While quantitative data and surveying employees may be the best idea to do for the research project which I am proposing, it is not a reasonable method to follow through on.While it is true that I would be able to get much better accuracy and precision doing a longitudinal testing, however technology is growing at such an exponential rate that by the time testing and experiments are done, it may have already become null and void as new technology may have emerged.For this reason, I have decided to use a qualitative method for doing my research.
I will use several qualitative methods to do my research.First and most obvious, I will search online through scholarly databases to find academic journals and various other documents.Looking at case studies which are currently available and related to my topic of research is another method I will look at.These case studies will be extremely helpful since I will most likely not have the time to do my own experiments.The final methods I will use is interviewing and observing the management and employees of the business to get a better idea of the personality of company and its culture as well as an idea of what the management and employees want and needs.
As the saying goes, “time is money”.Most businesses need immediate results and do not have the time to wait for experiments and testing to fail.The qualitative methods I have chosen will help grasp what businesses need, and give an idea of what is already out there that works, or does not work in a short amount of time.I will use these methods to meet the demands world of business while trying to not fall technologically behind.
Kock, Ned. "Designing E-Collaboration Technologies to Facilitate Compensatory Adaptation." Information Systems Management 25.1 (Winter2008 2008): 14-19. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The author of this journal was interested in how to better design e-collaborating technology to better facilitate with the many compensatory problem faced by not using high level media, such as face to face, in a group work setting.In particular, the researcher was studying how the different levels of media, high (face to face) to low (written mail), had an impact on how co-workers communicated with each other, and how new e-collaborating tools can compensate for these impacts.The researcher studied different companies, and their employees who did group work, or communicated through lower forms of communications, such as e-mail, during group work.The researcher used scientific reasoning, most notably the theory of evolution, to try and create theories to prove how certain forms of communications were better than other and the advantages to higher media communications.
During the research, the author found out a few important things.First, while lower level media such as e-mail was harder to understand or read, and was slower in comparison to speech, it did increase cognitive thinking, and often increased knowledge sharing between group members.Their research showed the member would think more before sending out e-mails with information, and would say stuff that they might of have not been comfortable saying in person.However, this increase in cognitive thinking sometimes had a negative effect on effective communications which seems to contradict the previous claim.
The improper use of technology for communication was also another important finding.Many e-collaborating tools have features in them to try to add more face to face type feelings to their communications, however people do not use them properly, or the feature is not available on every system.One example they used was of the emoticon system in e-mails.Many e-mail services do not have emoticons installed in their system, and even then, many people find the use of emoticons annoying.Even when used, they do not give a real human expression, such as a smile, in a proper way and can be misinterpreted.A smile in real life while giving constructive criticism is good to show a person that they are on the right track, and that you are not looking down on their idea, but trying to help them.However, a smile in a construct criticism e-mail might be taken differently as if you were trying to mock them.
This paper was interesting how the author tied evolution into computer science and business.He used a lot of science term to back, and how the two main forms of communication, face to face and verbal, were used by pre-ancestor humans as a way of communication.He continues to say that as time goes on we will evolve to adapt to reading thing better.I myself am not fully a believer of evolution, and was wondering also what merit evolution really had for improving e-communication.I also wonder if it is not just the e-collaboration tools fault for the communication barriers problem, but also management fault for not training their employees to properly use the tools.
This paper seemed to have a lot of interdisciplinary research done.It was evident that theories of biology through the evolution theory were used to try to create a theory to apply to a business operation management problem.It also had some aspect of human resource management, and computer science as it looked at how technology can be better made, and how employees are affected by technology.
This paper was very helpful for my research.I felt that this gave me a lot of information to take into consideration when creating my proposed specification for my proposed software.I need more specific on how a certain feature works, so that it will not be used improperly.I also need to try to think of way to not only enhance communication to be more face to face like, but also find a way to help make it easier to understand and comprehend lower media form of communications.Overall this paper help me gain a better idea of how to create the e-collaborating part of my proposed software, and also give a better understanding of how to implement it as well.
Johanna Rothman, a consultant for managing high-technology product development, helped analyze and implement telecommuting system for a software company she was managing at the time.Johanna examined the employee who was going to telecommute, the project team which she worked for, the management she was under, and other employees whom would need to contact the telecommuter.She was particularly interested in how communications would be passed between the telecommuter and other employees and managers.The personality of the telecommuter, and the personalities and actions of how the team works also played a factor in making the implementation of telecommuting.
Johanna made a lot of finding in her report in how to make telecommuting work.One of these finding was that it was very important to know the how exactly a telecommuter would do their work, and in a group setting work was done.It was important that managers, telecommuter and group members specified what work was to be done by each member, and that it was clear to everyone as it is difficult to check with your fellow employees if you are working at home or vice versa.Setting up rules for interaction was also important.While at work, there is an office culture or set standards of communications between employees, those standards disappear when a co-worker start to work at home.They are not as easily reachable as they would be at the office.It is important to make sure that these rules are convenient to all employees and mangers, and not just the telecommuter.
