No description available.

<p>This work concerns ethics applied to computer technology, emphasizing the use of this technology within organizations. Computer technology has created the possibility to do things not possible before, for good and bad. Ethical reasoning can be used as a tool to provide guidance, in order to create Computerized Information Systems (CIS) that are sustainable with respect to the ethical demands that can be put upon them.</p><p>If one wants to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS, it is reasonable that ethical issues should be taken account of in systems development. As a general methodology for developing a CIS, the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) will be examined. The SDLC is the place and moment when it is possible to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS.</p><p>This work will focus on, and try to explain, what characteristics are necessary in order to be able to apply ethical considerations to a methodology. This is done by examining five methodologies adopting the SDLC. It will also be examined how the three major ethical theories utilitarianism, deontologism and rights ethics will affect the SDLC, and thus eventually a CIS being implemented.</p><p>The outcome of this work are that there are limited possibilities of integrating ethical considerations into methodologies adopting a hard system approach, compared to those adopting a soft one. The ethical standards of a CIS must be established early on in the SDLC. Integration of ethical issues requires a system approach to be applied in the SDLC. Participation becomes an important feature of systems development in order to adopt ethical reasoning. The different ethical theories will put different emphasis on the group or the individual in systems development.</p>

No description available.

This work concerns ethics applied to computer technology, emphasizing the use of this technology within organizations. Computer technology has created the possibility to do things not possible before, for good and bad. Ethical reasoning can be used as a tool to provide guidance, in order to create Computerized Information Systems (CIS) that are sustainable with respect to the ethical demands that can be put upon them. If one wants to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS, it is reasonable that ethical issues should be taken account of in systems development. As a general methodology for developing a CIS, the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) will be examined. The SDLC is the place and moment when it is possible to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS. This work will focus on, and try to explain, what characteristics are necessary in order to be able to apply ethical considerations to a methodology. This is done by examining five methodologies adopting the SDLC. It will also be examined how the three major ethical theories utilitarianism, deontologism and rights ethics will affect the SDLC, and thus eventually a CIS being implemented. The outcome of this work are that there are limited possibilities of integrating ethical considerations into methodologies adopting a hard system approach, compared to those adopting a soft one. The ethical standards of a CIS must be established early on in the SDLC. Integration of ethical issues requires a system approach to be applied in the SDLC. Participation becomes an important feature of systems development in order to adopt ethical reasoning. The different ethical theories will put different emphasis on the group or the individual in systems development.

A tecnologia Web foi criada como forma de divulgar o conhecimento científico, mas tem sido utilizada também como mecanismo de acesso a vários tipos de sistemas de informação empresariais assim como de comunicação entre eles, gerando diversas oportunidades de negócios para as organizações. Os sistemas de informação baseados na tecnologia Web (SIW) possuem características que permitem supor que seu desenvolvimento apresenta diferenças com relação ao de sistemas não Web. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi levantar, através de um estudo exploratório de múltiplos casos, as questões relevantes ao desenvolvimento de sistemas de informação baseados na tecnologia Web que apóiam aplicações de negócios nas organizações. Para tanto, procuramos identificar as principais dificuldades e facilidades, as alterações sucedidas nas tarefas e na estrutura do desenvolvimento, assim como analisar a adoção de técnicas e metodologias. Esperamos ter contribuído para que as organizações possam aprimorar o desenvolvimento de SIW de forma a aproveitar ao máximo as oportunidades criadas pela tecnologia Web. / The Web technology was created to divulge the scientific knowledge, although it has been used as a way to access several types of business information systems as well as to facilitate the communication between them, generating many business opportunities for the organizations. Web-based information systems (WIS) have characteristics that allow us to assume their development is different from non-Web information systems. The objective of this research was to identify, through an exploratory multi-case study, the main questions about business Web-based information systems development. We have tried to identify the main difficulties and easiness, the changes occurred in development tasks and structure, and to analyze techniques and methodologies adoption. We hope we had contributed to allow organizations be able to improve the WIS development process in order to take the maximum advantage of the opportunities generated by Web technology.

