Infosys v2n031 (October 3, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/infs-v2n031 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INFOSYS: The Electronic Newsletter for Information Systems * * Volume 2, Number 31 ISSN: 1173-3764 October 3, 1995 * * * * Editor: Dennis W. Viehland, Massey University, New Zealand * * Listowners: Greg Welsh, American University, Washington DC * * Peter M. Weiss, Penn State * * Sponsor: boyd & fraser publishing, Danvers, Massachusetts * * * * Current Subscribers = 4,001 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - Correction; INFOSYS Welcome Message; \EOA? 0774? * * NEWS - From Flash Information * * ANNOUNCEMENT - A Business Researcher's Interests (WWW site) * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Directory of MIS Executives * * CONFERENCE - International Conference on Computers in Education * * CONFERENCE - Workshop on Information Technology and Systems * * CALL FOR PAPERS - IFIP WG8.3: Systems for Supporting Mgmt Decisns * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 96) * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Emerging Role of Telecommunication * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assistant Prof, Information Technology * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0774* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - Correction; INFOSYS Welcome Message; \EOA? 0774? * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * First, a correction: In the article "Resources for Survey Research" in v2 n30 the ULR for the "MIS Survey Research" Web page maintained by Peter Newsted should be: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~newsted/surveys.html Thanks to Howard Rosenbaum for pointing this out to me. The next INFOSYS issue you see will be a revised INFOSYS Welcome Message. This is the message you received when you subscribed to INFOSYS and contains valuable information about INFOSYS and the listserver that distributes INFOSYS. Please save this issue when it arrives. Since v1 n1, INFOSYS has included \EOA (end of article) markers for readers who want to search through INFOSYS by jumping from one article to the next. Frankly, I doubt if anyone is actually doing this and I do not see any other practical value for \EOA. Accordingly I intend to drop \EOA within the next issue or two. If you find these end of article markers useful write and let me know. Similarly, I also intend to discontinue publishing article numbers soon. When INFOSYS started we imagined that articles would be archived and retrieved by article number (HPWire, an e-publication for high performance computing manages articles this way). That was before the World Wide Web. Now none of the INFOSYS archives (described at the end of each issue) use article numbers and I see no practical value in them. Furthermore, they are a bit of a pain for the editor to track and insert. If you find the article numbers of value write and let me know. Otherwise they are gone too. Finally note that sometime during the last day or two we picked up our 4,000th subscriber. INFOSYS currently goes to 61 countries. 57% of INFOSYS readership is in the United States (this percentage has dropped slightly INFOSYS started). Soon INFOSYS will get some Net-wide promotion and we should see a more dramatic rise in subscriber numbers. More about the promotion soon. \EOA 0775* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From Flash Information * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TELECOMMUTING. 89% of the telecommuting technology deployed is used by the "white-collar workhorses" who have historically taken work home to do after office hours. "Real" telecommuters, working two or more days each week from home, make up only 11%. Predictions about the wider deployment of telecommuting have failed to materialize because of: 1) the costs involved -- US$4,000 for initial installation and US$2,100 for annual usage and upkeep; and 2) managers' lack of faith that teleworkers actually work when they are at home. "Telecommuting - high tolls, light usage," Business Communications Review 25 (7) July 1995, 8. GROUPWARE MARKET. With groupware gaining acceptance, the groupware market is expanding rapidly -- groupware is defined as a package which may include document management, e-mail, desktop conferencing, scheduling or electronic-forms applications. The groupware market, dominated by Lotus Notes, was evaluated at US$1 billion in 1994; it is expected to reach US$4 billion by 1998. The success of groupware packages, however, may be affected by two emerging trends. First, more capabilities such as messaging, discussion threads, replication, and document management are being bundled into operating systems. Second, the Internet is expected to replace the need for groupware packages. "Groupware makes it market move," Computer 28 (9) Sept 1995, 11. The politics of trust. [Groupware is only one step toward improved group productivity. If your corporate goal is to foster an environment in which information-sharing drives the business forward, you better be prepared to listen to new ideas.] / Engler, Natalie -- In: OPEN COMPUTING, 12(9) Sept 1995, 38-44. Where is the elusive groupware payoff?. [With promises of revolutionizing corporations, sales