The second finding she made was that personality played a huge role in how successful an employee was as a telecommuter.Telecommuter needed to open, and willing to talk to people.If they lacked this type of personality there was many problem which a manager may face.One of these was an issue which could affect the productivity of a group or the company.This was if a telecommuter was having a problem with their work, it was harder for manager or other co-workers to find out about their troubles.If this telecommuter who was having problems was scared to ask for help from other members, or too stubborn to ask for help, it could throw a project behind schedule, and lower the productivity of the company.Another issue had to deal with input from group projects.If the personality of a telecommuter is one that is quiet and shy, during group meeting they may not be giving their input on a project.Since they probably not the type to speak up and they are not present at the actual meeting, they might be overlooked, and might not fully understand the whole project.
This paper itself was very interesting.I liked how the author used a real life example to help prove her claims.It actually made me think a lot about how exactly do companies choose which employees are allowed to work from home.It also made me wonder how some companies are totally independent from working at offices and totally remote working environment.If personality did play this much of a role, are companies the are fully remote working extremely interested in personality test when hiring employees to see if they are compatible with this type of work style?The paper was also made me wonder if these finding were specifically for software companies which are heavily reliant on group work as the author was a specialist in this field.
Business Management was definitely played a big role in this paper.It does not seem that this research was a interdisciplinary, however due to the authors knowledge in software engineering, it is possible that she used her understanding of how software engineering was done to help create these guidelines on how to make telecommuting works.
This paper was extremely useful in my research.This paper help me gain a better understanding of how the management side of business would look at the problem, and what were some of the solution from a real life business example.It gave me insight on things I need to consider such as employee’s personality, rules and guidelines on how employees should communicate with each other.
Butler, E. Sonny, Cheryl Aasheim, and Susan Williams. "Does Telecommuting Improve Productivity?." Communications of the ACM 50.4 (Apr. 2007): 101-103. Computers & Applied Sciences Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
E. Butler, Cheryl Aasheim, and Susan Williams, professors in the department of information technology at Georgia Southern University did a case study on an organization to see if telecommuting really does improve a company’s productivity.The authors stated that many studies on this topic had been short termed, and based on self-reported data instead of actual measurements.Because of this reason, the authors believe that any previous finding can be called into question.To make their work more credible, they performed a longitudinal test nearly over five years on the Kentucky American Water Company (KAWC).During this time, the researchers studied the cost over time and the productivity of both telecommuter employees and regular office employees.
The method of conducting their test was that of the classic scientific method.They made a hypothesis that teleworking did increase overall employee productivity in the long run and that it was not a placebo or Hawthorne effect as many other researcher questioned in previous short term studies.Afterwards, they conducted their experiment, which was in two phases during the five year period with ten months of data missing between the two test phases.Afterwards they were able to analyze the data which they collected and come to a conclusion which they explained in their report.
After the conclusion of their test, they found many different effects teleworking had on the KAWC.The first thing they stated was that the total cost of implementing the telecommuting systems was less than the total saving which means that the company net benefit increased and did not have a negative effect on the company.Also, the selection process used to choose telecommuter employees was not based solely on performance, but the company also took into consideration the quality of two-way radio communication as well as the proximity to the employee’s home.
The first finding they claimed that telecommuter did increase employee’s productivity. 13 months after the implementation of the system, the average telecommuter productivity increased by 154%.In the following year, productivity increased from 9.4 calls per hour, to 10.5 calls per hour, but dropped to 10.2 calls per hour in the third year.It then increased to 11.1 calls per hours in the final three months of operation. They also found that telecommuters worked 3.98 hours more than non-telecommuters per month.They considered this to be a very small value, and did not believe it had an effect on absenteeism on KAWC.They also stated that while productivity of telecommuting did increase, it seem to have a negative effect on office employees whose productivity dropped by 13.3%.In their conclusion, they believed that telecommuting did increase overall productivity for the company, but did not want to make a generalization as there have not been similar test cases to date, and that this might only be applicable to the KAWC.
I thought that this was an interesting study.I like how they performed a longitudinal study as it also crossed my mind that these short term benefits may have been cause of the Hawthorne effect.The research they did made a lot of sense to me, and their precision on their measurements were nice and exact.I wonder though if the test subjects knew at all if they were being tested for the past five years, or if it was totally a secret.They also stated that the average calls per hour of the selected employees for telecommuting was 3.3 calls while the office average was 6 calls.I wonder if they had chosen some of their best employees, would the effect have been smaller as there is a limit to what a human person can do.It seems to me the system help improve average employees, but may not have had a big effect on employees who are already working at their full potential.
