Enron is examined as a critical case study to understand the role of information in the Enron’s Board’s decision-making processes. Three major events in the Enron failure were analyzed in detail using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified regarding the communication and use of information in Enron: interdependency of authority relationships, information control, and decision protocol and policies that shaped the information that management sent to the Board during the approval process. The Board was dependent on advisors to provide approvals first, prior to Board approval. The relationships between advisors and management influenced the information sent to the Board and affected controls used to monitor deals. The Board maintained that they were unaware of red flags, such as warnings related to incomplete disclosures and conflict of interest issues. The Board received information for arrangements which required Board approval but it had limited access to information regarding Enron’s operations.

Enron is examined as a critical case study to understand the role of information in the Enron’s Board’s decision-making processes. Three major events in the Enron failure were analyzed in detail using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified regarding the communication and use of information in Enron: interdependency of authority relationships, information control, and decision protocol and policies that shaped the information that management sent to the Board during the approval process. The Board was dependent on advisors to provide approvals first, prior to Board approval. The relationships between advisors and management influenced the information sent to the Board and affected controls used to monitor deals. The Board maintained that they were unaware of red flags, such as warnings related to incomplete disclosures and conflict of interest issues. The Board received information for arrangements which required Board approval but it had limited access to information regarding Enron’s operations.

Using a multimethod-multimodal approach, this study compared the contributions of executive function (EF) abilities (Go No-Go, Visual Search, 2-Back task, and Task Switching) to narrative comprehension tasks (False Belief, Strange Stories, Self-Reported Theory of Mind Inventory [TOMI-SR]) and a narrative production task (interpersonal decentering) in a sample of young adults. Separate regression models were conducted for each theory of mind (ToM) measure with EF measures as predictor variables and empirically selected demographic variables controlled. As expected, in this college student sample (N = 110), False Belief demonstrated a ceiling effect and was not associated with any EF ability. Task Switching and 2-Back accounted for significant variance in Strange Stories. No EF task significantly predicted performance on TOMI-SR or interpersonal decentering. Both story comprehension tasks (False Belief and Strange Stories) were significantly associated, but these tasks were not correlated with either self-reported ToM or interpersonal decentering. Several unanticipated demographic associations were found; having more siblings and English proficiency accounted for significant variability in Strange Stories; education, presence or absence of self-disclosed autism diagnosis and mental health diagnosis explained a large portion of variance in TOMI-SR; interpersonal decentering maturity differed significantly between cisgender men and cisgender women. Lastly, interpersonal decentering number of interactions demonstrated an advantage for individuals without diagnosed or suspected autism diagnosis. This study raises critical concerns regarding measurement method error variance and variability of task demands in explaining cognitive mechanisms relevant to social cognitive processes.

<p>This work is a research in the field of systems science, emphasising the importance of applying models and theories that have been developed in this area. This work studies the possibility of using James Miller's living systems theory (LST) as a diagnostic tool. The application area was project management processes used when developing computerised information systems. The focus on the analyses was on the critical subsystems that process information. Based on this study it was found that LST function as a diagnostic tool according to the following criteria: it was possible to identify the critical subsystems in the application, the critical subsystems covered relevant information flows in the application and LST could make a unique contribution in the analyses of the application.</p>

This work is a research in the field of systems science, emphasising the importance of applying models and theories that have been developed in this area. This work studies the possibility of using James Miller's living systems theory (LST) as a diagnostic tool. The application area was project management processes used when developing computerised information systems. The focus on the analyses was on the critical subsystems that process information. Based on this study it was found that LST function as a diagnostic tool according to the following criteria: it was possible to identify the critical subsystems in the application, the critical subsystems covered relevant information flows in the application and LST could make a unique contribution in the analyses of the application.

Walking is the oldest and foremost mode of transportation through history and the prevalence of walking has increased. Effective pedestrian model is crucial to evaluate pedestrian facility service level and to enhance pedestrian safety, performance, and satisfaction. The objectives of this study were to: (1) validate the efficacy of utilizing queueing network model, which predicts cognitive information processing time and task performance; (2) develop a generalized queueing network based cognitive information processing model that can be utilized and applied to construct pedestrian cognitive structure and estimate the reaction time with the first moment of service time distribution; (3) investigate pedestrian behavior through naturalistic and experimental observations to analyze the effects of environment settings and psychological factors in pedestrians; and (4) develop pedestrian level of service (LOS) metrics that are quick and practical to identify improvement points in pedestrian facility design. Two empirical and two analytical studies were conducted to address the research objectives. The first study investigated the efficacy of utilizing queueing network in modeling and predicting the cognitive information processing time. Motion capture system was utilized to collect detailed pedestrian movement. The predicted reaction time using queueing network was compared with the results from the empirical study to validate the performance of the model. No significant difference between model and empirical results was found with respect to mean reaction time. The second study endeavored to develop a generalized queueing network system so the task can be modeled with the approximated queueing network and its first moment of any service time distribution. There was no significant difference between empirical study results and the proposed model with respect to mean reaction time. Third study investigated methods to quantify pedestrian traffic behavior, and analyze physical and cognitive behavior from the real-world observation and field experiment. Footage from indoor and outdoor corridor was used to quantify pedestrian behavior. Effects of environmental setting and/or psychological factor on travel performance were tested. Finally, adhoc and tailor-made LOS metrics were presented for simple realistic service level assessments. The proposed methodologies were composed of space revision LOS, delay-based LOS, preferred walking speed-based LOS, and ‘blocking probability’.

Submitted by Claudia Araujo (claudia.araujo@icict.fiocruz.br) on 2013-10-07T18:23:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Elizeu Assis.pdf: 3071734 bytes, checksum: 50f24f31b4fd1a04b75dc1d412da4092 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-10-07T18:23:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elizeu Assis.pdf: 3071734 bytes, checksum: 50f24f31b4fd1a04b75dc1d412da4092 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / O objetivo do presente trabalho foi investigar os processos informacionais e comunicacionais na Telessaúde, a partir das interações entre o ambiente de especialistas e a Atenção Básica do Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS. Parte do pressuposto de que as demandas da Atenção Básica, além de desencadearem o processo info-comunicacional da Telessaúde, são carregadas de informações e saberes da prática, capazes de produzir alterações no ambiente de especialistas. Foi realizado um levantamento na literatura a fim de contextualizar a Telessaúde do ponto de vista da história de sua implantação e de seus principais acertos e impasses. No apoio teórico foi adotada uma perspectiva transdisciplinar, dada à natureza multiforme dos processos de informação, de comunicação e da saúde. Alguns campos que têm uma interface mais diretamente ligada aos objetivos deste estudo, como a informática e a informação em saúde, foram também considerados durante a pesquisa. A metodologia adotada foi a triangulação de métodos, que incluiu análise quantitativa, feita sobre dados das videoconferências e a análise qualitativa realizada a partir de observações e de entrevistas com cinco profissionais do Nutel/UFMG, os quais foram escolhidos tendo como critério suas funções de técnicos em informática, de teleconferencistas que fazem interface com os municípios e de gestor. O estudo foi realizado em duas etapas: a pesquisa exploratória no Nutel/UFMG; a coleta, sistematização e analise de dados. Os resultados mostraram que a demanda da Atenção Básica do SUS, direcionada ao ambiente de especialistas, provoca mudanças nos processos de construção, produção, difusão, disseminação e apropriação de informação e conhecimento por parte dos professores, pesquisadores, alunos, técnicos e profissionais do CETES/Nutel/UFMG. Esses sujeitos envolvidos no ambiente de especialistas constroem assim novas formas compartilhadas de produção de conhecimentos, tanto teóricos quanto práticos, no âmbito da Telessaúde / The objective of this study is to investigate the informational and communicational processes in Telehealth, from the interactions between the specialists ambience and the Primary Care of Health System - SUS. From the assumption that the demands of Primary Care, in addition to beginning the process of info-communicational Telehealth, are loaded with information and knowledge of the practice that can produce changes in the specialists ambience. A survey in the literature was performed in order to contextualise Telehealth from the standpoint of the history of its implementation and its major successes and impasses. As theoretical support was adopted a transdisciplinary perspective, given the manifold nature of the processes of information, communication and health. Some fields that have an interface more directly linked to the objectives of this study, such as information technology and health information, were also considered during the research. The methodology adopted was the triangulation of methods which included quantitative analysis, performed on data of videoconferences, and qualitative analysis performed from observations and interviews conducted with five professionals Nutel / UFMG, which were selected according to the criterion of their functions in technical computing, teleconferencistas that interface with municipalities and manager. The study was conducted in two steps: exploratory research in Nutel / UFMG, data collection, systematization and analysis of data. The results showed that the demand of Primary SUS targeted specialists ambience causes changes in the processes of construction, diffusion, production, dissemination and appropriation of information and knowledge on the part of teachers, researchers, students, technicians and professionals of the CETES/Nutel/UFMG. Those subjects involved in the specialists ambience build shared new ways of producing knowledge, both theoretical and practical, in the field of telehealth