Themenheft: Softwaretechnik '98

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The War and Post-War Impact on the Educational System of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), much like other eastern-European countries, has faced a brief period of transition from the socialist system to capitalism. However, this was interrupted in BiH by a brutal war lasting four years. Social systems and infrastructure were damaged or destroyed, including education, which was harnessed during the war to divide the country and then perpetuate these divisions. The author deals with some of the strongest and most enduring impacts that the war has had on education, which even now, more than 10 years after the war, pose a serious threat to this young country. The most obvious include the division of youth according to nationality, religion or language, the unequal positions of certain groups in education, and very clear segregation and discrimination. She points out some of the most frequent and overt ways in which intolerance towards other nationalities is displayed through textbooks, especially those used in parts of BiH subject to a struggle for independence during the war.     

Strategic fit among knowledge attributes,knowledge management systems,and service positioning

Knowledge management systems (KMSs) support high-quality services while shaping and improving positioning of services. Given such strategic importance of KMS, this study explores the effects of different types of KMS, which respond to the attributes (i.e., diversity and tacitness) of collective knowledge, on service (re-)positioning. Through a case study of a financial consulting company at the core of KMSs, combinations of the two knowledge attributes are used to determine which type of KMS (i.e., information library, deepened stock, thought islands, and shared brain) offers the greatest efficiency and effectiveness in service (re-)positioning. The joint concerns of service innovation scope and specificity are also considered. Finally, the study discusses the theoretical and practical implications on KMS design and functionality in the new business age of service innovation.     

Application of association and decision rules on intellectual capital

Intellectual capital (IC), leading to sustainable competitiveness shapes the patterns of business reality nowadays. IC disclosure has become a critical necessity in this new framework. Being a novel interdisciplinary study, the aim of this paper was to examine IC disclosure by Greek publicly traded firms implementing association and decision rules. Firms were divided into three classes (low, medium and high) according to their IC disclosure, measured by the content analysis methodology. The association rules of each class were specified, highlighting IC reporting profile and focus of the firms belonging to each class. Firms in the high class were shown to have strongly realised the crucial need for a reporting change. Teamwork, corporate culture and extra-firm potential appeared to be underlined. Applying the decision tree methodology, the paper succeeded in proving the remuneration–incentive system, R&D and business collaborations items as the IC reporting-related factors differentiating classes.     

Developmental Brain Research With Participants From Underprivileged Communities: Strategies for Recruitment,Participation, and Retention

Challenges associated with recruitment and retention of participants from underprivileged social communities, in addition to neuroscience researchers' unfamiliarity with these communities, possibly explain the limited number of individuals from these communities who participate in neuroscience research studies. The consequence is a scarcity of data in this fast‐growing segment of the population. In particular, developmental research involving children from ethnic minorities has yet to catch up with the number of studies available for middle‐class White children (Flores et al., 2002). This underrepresentation can lead to disparities in health and social services for children from these communities, as well as to a nonrepresentative knowledge base of child neurodevelopment. Developing and utilizing innovative and culturally sensitive approaches to recruiting participants from underprivileged communities can maximize their participation in research, as behavioral researchers have known for some time. Here, based on our experience recruiting low‐socioeconomic status (SES) Latino children from Los Angeles, we offer strategies to improve recruitment, involvement, and retention. We have a special focus on techniques relevant to recruiting for neuroimaging, which is associated with new challenges not faced to the same degree in research historically. Better inclusion of underrepresented children in research can ultimately lead to the development and improvement of effective public polices to support their needs, ranging from education to health care.