Julia Galliers

Implementing enterprise resource planning packages in different corporate and national cultures

ERP (enterprise resource planning) packages provide generic off-the-shelf business and software solutions for customers. However, these packages are implemented in companies with different corporate and national cultures and there is growing evidence that failure to adapt ERP packages to fit these cultures leads to projects which are expensive and overdue. This paper describes research which synthesizes social science theories of culture in order to be able to model and predict the impact of culture on ERP package implementation. It describes a knowledge meta-schema for modelling the surface and deeper manifestations of culture and predictions of ERP implementation problems based on national culture differences. It reports on an empirical study into the implementation of ERP packages in a large pharmaceuticals organization in Scandinavia and the UK. The results provide evidence for an association between corporate culture and ERP implementation problems but no direct evidence for an association between national culture and implementation problems. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that these diverse implementation problems can be caused by a mismatch between a small set of core values which are indicative of a customers corporate culture. The paper concludes with revisions to the design of our extended method for ERP package implementation to the design of the meta-model and to rules that codify culture constraints that are applied in order to analyse instances of the meta-model.

Emergency department status boards: user-evolved artefacts for inter- and intra-group coordination

Large, easily viewed status boards are commonly used in some healthcare settings such as emergency departments, operating theaters, intensive care units, and inpatient wards. Because these artefacts were developed by front-line users, and have little to no supervisory or regulatory control, they offer valuable insights into the theories of work and hazard held by those users. Although the status boards case were locally developed over many years for within-group coordination, they have also become useful for between-group coordination across organizational boundaries. In this paper, we compare and contrast the use of such status boards in two disparate settings: a US emergency department, and a UK pediatric ward, and note striking similarities in their form and usage, despite the large differences in setting.

Not all sharing is equal: the impact of a large display on small group collaborative work

Large, shared displays are used in support of many forms of col-laborative work and are generally assumed to benefit the work. We investigate this in a qualitative study of an intervention to introduce such a display to support the work of shift handover in a medical setting. Results suggest that the consequences of introducing a shared display can be more subtle than expected. In particular, we highlight the fact that the common distinction between private and public information is too coarse-grained and discuss the importance of considering how access to public information is initiated. We briefly touch upon implications for interaction design.

An impact analysis method for safety-critical user interface design

We describe a method of assessing the implications for human error on user interface design of safety-critical systems. In previous work we have proposed a taxonomy of influencing factors that contribute to error. In this article, components of the taxonomy are combined into a mathematical and causal model for error, represented as a Bayesian Belief Net (BBN). TheBBN quantifies error influences arising from user knowledge, ability, and the task environ-ment, combined with factors describing the complexity of user action and user interface quality. The BBN model predicts probabilities of different types of errorslips and mistakes for each component action of a task involving user-system interaction. We propose an Impact Analysis Method that involves running test scenarios against this causal model of error in order to determine user interactions that are prone to different types of error. Applying the proposed method will enable the designer to determine the combinations of influencing factors and their interactions that are most likely to influence human error. Finally we show how such scenario-based causal analysis can be useful as a means of focusing on relevant guidelines for safe user interface design. The proposed method is demonstrated through a case study of an operator performing a task using the control system for a laser spectrophotometer.We describe a method of assessing the implications for human error on user interface design of safety-critical systems. In previous work we have proposed a taxonomy of influencing factors that contribute to error. In this article, components of the taxonomy are combined into a mathematical and causal model for error, represented as a Bayesian Belief Net (BBN). TheBBN quantifies error influences arising from user knowledge, ability, and the task environ-ment, combined with factors describing the complexity of user action and user interface quality. The BBN model predicts probabilities of different types of errorslip for each component action of a task involving user-system interaction. We propose an Impact Analysis Method that involves running test scenarios against this causal model of error in order to determine user interactions that are prone to different types of error. Applying the proposed method will enable the designer to determine the combinations of influencing factors and their interactions that are most likely to influence human error. Finally we show how such scenario-based causal analysis can be useful as a means of focusing on relevant guidelines for safe user interface design. The proposed method is demonstrated through a casestudy of an operator performing a task using the control system for a laser spectrophotometer.