The work itself does not seem to be interdisciplinary.All of the professors were from Information Technology section of the same college.Also, the professor merely observed the whole project. They did not give KAWC any advice on how they could have implemented the telecommuting system, nor how to choose their employees for the system.
This article was useful to me to learn more on how exactly telecommuting systems are chosen, and what are some of the important aspect and question needed to implementing such as system.Concepts such as employee distance from home, and their productivity prior to the implementation of the new system was something I had not originally considered.I also did not think that there was a negative effect on employees who continued to work in the office.This paper gave me a lot of insight into how I should implement my proposed system.
Baker, Ellen, Gayle C. Avery, and John Crawford. "SATISFACTION AND PERCEIVED PRODUCTIVITY WHEN PROFESSIONALS WORK FROM HOME." Research & Practice in Human Resource Management 15.1 (June 2007): 37-62. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, researchers in the School of Management in the University of Technology, Sydney, and Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Macquarie University look at the work from home option (WFH) of 20 different Australian Organization to try to help human resource manager understand how to better assist employees into WFH programs.The authors used questionnaires to assess the organizational, job, individual and household factors to see which factors affect WFH programs the most.They also ask about the employees’ satisfaction, and perceived productivity done.They find that organizational and job related factors have more effect on the WFH experience than individual or household factor.However, individual and household factor have a wide variability of effect which must be deal on an individual basis.This work will help me learn the important factors needed in order to creating a successful WFH software system and how to better implement it.
Butler, E. Sonny, Cheryl Aasheim, and Susan Williams. "Does Telecommuting Improve Productivity?." Communications of the ACM 50.4 (Apr. 2007): 101-103. Computers & Applied Sciences Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, Professors in the Department of Information Technology at Georgia Southern University examine various telecommuting companies to see whether or not telecommuting improves a company’s productivity.Employers have started to place more value on labor productivity.Telecommuting is believed to increase productivity, and has become a popular tool for managing employees.These professors take a look at the temporary effects, but focuses on the long-term effects telecommuting systems have on various companies’ productivity.Through their research, they found that telecommuting has had a positive effect on a company’s productivity when managed properly.This research will help me learn more about how telecommuting system directly affect workers, and how productivity is increase.Through this report, I will try to find better way to increase productivity through telecommuting even more.
Clear, Fintan, and Keith Dickson.. "Teleworking practice in small and medium-sized firms: management style and worker autonomy." New Technology, Work & Employment 20.3 (Nov. 2005): 218-233. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, researchers at the BusinessSchool and Technology Management department at BrunelUniversity conduct an empirical study of how many small and medium-size companies conduct teleworking practices.They find that many organizational factors such as management attitudes, worker autonomy and employee flexibility to be critical component to making teleworking function smoothing.They believed that these components were more important than facilitating a success implementation of a teleworking system.They find that teleworking in small/middle size business were mainly done by managers and specialist instead of regular workers.This research will help me understand the difference of a smaller business and a larger business, and what differences in the software of implementation would be needed to get better employee morale and productivity.
Gebauer, Judith, and Fei Lee.. "Enterprise System Flexibility and Implementation Strategies: Aligning Theory with Evidence from a Case Study." Information Systems Management 25.1 (Winter2008 2008): 71-82. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, researchers from the college of business at the University of Illinois look at flexibility as an important consequence for operational efficiency and long-term effectiveness of an enterprise system.They specifically look at how manager should implement strategies through a theory which can determine the flexibility requirements of an enterprise system.They implemented this theory at a Fortune 100 form and based on their finding, presented a roadmap that can guide flexibility and implementations strategies based on both projects and process characteristics.This article will help me learn the amount of flexibility I will need to consider when implementing a new WFH system into a company.
Harrington, S.. "Telecommuting: a test of trust, competing values, and relative advantage." Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions Volume 42, Issue 4, Dec. 1999 223-239. 24 Jul 2008 .
The author, a professor from GeorgiaCollege and StateUniversity looks at the challenges brought to management by virtual work arrangements.The challenge which he focuses on is that of a company’s trust with their employees.He addresses issues such as how much can managers trust their employees to work outside their presence?Through his research, the author finds that his study offers the support for the important role of trust, security, and culture in the implementation of a virtual work arrangement.This article will give me a better understanding of the mindset of the employees and the importance of trust and security between the employees and management of a company to implement such a system.
Kirk, James, and Robert Belovics.. "making e-working work." Journal of Employment Counseling 43.1 (Mar. 2006): 39-46. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, part of the human service department in WesternCarolinaUniversity look into the growing field of e-working as it is estimated to be up to 20 million full and part time telecommuters in the United States by 2010.The author tries to assist employment counselor with organizing and implementing virtual work arrangements.The authors go into detail about the growth of e-worker program, the benefits and drawback to teleworking, and discuss some of the critical elements needed in order to have a successful teleworking program.This article will help me learn important key point of teleworking programs and how to successfully make it work.