A tecnologia Web foi criada como forma de divulgar o conhecimento científico, mas tem sido utilizada também como mecanismo de acesso a vários tipos de sistemas de informação empresariais assim como de comunicação entre eles, gerando diversas oportunidades de negócios para as organizações. Os sistemas de informação baseados na tecnologia Web (SIW) possuem características que permitem supor que seu desenvolvimento apresenta diferenças com relação ao de sistemas não Web. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi levantar, através de um estudo exploratório de múltiplos casos, as questões relevantes ao desenvolvimento de sistemas de informação baseados na tecnologia Web que apóiam aplicações de negócios nas organizações. Para tanto, procuramos identificar as principais dificuldades e facilidades, as alterações sucedidas nas tarefas e na estrutura do desenvolvimento, assim como analisar a adoção de técnicas e metodologias. Esperamos ter contribuído para que as organizações possam aprimorar o desenvolvimento de SIW de forma a aproveitar ao máximo as oportunidades criadas pela tecnologia Web. / The Web technology was created to divulge the scientific knowledge, although it has been used as a way to access several types of business information systems as well as to facilitate the communication between them, generating many business opportunities for the organizations. Web-based information systems (WIS) have characteristics that allow us to assume their development is different from non-Web information systems. The objective of this research was to identify, through an exploratory multi-case study, the main questions about business Web-based information systems development. We have tried to identify the main difficulties and easiness, the changes occurred in development tasks and structure, and to analyze techniques and methodologies adoption. We hope we had contributed to allow organizations be able to improve the WIS development process in order to take the maximum advantage of the opportunities generated by Web technology.

The majority of database system development projects end in failure. Reasons that include, the system not being developed on time, the system was developed over budget, and the system developed did not meet the planned project's criteria. These failures are compounded by the use of virtual teams which includes problems with team formation, the organizational environment in which the team operates, and the technology used for collaboration and communication. As more organizations use virtual teams, these problems have continued to impede the successful completion of database system development. The goal of the study was to determine what leadership type, transformational, transactional, or management-by-exception (passive-avoidant leadership) is most effective in leading a virtual team in developing a database management system. The target population for this study was Generation Y students at the Maine Business School who were assigned to virtual teams tasked with developing a database management system. Specifically this study answered these three research questions: 1) What is the effect of leadership type, as self-reported through the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire on the quality of completed team projects? 2) What is the impact of type of leadership on virtual team effectiveness as measured by the Virtual Teams Survey? 3) What is the joint effect of type of leadership, and virtual team effectiveness on the quality and uniqueness of the completed team project? Virtual team effectiveness was defined as the level of involvement in team formation, job characteristics, technical proficiency of team members, relationship between team members, teams process and attributes about the team leader, organizational environment in which the team operates, and technology the team used for collaboration and communication. The quality of the completed team project was defined as one that meets the team project criteria which included tables, relationships, forms, queries, and reports. Other attributes included the uniqueness of product defined by the addition of extra functions and controls added to the database system that go above and beyond the project criteria. The study found that for research question 1, only transformational and transactional leadership types had a significant and negative impact on the quality of completed team projects. Research question 2 found no significant correlation between leadership type and virtual team effectiveness. Research question 3 showed that none of the variables were significantly associated with the quality of the completed team project. These findings suggest that traditional concepts of leadership types do not work well in virtual environments.

Free energy techniques provide the basis for an analysis of aspects of the liquid-vapour interface undertaken in this study. The main focus of this work is an extensive theoretical investigation into properties of the surface tension, including curvature dependence and supersaturation effects, using Monte Carlo computer simulation techniques.

While the focus of this work is on turbo equalization, there is also an examination of equalization techniques including MMSE linear and DFE equalizers and Precoding. The losses and capacity associated with the ISI channel are also examined. Iterative decoding of concatenated codes is briefly reviewed and the MAP algorithm is explained.

This thesis is an exploration of why the development of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) systems (IS) does not include more humanistic issues. I argue that this exclusion is one reason for the annoying situation of users and organizations: we are forced to deal with poorly designed systems that cause major frustration. In this reflexive investigation I present theories, data, analysis and arguments in the form of a theatrical script. With the theatre metaphor I aim to make visible the ideological elements not only within IS acquisition but also within research, in particular HCI research. The thesis includes three studies performed during 2003-2005: two interview studies with a total of 47 interviews, and one field study with extensive observations and 22 interviews. The material was analyzed with a focus on power structures and the ways common sense is constructed within the discourses of Information Systems Development (ISD). The theoretical perspective is inspired by discourse theory, social constructionism, and reflexivity. The main argument is that ISD is pervaded by a truth construct in which rationality and logic constitutes the norm and everything else, including humans, becomes subordinate. In my analysis of the research material I see that user participation through informal “methods” and user representation does not lead to meaningful involvement; instead it adds to the power structures in which ICT expertise and technology determination are hegemonic. I distinguish several significant subjects within the discourses of ISD and argue that the ways they are construed and positioned relate to certain functions; for example ICT experts as authority and users as trouble makers both function to exclude users from ISD. HCI has an important role as a resistive discourse but to increase its impact we must refocus our attention on systems development, directing our efforts towards the procurers of ICT systems instead of trying to integrate human perspectives into the functional paradigm. / QC 20100913