Cognitive Artifacts in Support of Medical Shift Handover: An In Use, In Situ Evaluation

Abstract Technologies introduced to support complex and critical work practices merit rigorous and effective evaluation. However, evaluation strategies often fall short of evaluating real use by practitioners in the workplace and thereby miss an opportunity to gauge the true impact of the technology on the work. This article reports an in use, in situ evaluation of 2 cognitive artifacts that support the everyday work of handover in a healthcare setting. The evaluation drew inspiration from the theoretical viewpoint offered by distributed cognition, focusing on the information content, representational media, and context of use of the artifacts. The article discusses how this approach led to insights about the artifacts and their support of the work that could not have been obtained with more traditional evaluation techniques. Specifically, the argument is made that the ubiquitous approach of user testing with its reliance on think-alouds and observations of interaction is inadequate in this context and set an initial agenda for issues that should be addressed by in use, in situ evaluations.

Beyond handover: supporting awareness for continuous coverage

Hospitals are required to operate as a continuous system because patient care cannot be temporarily suspended and handover is seen as a key method for enabling this. This paper reports a study of handover in a medical admissions unit. We draw on the notion of awareness as conceptualised within the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work literature to explore the role played by a variety of cognitive artifacts in supporting continuous coverage. While such awareness is typically characterised as being ‘effortless’, our study reveals that maintaining awareness in a context such as the medical admissions unit is effortful due to invisible work. We suggest that the notion of awareness is beneficial for exploring the practices of continuous coverage because it moves attention away from the moment of handover, instead encouraging consideration of the variety of practices through which clinicians display their work to, and monitor the work of, colleagues on different shifts. We argue that efforts to support continuous coverage should focus on improving awareness by increasing the visibility of information.

Codesign for people with aphasia through tangible design languages

Codesign techniques encourage designers and end-users to work together in the creation of design solutions, but often make assumptions about the ways in which participants will be able to communicate. This can lead to the unwitting exclusion of people with communication impairments from the design of technologies that have the potential to transform their lives. This paper reports our research into codesign techniques for people whose communication skills are impaired. A variety of techniques were explored on two projects; some were adaptations of existing codesign techniques, others were created specially. In both cases, the emphasis was on creating tangible design languages. The results illustrate how people with communication impairments can be given a voice in design and demonstrate the benefits of doing so.

Human errors and system requirements

This paper reports a method of assessing the implications for human error on system requirements, a topic not usually considered during requirements engineering (RE). In our previous work, we proposed a taxonomy of influencing factors that might contribute to human error. This paper takes the taxonomy and elaborates it to suggest generic requirements to deal with problems in different layers of the taxonomy. Components of the taxonomy are combined into a causal model for error, represented as a Bayesian Belief Net (BBN). BBNs model the error influences arising from user knowledge, ability and the task environment. These are combined with factors describing the complexity of action and user interface quality in scenarios of projected system usage. The BBN model predicts probabilities of slips and mistakes. These are assessed according to action types in the scenario to suggest generic requirements to prevent the error or to deal with its consequences.

A comparison of remote therapy, face to face therapy and an attention control intervention for people with aphasia: a quasi-randomised controlled feasibility study

Objective: To test the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial comparing face to face and remotely delivered word finding therapy for people with aphasia. Design: A quasi-randomised controlled feasibility study comparing remote therapy delivered from a University lab, remote therapy delivered from a clinical site, face to face therapy and an attention control condition. Setting: A University lab and NHS outpatient service. Participants: Twenty-one people with aphasia following left hemisphere stroke. Interventions: Eight sessions of word finding therapy, delivered either face to face or remotely, were compared to an attention control condition comprising eight sessions of remotely delivered supported conversation. The remote conditions used mainstream video conferencing technology. Outcome measures: Feasibility was assessed by recruitment and attrition rates, participant observations and interviews, and treatment fidelity checking. Effects of therapy on word retrieval were assessed by tests of picture naming and naming in conversation. Results: Twenty-one participants were recruited over 17 months, with one lost at baseline. Compliance and satisfaction with the intervention was good. Treatment fidelity was high for both remote and face to face delivery (1251/1421 therapist behaviours were compliant with the protocol). Participants who received therapy improved on picture naming significantly more than controls (mean numerical gains: 20.2 (remote from University); 41 (remote from clinical site); 30.8 (face to face); 5.8 (attention control); P <.001). There were no significant differences between groups in the assessment of conversation. Conclusions: Word finding therapy can be delivered via mainstream internet video conferencing. Therapy improved picture naming, but not naming in conversation.

Cooperative interaction as strategic belief revision

Choice in belief revision is presented as a fundamental aspect of rational interaction with the world. Communication as a type of rational interaction with a world comprised of other agents, is a development of this. Since worlds comprising other agents are open or uncertain, communicated information cannot be assumed as reliable and/or fully informed. Agents must decide whether as well as how to revise their views on recognition of another’s intention that they do so.