of groupware products are doubling every year. But businesses are hard-pressed to quantify returns. Is groupware for you?] / Schlosberg, Jeremy -- In: OPEN COMPUTING, 12(9) Sept 1995, 30-36. PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2000. Briefly, mobile computing will be ubiquitous -- to be found on vehicles, construction sites, and rock concerts. Voice recognition will be important, but only for trivial functions; complicated tasks will require an interface combining mouse pointing and standard keyboard. PDAs (personal digital assistants) will become more prominent as processing power increases because of their ability to handle cross-platform data and of the communications infrastructure which will be in place to support the technology. PC operating systems will not be innovative ground for user interfaces; instead, CD-ROM products will. "Predictions for the year 2000 (insert)," Byte 20 (9) Sept. 1995, 110. TOMORROW'S SOFTWARE PRODUCTS. Software categories most likely to play a greater role in the computing industry are: 1) collaboration software, 2) text search and retrieval, 3) object operating systems, 4) multimedia databases, and 5) agents. In brief, as smart agents, natural-language processing, and expert systems are integrated with electronic collaborative systems, the impact of PC-based interactions on society may rival that of the television. More powerful search engines will be developed using AI techniques and software agents, not only to search and retrieve information but also to present and store it in a more personalized form. The next step in the OOP (object-oriented programming) revolution is to build an entire operating system (OS) from objects, thereby facilitating other technologies such as modular applications, agents, and distributed computing. With the convergence of computers and the entertainment business, huge multimedia databases will be needed to manage the films to be delivered to homes via cable or to process orders from customers using interactive shopping services. Finally, software agents will not only handle technical chores but also people problems. "Tomorrow's top five software categories (insert)," Byte 20 (9) Sept 1995, 68. THE NEXT PC. IBM and Microsoft are taking the lead in bringing changes to the PC system architecture by adopting superior versions of technologies pioneered by Apple -- Plug and Play (PnP), universal serial bus (USB), unified memory architecture (UMA), and native signal processing (NSP). As a result, the new PC will be easier to configure, have faster I/O, use memory more efficiently, offer more features with extra hardware, and cost relatively less than today's equivalent systems. "The new PC," Byte 20 (10) Oct 1995, 52-64. DATA MINING (DM). DM -- the process of sifting through vast amounts of data using neural networks, rule-based systems, case-based reasoning, machine learning, and statistical programs in order to discover new knowledge -- is providing a new tool for marketers, financial analysts, scientists, health care professionals, and government in their data analysis tasks. DM tools -- intelligent agents, multidimensional-analysis tools, query-and-reporting tools -- are used to shed light on customers' preferences, to prevent and detect fraud, and to assist in scientific discovery. "The data gold rush," Byte 20 (10) Oct 1995, 83-88. For more information about DM research: http://info.gte.com/~kdd/. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) AND PRODUCTIVITY. A study of the top 500 corporate users of IT indicates that customer-oriented firms had the best productivity performance. Other findings of the study include the following: 1) companies using IT for the purpose of automating their work processes were not as successful as their competitors at boosting productivity; 2) there was a strong correlation between benefits derived from IT investments (productivity and profitability) and reengineering; 3) no such correlation could be made for outsourcing; indeed, companies outsourcing their IS (information system) work tended to have lower productivity and profitability; and 4) centralized IS management did not show any significant productivity gains either. In sum, getting the most of corporate IT investments requires getting closer to the customer, redesigning business processes in order to take advantage of IT, and forging a partnership among the IS, line management and management. "The productive keep producing," Information Week (545) 18 Sept 1995, 38-43. For more information: http://techweb.cmp.com/iwk. Transforming work : collaboration, learning, and design. [A major challenge for most corporations is the process of restructuring the work environment to meet and beat the competition. One design approach incorporates an activity-based view of the situation, and all starts by taking a clear look at the big picture.] / Sachs, Patricia -- In: COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM, 38(9) Sept 1995, 36-45. Electronic commerce through electronic catalogs / Clausen, Larry -- In: EDI WORLD, 5(9) Sept 1995, 46-48. The end of delegation? information technology and the CEO. [The rules of the IT game have shifted. Technology now requires general management