Kock, Ned. "Designing E-Collaboration Technologies to Facilitate Compensatory Adaptation." Information Systems Management 25.1 (Winter2008 2008): 14-19. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The author, a researcher from the Division of International Business and Technology Studies at Texas A&M International University argues that the current e-collaboration technology available are flawed, and poses many obstacles which decreases the effectiveness of communication in complex collaborate task.He believes that the lack of face to face communications often makes collaborator change their communicative behavior in order to compensate for an obstacle.He concludes that by saying that more research on how e-collaborating technologies need to be designed to facilitate compensatory adaptation.This article will help me learn some of the barrier when designing my propose change for the software implementation of a teleworking system.
Krušinskas, Rytis. "APPLICATION OF OPTION VALUATION METHODOLOGY TO TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PROJECTS." Economics & Management (Aug. 2008): 128-134. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The author, a researcher from Kaunas University of Technology in Luthuania looks into many technological investment of many companies.Through his observation he tries to create a valuation methodology to evaluate which types of technological investments are worth the money of businesses.Through his research, he find that there are many investments which are worth implementing, however are not viable solutions for the present time due to the face speed at which technology is growing.The author’s research presents sequence of company value increase calculation evaluating possible risks. Obtained results of empirical research allows to make conclusions regarding technology adoption strategy selection.This paper will help me learn how to evaluate what is necessary to implement into a WFH system and what is not needed.
Kumpikaitė, Vilmante, and Ramune Čiarnienė.. "NEW TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPING HUMAN RESOURCES." Economics & Management (15 Aug. 2008): 93-94. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, researchers from Kaunas University of Technology in Luthuania look into how new technologies are tied to improvements in a companies productivity.They note how advancement in technology allows companies to downsize and be leaner, as well as replace human capital with computers systems.The authors however focus their research on how to use technology to train and develop human resources of the company.By using training technologies, such as e-learning, it allows the company to easily train their employees to be more competent, knowledgeable and skilled in their job.The authors not that employees must not be resistant to change in order for such a system to work.This article will help me look into the idea of using e-learning to train employee to use the new system I am proposing to be implemented.
Lee, Honggirl. "Telework vs. central work: A comparative view of knowledge accessibility ." Decision Support Systems Volume 43, Issue 3, April 2007 687-700 . 24 Jul 2008 .
The author, who has received a M.S. in logistics system from KoreaMaritimeUniversity, and a Ph.D. in management information systems from Tokyo Institute of Technology discusses the importance of accessibility to information on a virtual system with the increasing popularity of telework arrangements.The author is concerned with the lack of effort to investigate the knowledge accessible by distributed workers.His studies examines the gap between telework and central work in accessing knowledge with varying levels of tacitness, and in the use of communication of media for knowledge exchange.Through surveys and questionnaires, the author finds that although information richness perception of a medium is largely rational, it is also partially re-structured by non-rational factors.This article will help me find the problem in accessibility of data need for employees to complete a task, or work in a group to better create a software to fix these flaws.
The author, a NWC Analyst talks about how the workforce of baby boomer retiring will cause a shortage of employees.Because of this, some government agencies are employing new systems of telecommuting to rehire some of the retiring baby boomer by offering flexible hours, and allow them to work at home.This article shows the usefulness of such telecommuting systems, and how it allows companies, even government agencies to allow flexible work hours to keep their workforce up.
Prystash, D. "Corporate attitudes and commitments to telecommuting." Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions Volume 38, Issue 2, June 1995 95-99. 24 Jul 2008
The author, part of the AT&T Easylink Services, talk about the use of telecommuting by information and knowledge workers in various fields.He notes that these advancements had been made possible by the increasing availability of enabling technologies, and easy-to-use software, access to information both private and public.He also talks about the attitude of managers and corporation of telecommuting.He covers topics such as corporate commitments, motivation, productivity, supervision and employee satisfaction of telecommunication.This article is a good choice to give me a great idea of how upper management view these type of software, and gives me an understanding of what they would want from the new software I am proposing.
The author, a journalist for Software, IEEE, talks about what is necessary in order to make the software for telecommuting work.He believes that it is possible to create a telecommuting culture-an environment in which people can successfully work from whenever they happen to be physically.The author also states that one of the critical components of this culture is building and maintaining an open and trustful communication between the managers and the employees and between the employees and the rest of the team.This article will help me learn more on what is necessary in order to know how a company works, and help with the implementation of my proposed system.
Tung, L. "Information technology as an enabler of telecommuting ." International Journal of Information Management Volume 16, Issue 2, April 1996 103-117. 24 Jul 2008 .
