The emergence of knowledge systems thinking: A changing perception of relationships among innovation,knowledge process and configuration

As agriculture develops, policy and management decisions increasingly focus on agricultural innovation emerging from utilizing knowledge and/or technology. This paper considers models for underpinning knowledge and technology policy and management. It describes the emergence of knowledge systems thinking. The system construct is applied to actors (individuals, networks and institutions) involved in knowledge processes. These actors potentially form a highly articulated and complex whole. Knowledge policy and management focus on measures that enhance the synergy between actors. Knowledge systems are viewed as “soft systems,” i.e., they only become systems as a result of active construction and joint learning. The soft systems perspective facilitates the identification of various knowledge system models, which have consequences for policy and management decisions with respect to investment, design, and training. In an attempt to create a unifying theory for these models, it is posited that these models are consistent combinations of innovation, knowledge process and structural configuration. Currently, he is the director of an international program on “Comparative research in knowledge systems in support of sustainable agriculture.”     

Linking Proactive Personality to Creative Performance: The Role of Job Crafting and High-Involvement Work Systems

This study proposed that job crafting serves as a mechanism reflecting how proactive personality affects creative performance, and this study explored whether these relationships are moderated by high-involvement work systems. Drawn from the conservation of resources theory to develop a cross-level moderated mediation model, a three-wave longitudinal study was conducted with 346 employees and their supervisors in 27 high technology firms in China. This study found that proactive personality was positively related to creative performance and that job crafting mediated the relationship between proactive personality and creative performance, and an indirect effect of proactive personality on creative performance through job crafting was significant when high-involvement work systems was low but not high. Thus, the research results indicate that when human resource management involves less participatory management, incentive rewards, extensive training and information sharing, proactive employees can draw from their personality to craft their job tasks, relations and cognitions, thereby improving creative performance. The theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Valuing technology

In order to make intelligent decisions about implementing and managing a technology, managers must be able to estimate the value of the technology ex ante and to measure that value ex post. If it is going to be of practical use, any overall theory of technology must include methods for estimating and measuring the value of technology. While some of this value is tangible and relatively easy to estimate and measure, much of the value is intangible and very difficult to estimate and measure. Unfortunately, the state of the art in estimating and measuring the value of technology, particularly intangible value, is primitive at best. The bursting of the dot-com bubble is only the most recent example that illustrates the inadequacy of current practice. Using information technology as an example, this paper explores techniques for estimating and measuring the intangible value of technology. Richard A. Howey is an information systems consultant in the Human Resources Management practice at IBM Business Consulting Services where he applies data warehousing and other advanced analytical software technologies to satisfy the information needs of HR management professionals. He has over 27 years of experience in information systems as a software developer, project manager, and consultant. In addition to his professional activities, he recently completed a Master of Science degree in management of technology at the University of Minnesota.     

On the way to autonomous driving: How age influences the acceptance of driver assistance systems

Driver assistance systems have the potential to create the basis for future mobility solutions. They enable older generations in need of assistance to maintain their mobility even in the case of physical deficits. Therefore, we conducted a literature review and identified factors that may influence the acceptance of driver assistance systems. Based on the technology acceptance model and other influencing factors, we developed a research model that was validated with the help of a study (n = 227). The results show that, depending on age, there are differences in the acceptance of driver assistance systems and their influencing factors among old and young people. The five determinants of acceptance, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust in technology are viewed as equally important for all age groups. Differences emerge within the group of older vehicle drivers with varying weighting. For the 50–59 age group, perceived ease of use and social norm are most important, while for the 60–69 age group, perceived usefulness and trust in technology are very important. Among 70–90-year olds, trust in technology is emphasized as most important. Our results show how important it is to increase the confidence of older drivers in age-appropriate driver assistance systems, using target-group-specific advertising and public relations work.     

A Multi-Cultural Study of Salespeople's Behavior In Individual Pay-For-Performance Compensation Systems: When Managers Are More Equal And Less Fair Than Others

In this research, we examine salespeople's behavior in individual pay-for-performance compensation systems and show how perceived management fairness seems to energize sales employees in some environments but not in others. We use a large multicountry database of individual-level remuneration for more than 2,500 salespeople across four B2B industry sectors to demonstrate cultural adaptations of the effect of perceived management fairness. The results indicate that top management should be concerned with employees' perceptions of fairness in addition to the more typical concerns of control and motivation widely acknowledged in the microeconomics-based sales-force compensation literature. In particular, we show that perceptions of management fairness are key to salespeople's proportion of total pay generated by pay-for-performance formulas.     

