their first year of college,
15%–22% required remedial math instruction (Planty, et al., 2008). Another study during the same
time frame indicated that 65% of new students took a remedial math course, and approximately
one-half passed the course (Fike & Fike, 2008). Currently at UMUC, we are using anecdotal information
and heuristics to estimate the number of students who require remedial work in quantitative concepts.
It is conceivable that the percentages have not improved much. The latest report from the U.S.
Department of Education supports that notion because it is still reporting 2008 data (Aud, et al., 2011).
To successfully complete the Technology Management program and/or the Project Management
specialization requires a certain level of skill in quantitative concepts and methods for PMAN 639, PMAN
650, and TMAN 625, the three courses identified as major users of quantitative techniques covering
accounting, finance, or statistical analysis. Studies have concluded that in addition to manipulation and
interpretive skills, competence in the demonstration of quantitative skills also requires that students
have the confidence to exercise their knowledge (Taylor & Galligan, 2006). One of the solutions
involves providing students with tools to perform a self-assessment of their own improvement. In a
study conducted at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, the researcher postulated that math
skills are more than an understanding of the concepts and highlighted the importance of student
confidence (Bahls, 2009).
An important aspect to note is that the interventions utilized should be focused on building the
students' confidence in their ability to demonstrate quantitative skills. Pajares and Miller (1995) stated,
"Students' confidence to solve mathematics problems was a more powerful predictor of their ability to
solve those problems than was their confidence to perform math-related tasks or their confidence to
earn As or Bs in math-related courses."
Approach
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods - DE Oracle
The team identified sources, tools, examples, tutorials, and other materials that could be posted in
each of the classrooms to acquaint the students with the knowledge needed for successful completion
of PMAN 639, PMAN 650, and TMAN 625. This included statistical packages, online tutorials, quizzes,
and free finance and accounting software. Access to the intervention material was posted in each
course section by the faculty member assigned to teach the class, directing the students to make
maximum use of the material.
In the first week of the course, the students were surveyed, facilitating the creation of a benchmark of
the students' understanding of the required quantitative skills to be successful in the course and to
document the students' opinions of their own skill set and readiness. At the end of the semester, a
questionnaire was sent electronically to each student, collecting information on their use of the material
and from their perspectives, the benefits derived. The students also identified additional material and
resources that would be useful in future classes.
Survey Sample
We invited all students enrolled in the three selected courses to participate in the questionnaire. This
included 21 course sections with a total of 465 students. The result for Week 1 was an average
participation response rate of 58 percent. At Week 12, the enrollment was somewhat decreased with
434 present and 192 responding for a response rate of 45 percent. This decrease in the response rate
was expected since students' enthusiasm and energy level tend to decline from the first day of class
compared to the final week. Selected questions with finite answers and associated responses from
Week 1 and Week 12 are presented below. Open-ended questions were also asked and are
incorporated within the Conclusions section. The finite response data are summarized in a table by
each course, by all finance and accounting courses, and then by all courses. All results were then
analyzed and interpreted. The results for the Week 1 and Week 12 number and percentage of survey
responses are summarized below in Table 1.
Courses/Subject
Matter
Week 1 Week 1 Week 12 Week 12
Enrollment Respondents Enrollment Respondents
Number % Number %
TMAN 625 277 151 55 258 115 45
PMAN 650 78 46 59 73 34 47
PMAN 639 110 68 62 101 43 43
Finance/accounting 355 197 56 331 149 45
All 465 268 58 434 192 45
Table 1. Summary of respondents
Survey Results
Week 1 Responses
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods - DE Oracle
The Week 1 survey included the following questions for students to answer:
Question 1: What level of quantitative skills do you think are a necessary requirement for an
adequate graduate education?
Question 2: Currently, at what level would you rate your own quantitative skills?
Table 2 below shows that for Question 1, clearly a majority of the students felt that they were well or
very well prepared for the class in question. According to the responses to Question 2 in Table 2, on
average, students believed that their quantitative skills were good. Students taking the finance and
accounting courses (TMAN 625 and PMAN 650) felt that their quantitative skills were better than those
taking a course that required the use of standard statistical tests (PMAN 639). TMAN 625 is part of the
core degree program and is taken among the first courses. PMAN 650 is part of the specialization and is
taken later in the students' academic career. For most students, it is the second course in finance and
accounting.
More than 59% of the students had already taken a course in accounting, finance, or statistics, mostly
in undergraduate school, while 21% had taken such a course in graduate school. That left 18% with no
preparation in finance, accounting, or statistics. Another question addressed the knowledge the
students acquired and the grades they secured in taking a prior course in accounting, finance, or
statistics. As many as 84% of the students who took such a course reported excellent or passing
grades.
After reviewing the syllabus, 95% of the students felt they would pass the class based upon their
current knowledge, and 60% indicated that they would not consider taking a preparatory course if
offered.
