I have been using BbC for about a year now that has include the teaching of normal classroom lectures (ITM366) and collaborative status reporting sessions (BUS696). I have found the reliability and functionality of the software impressive. Both of the characteristics excede that that I have experienced while using Skype. The use of BbC for collaboration with students in Vietnam has be especially useful although use of the software mandates a significant amount of training of the student participants to capture the full benefits of the system.
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I have been attempting to discover a satisfactory method for presenting online supplementary lecture for MBA students using the free facilities offered by Vokle.com. I have tried live recording from the classroom and advance, but live recording. Neither method worked well. Just too much tech detail to work with while trying to deliver a stream of thought. Moreover, Vokle.com's limit screen resolution makes the display of PowerPoint slides challenging.
This past week I have experimented with using Camtasia, video production software, as an interface to Vokle.com. I may have hound the right formula. My first short lecture, on the use of an Expert System to guide Angel Investors in screening start-up firm applications for funding is posted at http://www.screencast.com/t/2zjXieVATM . I will be using ManyCam tomorrow to insert the video into my weekly "Angel Talk" show on Vokle. Abstract -- Research using quantitative methods often produces non-significant results due to a lack of statistical power stemming from a less than adequate sample size. This study addresses how a relatively new qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method may be used to expose meaningful relationships between causal variables and a dependent outcome variable. This study uses as its baseline for analysis a 2009 quantitative study of the effect of an MBA program intervention on the attitudinal construct entrepreneurial orientation as psychometrically measured from a survey of 71 participants in an AACSB-accredited MBA program conducted in Vietnam. The hypotheses in the baseline study could not be rejected or accepted due to lack of significance thereby limiting that study’s contribution to the body of knowledge related to entrepreneurship and education. This study, based on the use of the qualitative comparative analysis method, offers insight into the question of why the baseline study failed to achieve significant results and further how the MBA program effected the entrepreneurial orientation of various subsets of participants.
------- A draft study submitted for presentation to the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International conference editors ----- An article in the Harvard Business Reviews (Malone, Laubacher, & Johns, 2011) promoted the concept of micro-specialization (MS) as an organizational related trend for the future. The authors point out that MS can significantly reduce costs of knowledge-worker production through increased efficiency and faster completions (parallelization).
MS complements my thoughts on Object Oriented Management (OOM). MS is the underlying process while OOM addresses a framework, the unified modelling language (UML) for designing and evaluating behavioral dependent micro-process. The OOM/UML framework would allow the visualization of desperate tasks as part of integrated processes. The HBR article presents examples of MS firms on the Internet (guru.com, Elance.com, Innocentive, TopCoder, MechanicalTurk, et al.). These firms are already facilitating the contracting-out of MS work, and in some cases (CastingWords. com and CrowFlower.com) the integration of MS outputs into integrated products. However, organizational theorists could profit from a deeper analysis of this future-oriented work trend. REFERENCEMalone, T. W., Laubacher, R. J., & Johns, T. (2011). Hyper Specialization. Harvard Business Review, July-August. I have recently been studying QCA, a research methodology that in contrast to quantitative analysis, facilitate the examination of small N data sets containing equifinal and/or asymmetric outcome solutions.
My first use of the method will be to re-examine my 2009 dissertation study data set (N=71) that resulted in non-significant findings based on structural equation modelling and t-Tests. QCA is a case-oriented set theory-based method that generally follows four procedural steps;
Several students in my undergrad IT major capstone class commented in their review of a Cisco case that virtual manufacturing appeared to be feasible and attractive. The concept of a virtual source is similar to OOM in that the details of the manufacturing object are hidden and only the deliverables are exposed. Moreover, the manufacturing object may be viewed as a member of an ISA parent class with many contractual attributes inherited.
I read a paper on a Java-based Unified Modelling Language (UML) applet today that might be helpful in developing OOM examples (Auer, 2003)
I also started reading Weisfeld (2009), The Object Oriented Thought Process. I chose the Weisfeld book (downloaded to my Kindle) because of the author's approach to OOD as a thought process versus as a software design methodology. I believe that a similar approach will be needed to construct a theory of management. I read an article by Corely & Gioia (2011) on building theory that provides a contribution to the practice of management versus a contribution to the theory of management. The argument that parallel previous articles on rigor vs. relevance in scientific papers seems to be taking hold in the minds of at least the editors of The Academy of Management Journal. References Auer, M., Tschurtschenthaler, T., & Biffi, S. (2003). A flyweight UML modelling tool for software development in heterogenous environments. Paper presented at the 29th EUROMICRO Conference "New waves in system architecture". Weisfeld, M. (2009). The Object-Oriented Thought Process (3rd ed. Vol. Kindle). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. I presented a less than 5-minute summary of OOM to my InfoTech class yesterday and it appeared that they perceived the just of the concept. Of course, as IT students they are already somewhat familiar with OO Design and Programming. Nevertheless, I had a 'good' feeling about the conciseness of the presentation and
I read Perrow (1973, The Short and Glorious History of Organizational Theory) today and feel that it may serve as a framework for a theory paper on OOM. Primary argument is 'mechanical school theories versus 'human relation's school theories'. Since the 60s the trend has been from mechanical school to human school with a noticeable backlash from institutionalists. OOM might be framed as biological (i.e. partially humanistic) system if interface protocols allowed 3rd party 'smart' mediation. Smart agents, like those be tested by some academics to media power switching in an intelligent energy grid could be added to a virtual firm OOM network to provide load balancing and cost optimization.
The purpose of this blog is to journal my thoughts relative to my academic pursuits. Input from others is welcome.
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