Alireza Shojaifar and Samuel A. Fricker
This paper aims to present the evaluation of a self-paced tool, CyberSecurity Coach (CYSEC), and discuss the adoption of CYSEC for cybersecurity capability improvement in small…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the evaluation of a self-paced tool, CyberSecurity Coach (CYSEC), and discuss the adoption of CYSEC for cybersecurity capability improvement in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cybersecurity is increasingly a concern for SMEs. Previous literature has explored the role of tools for awareness raising. However, few studies validated the effectiveness and usefulness of cybersecurity tools for SMEs in real-world practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is built on a qualitative approach to investigating how CYSEC is used in SMEs to support awareness raising and capability improvement. CYSEC was placed in operation in 12 SMEs. This study first conducted a survey study and then nine structured interviews with chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief information security officers (CISO).
Findings
The results emphasise that SMEs are heterogeneous. Thus, one cybersecurity solution may not suit all SMEs. The findings specify that the tool’s adoption varied quite widely. Four factors are primary determinants influencing the adoption of CYSEC: personalisation features, CEOs’ or CISOs’ awareness level, CEOs’ or CISOs’ cybersecurity and IT knowledge and skill and connection to cybersecurity expertise.
Originality/value
This empirical study provides new insights into how a self-paced tool has been used in SMEs. This study advances the understanding of cybersecurity activities in SMEs by studying the adoption of CYSEC. Moreover, this study proposes significant dimensions for future research.
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Andrey Maglyas, Uolevi Nikula, Kari Smolander and Samuel A. Fricker
Software product management (SPM) unites disciplines related to product strategy, planning, development, and release. There are many organizational activities addressing…
Abstract
Purpose
Software product management (SPM) unites disciplines related to product strategy, planning, development, and release. There are many organizational activities addressing technical, social, and market issues when releasing a software product. Owing to the high number of activities involved, SPM remains a complex discipline to adopt. The purpose of this paper is to understand what are the core and supporting SPM activities.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted the research method of meta-ethnography to present a set of techniques for synthesizing individual qualitative studies to increase the degree of conceptualization. The results obtained from three empirical studies were synthesized using the meta-ethnography approach to enhance, rethink, and create a higher level abstraction of the findings.
Findings
The results show that the study has both theoretical and practical contribution. As the meta-ethnography synthesis has not been widely applied in software engineering, the authors illustrate how to use this research method in the practice of software engineering research. The practical contribution of the study is in the identification of five core and six supporting SPM activities.
Originality/value
The practical value of this paper is in the identification of core SPM activities that should be present in any company practicing SPM. The list of supporting SPM consists of activities that are not reported to product manager but affect the product success.
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This chapter argues that the near-universal exclusion from the academy of the Shakespeare Authorship Question (or SAQ) represents a significant but little-understood example of an…
Abstract
This chapter argues that the near-universal exclusion from the academy of the Shakespeare Authorship Question (or SAQ) represents a significant but little-understood example of an internal threat to academic freedom. Using an epistemological lens, this chapter examines and critiques the invidious and marginalizing rhetoric used to suppress such research by demonstrating the extent to which it constitutes a pattern of epistemic vice: that, by calling skeptics “conspiracy theorists” and comparing them to Holocaust deniers rather than addressing the substance of their claims, orthodox Shakespeare academics risk committing acts of epistemic vice, injustice and oppression, as well as foreclosing potentially productive lines of inquiry in their discipline. To better understand this phenomenon and its implications, the chapter subjects selected statements to external criteria in the form of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ 2015 Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, which provides a set of robust normative dispositions and knowledge practices for understanding the nature of the scholarly enterprise. The analysis reveals that the proscription against the SAQ constitutes an unwarranted infringement on the academic freedom not only of those targeted by this rhetoric, but – by extension – of all Shakespeare scholars as well.
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Matthew Bennett and Emma Goodall
It has been discovered that some results published in studies may not be correct because different researchers using the same dataset and analytical methods were unable to create…
Abstract
It has been discovered that some results published in studies may not be correct because different researchers using the same dataset and analytical methods were unable to create the same results. This dilemma is called the reproducibility crisis. Currently, there has not been a comprehensive examination of the possible existence of this crisis in the field of autism spectrum research. This chapter does not answer the question, ‘Is there a reproducibility crisis occurring in the field of autism spectrum research?’ Rather, it contains an outline of this crisis, explains some of the most influential factors that have contributed to its development and how scholars who study the autism spectrum can change their research practices so that this crisis does not develop.
The original contribution that this chapter makes to autism spectrum research is to explain how some solutions to the reproducibility crisis can be implemented into the field of autism spectrum research.
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Michelle S. Dojutrek, Samuel Labi and J. Eric Dietz
Transportation project evaluation and prioritization use traditional performance measures including travel time, safety, user costs, economic efficiency and environmental quality…
Abstract
Purpose
Transportation project evaluation and prioritization use traditional performance measures including travel time, safety, user costs, economic efficiency and environmental quality. The project impacts in terms of enhancing the infrastructure resilience or mitigating the consequences of infrastructure damage in the event of disaster occurrence are rarely considered in project evaluation. This paper aims to present a methodology to address this issue so that in prioritizing investments, infrastructure with low security can receive the attention they deserve. Second, the methodology can be used for prioritizing candidate investments from a budget that is dedicated specifically to security enhancement.
