Empirical Examination of User Acceptance of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in the United States

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are complex software packages that support an integrated real-time setting among the various business functions in an entire organization. ERP systems improve productivity, but only to the extent that employees accept and use the systems extensively to perform their duties. The leaders of many organizations have not been able to realize the expected benefits because of a lack of user acceptance. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine the factors that influence user acceptance of ERP systems in the United States. Davis\u27s technology acceptance model was the theoretical foundation used to relate the independent variables (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) to the dependent variable (user acceptance of ERP systems). The focus of the research questions was on the strength of the relationships between each of the independent variables and user acceptance of ERP systems in the United States. Data were from 97 purposively selected ERP system end users in the United States using the survey instrument based on the technology acceptance model. Regression and correlation analyses revealed a positive relationship between perceived usefulness and user acceptance, but no relationship was found between perceived ease of use and user acceptance. The findings indicated difficulties in using ERP systems for end users in the United States, which stakeholders could rectify to improve productivity in organizations. Positive social change implications include improving the standard of living, increasing the literacy rate, and reducing negative externalities to improve human and social conditions in society

A critical analysis of CAPS for Life Skills in the Foundation Phase (Grades R–3)

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Foundation Phase Life Skills curriculum (DBE, 2011) is composed of four focus areas: Beginning Knowledge; Personal and Social Well-being; Creative Arts; and Physical Education. These areas draw on a number of disciplines and this makes the curriculum dense. This density is, in turn, a challenge for teachers and teacher education. We perform an historical analysis of Life Skills curriculum documents from 1977 to the present and a content analysis of the CAPS document. Using Bernstein (1971, 1996) we show that this curriculum is weakly classified and that epistemological orientations are blurred, if not rendered invisible. The specificity of different disciplinary lenses that have different objects of enquiry, methods of analysis, and criteria for truth claims is lost in an overemphasis on everyday knowledge. If teachers are not themselves schooled in the languages of the disciplines that underpin Life Skills they may not be able to give children access to them, nor are they likely to be able to help them understand how different parts of the system relate to one another

Probing the Roughness of Porphyrin Thin Films with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Thin-film growth of molecular systems is of interest for many applications, such as for instance organic electronics. In this study, we demonstrate how X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) can be used to study the growth behavior of such molecular systems. In XPS, coverages are often calculated assuming a uniform thickness across a surface. This results in an error for rough films, and the magnitude of this error depends on the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons analyzed. We have used this kinetic-energy dependency to estimate the roughnesses of thin porphyrin films grown on rutile TiO2(110). We used two different molecules: cobalt (II) monocarboxyphenyl-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin (CoMCTPP), with carboxylic-acid anchor groups, and cobalt (II) tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP), without anchor groups. We find CoMCTPP to grow as rough films at room temperature across the studied coverage range, whereas for CoTPP the first two layers remain smooth and even; depositing additional CoTPP results in rough films. Although, XPS is not a common technique for measuring roughness, it is fast and provides information of both roughness and thickness in one measurement.Fil: Kataev, Elmar. Universitat Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Wechsler, Daniel. Universitat Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Williams, Federico José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física; ArgentinaFil: Köbl, Julia. Universitat Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Tsud, Natalia. Karlova Univerzita (cuni); República ChecaFil: Franchi, Stefano. Istituto di Struttura della Materia; Italia. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; ItaliaFil: Steinruck, Hans Peter. Universitat Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Lytken, Ole. Universitat Erlangen-Nuremberg; Alemani

Etre travailleur social à l'école: la construction du rôle de conseiller social et ses enjeux dans un cycle d'orientation : travail de bachelor effectué dans le cadre de la formation à la Haute école de travail social de Genève