Excellent Good Fair
Required Own Required Own Required Own
PMAN 639 43% 7% 50% 56% 7% 37%
PMAN 650 39% 26% 54% 61% 7% 13%
TMAN 625 48% 20% 49% 63% 5% 17%
All Finance/Accounting 46% 23% 49% 68% 5% 17%
All 45% 18% 49% 61% 6% 22%
Table 2. Week 1 survey results, in which students rated the level of quantitative skills needed and a
self-assessment of their own quantitative skills
Week 12 Responses
At the completion of the course, the students concluded that they did very well (35%) or reasonably
well (57%). Of all the resources made available to the students, the generic information (examples,
definitions, cases) was the most utilized, followed by tutorials and software packages.
The final questionnaire included these two questions:
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods - DE Oracle
Question 4: If you utilized the resources and information posted in the course content section,
did it improve your confidence in your ability to do the quantitative assignments?
Question 5: If you utilized the resources and information posted in the course content section,
did you find it helpful in your completing the actual quantitative assignments?
According to the responses in Table 3, students reported a dramatic improvement in their confidence
and ability to perform the quantitative assignments. It should be noted that improvement in confidence
is probably as valuable as improvements in skills and performance. The students who took advantage
of the posted material reported that it was useful. This result encourages us to look for more varied,
extensive, and easier-to-use resources for the future.
Improve Confidence Helpful in Assignments
Yes No
Did
Not
Use
Yes
Yes, but
not worth
the
additional
work
No
Did
Not
Use
PMAN 639 61% 20% 18% 55% 11% 14% 20%
PMAN 650 53% 18% 29% 48% 12% 6% 33%
TMAN 625 80% 12% 8% 78% 9% 7% 6%
Finance /
Accounting
74% 14% 13% 71% 10% 7% 12%
All 71% 15% 14% 68% 10% 8% 14%
Table 3. Week 12 survey results, in which students rated their confidence levels and the helpfulness of
the interventions
Conclusions
From the students' perspective, the identified interventions provided benefit and value to those who
took advantage of the resources. Given this benefit, students wanted more examples from the
professor and from the textbooks. In the open-ended survey questions, some students stated that an
in-class mentor would be beneficial. The conclusion derived from this information and other
open-ended comments is that even when students feel confident in their ability to perform the
calculations, they often need help in determining when to use specific formulas. Although the math
itself was an issue at times, knowing when to use the formulas and which formula to use for solving
different problems was of greater concern. Tutorials supplemented by videos showing step-by-step
usage of the formulas may be of great benefit. The videos should not be stand-alone but be put into
context via incorporation into real-life scenarios.
One potential follow-up to this research could be to correlate the student results to actual performance
outcomes or grades. This would provide an indication of what effect the expression of student
confidence has on performance. In the absence of this correlation, it was concluded that given the low
Improving Knowledge of Quantitative Methods - DE Oracle
cost and scalability, this solution was practical and effective based upon student confidence and their
self-assessments.
References
Aud S., Hussar W., Kena G., Bianco, K., Frohlich, L., Kemp, J., & Tahan, K. (2011). The condition of
education 2011 (NCES 2011-033). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics.
Bahls, P., (2009). Math and metaphor: Using poetry to teach college mathematics. The WAC Journal.
75-90.
Fike, D.S., & R. Fike. (2008). Predictors of first-year student retention in the community college.
Community College Review 36(2), 68-88.
Taylor, J., & Galligan, L., (2006). Mathematics for maths anxious tertiary students: Integrating the
cognitive and affective domains using interactive multimedia. Literacy & Numeracy Studies, 15(1),
23-43.
Pajares, F., & Miller., M.D. (1995). Mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics performances: The need
for specificity of assessment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 42(2), 190-198
Planty, M., Hussar W., Snyder, T., Provasnik, S., Kena, G., Dinkes, R., KewalRamani, A., & Kemp, J.
(2008). The Condition of Education 2008 (NCES 2008-031). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
About the Author(s)
Dr. Rudy J. Watson serves as a collegiate professor and program director of Technology Management (TMAN) courses in the
Information and Technology Systems department of The Graduate School at UMUC. He is a PMI Certified Project Management
Professional with over 36 years of broad and diverse experience in information technology, including 33 years with IBM. Dr.
Watson holds a PhD in Logistics, Technology and Project Management, an MS in Project Management, an MBA in Information
Systems Technology, and a BBA in Information Processing, all from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Dr. Robert Ouellette is a scientist and a teacher active for the last 40 years. He has a bachelor’s degree and PhD in Biology, as
well as an MBA. He began his career as an experimental scientist in biophysics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts
General Hospital. From there, he moved to Hazleton Laboratories and then to the MITRE Corporation, where he rose to be a
program director and for the next 15 years worked for both U.S. government and European agencies. Subsequently, he
worked for a number of environmental firms. In the last 16 year he has been a full collegiate professor in The Graduate
School of UMUC as a program director and department chair. Dr. Ouellette developed and managed several programs,
notably: Technology Management; Biotechnology; E-Business; the Project Management Specialization; and Environment
Management. He has published over 50 books and hundreds of articles.