The author, part of the School of Accountancy and Business at Nanyang Technological University talk about the change of how telecommuting is allowing people to do their work from anywhere but the office.They believe that the rise of cost effective information technology system is the reason telecommuting systems are continuing to expand.They talk about how it has expand from single repetitive task to a now very wide variety of tasks, even group projects.The author also talks about some of the weaknesses such as security, maintenance, and training required for implementation of such a system.This article will help me get a better understand of how information technology has impacted telecommunication.I will use this knowledge to help me better design my program I have proposed to implement.
Yeung, Arthur, and Wayne Brockbank.. "Reengineering HR Through Information Technology." Human Resource Planning 18.2 (June 1995): 24-37. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 24 July 2008 .
The authors, researcher from the college of business at San FranciscoStateUniversity and University of Michigan talk about how Human Resources have been reengineered by information technology.Based on in-epth case studies of four major corporations (Hewlett-Packard. Apple Computer, AT&T, GE Nuclear Energy) and surveys from 33 corporations, this article discuss and address five basic questions related to Human Resources.Why do companies reengineer HR? How are companies using reengineering? What are the possible outcomes of reengineering? What makes reengineering work? What factors stall reengineering initiatives?This article will help me learn how Human Resources have change from the impact of information technology and help me in my implementation of my proposed system.
In our world today, technology continues to grow at an extremely fast speed. As new innovations in computer and communication technology continue to change the lives of everyday people, companies must also keep up with these innovations to stay competitive in the business world. In the past decades, many businesses have taken the step to incorporate new computer systems to help increase the efficiency of many different company tasks. However, the implementation and transition into using these new systems can be costly, have an effect on employee morale, and without the proper training, the company may not be able to use the system effectively. If employees are not properly trained, the system may have a negative effect on the productivity of the company instead of benefiting it. Learning how to implement, and design these systems is very important for a company to understand. After taking a class in management leadership, I began to notice how companies were trying to effectively use their employees. I also notice how some companies were implementing new computer systems to try to improve the efficiency of the business productivity. After discussing this idea with a few classmates, and my professor I was able to come up with the following proposition. I propose to examine many of current systems which are being used by various companies and how companies have implemented these systems. In specific, I will be looking at systems which allow employees to work at home or during irregular work hours as this is becoming a new trend within the business world. Through these observations, I will create new specifications for the creation of a new system to be implemented into a business. Also, through the observation of various company techniques on implementing these systems, I will help create some guidelines on how management can efficiently and effectively implement this new system. As a Business and Computer Science (CS) minor, I believe that this gives me the sufficient knowledge to work on this project. As a CS minor, I have programmed, and know how many programmers think and their terminology. Because of this I will be able to create specifications, and word it in a way which the programmers will understand and not be confused, but also be exactly what the businesses want for their system. As a Business minor, I know how important management and proper implementation of a new system is to a business. The reason I believe that this is a job for an interdisciplinarian is because of the huge difference in both of these fields. While it will definitely be the of the programmers job to create the new system, it is people in business who need to set the specification of the program, and people in management who need to help design the interface of the program as well. By making the creation of the program interdisciplinary this will also help ease the implementation of the program. If the interface is easy to understand and use, employees will be able to learn the system quicker. Also, since the programmers know exactly how the program works, they can help management create a plan to effectively teach employees how to use the new system. With the implementation of such a system, I believe that this will have a great impact on employee morale, and also benefit the productivity of the company. With a more refined system and a effective way to implement such as system this will help company benefit greatly.
Economics Subject Matter: The basic concept of economics is the idea of how people decide to use resources which they have obtained.A resource can be a number of things such as money, food, water and clothing.Economics studies how people allocate their resources, and the effect which occurs afterwards.Through these observations, decisions can be made to benefit the economy as a whole.
Definition of Economics: Basic Economic Principles: A Guide for Students defines economics as, “the study of how people choose to use their resources in order to satisfy their nearly unlimited economic wants.Scarcity exists whenever there are insufficient resources to satisfy these wants” (O’Conner and Faille 1).
Sub-Fields within Economics: Economics is broken down into two distinct areas, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.Irvin Tucker, author of Microeconomics for Today, defines Microeconomics as “the branch of economics that studies decision-making by a single individual, household, firm, industry, or level of government” (5).Tucker also defines Macroeconomics as “the branch of economics that studies decision-making as a whole” (5).Microeconomics is basically the study of the smaller bits and pieces of economics, while Macroeconomics studies the whole big picture.Microeconomic is generally interested in the effect of smaller businesses or individual decision.Macroeconomics is more interested in large corporations and international affairs.
