J. Harold Pardue

Integrating collaborative problem solving throughout the curriculum

Our graduates are ill-prepared for entry positions in industry. This is the message from a 1994 NSF task force comprised of members from academia and industry. Among the specific deficiencies cited were problem-solving skills and the ability to work in groups. In a recent publication, the authors described a group problem-solving model, Group Zig Zag, based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. In this paper we show how the integration of a collaborative approach throughout the curriculum can be achieved by adopting the Group Zig Zag model.

Modeling short- and long-term dynamics in the commercialization of technical advances in IT producing industries

Manufacturing industries in the IT sector, which are characterized by very low inertia, rapid technological change, and swift technological obsolescence, are a vivid example of how the rapid and effective commercialization of technical advances is critical to the success of high-technology industries. Radical or breakthrough technologies have both short- and long-term impacts. This paper argues that classical technology diffusion modeling approaches fail to give a fully dynamic picture of technology adoption in an industry, and do not adequately capture dynamic transients caused by short-term trends and the effect of individual technical changes. It then demonstrates the usefulness of the system dynamics approach in modeling the long-term system behavior of the commercialization process arising from the dynamic transients caused by short-term trends and rare events in IT producing industries. Capturing such dynamic transients is critically important because the commercialization process is ultimately shaped by individual decision-makers making the strategic investment decisions within an industry operating in a particular short-term context. Copyright

A Risk Assessment Model for Voting Systems using Threat Trees and Monte Carlo Simulation

There continues to be a requirement for better models, tools, and techniques for conducting risk assessment of voting systems. We propose a model of risk and a technique for risk assessment, which builds on threat trees and Monte Carlo simulation. The goal is to provide a means of facilitating informed decisions regarding voting system security standards through a rational and parsimonious quantification of intuition or estimation of risk. Such a means should support an evaluation of trade-offs, sensitivity analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and estimation of residual risk of current and proposed voting systems, technologies and controls.

THE IMPACT OF NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS ON FIRM VALUE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCING INDUSTRIES: AN EXAMINATION OF INDUSTRY-LEVEL EVOLUTIONARY ERAS

ABSTRACT We explored the market reaction to new IT product announcements by the hard drive manufacturing industry in relation to that industrys evolutionary cycle of innovation. In the short-term, there was no effect. In the long-term however, announcements made during an era of incremental technical change had more favorable reactions than announcements made during an era of ferment EXCEPT where those announcements represented an attempt to develop the emerging technology rather than further developing the existing dominant design.

A common theme for IT degree programs

Effective IT curricula balances tradition with innovation. One way to enhance that balance is to examine the common threads in the various knowledge areas.

Towards Internet voting security: A threat tree for risk assessment

The Internet is a dangerous place for any critical application and is particularly risky for binding government elections where every vote must count. The complex interplay of people, processes, equipment, software, policies, and legislation in a networked environment that spans national boundaries makes, for example, determining the precise likelihood of a threat nearly impossible. This does not mean, however, that the risk analyst cannot model, understand, and assess the risks to Internet voting systems. To that end, this paper presents a threat tree for risks to Internet voting systems. The Internet voting threat tree was successfully vetted by a panel of elections officials, security experts, academics, election law attorneys, representation from governmental agencies, voting equipment vendors, and voting equipment testing labs. We submit that this threat tree is sufficiently abstract to be useful in a wide range of risk assessment techniques.

A systems analysis and model of real-time skin cancer treatment

Savings in health care costs, system efficiency, and improved patient satisfaction accruing from a real-time (simultaneous) approach to treatment of skin cancer is examined. The hypothesized benefits of a real-time system design are estimated using a SLAM based simulation model of a typical dermatology clinic specializing in the treatment of basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.

A soft systems approach to input distribution estimation for a non-stationary demand process

A soft systems methodology is undertaken to develop a design for a communications system to support a political campaign. The focus is on the methodology to estimate an input distribution for a SLAM-based simulation model. Two problems-the lack of referent system data and the expectation of non-stationary system demand-indicate a need for a soft systems approach. The results of this study suggest that the approach is effective for estimating an input distribution for simulation analysis. The case provides an example of the contrast between the soft systems and hard systems approaches.