Human Systems Management

Ng, Pak Tee ; Liang, Thow Yick

doi: 10.3233/HSM-2010-0709pmid: N/A

This paper attempts to draw some significant insights for educational institution reform from the paradigm of organizing around intelligence. Using the Complexity-Intelligence strategy, human organizations are visualized as intelligent beings possessing an orgmind with high collective intelligence, and other intelligence-related characteristics that are commonly found in highly intelligent biological beings including consciousness, complex adaptive dynamic, autopoiesis, self-organization, learning, adaptation and emergence. Such intelligent human organizations primarily focus on quality connection, optimizing the intrinsic intelligence sources, and nurturing a high level of collective intelligence. It is a living intelligence-centric world. In this study, four insights and their implications from the Complexity-Intelligence strategy that are applicable to education organizations, namely embracing complexity and nonlinearity, enhancing connectivity, developing individual mindfulness and orgmindfulness, and capitalizing on all sources of intense intelligence (human thinking systems) are analyzed. The result of this analysis reveals fresh and significant information and applications for all educational institutions that aspire to enhance their collective intelligence, adaptive capacity and standard of learning in a new intelligence era.

Ng, Pak Tee; Liang, Thow Yick

doi: 10.3233/hsm-2010-0709pmid: N/A

This paper attempts to draw some significant insights for educational institution reform from the paradigm of organizing around intelligence. Using the Complexity-Intelligence strategy, human organizations are visualized as intelligent beings possessing an orgmind with high collective intelligence, and other intelligence-related characteristics that are commonly found in highly intelligent biological beings including consciousness, complex adaptive dynamic, autopoiesis, self-organization, learning, adaptation and emergence. Such intelligent human organizations primarily focus on quality connection, optimizing the intrinsic intelligence sources, and nurturing a high level of collective intelligence. It is a living intelligence-centric world.In this study, four insights and their implications from the Complexity-Intelligence strategy that are applicable to education organizations, namely embracing complexity and nonlinearity, enhancing connectivity, developing individual mindfulness and orgmindfulness, and capitalizing on all sources of intense intelligence (human thinking systems) are analyzed. The result of this analysis reveals fresh and significant information and applications for all educational institutions that aspire to enhance their collective intelligence, adaptive capacity and standard of learning in a new intelligence era.

Kumar, Sameer; Polejewski, Shirley A.; Ressler, Thomas H.

doi: 10.3233/hsm-2010-0710pmid: N/A

This paper is intended to meet two objectives. First, we believe the current financial crisis demands that we assess how effectively our current curriculum develops our cost accounting students’ ability to think probabilistically and assess risk. This requires a paradigm shift in how they are taught probabilistic thinking. And second, we share exercises authors have used to expand cost accounting students’ ability to think probabilistically. In the current paradigm, cost accounting students are taught to think of cost and forces affecting costs with certainty. There is no probabilistic analysis of the risks and uncertainty in these costs estimates. Students have learned to do sensitivity analyses. However, this paper explores Simulation Modeling, in which cost and the forces influencing costs are treated as random variables. The student learns to think probabilistically. The resulting cost estimate is a distribution, which exposes the risks and uncertainty in this cost to a much greater degree than sensitivity analysis does.

Kumar, Sameer ; Polejewski, Shirley A. ; Ressler, Thomas H.

doi: 10.3233/HSM-2010-0710pmid: N/A

This paper is intended to meet two objectives. First, we believe the current financial crisis demands that we assess how effectively our current curriculum develops our cost accounting students’ ability to think probabilistically and assess risk. This requires a paradigm shift in how they are taught probabilistic thinking. And second, we share exercises authors have used to expand cost accounting students’ ability to think probabilistically. In the current paradigm, cost accounting students are taught to think of cost and forces affecting costs with certainty. There is no probabilistic analysis of the risks and uncertainty in these costs estimates. Students have learned to do sensitivity analyses. However, this paper explores Simulation Modeling, in which cost and the forces influencing costs are treated as random variables. The student learns to think probabilistically. The resulting cost estimate is a distribution, which exposes the risks and uncertainty in this cost to a much greater degree than sensitivity analysis does.