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Alleviating Writing Assignment Stress through EWC and Library Guest Lecturers - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Alleviating Writing Assignment Stress through EWC and Library Guest
Lecturers
Marlene Wilcox
Adjunct Professor
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: January-February 2012
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-tools
Introduction
During the past several semesters of teaching ITEC 610 Foundations of Information Technology (a core
course in the Master of Science in Information Technology degree program), I have found that one of
the best ways to help myself and my students with the often-stressful process of writing a research
paper is to use the services provided by guest lecturers from UMUC's Effective Writing Center
(EWC) (https://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/) and the Library (http://www.umuc.edu/library/) . These guest
lecturers are available for both online and face-to-face courses throughout the semester. My experience
with these guest lecturers in an online setting has been very positive-and the quality of my students'
work has demonstrated that the services were indeed helpful to them.
Why Use Guest Lecturers?
We all want our students to be good writers and be able to clearly demonstrate their knowledge and
understanding on a particular topic. Oftentimes, this is accomplished through a research paper. These
types of assignments can produce their own set of issues for instructors, such as needing to anticipate
some of the questions and concerns students will have and pointing them to useful resources. Providing
appropriate examples for students to follow and then critically reviewing each student paper are other
time-consuming tasks that many of us might prefer to not have to do.
Now put yourself in the shoes of some of your students when they learn that they have to prepare a
major writing assignment for your class:
It is the first week of class. You eagerly log in to your online classroom to download the course syllabus. It
has been a while since you have taken a course, and you are a little anxious to see the course
requirements. As you peruse the syllabus links, you notice one called Project Descriptions, and you quickly
click on it to see what projects you are going to have to complete during the semester. You start to read
the list of items: examinations, class participation....Then you sigh, your heart sinks, you start to perspire,
and your anxiety level increases as you read the next item: research paper. The description states that the
paper needs to be 10-12 pages long with references from five peer-reviewed journals and formatted in APA
style. You have never used APA style and are not quite sure how to determine if a journal is peer
reviewed. Now, you start to feel thoroughly sick....
This scenario may not happen exactly this way for all students taking a graduate course online, but it
could very well represent what some students experience as they come to grips with the anxiety
associated with making the transition to graduate school and writing at a graduate level. Fortunately
for students and faculty alike, UMUC resources are available to help remove some of the unknowns and
alleviate some of the stressors associated with writing a research paper.
In an online class, the visits from the guest lecturers take place as a week-long conference session
during which the students are provided with topics that aid them in understanding how to conduct
research and write papers. Students are encouraged to ask questions, and in my experience, they
Alleviating Writing Assignment Stress through EWC and Library Guest Lecturers - DE Oracle
seem comfortable doing so. For instance, one student posted the following comment in an EWC
session:
Thanks! This session was very helpful. I think I am ready to really start on my research paper.
I do have couple questions, however:
1. To write a sizzling introduction, is it OK to start with some fictitious story that I made up? Or does it have
to be a fact? 2. If my source is in electronic format (like PDF or HTML) and I don't have the page number
for a direct quotation, can I omit the page number in my in-text citation?
Another student asked:
What's the rule around using some famous quotes in general, and WISDOM quotes in particular? ... Do I
just use it inside the text as in-text quotation, and not include it in the reference list, or do I have to find
the book or novel where the above quotation is cited, and include it in the reference list?
In the Library discussion sessions, students also seemed to feel at ease asking the librarian for
clarification on items about which they are unclear. Some of the questions that have been posted in
past sessions with the librarians include:
In order to take a position on my topic I would like to research articles that compare and contrast. I would
also like to search articles with statistical data. What would be the best searching technique? Is there a way
to choose articles and save them for referencing?
How would you classify resources such as reports from groups such as the Gartner Group? Are these
considered scholarly?
Question for you regarding your statement to put dates for 'popular magazines': what is the dividing line
between journal and popular magazine? Is there a black and white line to delineate where one uses just
volume and issue vs. including the month in the citation?
Is it absolutely necessary to always have at least one book in every research paper?
I had a question regarding citations of articles without a DOI. In the case that the reference is found
through a research database, would APA style dictate you cite that you retrieved it from that service, or
from the publication holding the copyright as presented in the conference topic on Plagiarism avoidance?
I have found that students use these special conference sessions to present questions to the guest
lecturers that they normally would not ask me. By providing this type of forum for students, it is clearly
helping them become more comfortable with their abilities to successfully complete the writing
assignment.