Research Methods:One approach which economist use to research and find answers is the traditional Scientific Method.The Scientific Method is broken into five distinct steps.The first step is to identify the problem.After you identify what you are trying to solve, the second step is to collect relevant data through surveys or data mining.Using the date collected, the third step is to propose a hypothesis.The forth step is to test the hypothesis, and the final step is to verify whether your hypothesis was valid or not.An example given in O’Conner and Faille book is one of price and quantity demand.(Step 1) Alfred Marshall, an English economist, wanted to figure out the relation between price and quantity demand.(Step 2) Marshall then started to collect data on price and quantity demand.(Step 3) He then proposed a theory that there “was an indirect relationship between price of a good and the quantity demanded of the good” (O’Conner and Faille 6).(Step 4) He continued to test his theory and organized his information into demand schedule and demand curves.(Step 5) He then published his work and introduced a now famous economic theory.
Key Concepts:
Opportunity Cost:The book definition given in Macroeconomic for Today, defines opportunity cost as “The best alternative sacrificed for a chosen alternative” (Tucker 35).An example is a high school student who decides to go to college.It cost money to go to college and get an education.The opportunity cost in this situation is that the student could be making the years he is at college.The opportunity cost lost for going to college is the cost of attending, plus the money the student could have made working.
Ceteris paribus: It is a Latin phrase that means that while certain variable change, all other things remain unchanged.All theory in economics must abid by this assumption.If the assumption is violated, the theory or model can not be tested legitimately.
Law of demand:This law is defined as “the principle that there is an inverse relationship between the price of a good and the quantity buyers are willing to purchase in a defined time period, ceteris paribus.” (Tucker, Microecon. 54).As prices goes up, the demand for an item goes down and vice versa.By this law, it is possible to find the economical price to sell an item for maximum profit.
Leading Theories:
Keynesian Model: This “theory argues that demand creates its own supply” (Tucker, Macroecon. 186).Keynesian theory is based on aggregate demand and that the economy is inherently unstable, and may require government intervention to control aggregate expenditures.If there is a demand for an item, the supply of that item will come out of the demand.
Labor theory of value: This is a theory which believes that the price of a commodity is directly related to the labor needed to produce it.If a product requires more labor and take a longer time to make, it should be valued more and cost more.
Key Books/Seminal Text:
O’Conner, David E., and Christopher C. Faille. Basic Economic Principles: A Guide for Students. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000
This book is a basic outline of the principles in economis.It gives a general idea of the theories and key terms of the discipline.It is a good book to read if you want to get a general idea about what economics is all about.
Tucker, Irvin B., Macroeconomics for Today. Cincinnati, OH: South-WesternCollege Publishing, 1999.
This book focuses on the sub-discipline, Macroeconomics.It focuses on the role of government, and larger companies, and how economics works as a whole.There is a focus on how economic fits together as a whole, and also a focus on international economics.
Tucker, Irvin B., Microeconomics for Today. Cincinnati, OH: South-WesternCollege Publishing, 1999. This book focuses on the sub-discipline, Microeconomics.It focuses on the logic of economics, specifically supply and demand.This book introduces the logic of economic analysis and develops the core of microeconomic analysis.
Key Thinkers/Practitioners:
Adam Smith (1732-1790) was a Scottish economist.He explained the operation and benefits of a free market economy.Smith believed that individual and firms were guided by an “invisible hand” to do what is in their best interest.The laissez-faire capitalism came from his idea of the government not regulating business activities.
John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) published a book called General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.Through the ideas of his book, he revolutionized how the world looked at the economy and the role of government in society.Through his idea, he developed the Keynesian model which is still looked at today.
Paul A. Samuelson (1915-Present) has come up with many contribution to economics.He is currently reviving the new-classical economic theories.His many contributions include the multiplier-accelerator macrodynamic model, the factor price equalization theorem, the Non-Substitution theorems and envelope theorem to just name a few.
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) came up with Say’s Law which claimed that the total demand of an economy can not exceed or fall below total supply in the economy.His idea was that supply cerates its own demand.His ideas were popular to those trained in the classical train of thought.
Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) created the Cambridge School of Economics.There he was able to teach many of the great minds of economics, such as Arthur Pigou and John Maynard Keynes who would go on to come up with the Keynesian theory.He also wrote many books on economics which influenced many other economists during his time.He was able to make a huge influence through his teachings and books.
Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877-1959) was the prize student and heir of Alfred Marshall.He was a neoclassical economist.He brought social welfare into the scope of economic analysis which had been previously ignored.He is also responsible for the distinctions between social marginal products and cost.He also gave the idea that government can, through mixing taxes and subsides, correct such market failures.
Professional Academic Journals:
Consumption, Markets and Culture
This journal focuses on consumerism and the markets as the site of social behavior and discourse. It encourages discussion of the role of management and organizations in society, especially in terms of production, consumption, colonialism, globalization, business performance and labor conditions. Combining theories of culture, media, gender, anthropology, literary criticism and semiology with analyses of business and management, the journal is international in its scope and iconoclastic in its aims.This journal is aimed at those who are interested in culture effect on the economy.
