Kay Bryant

ALEES: An Agricultural Loan Evaluation Expert System

Abstract Financial institutions such as banks have been active in the development of a variety of expert systems. Several banks have developed expert systems that capture the experience of their top loan officers in evaluating loan applications. The research literature reveals a number of criteria and measures that have been employed by researchers and lenders. While some consensus is apparent for several measures, the research clearly indicates that both quantitative and qualitative information must be employed in evaluating a loan proposal. Further, the research on rural lending has shown that subjective assessments play an important role in the evaluation of agricultural loans, but they have rarely been included as part of an expert system to appraise agricultural loan applications. Several agricultural loan evaluation systems are operational, but not all are ‘true’ expert systems. While they have all focused on analysing the borrowers financial position given the current market and economic conditions, most have not taken into account qualitative factors such as the character of the borrower. The purpose of this paper is to present an expert system that has been specifically designed and developed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative assessments in agricultural loan evaluation. The development of the expert system is outlined; the knowledge acquisition process is described; system validation is explained, as is the loan officers’ perception of the expert system. An evaluation of several agricultural loan evaluation expert systems is also included in this paper.

Digital Business Security Development: Management Technologies

Digital Business Security Development: Management Technologies provides comprehensive coverage of issues associated with maintaining business protection in digital environments. Containing state-of-the-art research relevant to informing business practice, this Premier Reference Source provides base level knowledge for managers who are not specialists in the field as well as advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking research and further study.

Teaching a first-level programming course to management students: a flexible approach

Many universities are providing a flexible format in their teaching programmes. A wealth of literature exist on the various methods that many researchers have employed in providing a flexible learning environment for students. However, much of the current research focuses on instructional design and learner characteristics in general rather than on specific course areas. This study explorers the use of a flexible approach to teaching management students the rudiments of programming in a business degree. The results of this study indicate student performance has been enhanced through the use of the flexible learning approach and that they believe Web-based technologies provide an effective learning environment. Further research is being conducted to extend these findings to other student cohorts.

Designing information systems courses in flexible learning mode

This paper reviews several frameworks for course design and develops one that incorporates the important elements of each for use in designing information systems courses. The development process revealed that there was a framework within a framework. The refined framework consists of two levels: the higher order cyclical framework and the lower level design/redesign framework. Research on the applicability of the framework for the design and redesign of information systems courses has been undertaken and the results suggest support for the effectiveness of the framework.