Strategies for Success
One of my strategies for successful guest lecturer sessions is to schedule the Library session early in
the course so that the students can learn about the Library resources and have an opportunity to start
researching articles for their papers. I also schedule the Library session to occur before the EWC
session so that the students have articles they can use in their EWC session, where one of the
exercises assigned by the lecturer is for the students to begin writing introductions for their papers.
Another key to successful sessions for me has been asking the guest lecturers to include required
exercises if they have not already done so. I also count the students' participation in these sessions
and completion of the exercises for the week's conference participation. These methods encourage full
participation in the guest lecturer sessions. I have found that students readily join in these sessions
and find them beneficial. On occasion, I have had students notify me that they are taking, or have
already taken, the required Introduction to Graduate Library Research Skills course. In turn, I have
pointed out to them that our session provides a good opportunity for review and reinforcement-and
they usually have agreed.
Alleviating Writing Assignment Stress through EWC and Library Guest Lecturers - DE Oracle
Benefits
I believe these conference sessions help the students overcome the fear and procrastination that
normally accompanies written assignments because they force students to actually start work on their
papers. The students have to progress through the discussion threads posted in the conferences
(watching videos, reading information, completing exercises, and posting comments), begin to find
sources, and write parts of the paper (for example, an introduction or abstract)-all of which lead them
to become mobilized by the process and thereby help minimize the paralyzing writer's block commonly
associated with writing a paper.
While UMUC offers excellent resources and assistance to students on a 24/7 basis through the Library
and the EWC, I believe that the focused conference sessions provide students with additional
opportunity for a good introduction to and awareness of the research and writing resources available to
them.
In one of the conference sessions, a student asked the EWC guest lecturer how long the EWC had been
around; when the guest lecturer responded with the number of years the EWC had been in existence,
the student replied:
Thank you for the information. I wish I had known about this sooner; I could have used the help in previous
classes. Anyway, I am glad I know about it now and look forward to using it. Thank you for all the help.
In response to a video clip in a conference thread posted by the Library guest lecturer, another student
commented:
Thank you for posting all of the material. This is my first time really using the library resources at UMUC,
and I have found this information very useful in getting acquainted with what is available. Most of my
previous courses were technical courses that didn't utilize the library. I was amazed at the amount of
material, such as e-books, that were available.
Another student commenting on the discussion about different search techniques stated:
I found this posting to be very helpful in searching the library databases. I particularly found the video on
searching tips and techniques to be very informative. I'm accustomed to searching by keywords; I am
definitely going to use the techniques from that video. Searching by subject terms, within a library
database, will broaden my research as well as enrich my paper.
In short, my students have found the guest lecturer sessions from both the EWC and the Library to be
useful in tackling all aspects of the "dreaded" research paper writing requirement, from effective
research to reference selection to proper citation to tying everything together into a well-thought out,
cohesive whole.
Since I have added these sessions to my course, I have found that research paper submissions have
improved and students feel more confident about their work. Using these two resources allows me to
focus on teaching and ensuring that my students understand the technical content of the course.
Scheduling a guest lecturer from the EWC or Library is a simple process and one that I highly
recommend instructors to pursue. I believe once you give it a try, you and your students will be very
pleased with the outcome!
Editor's Note: To review the types of materials that EWC guest lecturers use to assist students, visit
the EWC Website (http://effectivewritingcenter.org/) . The EWC prefers to visit classrooms one or two weeks
before a writing assignment is due to assist students while they are working on the assignment. To set
up a guest lecture with the EWC for your classroom, please send e-mail to Michelle Bowman
(mailto:[email protected]) , Guest Lecture Coordinator, one to two weeks in advance, as the schedule fills
up quickly. Guidelines for requesting Library instruction are available at the Library Services Website
(https://www.umuc.edu/library/libabout/instruction.cfm) . The Library Instruction Request form
Alleviating Writing Assignment Stress through EWC and Library Guest Lecturers - DE Oracle
Contact Site Manager
Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction
© University of Maryland University College
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(https://www.umuc.edu/library/libservices/instructionrequest.cfm) is also located at the Library Services Website.
About the Author(s)
Marlene Wilcox is an adjunct professor in UMUC's Graduate School. She has been teaching courses online for over eight years.