Design/methodology/approach
In defining security as the absence of risk of damage from threats due to inherent structural or functional resilience, this paper uses security-related considerations in investment prioritization, thus introducing robustness in such evaluation. As this leads to an increase in the number of performance criteria in the evaluation, the paper adopts a multi-criteria analysis approach. The paper’s methodology quantifies the overall security level for an infrastructure in terms of the threats it faces, its resilience to damage and the consequences in the event of the infrastructure damage.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that it is feasible to develop a security-related measure that can be used as a performance criterion in the evaluation of general transportation projects or projects dedicated specifically toward security improvement. Through a case study, the paper applies the methodology by measuring the risk (and hence, security) of each for multiple infrastructure assets. On the basis of the multiple types of impacts including risk impacts (i.e. increase in security) because of each candidate investment, the paper shows how to prioritize security investments across the multiple infrastructure assets using multi-criteria analysis.
Originality/value
The overall framework consists of the traditional steps in risk management, and the paper’s specific contribution is in the part of the framework that measures the risk. The paper shows how infrastructure security can be quantified and incorporated in the project evaluation process.
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The question of reprinting notable novels which have been allowed to fall out of print is somewhat different from the one discussed in previous articles. In that case the question…
Abstract
The question of reprinting notable novels which have been allowed to fall out of print is somewhat different from the one discussed in previous articles. In that case the question was as regards keeping in print popular modern novels whose titles appeared in many Public Library catalogues, to invite attention and draw inquiries from readers as to their existence. In the present case, the question concerns the advantage or utility of reprinting novels which are of some literary value, and are frequently mentioned in histories of literature, magazine articles, &c. A very considerable number of the novels mentioned below are translations of foreign works which have not yet found their way into English Public Libraries, while many are American standard novels which have not been introduced to any extent in England. Both varieties, however, will be found in the Public Libraries of the United States. But, in addition to these American and foreign works, there are certain novels which are named and described in every extensive history of English literature; which are quoted by later writers; which possess considerable claims to remembrance; and yet, so far as I can learn, are not to be had in good modern editions either in England or in America. There are first, the novels which mark the dawn of prose fiction in English literature, and which are worth reprinting if only for the use of students. Such works as Barclay's “Argenis,” Sidney's “Arcadia,” Lyly's “Euphues,” Lodge's “Rosalind,” and all the early attempts at romance are deserving of reproduction in a decent modern dress which would place them within reach of students, libraries, and the general public. The novels of Samuel Richardson are not now obtainable in a handy form, and it is surprising that no publisher of good reprints has thought of issuing nice illustrated editions of these classics. Mrs. Aphra Behn's novels are not perhaps the very best of their kind, but they are celebrated, and should be obtainable. Other well‐known (or rather notable) novels are Johnston's “History of a Guinea,” Greaves' “Spiritual Quixote,” a very clever satire on the early Methodists which has considerable value; Brooke's “Fool of Quality,” Amory's “John Buncle,” and all the best novels of this period, which have been allowed to drop into oblivion. Brooke's “Fool of Quality,” it is true, was issued in the edition prepared by Kingsley, but a cheaper one‐volume edition is also wanted, especially as I believe the other is now out of print. Then it is very remarkable that such a powerful book as Godwin's “Caleb Williams” is not to be had in a worthy edition. Mrs. Shelley's “Frankenstein,” which is a very early and good example of the horrible in fiction, has yet to be issued in a properly illustrated and handy form. Hope's “Anastasius” does not appear in a modern form, and is not easy to obtain in a nice edition; and such Eastern tales as Fraser's “Kuzzilbash,” seem to have dropped completely out of notice. Morier's “Hajji Baba” has been reissued, so far as the Persian part is concerned, but the sequel, containing the humorous account of the embassy to England, also awaits issue. To many minds, the picture of the conflict between Eastern and Western ideas presented in “Hajji Baba in England” makes it much more interesting than the original Persian story. More recent works, like Croly's “Salathiel” and Savage's “Bachelor of the Albany,” should certainly be reprinted, and kept in print, as they deserve. The latter is a work which is frequently quoted, and yet it seems to have been forgotten. It would be possible to specify many good and deserving books which are worth reprinting, but, as they are mentioned in the accompanying list, it is needless to repeat their titles.
MR. DENIS HOWELL, M.P., Minister for Libraries, who was to have told Conference how public libraries had progressed since the Act, had to withdraw and so we did not find out how…
Abstract
MR. DENIS HOWELL, M.P., Minister for Libraries, who was to have told Conference how public libraries had progressed since the Act, had to withdraw and so we did not find out how the responsible minister felt about us.
THE Leeds Conference of the Library Association was, in many respects, the most important gathering of librarians which has taken place in Britain since librarianship first became…
Abstract
THE Leeds Conference of the Library Association was, in many respects, the most important gathering of librarians which has taken place in Britain since librarianship first became organised. The value and interest of the topics discussed, the joint discussion with representatives of famous educational bodies, and other features of a novel kind, all contributed to give the Leeds meeting a character which was very impressive; and its results are likely to be fruitful, if a strong effort is made to follow up the various important matters which were brought forward.