The National Science Foundation funded the first Coordination Theory and Collaboration Technology initiative to look at systems that support collaborations in business and elsewhere. This book explores the global revolution in human interconnectedness. It will discuss the various collaborative workgroups and their use in technology. The initiative focuses on processes of coordination and cooperation among autonomous units in human systems, in computer and communication systems, and in hybrid organizations of both systems. This initiative is motivated by three scientific issues which have been the focus of separate research efforts, but which may benefit from collaborative research. The first is the effort to discover the principles underlying how people collaborate and coordinate work efficiently and productively in environments characterized by a high degree of decentralized computation and decision making. The second is to gain a better fundamental understanding of the structure and outputs of organizations, industries, and markets which incorporate sophisticated, decentralized information and communications technology as an important component of their operations. The third is to understand problems of coordination in decentralized or open computer systems.

This volume discusses pleasurable design a part of the traditional usability design and evaluation methodologies. The book emphasizes the importance of designing products and services to maximize user satisfaction. By combining this with traditional usability methods it increases the appeal of products and use of services.

For the past decade, the rapid development of the ergonomics disciplines as well as the fast growing economy in the Asian region have been attracting the attention of the international ergonomics community. Although East Asia has been changing from a traditional agriculture-oriented society into a modern industry-oriented society and its economy covers a great deal of shared interests across the continents, yet the ergonomics related knowledge and practice are still in its infancy. Because of the geographic proximity and a strong historical, cultural and technology affinity, it is vitally important to maintain good communication and cooperation among the individuals as well as among the ergonomics organizations in the region. This symposium, EAEFS, has provided supporting ergonomics organizations and interested participants a forum to exchange ideas, build friendship, foster greater understanding of and among these individuals and organizations, and develop perspectives concerning ergonomics issues in this region and beyond.

This volume contains the selected papers presented at the Second East Asian Ergonomics Federation Symposium (EAEFS), held from October 4 - 8, 2011 at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. The Second EAEFS, endorsed by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), aims to consolidate the established ties within East Asia and to extend the cooperation among ergonomics researchers, professionals, and practitioners in the region to other regions in Asia and the world. Senior scholars and leaders from Asian countries have shared their wisdom, experience, insights, and visions on past, current and future ergonomics efforts in Asia.

The papers contributing to this book address the latest research and application in accordance with the theme of the symposium, "Ergonomics in Asia: Development, Opportunities and Challenges," and cover the following areas: Virtual Environments & Design, Aging & Work Ability, Usability & Interface, Biomechanics & Anthropometry, and Occupational Safety & Health.

Reconstructing Medical Practice examines how doctors see health care and their place in it, why they remain in medicine and why they are limited in their ability to lead change in the current system. Doctors are beset by doubts and feel rejected by systems where they should be leaders - some see their role as 'flog[ging] a derelict system to get the last breath of workability out ... for their patients'. Others simply turn away. Rigorous studies carried out at large public teaching hospitals in Australia found that doctors were reluctant to increase safety in the wider health system, despite making every effort for their 'own' patients. Doctors' self-esteem was found to be delicate due to the uncertain nature of their work; colleagues provide the support doctors need to deliver good care. However, these essential relationships and their cherished connections with patients have disadvantages: reducing doctors' ability to admit to error. On top of this, senior doctors predict a future bereft of professional values - one where medicine is 'just a job'. While the loss of professional identity introduces new risks for patients and doctors, the repercussions of the more self-serving attitudes of younger doctors are unknown. Reconstructing Medical Practice concludes that regulation, despite its recent proliferation, is a clumsy and limited approach to ensuring good care. It presents original and much-needed ideas for ways to rebuild the critical relationship between doctors and the system. By better valuing communicative interactions and workplace relationships, safe and satisfying medical practice can be reconstructed.

For boards and executives, high-quality and transparent information is critical to allow effective decision-making. Emerging risks are increasingly challenging issues, both in terms of threats and growth opportunities; not least since the science pertaining to these risks tends to be contested. Emerging Risks: A Strategic Management Guide restores the constructive dialogue between the business professional and the expert/scientist community, essential if companies are to anticipate, plan ahead and exploit leading-edge ideas. It provides insights into some of the major emerging risks of the 21st century and then guides organizations on how to approach and manage those risks proactively in the wake of new regulation, governance and enterprise-wide risk management. The topics covered include: nanotechnologies, covering the industrial revolution of the 21st Century; new information and communication technologies (NICT), discussing the infrastructure of the future; electromagnetic fields (EMF) and their debated health impact; chemical substances/REACH, a regulation with major economic and environmental stakes and an example of emerging risk management; biological risk and its on-going need for international surveillance; supply chain, a top management priority; and country risk, for which security and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are growing issues. The authors assess and propose a process for managing emerging risks and the strategies that need to be put in place, drawing on examples of best practice.

