Tag Archives: explanations

by | May 7, 2013

A Case Study in Engineers in Europe

A Case Study on Engineers in Europe

Abstract: Analyses of European governance usually put the member states in the foreground, placing the citizens in the background. This article brings explanations of EU legitimacy down to the level of individuals. A method is suggested that combines explanations based on individual interests and a sociological approach to identity. The paper investigates how work organisations become levers for a European outlook that may release legitimising from its national context. The individual level analysis is carried out for one particular occupational group (engineers) and the research questions are elucidated by case studies.

Case Study on Engineers in Europe

Introduction: In some EU countries, patent protection is five times as costly as it is in the US and Japan. These costs could be reduced for EU institutions that give inventors the option of obtaining a patent that is legally valid throughout the EU, by using a single application to the European Patent Office. To help technology producing firms and other owners of patents avoid the risk of legal action before national courts in each member country, a centralised community court could be set up to rule over disputes arising from Community Patents. 1 Further, would these efficiency improvements increase the legitimacy of the EU? In trying to answer this, I note that there is no agreed upon view of democratic legitimacy in the EU. Keep reading..

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by | May 3, 2013

A Case on Study of Productivity Loss In Brainstorming Groups: Toward the Solution of a Riddle

Study on Productivity Loss In Brainstorming Groups: Toward the Solution of a Riddle

We conducted four experiments to investigate free riding, evaluation apprehension, and production blocking as explanations of the difference in brainstorming productivity typically observed between real and nominal groups. In Experiment 1, we manipulated assessment expectations in group and individual brainstorming. Although productivity was higher when subjects worked under personal rather than collective assessment instructions, type of session still had a major impact on brainstorming productivity under conditions that eliminated the temptation to free ride.

Case Study on Productivity Loss In Brainstorming Groups

Experiment 2 demonstrated that inducing evaluation apprehension reduced productivity in individual brainstorming. However, the failure to find an interaction between evaluation apprehension and type of session in Experiment 3 raises doubts about evaluation apprehension as a major explanation of the productivity loss in brainstorming groups. Finally, by manipulating blocking directly, we determined in Experiment 4 that production blocking accounted for most of the productivity loss of real brainstorming groups. The processes underlying production blocking are discussed, and a motivational interpretation of blocking is offered. keep reading…

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by | April 29, 2013

Case Study: Test Coverage and Post-Verification Defects: A Multiple

Case Study on Test Coverage and Post-Verification Defects: A Multiple

Abstract: Test coverage is a promising measure of test effectiveness and development organizations are interested in costeffective levels of coverage that provide sufficient fault removal with contained testing effort. We have conducted a multiple-case study on two dissimilar industrial software projects to investigate if test coverage reflects test effectiveness and to find the relationship between test effort and the level of test coverage. We find that in both projects the increase in test coverage is associated with decrease in field reported problems when adjusted for the number of prerelease changes. A qualitative investigation revealed several potential explanations, including code complexity, developer experience, the type of functionality, and remote development teams. All these factors were related to the level of coverage and quality, with coverage having an effect even after these adjustments. We also find that the test effort increases exponentially with test coverage, but the reduction in field problem s increases linearly with test coverage. This suggests that for most projects the optimal levels of coverage are likely to be well short of 100%.

Case Study on Post-Verification Defects

Introduction: Among software quality improvement activities testing is arguably the most important. It is, therefore, of particular interest to evaluate and understand how good is a particular set of tests with respect to its ability to detect the most disruptive (post-release) defects. Clearly, skilled testers are more likely to produce more effective tests, but it is preferable to assess the test effectiveness using quantitative and easy-to-obtain measures of test performance that are applicable in software development practice. Because testing is a pre-release activity, the measures of test performance can not be based on the most relevant post-release observations of quality. Apart from a simple measure of test count or testing effort that does not distinguish individual tests (or hours spent testing) according to their ability to detect defects, a widely used measure of test effectiveness is test coverage (subsequently we will simply use the term “Coverage”). There is a variety of coverage metrics from s impler class, function, and statement coverage and to more sophisticated branch and even path coverage. Keep Reading..

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by | March 14, 2013

A Case Study on Understanding Inter-Organizational Decision Coordination

A Case Study about Understanding Inter-Organizational Decision Coordination

Abstract: Purpose: This article develops a theoretical framework to investigate the interaction and coordination of decision-making processes in a supply chain with multiple and inter-dependent suppliers and customers. Approach: Three longitudinal case studies on the decision coordination processes between a European toy supplier and three retailers. Findings: The case studies found different mental models, decision-making behaviours, coordination behaviours and ordering behaviours even though the toy supplier and the three retailers observed quite the same material flow behaviours. The study found explanations for these diverse behaviours by analyzing the mental models and decision-making behaviours of each involved party.