Le travail social est vaste et dispose d’une multitude de champs d’action dans lesquels il est possible de s’engager. Depuis leurs apparitions, les activités sociales, de quelque nature qu’elles soient, cherchent à soutenir et à s’ajuster aux réalités quotidiennes des individus qui connaissent des difficultés. Le travail social et l’école sont deux entités distinctes dont les relations tendent à se renforcer depuis quelques décennies. A leur création, l’une avait pour mission d’éduquer alors que l’autre se devait d’instruire. Ces deux institutions sont donc longtemps restées à l’écart l’une de l’autre. Peu à peu, de nombreuses collaborations se sont créées jusqu’à rendre ce binôme indissociable. Ce que nous appelons communément le travail social en milieu scolaire s’installe progressivement dans nos institutions scolaires suisses et gagne rapidement du terrain. Notre recherche a pour but de comprendre la construction du rôle de conseiller social et ses enjeux. Comment le travail social a-t-il su se faire une place au sein des établissements scolaires et quelles sont les stratégies mises en place par les professionnels afin de s’intégrer dans ce milieu. Pour cela, nous avons mis en lumière les prémisses de la collaboration entre l’école et le travail social. Nous avons également étudié l’émergence de la fonction de conseiller social à Genève et porté un intérêt particulier à son évolution et à sa pratique de nos jours. Notre travail se fonde sur une démarche pluri-méthodologique. Il se base sur la relation de huit entretiens qualitatifs approfondis ainsi que de nombreuses analyses documentaires (textes de loi, rapports d’activités, archives, etc). A travers notre recherche, nous avons pu questionner et comprendre la place que ces professionnels ont acquis au sein des cycles d’orientation depuis l’introduction de cette fonction, dont les contours sont largement le produit de leur propre investissement dans ce territoire particulier d’intervention professionnelle

The invitational dispositions of fourth year foundation phase students at a higher education institution

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.1) and this hope is dependent on one’s ability to care enough to develop each child to his or her full potential. The intention of this study is to determine the dispositions of fourth year Foundation Phase students at a local higher education institute, and to establish how these dispositions influence their practice during their scheduled teaching practicals. The findings from this study will be used to propose a strategy for Initial Professional Education and Training (IPET) programmes in order to explicitly develop invitational dispositions in Foundation Phase teachers in training. The study is supported by a theoretical framework which investigates the notion of dispositions and the development of these through the lenses of structuration theory, social cognitive theory and attribution-based theory of motivation, and leading to the application of the Invitational Education approach. Self concept theory and perceptual theory are encompassed within this approach, and form an integral part of the study. From this theoretical framework, an invitational dispositional framework is developed to represent the inter-connected nature of the five invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The research design and methodology of the study is located in the interpretivist paradigm, using a case study design within a qualitative approach. A survey is used to collect data relating to fourth year Foundation Phase students’ opinions regarding the essential dispositions required by Foundation Phase teachers in order to establish positive teaching and learning environments. Further data is gathered from two nested cases of fourth year Foundation Phase students during both their first and second teaching practicals, through the means of observations, interviews and document analysis. Each data source is analysed through content analysis in an attempt to identify the common patterns that emerge, followed by the coding of the data according to the invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The opinions of the students, as determined from the analysis of the survey, are then compared to their actions as demonstrated through their practice, with a final consideration of the developmental trajectory of these dispositions. From this study, it was found that the dispositional ability to care is of paramount importance in Foundation Phase teaching and that this dispositional ability is determined in three inter- iii connected areas. A reduced ability to care in one of the interactional areas of self, others and the profession results in a decreased ability to care in the other areas as well. Upon analysis of the data, it was discovered that low levels of self confidence and limited care for the learning taking place in classrooms results in inconsistent invitational interactions between the student and the children. Lower levels of care further impacts upon the students’ ability to act with intentionality in each of the three interactional areas. Students would greatly benefit from explicit development in their reflective practice and in their self confidence, as “caring is an ethic that guides action” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.9). In this way students would be able to be Intentionally Inviting more consistently, and purposefully engage with children in the teaching and learning process

A Woman\u27s Voice and Identity: Narrative Métissage as a Solution to Voicelessness in American Literature

The objective of this thesis was to analyze the progression of a woman’s voice in literature looking particularly at three American women writers spanning the 20th and into the 21st century—Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Edwidge Danticat. In conjunction, these three novels show a progression through the history of American women’s literature, demonstrating the successes and failures of voice and silence in their works and the ways in which creating an identity through voice is necessary, even if one must create it complexly. Ultimately, the authors establish a voice in their works that lays the foundation for writers who will continue to tell the stories of those in need of a complicated sense of Self. This thesis asserts that this type of identity and voice can be successfully created through narrative métissage