leadership.] -- In: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, 73(5) Sept/Oct 1995, 161-172. Editor's Note: Flash Information is a bibliographic electronic newsletter for the computing community. Subscription is free. Contact flash@citi.doc.ca for more information. These abstracts are extracted from the 17-28 July, 28 Aug-8 Sept, 11-15 Sept and 18-22 Sept. 1995 issues. \EOA 0776* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - A Business Researcher's Interests (WWW site) * * Yogesh Malhotra, Univ of Pittsburg * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "A Business Researcher's Interests" is intended to provide academics, researchers, and practitioners with WWW links relevant to contemporary issues in the application of information technology in organizations. There are currently over 1,000 links. Some of the sections are: --Starting Points for Information Search and Retrieval --Information Systems Research and Reference --Electronic Commerce on the Information Highway --Information Systems and Technology Journals --National Information Infrastructure (NII) --Intellectual Property, Legal and Policy Issues --Tool Box: Designing Web Applications --Information Sources on International Business --Miscellaneous Information: Travel, Media, Leisure "A Business Researcher's Interests" is now available at: http://www.pitt.edu/~malhotra/interest.html For more information contact: Yogesh Malhotra Katz Graduate School of Business Mervis Hall 251 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Voice: (412) 648-1646 Fax: (412) 648-1693 E-Mail: malhotra@vms.cis.pitt.edu \EOA 0777* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Directory of MIS Executives * * R. W. Bernstein, Demand Research Corp <73207.3434@compuserve.com> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For computer professionals, Demand Research publishes a free monthly directory of executive officers in publicly held corporations who are responsible for management information systems. To receive a free copy on diskette, please send a stamped, self- addressed envelope to: Directory of MIS Executives Demand Research Corporation 4587 Morse Centre, Ste. 325 Columbus, OH 43229 \EOA 0778* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - International Conference on Computers in Education * * Luis Cesar Lopes Zeredo * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 95) December 5-8, 1995 Singapore The ICCE conference series is a bi-annual event which is held in an Asia-Pacific country. The conference will focus on a broad spectrum of inter-disciplinary research topics concerned with theories, technologies and practices of applying computers in education. It aims to provide a forum for scientific interchange among educators, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, and practitioners throughout the world, and especially from the Asia-Pacific region. ICCE is concerned with the current state of the art, and serves as a reference basis for future research as well as the real-world deployment of educational technologies. Program activities --Invited speakers --Tutorials --Papers --Applications track papers --Panels --Demonstrations --Posters --Exhibition --Social program/excursions Major Session Topics (not a complete list) --Hypermedia and multimedia (authoring, design issues) --Distributed/collaborative learning environments (collaborative knowledge building, interactive distance learning, networked communal databases --Instruction and learning (computer-based learning) --Applications (tertiary learning, industrial and commercial training and re-training) --Artificial intelligence in education (cognitive modeling, dialog management, virtual reality) For further information: Preliminary Program/Registration: gopher://aace.virginia.edu Asia-Pacific Chapter of AACE: http://lisa.src.ncu.edu.tw:100/ Singapore Online Guide: http://www.ncb.gov.sg/sog/sog.html Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) P.O. Box 2966 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA Voice: 804-973-3987 Fax: 804-978-7449 \EOA 0779* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - Workshop on Information Technology and Systems * * Sudha Ram, University of Arizona * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Workshop on Information Technology and Systems (WITS'95) December 9-10, 1995 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Information about WITS'95, including advance program and registration form, is available at the following Web address: http://uadis.bpa.arizona.edu/wits95.html To get an impression about the place where WITS'95 will be held, please have a look at the WWW pages of Nijenrody University at the following site: http://www.nijenrode.nl \EOA 0780* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - IFIP WG8.3: Systems for Supporting Mgmt Decisns * * George Widmeyer, University of Michigan * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 8.3 "Implementing Systems for Supporting Management Decisions: Concepts, Methods, and Experiences" July 22-24, 1996 London, UK Implementation of systems, including decision support systems, is a practical art which has its own body of knowledge. This theory includes adaptation of the organisation to the new system, or of the system to the organisation. It