George J. Titus

The effects of display formats on information systems design

Abstract:A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of differences in task, display, and viewer characteristics on interpretation accuracy, viewer preference, and subjects’ utility ratings of the displays. Practicing engineering managers at Lockheed-Georgia company were the subjects. Display format influenced interpretation accuracy only through its interaction with task-related variables. Although improvement in interpretation accuracy occurred over time, no comparative advantage of graphs over tables was found. No clear viewer preferences for graphs or tables were expressed, except at the conclusion of the experiment, when tables were favored for finance-related reports. Tables were generally perceived to be more useful in answering interpretation accuracy questions, although the results were not as definitive in the detailed analysis. Personality type, as measured by field-independence/dependence, was unrelated to differences in interpretation accuracy and viewer preference.

Modelling the Adoption of Advanced Manufacturing Technology by Small Firms

Varano are with villanova university, pernsylvania,USA andGeorge. J. Tituts iwtth Temple unviersity, philadelphia, USA. Rapdi technological changes and intesified cmpettition are reqquireing samll manufacturing firms to consider the adoption of computer controlled machine tools. thisempirical study investigated those factors reltedto the adptiondecison and developed a multivariate modelsbased on data collected from 169 machiine shops. The most lkely adopters were largel shops that engaged primiarily in parats fabrication, where size is measured by sales and total tools employed. An importtant iimplicaton of thiis research isthat small shps which have not yet adopted computer -controlled tools shhould reconsider theri decision for survival and or growth. The parper concludes with aseries of recommendation for futeru reserarch based on the studys findings.

An experimental investigation of the effects of some information system design variables on performance, preference, and learning

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of differences in display, viewer, and task characteristics on interpretation accuracy, viewer preference, and learning in a computerized information system. This research was prompted by the Lockheed-Georgia Company when it considered expanding its executive information system (called MIDS) to middle-level engineering managers. The authors developed an experimental framework which was applied to the design of a carefully controlled field experiment using practicing managers at Lockheed-Georgia as subjects. A mock-up of an engineering subsystem of MIDS was developed and used throughout the experiment. The binary and categorical data were analyzed using logistic regression, enabling the determination of the significant main effects and their interactions. Task-related characteristics had the strongest effect on interpretation accuracy and viewer preference. Display format was never significant as a main effect, but influenced interpretation accuracy only through interaction with task-oriented variables. Personality type, as measured by the GEFT, was never a significant factor. Although improvement in interpretation accuracy occurred over time, no comparative advantage of graphics over tables was found. This study has contributed to the evolution of Lockheed-Georgias executive information system and its subsystems by improving the level of awareness and understanding of the interactions between task and display characteristics. These findings led to a reduced emphasis and a more critical appraisal of the benefits of computer graphics for future designs.

Microcomputer systems for manufacturing planning and control

Abstract This study reviews the capabilities and characteristics of integrated microcomputer-based manufacturing and control systems. After presenting a general manufacturing systems configuration, we address the available software modules which comprise an integrated system, hardware and software selection and evaluation and some selected features for a sample of software packages. Future directions in micro-based manufacturing software are also discussed in light of overall business planning and emerging hardware technology.

Forty-year evolution of engineering research: a case study of DuPont's engineering research and development

The purpose of this paper is to explore and map out the historical developments in the management of engineering research and development (ER&D) at the DuPont company since the early 1950s. A brief survey of the early efforts of organizing for R&D at DuPont and subsequent industry background are given to get a perspective on the company. The restructuring of R&D organization and the engineering R&D, in particular, are critical to understand the developments that lead to the changes in ER&D, in terms of its leadership role in the overall research functions, and its vision of the future. The data were acquired through extensive interviews with and company documents from various department managers and directors in DuPont. >