Economics and Philosophy
This journal deals with the mixing of the two disciplines of Economics and Philosophy to deal with Economic problems.It uses both disciplines in a interdisciplinary way to attempt to deal with many problem in Economics.This journal is aimed at people who want to take a look at economics in a different way or interdisciplinarians.
Computer Science Subject Matter: Computer Science is a systematic body of knowledge with a foundation in theory.It is concerned with practical problems concerning the design and construction of useful systems, within the constraints of cast and acceptability.
Definition of Computer Science: According to the Oxford’s Dictionary of computing, computer science is defined as “the study of computers, their underlying principles and use. It comprises topics such as: programming; information structures; software engineering; programming languages; compilers and operating systems; hardware design and testing; computer system architecture; computer networks and distributed systems; systems analysis and design; theories of information, systems, and computation; applicable mathematics and electronics; computing techniques (e.g. graphics, simulation, artificial intelligence, and neural networks); applications; social, economic, organizational, political, legal, and historical aspects of computing” (Illingworth).
Sub-Fields within Computer Science: While wikipedia is generally a place to avoid for research topic, its subdivision of Computer Science is one of the best available.Wikipedia break Computer Science into 14 different sub-fields.
Mathematical Foundation – a branch of computer science which focuses on the mathematical logic of computer science and many mathematical theories such as number, graph, type and category theory.It also looks into areas such as computational geometry which attempts to solve problem stated in terms of geometry and numerical analysis which his concerned with the limitations of floating point computations.
Theory of computation – “is the branch of computer science that deals with whether and how efficiently problems can be solved on a model of computation, using an algorithm.” (Theory of computation)
Algorithms and data structures – a branch of computer science which focuses on the complexity of algorithms, and the logical process used and the efficiency of computational processes.
Programming languages and compilers – a branch of computer science which deals with programming languages which express algorithms and the compilers and interpreters used to allow the computer to translate the program and run the program properly.
Concurrent, parallel and distributed systems – this branch focuses on using a computer of multiple computers to run multiple executions or focus on accomplishing a common objective or task and the theory behind it.
Software engineering – this branch focuses on using computer languages to design algorithms and methods to run a given task.This can include reverse engineering to understand how software is developed and also the testing of the software.
System architecture – this branch focuses on implementing computer to use the hardware of the system and include such things as operating systems which manages computer programs.
Communications – this branch focuses on the transfer of information between networks and encryptions used to protect the information transmitted.It also deals with digital audio and voice recognition applications.
Databases – this branch deals with computer created databases.It deals with the algorithms used for searching and processing information and extraction of relevant data from a given database.
Artificial intelligence – this branch deals with intelligence or artificially created life made by humans.This can includes things such as automated reasoning, computer vision, machine learning, computational linguistics and robotics.
Visual rendering (or Computer graphics) –this branch deals with the algorithms used for creating computer graphics and the processing of information of images through computational means.
Human-Computer Interaction, Scientific computing – this branch focuses on the interaction between humans and computers.It is constantly trying to improve the user interfaces of computers for the public use.
Scientific computing – This branch deals with scientific uses of computers in braches such as chemistry, physics and neurosciences.These branches use computers to compute and model theories in these sciences.
Didactics of computer science/informatics – “The subfield didactics of computer science focuses on cognitive approaches of developing competencies of computer science and specific strategies for analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of excellent lessons in computer science.” (Computer Science)
Research Methods: Building models and running simulations is one of the main research methods used in Computer Science.Researchers in computer science require lots of money to build models which faithfully captures the relevant aspects of the modeled system being researched.After the model is completed the researcher needs to run numerous simulation experiments and generalize the results to the real system.An example of this is the 3D cave here at Virginia Tech.Many graduate students interested in Human Computer Interactions request the use of this system, and create programs (or models) to be used on the VT-Cave system.From there, the students run their program using their model with subjects (I have actually participated in a test with the VT-Cave before) and observe to see if their model implementation is effective or not.
Key Concepts:
Programming Languages: these languages are used by computer scientist to create software which runs on computers.There are many different languages which contain all different type of pros and cons.There are five basic concepts in programming languages. “These concepts are variables, expressions, control structures, input/output, and abstraction” (Virginia Tech CS Online Modules).Programmers use these languages to translate plain English into Pseudo Code which the computer then translates into assembly code via a compiler and the processor translates into machine code.
Data Structures: these structures compare “how data is actually stored in a computer with the abstract structures that programmers use” (Virginia Tech CS Online Modules).These structures allow the programmer to know how information is stored and allows the users to find, add and remove data from the structure.Each structure has its pros and cons and depending on the situation, one may be better than another.There is no set amount of data structures as new structures can be created by any user or modified by different languages.