includes also persuading people to use the system, or perhaps achieving utilisation by more positive management action. It includes appreciating and evaluating the opportunities for completely new ways of informing people who are about to decide or to act. We do not insist that any single paper should address all of these topics. Papers will be considered which deal with all aspects of implementation, considered either from a theoretical or a practical standpoint. The viewpoint may be that of the corporate designer, of the end users, of the implementer, or any combination of these. The submission deadline is January 10, 1996. For further information about the format for submissions please contact: Dr. Liam Bannon Department of Computer Science University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland Fax: +353-61-202-572 E-mail: bannonl@ul.ie The conference is being organised by the IFIP Working Group 8.3 on Decision Support Systems and The London School of Economics and Political Science. The conference will take place at the London School of Economics and Political Science. For more complete information, please see the following web page: http://www.umich.edu/~widmeyer/wg83conf.html or send an e-mail message to George Widmeyer at widmeyer@umich.edu. \EOA 0781* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 96) * * Mark Klein, Penn State Univ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 96) November 16-20, 1996 Cambridge, MA USA We invite you to submit original work to the 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 96). This year's theme is "Cooperating Communities". Communities are made up of people who share similar interests, professions, types of interaction or a common locale. Over a five-day period, we will explore the new and productive ways in which different communities can come together. With the explosion of popular interest in networked computer systems and the Internet, this conference is expected to play an important role in framing and extending the discussion about technology's role in the future of work. CSCW is a multi-disciplinary field encompassing theory and practice, engineering and social sciences. Topics suitable for submission include: --Theories of coordination and collaboration --Work practice studies of collaboration --Workplace design to support collaboration --Methodologies and tools for analyzing cooperative work --Impact of technology on individuals or organizations --Technologies or architectures to support collaboration Submissions are encouraged from researchers and practitioners in academia, industry, consulting or government on topics related to the theory, practice, design or support for collaborative work conducted by small or large groups. CSCW is an international conference; we welcome submissions from all countries. Critical dates March 20, 1996: Papers due April 22, 1996: Panel, tutorial, video, and workshop proposals due July 17, 1996: Short papers, demonstration proposals, and doctoral colloquium proposals due For further information: CSCW 96 Conference Office 703 Giddings Avenue, Suite U-3 Annapolis, MD 21401 USA E-mail: cscw96-info@media.mit.edu http://info.sigchi.acm.org/sigchi/cscw96/ \EOA 0782* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Emerging Role of Telecommunication * * Oscar Hauptman, Carleton University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "The Emerging Role of Telecommunication: Extrapolation of Novel Applications from Around the World" A Special Issue of Technological Forecasting and Social Change The focus of the special issue is on the events, trends, experiences, patterns and situations that articulate the most recent applications of telecommunication technology, and extrapolate from them into the 21st century. Submissions are expected to include both an empirical component of experience with an application of telecommunication and related technologies, such as computers, in specific domains or contexts, and an attempt at a creative predictive leap into the future of the technology and/or the application. The empirical part may be based on a broad range of research approaches, from clinical case studies, through surveys, to econometric time-series analysis. In all cases, the submissions should include a rich and detailed description of the technology, the application, and the context. The extrapolative/predictive part may vary in scope and effort, from an analysis done by the author/s themselves as analogies of technology diffusion and trend extrapolations, to elaborate efforts of expert-based intuitive forecasting. The applications that are expected to be most informative and productive for extrapolation purposes, but not restricted to, are those related to: Technologies applied to --integration of telecommunication and computer technologies --integration of telecommunication with television and radio --wireless, satellite, and mobile communications Industry Applications in --education --research --health --urban and environmental management --entertainment and media --service business --management practices --international organizations --information security and "infowar --government, public administration and military Application domains --developing countries --underdeveloped