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Leonardo Da Vinci: Drawing his drawings in the presence of his drawings at Windsor Castle and the British Museum
No full textBy making drawings of his drawings an interdisciplinary approach combining studio art with art history became an exciting way for one of my generation to meet this challenge of reinterpreting Leonardo Da Vinci and his art. He is known for his extraordinary intelligence and skills in each of his cerebral hemispheres individually. We should now consider to think of him as one who gracefully and fluidly used both of his cerebral hemispheres simultaneously. In addition to studying the drawings and making drawings after them, I also read nearly all of the relevant and important literature regarding Leonardo Da Vinci’s life and work.Leonardo Da Vinci
Drawing His Drawings in the Presence of His Drawings
At Windsor Castle
And
The British Museum
Richard C. Gruetter © 2012 Prints and Drawings Department The British Museum Child and Cat TBM 99 Verso Profile of a Man TBM 111 Male Nude Michelangelo WRL 421 Verso Nude Man TBM 110 Windsor Castle Windsor no. 12363 After a reproduction of Windsor no. 12363 After the Original WRL 12363 After the Original WRL 12363 After the Original WRL 12363 After the Original WRL 12363 Winsor 12331 Inscription on the drawing “Landscape of the Arno River Valley” Uffizi, Florence After the Original WRL 12331 Hurricane over Horsemen and Trees WRL 12376 After the original WRL 12376 After the original WRL 12376 The British Museum Rider on a Rearing Horse Fighting a Dragon The British Museum 1952-10-11-2 After the Original TBM 1952-10-11-2 After the Original Abdomen and Left Leg Of A Nude Man Standing In Profile TBM 112 After the Original Military Machines TBM 10
Assessing the applicability and utility of the megacommunity model: a case study in law enforcement information sharing and applicability to broader issues of intelligence management
No full textThe purpose of this project was to begin an assessment of the extent to which the practical solutions offered by the Megacommunities model are relevant to the cross-boundary problems of intelligence management in the 21st Century. This project partially answers this question by applying the megacommunity model to the R-IX Project, assessing the degree of congruence between the R-IX Project and the model, describing where the project and the model deviate, and suggesting where changes to the Project and/or the model may be warranted. The findings suggest that the megacommunity model should be institutionalized within the INMS curriculum and further suggests the potential utility of related research in the IC, thereby enhancing the visibility and relevance of UMUC in this evolving environment.1
Assessing the Applicability and Utility of the Megacommunity Model: A Case Study in Law Enforcement Information Sharing and Applicability to Broader Issues of Intelligence Management
Principal Investigator: Dr. Thomas McWeeney Submitted: September 20, 2012
Overview
Megacommunities. In their pioneering book, Megacommunities, Mark Gerencser, Reginald Van Lee, Fernando Napolitano, and Christopher Kelly, set forth an innovative framework for addressing the increasingly complex and seemingly intractable issues confounding 21st Century leaders. The authors suggest that the “enormous complexity” of problems that manifest themselves across traditional borders, jurisdictions, and sectors have rendered a linear approach to strategy and problem solving ineffective and produced a “generalized negative effect on leadership”. Progress, they suggest, will only occur when the three broad sectors of contemporary society - government, civil society, and private business – recognize that they share both the vulnerability associated with these intractable problems as well as a mutual stake in and responsibility for overcoming them.
The US Intelligence Community. This assessment is highly relevant to the Intelligence Community (IC), in which high value results are necessarily the product of the fusion of knowledge among many organizations, sectors, and sources. Since 9/11, the IC has struggled with the need to effect a far greater degree of collaboration and horizontal integration than has traditionally characterized US intelligence operations, but has not developed the leadership model required to guide or enable such efforts.
Information Sharing. Of specific concern have been the extraordinary difficulties that have limited the success of the post 9/11 mandate to increase the sharing of information among federal, state and local agencies of government. Nowhere have the results been more problematic than in the decade-long effort to improve the sharing of information among the nation’s 20,000 state and local law enforcement agencies. The information in the collective position of these agencies is of critical importance to federal intelligence officials responsible for understanding and mitigating threats to US national security; yet, it remains unavailable to them.
This problem is currently being addressed under the leadership of the Sheriff of Orange County, California and key Sheriffs and Police Chiefs from the four western states that make up FEMA Region IX. The Region, who are providing the collective leadership required to successfully plan and oversee the implementation of a regional information sharing system. Known as the “Region IX Information Sharing Project”, this effort was initiated by a grant from the US Department of Justice to assess the effectiveness of the collective leadership model and its proposed technical solution. Despite a significant budget reduction in early 2012, the R-IX leadership is continuing to pursue its objectives.
UMUC’s Intelligence Management Program. The issues raised by the authors of Megacommunities is highly relevant to UMUC’s new Intelligence Management Studies INMS) program, which includes information sharing as among the most significant, growing, and unresolved problems confronting IC leadership. UMUC’s INMS courses place great emphasis on conveying an understanding of the many entities and equities associated with effective leadership in the IC and the issues and challenges that must be fully understood and effectively addressed. Among these, information sharing is clearly among the most significant and challenging.