Knowledge and quality-management activities’ influences on technology communication and innovation with African foreign investment experience

We examined how psychic distance moderates the association of South Korean chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) knowledge and quality management with their predisposition to invest in African technology and innovation markets. Participants were current and prospective South Korean African business investment senior managers (n = 64; 20 females; mean years in management = 19.4) or not (n = 187; 97 females, mean years in management = 15.9). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyse the relationships. Only quality management was significantly related to technology commercialisation capabilities and innovation performance among managers with African investment experience. However, both quality and knowledge management were significantly related to the outcomes among managers without African investment experience. The effect of psychic distance might be explained by risk averseness, in that those without experience of African investment might be with more risk avoidant than those with such experience.     

Intelligent technologies to optimize performance: Augmenting cognitive capacity and supporting self-regulation of critical thinking skills in decision-making

The purpose of the present paper is to (a) discuss how intelligent systems can augment cognitive capacity, and through self-regulation, assist learners to engage in critical thinking and (b) provide an example that highlights the information-rich context of the work environment and the role of self-regulation in working in partnership with technology to achieve peak performance. Self-regulation from a social cognitive perspective is conceptualized as a fluid, cyclical process whereby learners use externally provided or self-generated feedback to evaluate and adjust their learning strategies. With advances in technology, this paper attempts to illustrate how workers in jobs of the future will be supported in new ways to analyze data, make interpretations and draw inferences, evaluate situations, and make decisions within a work context before, during, and post-work. Educational implications will be discussed.     

Moving forces: External pressure and the dynamics of technology systems

Knowledge Information Systems (KIS) institutions must receive strong and focused external pressure to function synergetically over sustained periods. This external pressure should be exercised by other elements in the system. Without such pressure, institutions and personnel act to fulfill their own social and political needs more than those of their clients, and their effectiveness is inevitably reduced. This article is concerned with the “moving forces” that instill public agricultural knowledge systems with particular dynamics. The article's objectives are to predict under what circumstances external pressures will occur and their likely outcomes, and to advise KIS managers on how they can be managed. The first section reviews the evolution of the concept of external pressure as a moving force in the dynamics of technology systems. The next four sections examine the roles of policy makers, foreign agencies, farmers, and the private sector, respectively, in pressuring KIS institutions. The sixth section explores how institutions behave without external pressure. A final section looks at what all this implies for KIS managers' “room to maneuver.” David Kaimowitz can be reached at ISNAR, P.O. Box 93375, 2509 AJ, The Hague, The Netherlands. His interests include agricultural research and technology transfer.     

Beyond What Develops When

ABSTRACT— There is no single methodology that can fully explain the nature of human development and learning. Yet, headway is being made on how cognitive milestones are achieved during development with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. With this methodology, it is possible to assess changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity. Recent findings suggest that both progressive and regressive processes—as opposed to simple linear patterns of change—underlie changes in cognitive abilities. Functional MRI studies suggest that both biological maturation and learning correspond to a fine-tuning of neural systems with enhanced recruitment of task-relevant regions. This fine-tuning of cortical systems corresponds with their enhanced connectivity with cortical and subcortical circuitry. In sum, imaging has helped to move the field of cognitive development beyond questions of what develops and when, to how these changes may occur.     

Contributions from the sociology of technology to the study of innovation systems

Literature in the area of innovation systems (IS) has been growing in importance and the IS approach has become well established. It is widely used in North America, Western Europe and Scandinavia, both in academic contexts and also as a framework or tool for policymaking. This paper examines work by sociologists, historians and others who have attempted to provide new insights into the nature of technology, in order to determine how the new sociology of technology literature—particularly social construction of technology methodologies—can contribute to, and unpack the study of innovation system.     

Physical and emotional stresses of technology on employees in the workplace

This article presents how today's technology permeates the planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling functions of human resources management. Certain industries or occupations are more reliant on technology and thus impose more physical and emotional stressors on employees. The effects of physical stressors and the physical manifestations of emotional stressors can expose employers to additional liability. The authors make 8 propositions in this study and provide supporting research with additional information. How employers can be proactive by encouraging task‐focused coping with stress is also discussed.     

The role of information technology in building public administration theory

Information technology, that assortment of technology that enables the conversion of data into information, has had an enormous impact on the field of public administration and its theoretical foundation. This article explores five of them. It begins with a discussion of one of the primary impacts of information technology on public administration theory: the development of systems theory and its descendants including the study of complex systems, chaos, and complexity theory. The importance of information technology in decision-making is explored next. Does information technology free us from the limits of bounded rationality or are we simply overwhelmed by the volume of information available via new sources, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web? The third role examined is the use of information technology as a research tool to make previously intractable problems solvable. Computer capability has enormously advanced the theoretical underpinnings of public administration. Fourth, the significance of information technology as a change agent that calls for revision of other theoretical postulates is investigated. As information technology has diffused into public organizations, how has it called into question what we previously thought about the foundation of bureaucracy? Finally, learning by doing and the manner through which practice informs theory is considered.     

