Time series forecasting using evolutionary neural nets implemented in a volunteer computing system

jsEvRBF is a time-series forecasting method based on genetic algorithm and neural nets. Written in JavaScript language, can be executed in most web browsers. Consequently, everybody can participate in the experiments, and scientists can take advantage of nowadays available browsers and devices as computation environments. This is also a great challenge as the language support and performance varies from one browser to another. In this paper, jsEvRBF has been tested in a volunteer computing experiment, and also in a single-browser one. Both experiments are related to forecasting currencies exchange, and the results show the viability of the proposal.     

Setting the Context: The Role Information Technology in a Business Ethics Course Based on Face-to-Face Dialogue

Based on the experience of a course taught by the authors, this paper seeks to show that an adequate use of IT in the teaching of a Business Ethics (BE) course depends on clarifying the assumptions about ethics and the place of the course within a programme. For this purpose it explains how IT can be used to strengthen a view of BE based on dialogue and mutual learning and it encourages the combination between virtual and face-to-face teaching. Finally, the paper examines the relationship between the use of IT, individual learning processes and communities of practice.     

Optimal information transmission in organizations: search and congestion

We propose a stylized model of a problem-solving organization whose internal communication structure is given by a fixed network. Problems arrive randomly anywhere in this network and must find their way to their respective specialized solvers by relying on local information alone. The organization handles multiple problems simultaneously. For this reason, the process may be subject to congestion. We provide a characterization of the threshold of collapse of the network and of the stock of floating problems (or average delay) that prevails below that threshold. We build upon this characterization to address a design problem: the determination of what kind of network architecture optimizes performance for any given problem arrival rate. We conclude that, for low arrival rates, the optimal network is very polarized (i.e. star-like or centralized), whereas it is largely homogenous (or decentralized) for high arrival rates. These observations are in line with a common transformation experienced by information-intensive organizations as their work flow has risen in recent years.     

Self-organized criticality in evolutionary systems with local interaction

This paper studies a stylized model of local interaction where agents choose from an ever increasing set of vertically ranked actions, e.g. technologies. The driving forces of the model are infrequent upward shifts (‘updates’), followed by a rapid process of local imitation (‘diffusion’). Our main focus is on the regularities displayed by the long-run distribution of diffusion waves and their implication on the performance of the system. By integrating analytical techniques and numerical simulations, we come to the following two main conclusions. (1) If non-coordination costs are sufficiently high, the system behaves critically, in the sense customarily used in physics. (2) The performance of the system is optimal at the frontier of the critical region. Heuristically, this may be interpreted as an indication that (performance-sensitive) evolutionary forces induce the system to be placed ‘at the edge of order and chaos’.     

The new organizational structure and its virtual functioning

"Virtuality" is initiating a change in organizations. It is necessary for companies to be managed flexibly and to respond to the changing needs of the environment. Some new concepts of understanding the organization, accompanied by current technological developments, may offer some opportunities and solutions to the various strategies. How does this new concept of organization with no presence, no physical attendance, and no material factors affect existing companies? This paper deals with questions such as: What is virtuality for companies? How does one manage a virtual company? What elements of virtuality need to be considered by traditional companies entering the new millennium? These questions will be reflected upon and analyzed from a theoretical framework. The framework will provide the basis for the design of an empirical study. The results of the study contribute to and give feedback on these initial questions.     

Strategic and Moral Dilemmas of Corporate Philanthropy in Developing Countries: Heineken in Sub-Saharan Africa

This case study illustrates the dilemmas facing multinational companies in meeting social challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa (especially health-related ones). It also discusses the purpose, responsibilities and limitations of business involvement in social development. From a business standpoint, social challenges in developing countries differ greatly from those in nations where governments or markets effectively provide for the population’s health needs. The case illustrates what led a multinational to set up a corporate foundation and focuses on three strategic and operational dilemmas it ran up against. The case discussion shows that the ethical issues intertwined with these dilemmas are best understood using a variety of ethical approaches. We also show that Ethics of Care are just as relevant to analysing corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy as the Deontological and Utilitarianism theories commonly used in business ethics.