The purpose of this project was to begin an assessment of the extent to which the practical solutions offered by the Megacommunities model are relevant to the cross-boundary problems of intelligence management in the 21st Century. This project partially answers this question by applying the megacommunity model to the R-IX Project, assessing the degree of congruence between the R-IX Project and the model, describing where the project and the model deviate, and suggesting where changes to the Project and/or the model may be warranted. The findings suggest that the megacommunity model should be institutionalized within the INMS curriculum and further suggests the potential utility of related research in the IC, thereby enhancing the visibility and relevance of UMUC in this evolving environment. 2
Methodology
Research Questions: Does the “megacommunity” model provide the Region IX Project with a process that will: (a) explain the causes of the region’s long standing information sharing problems; (b) provide a framework for overcoming the obstacles that have limited progress; (c) guide the development of practical near and long term solutions that will produce the demonstrable impact; and (d) suggest an approach for addressing other seemingly intractable areas of intelligence management.
The research was conducted, using a participant/observer approach, by Dr. Thomas McWeeney, Executive Director of the Public Leadership Institute (PLI) and an adjunct professor in UMUC’s Intelligence Management Program. Information was gathered from three primary sources: (1) the direct experiences of Dr. McWeeney, who was the project and grant manager throughout the project, recorded in internal memos and notes; (2) discussions with the ELC members, federal officials, and individuals from the private sector; and (3) discussion forums with relevant businesses and project working groups. In addition to the participants, Dr. McWeeney met with people from 24 organizations -- 11 from government agencies and 13 from the private sector.
The assessment was conducted by identifying the salient attributes of the model as they were described throughout the pages of the book. Based on extended discussion with the project’s leadership and his own experience, Dr. McWeeney determined whether or not, or at what level, the megacommunity attributes were present were present in the R-IX project. The overall assessment was reviewed and received the concurrence of ELC Chair, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.
Findings: The Performance Issue and Application to the IC
The R-IX model only partially adhered to the standards of the megacommunity model as only 62% of the characteristics of the model were partially or fully present. The attributes focusing on the collective leadership of the project were clearly viewed as positive. The R-IX project did not reflect 38% of the critical elements of the model, especially those involving full collaboration with the business sector and those stakeholders who were opposed to the project’s approach.
The R-IX project disclosed some possible limitations in the applicability of the model to cross-boundary projects involving large bureaucracies. The most significant problems experienced by the R-IX project were not fully addressed by the megacommunity model, specifically:
Institutional Barriers: Federal agencies were reluctant to apply grant funds to the non-profit after the initial investment, thereby compromising its role as the project facilitator. The internal processes as well as the culture and the politics of both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security favored funding the participating jurisdictions directly. But the participating agencies mandated the role of the non-profit as the fiduciary, the project manager, and the neutral facilitator, also for political reasons. This disagreement was among the primary reasons that funding was not renewed after the initial grant, and proved to be a major barrier that was not directly addressed in the megacommunity model.
Intractable Opposition: The R-IX Project was undermined by rivalry among agency staff, stakeholders and those who were vested in maintaining the status quo. Those who opposed the project were not part of the leadership saw their role in information sharing greatly diminished with the personal engagement of the leader and the involvement of PLI as facilitator. Their resistance did not stop the project, but slowed it considerably.
Lack of Business Incentive: Several private sector stakeholders were offered the opportunity to participate in an advisory role in the project, and each declined, though each expressed a great interest in the project’s objectives and approach. Each company’s representative specifically indicated that their 3
participation must be viewed as likely produce short term added revenue. Three of the companies suggested that they would consider only an “exclusive” role in the project. The clear requirement for private gain set the business community apart from the ELC on this project. The model does not address this obstacle.
Lack of a Performance Imperative: Perhaps most importantly, the megacommunities’ model appears to fall short when a specific level of performance is required to differentiate the project, or to overcome opposition, or to require definitive actions or time frames. For Region IX, success included non-negotiable critical success factors, such as requiring “all legally sharable data” to be shared by each participant. But the megacommunity model emphasizes “negotiation” as a cardinal principle. Integrating the preferences and capabilities of many stakeholders and their preferred technical solutions could have been accomplished – but at the expense of the “performance imperative” that defined project success. The megacommunity model does not address the inherent conflict between “negotiation” and “performance”, and, does not provide a vehicle for a command decision.
Answers to the Research Questions: (1) The Model provided insight into the causes of problems not previously known; (2)The Model’s framework did not conclusively address many of the Region IX Project’s intractable obstacles. (3) Effective solutions were not evident from the Model or previous applications. (4)The Megacommunity Model would be relevant to future IC projects where there is a general consensus on limited objectives, a shared process and an identified funding source.
Conclusions and Application to the IC and the INMS Program
The Region IX Project might have faired marginally better had the leadership revised its approaches to more closely adhere to the megacommunity model. However, the model does not account for institutional barriers, intractable opposition, the lack of a business incentive, or a non-negotiable performance imperative – all of which were a significant barrier to success in the R-IX Project.
Nonetheless, the model is relevant to the INMS curriculum and is properly included in the Leadership Seminar, INMS 660. It properly identifies the leadership void in this critically important sector, and its emphasis on creating areas of common interest is appropriate for many projects and initiatives. Moreover, it could provide UMUC students with the challenge of researching innovative ways to improve the relevance and salience of the model, and hence its applicability to the IC.
The issues associated with the R-IX Project are certain to be faced in any effort to create a collaborative leadership project within the Intelligence Community. Unless the model can incorporate ways to overcome the critical obstacles, the utility of the megacommunity model in the Intelligence Community will be limited to areas in which a general consensus is pre-existing. Research efforts should continue to try to find areas within the IC where the model does apply, because of the obvious value of and need for collaboration among the agencies in the IC, and the emphasis that UMUC’s INMS curriculum places on leadership and collaboration in the IC. The vast differences in mission, culture, workforce, requirements, and approach to intelligence are a cause for concern, if the findings of this project are valid, but the model provides the leadership role necessary to over come these barriers.
Optimal application of the megacommunity model to the IC should be limited to various sub-groups of the IC, and may have to focus on areas in which there is a general consensus in the problems, no vested interest in a specific solution, and shared view of the role of intelligence. Such a sub-group could include the intelligence programs within federal law enforcement agencies, which share a distinct environment, culture and approach, but have vast differences in many areas. The value of the megacommunity model is in the emphasis that it places on collective leadership to address complex issues that cannot be addressed by any single entity. This certainly is worth exploring in future research
Breast cancer gene patent case heads back To appeals court
No full textThe U.S. Supreme Court has ordered a federal appeals court to review its decision to grant patents to Myriad Genetics for two genes that are predictive for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. In July 2011, a federal appeals court upheld Myriad Genetics’ gene patent eligibility—involving tests on isolated DNA in the BRCA 1 and 2 genes. The ACLU appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. ince beginning their BRAC Analysis testing in 1996, Myriad has more recently added a second, related, patent-protected test called BART. The BART test, so far, is not widely covered by any insurance, yet is deemed essential by many genetic counselors for those identified at risk for these cancers.Breast Cancer Gene Patent Case Heads Back To Appeals Court
by Barbara Puffer | Mar 27, 2012 9:03 am
http://c-hit.newhavenindependent.org//health/entry/breast_cancer_gene_patent_case_heads_back_to_appeals_court/
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered a federal appeals court to review its decision to grant patents to Myriad Genetics for two genes that are predictive for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
A lawsuit, challenging the patenting of BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation, on behalf of 20 plaintiffs, representing more than 150,000 interested parties. One of the individual plaintiffs is Ellen Matloff of New Haven, a research scientist in genetics at the Yale School of Medicine and director of Cancer Genetic Counseling at the Yale Cancer Center.
The suit challenged Myriad’s right to patent genes and set prices that “lock out” some women from getting the test. The suit claims that the patents unfairly limit both scientific research and patient options for genetic testing, and raises broad legal and ethical questions under the First Amendment about whether genes are “products of nature” or commercial commodities. (To read previous story on the case click here.)
In July 2011, a federal appeals court upheld Myriad Genetics’ gene patent eligibility—involving tests on isolated DNA in the BRCA 1 and 2 genes. The ACLU appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
This week’s order comes after a recent high court ruling that a blood test developed by Prometheus Laboratories of California, was not eligible for a patent because it was a “simple application of a law of nature.”
“In light of recent rulings from the court that mere laws of nature cannot be patented, we hope that the lower court will come to the correct conclusion this time around,” said Chris Hansen, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “It’s inconceivable that a company can own a patent on something as naturally occurring as DNA.”
“Preventing the free flow of ideas regarding genetic testing is not only unlawful, it is dangerous to patients,” said Sandra Park, staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project.
Peter Meldrum, president and CEO of defendant Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City, said in a statement posted on Myriad’s website that the company is “... prepared to vigorously defend the patent claims granted to Myriad by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and believe that we will be successful.” Meldrum doesn’t believe the ruling will have any direct impact to Myriad and its operations because of their “extensive patent estate” and because “...it has great importance to the medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other commercial industries, as well as the hundreds of millions of people whose lives are bettered by the products these industries develop based on the promise of strong patent protection.”
Daniel B. Ravicher, executive director of Public Patent Foundation and co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said, “Nobody ‘invents’ genes, so no one should be able to claim ownership of them. We are not talking about a new drug or a new tool to fight cancer. We are talking about a genetic marker that occurs naturally in the human body. That cannot, and should not, be patented.”
For women who have had breast or ovarian cancer before the age of 50, and/or have an immediate family member who has had one of these cancers, the BRCA 1 and BRAC 2 genetic test could be a lifesaver. Yet many uninsured and underinsured candidates are finding Myriad’s monopoly testing costs out of reach.