Case Study on Inter-Organizational Decision Coordination

Introduction: A supply chain is fully coordinated when all decisions for accomplishing global system objectives are aligned (Sahin and Robinson, 2002). Particularly, ordering decisions of supply chain members have to be coordinated so that the rate of order fulfilment is synchronized with the rate of consumption at the lowest possible cost (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Simatupang et al., 2002). Despite the importance of interorganizational decision coordination, much of the logistics and supply chain literature (e.g. Thomas and Griffin, 1996; Metters, 1997; Lewis and Talalayevsky, 2004) seldom considers the influence of inter-organizational decision coordination on material (physical) flows (Malone and Crowston, 1994).

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by | March 3, 2013

A Case Study on Jacadis, LLC

Introduction: Jacadis is a security consultancy based in Columbus, Ohio that applies its “practical security” mandate to small-to-medium sized businesses and government agencies throughout the state. Jacadis used to conduct security assessments the traditional way, which entailed periodic vulnerability audits with manual software tools, correlation of vulnerability data, elimination of false positives, and explanations of the data to clients. “The old approach was really time consuming, expensive and not an effective way to demonstrate best practices in vulnerability and threat management,” says Davidson. Jacadis switched to the QualysGuard on demand vulnerability management solution.

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A Case Study on Jacadis, LLC

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by | February 15, 2013

Case Study on Multinational Banking and Economic Development

Evidence of inward foreign direct investment by commercial banks into two regions of China is used to examine the effect or relaxation of controls over inward investment on investment by nonfinancial firms. The existence of sophisticated intermediaries with experience in the international financial system creates conditions for a verifiable, sharp increase in the rate of inward investment by multinational corporations.



Case Study on Multinational Banking and Economic Development

Two explanations are advanced: the newly available expertise in the international financial system allows multinational firms to invest with the assurance that they will have sophisticated capability to hedge risks and, because the financial sector is a sensitive sector, permission for multinational banks to enter is a sign of a commitment to a policy of open industrialization…
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by | January 26, 2013

Case Study: Strengths and Weaknesses

Most case study advocates point out that case studies produce much more detailed information than what is available through a statistical analysis. Advocates will also hold that while statistical methods might be able to deal with situations where behavior is homogeneous and routine, case studies are needed to deal with creativity, innovation, and context. Detractors argue that case studies are difficult to generalize because of inherent subjectivity and because they are based on qualitative subjective data, generalizable only to a particular context.

For further explanations of strengths and weaknesses of the case study, follow these links: http://goo.gl/sblr5

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by | January 19, 2013

Case Study of Jacadis, LLC

We understand security but approach it from a practical perspective,” says Doug Davidson, CEO and Principal Consultant of Jacadis. Jacadis is a security consultancy based in Columbus, Ohio that applies its “practical security” mandate to small-to-medium sized businesses and government agencies throughout the state.



Case Study of Jacadis, LLC


Jacadis used to conduct security assessments the traditional way, which entailed periodic vulnerability audits with manual software tools, correlation of vulnerability data, elimination of false positives, and explanations of the data to clients. “The old approach was really time consuming, expensive and not an effective way to demonstrate best practices in vulnerability and threat management,” says Davidson. View more about Jacadis, LLC


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by | October 9, 2012

Case Studies on Southern California Edison

In early 2001, California experienced an energy shortage of unparalleled and historic significance. At the time, California utilities were privately aware of the now-well-known fact that Enron and others were artificially manipulating the newly-deregulated power industry. However, finding a receptive audience for artificial demand-generated price increases was impossible. Southern California Edison and others in the State faced rapid, irreversible bankruptcy.

Southern California Edison Case Study

So, conflicting public explanations of the shortage’s root causes led to the universally-accepted belief that California’s two major utilities–of which Southern California Edison (SCE) is one–caused the problem. While not true, this crisis and its politically-charged implications severely weakened the relationships SCE had previously built with residential and business customers. Two things were clear: the only immediate solution to the crisis was to have citizens conserve electricity, and SCE needed new communications methods to strengthen customer satisfaction and relationships. SCE needed to develop an integrated strategic plan for educating California customers on energy efficiency and improve its customers’ overall satisfaction and perception at the same time. Click here to read more…

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by | October 5, 2012

What went wrong at Eastman Kodak?

This study undertakes an analysis of five fundamental dichotomies in strategy and applies them to the case of Eastman Kodak in an effort to understand the reasons for the business’ continual underperformance and misalignment1 with the operating environment.

Eastman Kodak Case Study

Four of these five case study discussions each reveal four serious counts of corporate failure on the part of Kodak’s strategic decisions and whilst explicit recommendations are not offered, there are clear explanations as to why the incorrect path has contributed to the firms’ current business challenges. The final topic integrates the previous four by providing aninsight into how Kodak has managed to survive despite such imprudent corporate decisions and how it can use the time to reconsider a number of the business’ fundamental strategic choices. Click here to read more…

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