School Management and Eco-systemic Support for Bereaved Children and their Teachers

This paper is about how bereaved children are supported in school. After narrating parts of a case study of one bereaved family and their interaction with schools over a prolonged period, it explores some educational management implications of bereavement, grief and loss. It argues that the effectiveness of interactions by the individual teacher will have a correlation with the support systems created by the educational management team. The structures and ethos of care created by management are a vital part of recovery in bereavement. Evidence from the case study proved typical of wider study in the field of the educational management of bereavement. Indications were that educators responsible for whole-school response had training and support issues needing urgent address. In particular, the process of establishing, in school, a climate of successful, meaningful and open communications about death relies on the provision of personal support systems for the teachers. Such support is dependent upon an educational management team that is able and willing to prioritize these issues and to challenge aspects of its own management thinking.     

基于情绪认知评价理论的虚拟人情绪模型研究

情感计算是人工智能的前沿领域之一,建立具有情绪表现力的人机智能系统具有广泛的社会需求。本文分析了基于情绪认知评价理论的情绪建模方法,总结了典型的虚拟人情绪计算模型,归纳了情绪和感知的相关成果,梳理了虚拟人情绪表现方法。针对情绪建模所要深入研究的问题,分析现有研究中存在的不足,对虚拟人情绪模型研究的未来发展方向提出了建议,为进一步深入研究虚拟人情绪模型提供了参考。     

Ethics and Technology ‘in the Making’: An Essay on the Challenge of Nanoethics

After reviewing portions of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act that call for examination of societal and ethical issues, this essay seeks to understand how nanoethics can play a role in nanotechnology development. What can and should nanoethics aim to achieve? The focus of the essay is on the challenges of examining ethical issues with regard to a technology that is still emerging, still ‘in the making.’ The literature of science and technology studies (STS) is used to understand the nanotechnology endeavor in a way that makes room for influence by nanoethics. The analysis emphasizes: the contingency of technology and the many actors involved in its development; a conception of technology as sociotechnical systems; and, the values infused (in a variety of ways) in technology. Nanoethicists can be among the many actors who shape the meaning and materiality of an emerging technology. Nevertheless, there are dangers that nanoethicists should try to avoid. The possibility of being co-opted from working along side nanotechnology engineers and scientists is one danger that is inseparable from trying to influence. Related but somewhat different is the danger of not asking about the worthiness of the nanotechnology enterprise as a social investment in the future.     

The role of information technology in building public administration theory

Information technology, that assortment of technology that enables the conversion of data into information, has had an enormous impact on the field of public administration and its theoretical foundation. This article explores five of them. It begins with a discussion of one of the primary impacts of information technology on public administration theory: the development of systems theory and its descendants including the study of complex systems, chaos, and complexity theory. The importance of information technology in decision-making is explored next. Does information technology free us from the limits of bounded rationality or are we simply overwhelmed by the volume of information available via new sources, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web? The third role examined is the use of information technology as a research tool to make previously intractable problems solvable. Computer capability has enormously advanced the theoretical underpinnings of public administration. Fourth, the significance of information technology as a change agent that calls for revision of other theoretical postulates is investigated. As information technology has diffused into public organizations, how has it called into question what we previously thought about the foundation of bureaucracy? Finally, learning by doing and the manner through which practice informs theory is considered.     

Things are always more complicated than you think: An open systems approach to the organizational effects of computer-automated technology

The effects of computerized office and factory automation are examined. An open systems framework is used to organize this literature. The review suggests that the benefits of technology are derived from theintermediate effects of the technology on organizational processes (the task structure, personnel system, formal structure, and informal organization). Thus, it is misleading to examine thedirect effects of computerized technology on organizational outcomes such as profits and satisfaction. Some of the effects of technology on the organizational processes are inevitable (e.g., changes in informal communication patterns). Others are determined less by the technology than by management decisions. The key to achieving success with computerized technology is matching changes in organizational processes to each other, as well as to the technology and the larger environment of the organization.Ann Majchrzak is currently Associate Professor of Human Factors at the Institute of Safety and Systems Management at the University of Southern California. She has recently written two books on the subject of technological change. Katherine J. Klein is an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology in the Psychology Department of the University of Maryland at College Park.