Sammarra, Alessia ; Dandi, Roberto ; Muzzi, Caterina ; Biggiero, Lucio

doi: 10.3233/HSM-2010-0711pmid: N/A

Improving organisational participation is becoming more and more important as organisations are trying to shift from a bureaucratic model based on work specialisation and division of labour towards knowledge-intensive organisations built on competence sharing and team working. The aim of this paper is to investigate participation in decision making mediated by e-mail (e-PDM) among organisational members that are in similar hierarchical positions. The conceptual background of the study integrates the organisational theories on PDM and the computer-mediated communication (CMC) literature. Data analysis, based on an empirical research conducted in an Italian governmental agency, investigates the factors that affect the adoption of horizontal e-PDM in the workplace and to what extent this is mediated by the interplay between technology and social context. Our results suggest that social structuration of technology and social processes in organisations do have an impact on e-mail use for participative purposes, and that, along with group characteristics, leadership plays a major role in enabling work group members to increase horizontal e-PDM.

Sammarra, Alessia; Dandi, Roberto; Muzzi, Caterina; Biggiero, Lucio

doi: 10.3233/hsm-2010-0711pmid: N/A

Improving organisational participation is becoming more and more important as organisations are trying to shift from a bureaucratic model based on work specialisation and division of labour towards knowledge-intensive organisations built on competence sharing and team working. The aim of this paper is to investigate participation in decision making mediated by e-mail (e-PDM) among organisational members that are in similar hierarchical positions. The conceptual background of the study integrates the organisational theories on PDM and the computer-mediated communication (CMC) literature. Data analysis, based on an empirical research conducted in an Italian governmental agency, investigates the factors that affect the adoption of horizontal e-PDM in the workplace and to what extent this is mediated by the interplay between technology and social context. Our results suggest that social structuration of technology and social processes in organisations do have an impact on e-mail use for participative purposes, and that, along with group characteristics, leadership plays a major role in enabling work group members to increase horizontal e-PDM.

Yang, Ming-Hsien; Chen, Jason C.H.; Wu, Cheng-Hang; Chao, Hung-Yi

doi: 10.3233/hsm-2010-0717pmid: N/A

Information technology (IT) brings unforeseeable impacts and challenges on service industries. This is because IT creates endless possibilities for them to revolutionize their service delivery process. For example, interactive voice response systems, interactive kiosks, the Internet, and multimedia DVDs all become new channels that allow companies to directly communicate with consumers. Facing pressure of mounting labor costs, most enterprises rush to adopt technologies to improve their operational efficiency and service quality. The consumer’s intention to use the web-based self service (WBSS) becomes a key factor to determine if the WBSS will be successful. In this study we adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the research framework and conducted an empirical study to examine what effects that WBSS characteristics such as response time, responsiveness, and customized control may have on the consumers’ intention to use the WBSS. The result shows that the customized control characteristic directly affects the consumers’ intention to use the WBSS. It suggests that companies need to enhance the flexibility of the WBSS in the service delivery process so that the consumer can increase the intention to use the WBSS.

Yang, Ming-Hsien ; Chen, Jason C.H. ; Wu, Cheng-Hang ; Chao, Hung-Yi

doi: 10.3233/HSM-2010-0717pmid: N/A

Information technology (IT) brings unforeseeable impacts and challenges on service industries. This is because IT creates endless possibilities for them to revolutionize their service delivery process. For example, interactive voice response systems, interactive kiosks, the Internet, and multimedia DVDs all become new channels that allow companies to directly communicate with consumers. Facing pressure of mounting labor costs, most enterprises rush to adopt technologies to improve their operational efficiency and service quality. The consumer’s intention to use the web-based self service (WBSS) becomes a key factor to determine if the WBSS will be successful. In this study we adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the research framework and conducted an empirical study to examine what effects that WBSS characteristics such as response time, responsiveness, and customized control may have on the consumers’ intention to use the WBSS. The result shows that the customized control characteristic directly affects the consumers’ intention to use the WBSS. It suggests that companies need to enhance the flexibility of the WBSS in the service delivery process so that the consumer can increase the intention to use the WBSS.

Košturiak, Ján

doi: 10.3233/HSM-2010-0713pmid: N/A

The paper describes the development of innovations and knowledge in a company as the crucial factor of competitiveness and defines the main paradigms and their overcoming by innovations. The innovation methodology based on contradictions is introduced and the general business model and its link with knowledge development system is described. Innovation process as the corporate core process is described and the new methodology for measurement and development of human potential and knowledge is presented. The examples of knowledge competence description and knowledge account are presented.

Košturiak, Ján

doi: 10.3233/hsm-2010-0713pmid: N/A

The paper describes the development of innovations and knowledge in a company as the crucial factor of competitiveness and defines the main paradigms and their overcoming by innovations. The innovation methodology based on contradictions is introduced and the general business model and its link with knowledge development system is described. Innovation process as the corporate core process is described and the new methodology for measurement and development of human potential and knowledge is presented. The examples of knowledge competence description and knowledge account are presented.