The selection of case studies: strategies and their applications to IS implementation case studies

Case study research by definition is well suited to the study of IS implementation, especially when context is important. Furthermore, its products are highly relevant and therefore they appeal to IS practitioners, an audience for which the IS literature has been critiqued of ignoring. While the value of single case research is methodologically viable in the study of critical cases, the multiple case study approach is believed to be more appropriate to the study of typical cases of IS implementations. However, the IS literature provides little guidance on strategies for case study selection, particularly for multiple case studies. More important, is the need to provide the rational for case selection that relates these suggested strategies to the particular objectives of the case research inquiry. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by providing a review of strategies for single and multiple case study selection in the context of systems implementation. Furthermore, the application of these guidelines in a multiple case study of strategic decision making of enterprise systems implementations will be illustrated

Some development in Urdu poetry since 1936

This work is devoted to discuss the developments in Urdu poetry since 1936.A brief account of the developments in poetical language, various verse-forms and themes of Urdu poetry till Iqbal (1877-1938) has been given in the introductory chapter. The second chapter is on the poetical language of Urdu poetry. In it, the Influence of English language, the use of Hindi words and phrases and the employment of colloquial vocabulary in Urdu poetry of the last thirty years is discussed at some length. In the third chapter on metres, a general account of the use of metres in Urdu poetry is given. In addition, some recent attempts to write poetry with disregard to metres are discussed, a "relative frequency table of metres" is also prepared and Included in this chapter. The fourth chapter deals with various traditional and new verse-forms of Urdu poetry. They are both defined and distinguished from each other. In the fifth and sixth chapters, a number of themes of Urdu poetry since 1936, such as the influence of Communism, the Independence of the sub-Continent of India and Pakistan and its aftermath. Communal Riots of 1947, writings on social evils and customs and on peace and war, historical and allegorical themes, humorous and satirical poetry, the influence of religion, recent Indo-Pakistani War, and psychological themes Including sex, escapism, scepticism, an Individual’s predicaments, imprisonment of the present moment and so on are discussed at length The final chapter is that of the conclusion

Interpreting the world trade collapse

World trade’s dramatic collapse from the end of 2008 was emblematic of a globally synchronised recession that threatened to become a depression and of a financial crisis painfully transmitted to the real economy. The extent of the fall in world trade relative to that in world GDP and the subsequent strength of the trade recovery so far suggests particular factors have been affecting global trade flows. This article considers the possible reasons for the pronounced fall and recovery in world trade relative to world GDP, focusing on UK export demand. At its core, the extraordinary decline in trade stemmed from the combination of a shock to global demand skewed towards highly tradable sectors and the ever-more globalised production process for these goods. The encouraging improvement in world trade from the second half of 2009 can also be attributed to some of these factors, as well as suggesting that permanent damage to the global marketplace may be less extensive than first feared.

An ES process framework for understanding the strategic decision making process of ES implementations

Enterprise systems (ES) implementations are regarded costly, time and resource consuming and have a great impact on the organization in terms of the risks they involve and the opportunities they provide. The steering committee (SC) represents the group of individuals who is responsible for making strategic decisions throughout the ES implementation lifecycle. It is evident from recent studies that there is a relationship between the decision making process and ES implementation success. One of the key elements that contribute to the success of ES implementations is a quick decision making process (Brown and Vessey, 1999; Gupta, 2000; Parr, et al., 1999). This study addresses the strategic decision-making process by SC through its focus on four research questions (1) How can the strategic decision-making process in the implementation of ES be better understood, during each phase of the ES implementation lifecycle? (2) What is the process by which the SC makes strategic decisions? (3) How are fast decisions made? and (4) How does decision speed link to the success of ES implementation? Process models of ES implementation will provide a framework to investigate the strategic decision making process during each phases of the ES implementation lifecycle. Patterns in the decision making process will be explored using strategic choice models. This study develops a research model that focuses on the decision making process by steering committee to explore research questions. It concludes with identifying contributions to both IS research and business practitioners

Safety profile of oxcarbazepine: results from a prescription-event monitoring study

Purpose: To monitor safety of oxcarbazepine, prescribed in primary care in England, using prescription-event monitoring (PEM). Methods: Postmarketing surveillance using observational cohort technique of PEM. Exposure data were obtained from dispensed British National Health Service prescriptions issued by general practitioners (GPs) March 2000–July 2003. Demographic, drug utilization, and clinical event data were collected from questionnaires posted to GPs at least 6 months after first prescription date for each patient. Incidence densities (IDs) (number of first reports per 1,000 patient-months of treatment) were calculated and differences for events reported in month 1 (ID1) and months 2–6 (ID2–6) (99% confidence intervals) were examined for changes in event rates. Follow-up and causality assessment of medically significant events were undertaken. Results: The cohort comprised 2,243 patients [mean age 40.4 years; range 2–99 years; standard deviation (SD) 18.8; 46.3% (n = 1,038) male]. Most frequently reported primary indications were epilepsy, convulsion (n = 1,111; 49.5%, n = 209; 9.3%, respectively). GPs recorded 932 reasons for stopping medication in 698 (31.1%) patients; most frequent clinical reason “drowsiness/sedation” (n = 57; 2.5% of cohort). Clinical events (excluding indication) associated with starting treatment (lower 99% CI > 0) included: “drowsiness/sedation” (ID1-ID2–6 = 14.2), “nausea/vomiting” (ID1-ID2–6 = 13.0), and dizziness (ID1-ID2–6 = 11.6). Events followed up and assessed as probably related to oxcarbazepine use included rash (7 of 11) and hyponatremia (15 of 38). Discussion:  There were no serious adverse drug reactions reported during this study. Results of the study should be taken in context with other epidemiologic studies

Backhaul-aware Robust 3D Drone Placement in 5G+ Wireless Networks

Using drones as flying base stations is a promising approach to enhance the network coverage and area capacity by moving supply towards demand when required. However deployment of such base stations can face some restrictions that need to be considered. One of the limitations in drone base stations (drone-BSs) deployment is the availability of reliable wireless backhaul link. This paper investigates how different types of wireless backhaul offering various data rates would affect the number of served users. Two approaches, namely, network-centric and user-centric, are introduced and the optimal 3D backhaul-aware placement of a drone-BS is found for each approach. To this end, the total number of served users and sum-rates are maximized in the network-centric and user-centric frameworks, respectively. Moreover, as it is preferred to decrease drone-BS movements to save more on battery and increase flight time and to reduce the channel variations, the robustness of the network is examined as how sensitive it is with respect to the users displacements.Comment: in Proc. IEEE ICC2017 Workshops, FlexNets201