infrastructures in all countries --novel uses in all countries. Information for Submission This special issue is planned to appear in print in early 1997. April 30, 1996 is the deadline for submissions. Papers submitted to the special issue will be reviewed by 2-3 reviewers in a double- blind process. Please submit five (5) copies to: Professors Oscar Hauptman or Moses Kiggundu School of Business, Carleton University Dunton Tower, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, CANADA Voice: (613)-788-2600, ext.2505 (613)-788-2380 Fax: (613)-788-4427 E-mail: ohauptma@ccs.carleton.ca kiggundu@ccs.carleton.ca The manuscripts should be typed double-space; figures, tables, and references on separate sheets; references to literature should be indicated by on-line arabic numerals in brackets (e.g., [1]); an abstract of about 200 words; title page should include full name/s of author/s, with mailing address for proofs and correspondence; brief biographic footnote for each author, with current affiliation. \EOA 0783* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assistant Prof, Information Technology * * Cynthia Beath * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Faculty Position Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management Stanford University The Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Stanford University has a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level in the area of Information Technology. The main focus of this position is the design, analysis, and management of information systems in technical and (or) manufacturing industries. Preference will be given to candidates whose research is linked to technical and (or) manufacturing organizations and complements the research activities of the department in the management of technology and technically-based firms, the analysis and management of manufacturing and operations, and organizational studies. For example, applications would be welcomed from candidates with interest in pursuing the use of information technology in product design and development, supply-chain management, global operations management, work and organizations, or decision making in organizations. This position offers the opportunity to teach and do research in a department with highly-qualified faculty and students (undergraduate, masters, and PhD) in a major research university setting. Interested individuals should send their resume to: Professor Hau L. Lee Chairman, Search Committee Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-4024 Stephen R. Barley Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management School of Engineering Stanford University Stanford CA 94305-4024 (415)-723-9477 E-mail: sbarley@leland.stanford.edu \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ABOUT INFOSYS * * INFOSYS is an electronic newsletter for faculty, students, and * * practitioners in the field of Information Systems. INFOSYS * * publishes news items, requests for assistance, calls for papers * * announcements of professional meetings and conferences, position * * announcements, journal table of contents, and other items of * * interest to the Information Systems community. * * * * INFOSYS is published biweekly, more frequently if volume requires * * it. INFOSYS operates as an electronic mailing list on listserv * * software at American University in Washington, DC. The editor is * * Dennis W. Viehland . * * * * INFOSYS is sponsored by boyd & fraser, publishers of educational * * materials for computer and information education. Contact Bill * * Lisowski or visit http://www.bf.com/bf.html * * or gopher.bf.com for more information about boyd & fraser. * * * * To subscribe to INFOSYS send the following one-line e-mail * * message to listserv@american.edu: subscribe infosys yourfirstname * * yourlastname (e.g., subscribe infosys John Smith). You will * * receive a welcome letter that will tell you more about INFOSYS * * and listserv. To cancel your subscription send the following * * message to listserv@american.edu: unsubscribe infosys * * * * Guidelines for submitting articles to INFOSYS are published in * * the Welcome message each new subscriber receives (or e-mail "get * * infosys welcome" to listserv@american.edu). Send articles to * * infosys@american.edu or d.viehland@massey.ac.nz. * * * * The INFOSYS Calendar of Upcoming Events is updated fortnightly * * and can be obtained in the following ways: * * --E-mail: send the following one-line message to * * listserv@american.edu: get infosys calendar * * --FTP: anonymous FTP to ftp.american.edu; file is pub/infosys/ * * infosys.calendar * * --Gopher: gopher to listserv.american.edu; choose INFOSYS * * --WWW: forthcoming * * * * INFOSYS Back Issues are archived by Robert McArthur at: * * AUSTRALIA: http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/~mcarthur/infosys/ * * by Eric Morgan (N Carolina State Univ) at: * * USA: ftp://ftp.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/ * * USA: wais://wais.lib.ncsu.edu/infosys * * USA: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/infosys-index.html * * by Brian Fitzgerald (University College Cork) at: * * EUROPE: http://www.ucc.ie/htbin/infosys * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *