Computer supported collaborative working: lessons from elsewhere

Virtual Reality (VR) appears a natural medium for three-dimensional computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). However the current trend in CSCW is to adapt the computer interface to work with the user's traditional tools, rather than separating the user from the real world as does immersive VR. One solution is through Augmented Reality, the overlaying of virtual objects on the real world. In this paper we describe the Shared Space concept--the application of Augmented Reality for three-dimensional CSCW. This combines the advantages of Virtual Reality with current CSCW approaches. We describe a collaborative experiment based on this concept and present preliminary results which show that this approach may be better for some applications.

The aim of this Paper is to present our model for a generic and flexible negotiation Service and its implementation in Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) environments. Within a cooperative work environment, users naturally need negotiation support mechanisms to study possible alternatives in group decision making. The objective of our work is to build a negotiation model independent of any particular application field. Contrary to studied models, our model focuses on formalizing the negotiation from three Points of view: exchanged information between the agents to negotiate (the language), the way this information is exchanged (the protocol) , and the internal behavior of an agent (the tactics). In addition to a Separation of the Problems involved in each one of these three facets of the negotiation, this approach allows also a greater flexibility than traditional Systems dedicated to one kind of Problems. We Chose to use a transactional approach based on Speech acts to develop our axiom based negotiation model which has been implemented as a negotiation Service in our CSCW environment DisCOO [l, 2]. After the tackled Problem presentation, we will expose the state of the art, then the proposed negotiation formal model, and, finally, the implementation.

Computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) becomes important for the architectural practice and design education in recent years. Design guidance on design operations facilitates design studios to achieve their educational and research purposes. This study depicts the experience of computer-supported collaborative design learned from three collaborative design studios. Design guidance can advise participants to understand the purpose of communication in CSCW, anticipate design collaboration, and formulate design operations by the process model. Based on the observations of CDS, the discussion focuses on how to develop guidance on design operations according to the following factors: (1) structured framework, (2) the kind of technology, (3) the level of communication, and (4) the process model of CSCW.

Computer-based tools supporting collaborative work are becoming crucial elements to organize the activities of groups of people. Nevertheless, current tools do not enable users to incorporate social regulation aspects. In particular, it is not possible to set-up social rules (and the conditions to execute them) to control the interactions among the members of a workgroup. We explore the main issues on introducing social regulation in computer-supported collaborative work. Based on our regulation model, we propose an infrastructure enabling users to ease the development of regulated collaborative applications. The proposed infrastructure is composed by a framework of regulation components and a component management service.

This paper presents the findings from a study into the current exploitation of computer-supported collaborative working (CSCW) in design for the built environment in the UK. The research is based on responses to a web-based questionnaire. Members of various professions, including civil engineers, architects, building services engineers, and quantity surveyors, were invited to complete the questionnaire. The responses reveal important trends in the breadth and size of project teams at the same time as new pressures are emerging regarding team integration and efficiency. The findings suggest that while CSCW systems may improve project management (e.g., via project documentation) and the exchange of information between team members, it has yet to significantly support those activities that characterize integrated collaborative working between disparate specialists. The authors conclude by combining the findings with a wider discussion of the application of CSCW to design activity—appealing for CSCW to go beyond multidisciplinary working to achieve interdisciplinary working.

Shopfloor attitudes towards advanced manufacturing technology: the changing focus of industrial conflict?

As spaces for learning about Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) research and practice (e.g., university classes, academic and industry labs, conferences) become more diverse, there is a pressing need to revise the universal collaborative and pedagogical structures supporting them. Specifically, it has become urgent to explore how to 'de-center' dominant assumptions about who learns in these environments. The goal of this workshop is to explore collectively how to craft learning spaces that resist universality by recognizing and valuing other perspectives and realities. We build on the scholarship of decolonial thinkers, which provides useful theoretical scaffolding on how to start working towards inclusivity and 'pluriversality'. That is, learning spaces where all views can co-exist as equally valid, albeit contradicting. Our workshop will be led by researchers and designers who have both guided and participated in academic and industry-based CSCW learning spaces across domains like Social Computing, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD), Critical Data Studies, and Participatory Design (PD). We invite a broad range of participants from research and practice interested in learning about or deepening their understanding of how to make of CSCW a more 'pluriversal' site for learning and practicing.