Connecticut has the second highest incidence of female breast cancer in the nation – with 2,920 new breast cancer cases diagnosed in 2008—and ranks 35th in the nation for breast cancer mortality. The U.S Preventive Services Task Force estimates that 2 percent of all women – or about 2,700 of the uninsured women in Connecticut—are likely candidates for the BRAC Analysis test. Precautions can be taken by those who know they have the mutation.
Research shows that 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are in people who have inherited BRCA mutations. The mutations can signal a 60 to 85 percent lifetime risk for more than one primary breast cancer, and a 15 to 50 percent lifetime risk for ovarian cancer. The risk statistics for the general population are 12.2 percent for breast cancer, and 1.4 percent for ovarian cancer.
The testing also detects risk in men. If a man’s sister or mother has the BRCA 1 or BRAC 2 mutation, he has a 50 percent chance of also having it. Men carrying the mutation have a 6 to 7 percent chance of having male breast cancer, compared to less than 1 percent in the general population.
Since beginning their BRAC Analysis testing in 1996, Myriad has more recently added a second, related, patent-protected test called BART. The BART test, so far, is not widely covered by any insurance, yet is deemed essential by many genetic counselors for those identified at risk for these cancers.
Tags: Myriad, BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, ACLU lawsuit, patents on breast and ovarian cancer genes, health
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The non-profit Connecticut Health Investigative Team [C-HIT] is dedicated to producing original, responsible, in-depth journalism on issues of health and safety, in Connecticut and the surrounding region.
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A team of award-winning journalists, based in Connecticut, who have come together to provide the public with informative stories about health, safety and medical issues. C-HIT is a web-based news service that serves three main purposes:
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Barbara Puffer is a college professor and award-winning writer and communications consultant. She began her career as a Hartford Times and New Haven Register reporter. An accredited business communicator, she spent 25 years in corporate communications. She has been writing and consulting since 1998 for clients in industry, health care, insurance, and non-profit organizations. An adjunct associate professor and communications course chairperson for University of Maryland University College since 2002, she received the 2011 Faculty Recognition Award. She is a International Association of Business Communicators Fellow. Contact her at [email protected]
Faster than fast: Attaining warp speed turnaround times for ILL in a distance education environment
No full textILL service operated without regular review of technology or workflow. Patron needs and management goals were not met as a result.Problem
Our ILL service operated without regular review of technology or workflow. Patron needs and management goals were not met as a result.
Faster Than Fast: Attaining Warp Speed Turnaround Times for ILL in a Distance Education Environment Mark de Jong & Ryan Shepard University of Maryland University College
Proposed solution
Licensing of an ILL management tool was a catalyst for creating a new service model:
The PPPI Initiative:
1) Create a Patrons first perspective.
2) Professionally cultivate the People working providing service
3) Continually streamline the workflow Process
4) Maximize IT within the workflow.
Practical steps taken
Prioritized patron needs over staff needs.
Introduced standardized measurement of turnaround time.
Prioritized intelligence, drive, and customer-focus over previous experience in hiring.
Cultivated staff skills and autonomy to foster innovative problem-solving.
Cross-trained staff and prioritized service quality over static job descriptions.
Added Web form / link resolver to minimize data entry and speed processing.
Leveraged ILLiad to unify previous disconnected ILL software.
Developed APIs to streamline workflow.
Used knowledge management software to collaborate and consolidate documentation.
Recommendations:
Prioritize patron needs / expectations in developing services and workflow.
Cross-train all staff and flatten hierarchy.
Mandate professional development and encourage staff autonomy.
Value and utilize the innovation and insights of all staff.
Know the full potential of your IT and maximize it.
Use IT to rigorously streamline workflow, and to remove barriers to service.
Treat organizational structure and workflow as continuous works in process.
Average Borrowing Turnaround Time in Days by Semester / Year
Results References
Beaubien, A.K., & Stevens, P. (2008). “Rethinking resource sharing,” Resource Sharing &
Information Networks, 19(1-2), 3-14.
Diffin, J., Chirombo, F., Nangle, D., & de Jong, M.E. (2010). A point to share: Streamlining
access services workflow through online collaboration, communication, and storage with
Microsoft SharePoint. Journal of Web Librarianship, 4(2), 225-237.
Jackson, M.E. (2004). Assessing ILL/DD services: New cost-effective alternatives. Washington,
DC: Association of Research Libraries.
Felix, A. (2004). Wesley K. Clark: A biography. New York, NY: William Morrow.
McClelland, D.C. (1987). Human motivation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Mumford, M.D., Zaccaro, S.J., Harding, F.D., Jacobs, T.O., & Fleishman, E.A. (2000).
Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The Leadership
Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35.
Zaccaro, S.J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6-16