Algorithms: an algorithm is defined as “a set of instructions for solving a problem” (Virginia Tech CS Online Modules).In computer science there are many algorithms which are possible solution to problems.Programmers need to think through the situation and choose or create an algorithm which efficient and does not consume too much resources.Algorithms are the basis of good programming and require a lot of time and thought when choosing and designing one.
Leading Theories:
Computational complexity theory:This theory deals with the question about how efficient can a problem be solved.It looks into the resources required to execute a given algorithm and examines the difficulty of creating efficient algorithms for specific computational problems.
Computability theory:While this theory is a bit similar to complexity theory, it deals with the issue if a computational problem is at all solvable by any models of computations.It also looks at the limits of the given models and attempts to define unreasonable models of computations such as infinite loops.
Key Books/Seminal Texts:
Childs, Jeffrey. C++ : Classes and Data Structures. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.
This book is a great reference book to programming in the computer language of C++ which is a commonly used language today.It gives relevant examples and worked out example to help provide code and help to people who want to become better programmers.
Homer, Steven, and Alan Selman. Computability and complexity theory. New York, NY: Springer, 2001.
This books talks about the theory of which computing provides computer science with concepts, models, & formalisms for reasoning about the resources needed to carry out computations.It also talks about the efficiency of computations and provides tools to measure and compare different solutions.
Meyer, John-Jules. Epistemic logic for AI and computer science. Cambridge, NY: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1995. This book talks about how Epistemic logic has grown from its philosophical beginnings to find diverse applications in computer science.It talks about the mathematic used and the logic in the creation and application of artificial intelligence.It discusses some topics such as common knowledge, distributed knowledge, explicit and implicit belief, interplays between knowledge and time, and knowledge and actions.
Key Thinkers and Practitioners:
Bill Gates (1955-Present) is creator of one of most known and used computer company, Microsoft.Bill Gates was important for revolutionizing the PC from strictly researching use at colleges and big businesses to bring it to everyday normal people and the home of many people.Microsoft is the creator of the Windows operating system, and is the most widely used operating system today.While Bill Gates is no longer the head of Microsoft and work only part time for it, he still influences many computer scientists even today.
Steve Jobs (1955-Present) is one of the co-founder of apple computers.While Steve Jobs did not start of his career successfully.Apple was considered a niche market and not user friendly before, but because of Steve Jobs innovation, he has changed the image of Apple Computers.Steve Job changed the way people interacted with the computer and made it easy to use.This has impacted the current computer industry as many companies such as Microsoft are trying to follow in the steps of Steve Job to gain or not lose their competitive advantage in their market.
Alan Turing (1912-1954) helped pioneer the concept of the digital computer.He envisioned a machine which he named, the Turing machine, which is essentially the same as today’s multi-purpose computers.He developed many proofs which are used in computability theory to this day.
Alan Curtis Kay (1940-Present) is a pioneer of the object-oriented programming movement and windowing graphical user interface used by many computer scientists today.He led a team that developed Smalltalk which is an object-oriented programming language used in the 1980’s.He also made many fundamental contributions to personal computing.
James Gosling (1955-Present) is famous for developing the Java programming language which is considered to be the most widespread portable computing language ever developed.He also made major contributions to several other software systems, such as NeWS and Gosling Emacs.
George Boole (1815-1864) was a British mathematician and philosopher who invented the Boolean algebra.This is basis of all modern computer arithmetic known as digital logic.Because of this, he is regarded in hindsight as one of the founders of the field of computer science.
Professional Academic Journals:
Artificial Intelligence
This journal reports resulted achieved from various test in the field of artificial intelligence, and computational accounts of aspects of intelligence such as, automated reasoning, computational theories of learning, heuristic search, knowledge representation, qualitative physics, signal, image and speech understanding, robotics, natural language understanding and software and hardware architectures for AI.It also proposes new ways to look at problems in the field of AI.This journal is aimed and people who are interested in AI and its related fields.
Computer Standards & Interfaces
This journal provides information about activities and progress on the definition of computer standards, software quality, interfaces and methods, at national, European and international levels.It also publishes critical comments on standards and standards activities.It is a good journal to stimulate relevant research as it provides a specialized refereed medium.This journal is aimed for people who are interested in Human Computer Interaction.
Professional Academic Associations:
Association for Computing Machinery – http://www.acm.org
IEEE Computer Society –http://www.computer.org
The Computing Research Association – http://www.cra.org/
Worked Cited
Illingworth, Valerie. "Computer Science."Dictionary of computing. 5th ed. 2004
"Theory of computation." Wikipedia. 1 July 2008. 15 Jul 2008 .
"Computer Science." Wikipedia. 15 July 2008. 15 Jul 2008 .
"Virginia Tech CS Online Modules." Animations to Assist Learning Some Key Computer Science