The case study describes how the team members of a Tunisian Environmental Scanning Agriculture Observatory dealt with new ways of communicating introduced by technology. An inter-organizational computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) platform was implemented within the agriculture observatory to ameliorate the communication of information and knowledge between the stakeholders. Our study aims to determine what contextual conditions could impede the adoption of the new ways of communicating and sharing knowledge. A diagnostic tool was designed and used to assess the impact of culture, structure and top management attitude, as contextual conditions, on the achievement of the collaborative environmental scanning and knowledge exchange activity. To understand the dynamic between these variables and their interplay during the implementation phases of the CSCW, we conducted a longitudinal study. The results could assist managers at the organizational level; indeed they will be able to avoid failures and to better support the process of organizational change.

Determining organizational structure choices in advanced manufacturing technology management

The Implementation of the Human, Organization, and Technology–Fit (HOT–Fit) Framework to Evaluate the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System in a Hospital

The purposes of this study are to determine (1) the frequency of use of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in south-western United States manufacturing firms, (2) which AMTs have the greatest perceived impact on value, and (3) which have been most successfully employed. The study population consisted of senior manufacturing managers of companies in SIC 34 through 39 located in six south-western states. The study determined that the most frequently used AMT was computer-aided design (CAD), used by 75% of the respondents. Manufacturing resource planning (MRP), computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining, statistical process control (SPC), and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) were used by at least one-third of the respondents. Automated process monitoring and automated material handling were the least used AMTs. Those AMTs perceived to have the greatest positive effect on producer's value are CNC machining, closed loop process control, automated process inspection, flexible manufacturing cells (FMC), robotics, computer-aided manufacturing, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), and automated process monitoring. The AMTs could be classified into four categories based upon their effect on the two dimensions of value quality and cost. These categories were high value affecting, quality affecting, cost affecting, and low value affecting. Four of the high value affecting AMTs were among those rated as having the highest overall degree of success. However, the study found that dissonance exists between the AMTs which are most used and those which are perceived to have the greatest effect on value.

A few studies (Jaikumar 1986) have left an impression among researchers that Japanese manufacturers use more advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) then their US counterparts. Presuming this were to be true, we hypothesized that nationality of the firm is an important factor in AMT use. To test the effect of the nationality variable on AMT use we compared the use of 18 AMTs in the US and Japan in an exploratory study using data from 160 US firms and 125 Japanese firms.There is clear evidence that the nationality of the firm is a factor in AMT use; that is AMT use is significantly different in the two countries. One explanation for the differences in AMT use may lie in the respective strategic orientations of the manufacturers in the two countries. A major finding in this study is that, while US manufacturers use more scheduling and control technologies, their Japanese counterparts use more factory floor technologies. Several hypothesis are offered as propositions for future research.

During the past twenty years, we have witnessed a wide array of advanced manu-facturing technology and computer based technology implemented in varying degree of suc-cess. AMT systems, when properly understood and implemented, can help firms compete along dimensions of cost, quality, flexibility, delivery speed, productivity and even profitability of the firms. Although adoption of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) promises benefits but are potentially risky. Many firms that have adopted these new technologies have not been able to reap all the potential benefits. In response to the mix result from adoption and imple-mentation of AMTs, this paper attempts to discuss about the issues on factor inducing technol-ogy adoption, some empirical finding on AMT and the role of AMT in manufacturing sectors. There is also growing consensus that many of the failures in adopting AMT are, in fact, due to inadequate planning for, and/or faulty implementation of the systems. The key to successful AMT planning and implementation appears to be choice of an appropriate manufacturing sys-tems and the attainment of an organizational infrastructure that will offer maximum support to the chosen system. The achievement of desired benefit from AMT requires systematic and inte-grated operational planning prior to the adoption of new systems. Such planning requires the identification of likely product and the matching of these products with efficient AMT proc-esses. Keywords: technology, adoption, performance, strategy, implementation

As competition shifts away between competitors to supply chains, simultaneous sharing of technical expertise on product design is key to manufacturing success. Thus, purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of concurrent engineering of product design (CEPD) on the relationship between advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) and supply chain performance (SCP). The paper is a cross-sectional study, and data was collected among top managers of manufacturing companies. Cluster and systematic random sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. Structural equation modeling (Amos graphic) was used for analysis. The study found a positive relationship between advanced manufacturing technology and supply chain performance, advanced manufacturing technology and concurrent engineering of product design, and concurrent engineering of product design and supply chain performance. It also concluded that concurrent engineering of product design is a full mediator between advanced manufacturing technology and supply chain performance.

The diffusion of advanced manufacturing technology in multiplant, multidivisional corporations