Presents detailed focus on what a leader can do, regardless of the level of the leader. Covers remedies for barriers to enabling characteristics to shine. Discusses both quantitative and qualitative measures for the characteristics. Explores the why, what and how of learnable traits and characteristics of individuals-as-leaders.

The first edition of Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety took the medical and ergonomics communities by storm with in-depth coverage of human factors and ergonomics research, concepts, theories, models, methods, and interventions and how they can be applied in health care. Other books focus on particular human factors and ergonomics issues such as human error or design of medical devices or a specific application such as emergency medicine. This book draws on both areas to provide a compendium of human factors and ergonomics issues relevant to health care and patient safety. The second edition takes a more practical approach with coverage of methods, interventions, and applications and a greater range of domains such as medication safety, surgery, anesthesia, and infection prevention. New topics include: * work schedules * error recovery * telemedicine * workflow analysis * simulation * health information technology development and design * patient safety management Reflecting developments and advances in the five years since the first edition, the book explores medical technology and telemedicine and puts a special emphasis on the contributions of human factors and ergonomics to the improvement of patient safety and quality of care. In order to take patient safety to the next level, collaboration between human factors professionals and health care providers must occur. This book brings both groups closer to achieving that goal.

Disability Management is perceived and understood to be an important approach to reducing the negative impact, for workers and the company, of absence due to illness and accidents, and to assisting those with disabilities to enter or re-enter the workplace. Disability Management has already become established in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. Recently European countries have begun to promote the approach in order to reduce illness related expenses and avoid unemployment, early retirement and costs to the welfare state. In Disability Management and Workplace Integration leading researchers from around the World consider the development of Disability Management over the last three decades. They examine the on-going debate about methodology and implementation of disability management strategies and programmes, highlighting the critical debate about the implications of a stricter cost-benefit approach to Disability Management theory and practice. Professionals involved in workplace integration, researchers approaching workplace integration from a variety of perspectives such as sociology; rehabilitative medicine; psychology; education; social policy; and economics, and students on a range of courses, will appreciate this valuable book.

Taking an integrated, systems approach to dealing exclusively with the human performance issues encountered on the flight deck of the modern airliner, this book describes the inter-relationships between the various application areas of human factors, recognising that the human contribution to the operation of an airliner does not fall into neat pigeonholes. The relationship between areas such as pilot selection, training, flight deck design and safety management is continually emphasised within the book. It also affirms the upside of human factors in aviation - the positive contribution that it can make to the industry - and avoids placing undue emphasis on when the human component fails. The book is divided into four main parts. Part one describes the underpinning science base, with chapters on human information processing, workload, situation awareness, decision making, error and individual differences. Part two of the book looks at the human in the system, containing chapters on pilot selection, simulation and training, stress, fatigue and alcohol, and environmental stressors. Part three takes a closer look at the machine (the aircraft), beginning with an examination of flight deck display design, followed by chapters on aircraft control, flight deck automation, and HCI on the flight deck. Part four completes the volume with a consideration of safety management issues, both on the flight deck and across the airline; the final chapter in this section looks at human factors for incident and accident investigation. The book is written for professionals within the aviation industry, both on the flight deck and elsewhere, for post-graduate students and for researchers working in the area.

Ergonomics Principles in Design: An Illustrated Fundamental Approach touches upon different ergonomic principles in design and then showcases with examples where and how they have been applied. Each chapter covers one aspect of design and emphasizes its application in the real world, such as the ergonomic design of the interface of a blood pressure monitor and the ergonomic interface of a moving ticket vending machine. Discusses all aspects of design from product, space, and communication. Includes many self-explanatory assignments for better understanding. Highlights practice sessions at the end of each chapter with design directions to help the readers. Demonstrates ergonomics principles with the help of real-life examples. Focusses on the application of ergonomic principles in design in the form of studio assignments. The text covers the application of ergonomic principles in diverse areas of design, like product, space, and communication in a single volume. It will serve as an ideal reference text for graduate students and professionals in the fields of ergonomics, human factors, occupational health and safety, and industrial and manufacturing engineering.

In the European Union many individuals will partake in drinking a little wine with their lunch or dinner to aid their enjoyment of the meal or as an appetizer for food. Alcohol is also a drug of dependence. Some individuals will drink too much and some of them will become addicted. Access to alcohol, binge drinking, and younger drinkers can lead to unsafe workplaces, absenteeism, fraud and criminal behaviour. Alcohol at Work is a definitive guide to the problem, exploring its nature and scale and providing a complete range of ideas and techniques to help create a policy in the workplace and develop appropriate and effective measures for monitoring and tackling alcohol abuse. The key collective message is solve the problem - take the alcohol, not the person, out of the workplace. In the UK alone, research puts the cost of alcohol abuse in the workplace at AGBP2 billion a year. This is a must-have reference for human resource, occupational health and risk managers, as well as those involved in tackling criminal behaviour such as fraud and violence at work resulting from alcohol abuse and addiction.

Browsing for information is a significant part of most research activity, but many online collections hamper browsing with interfaces that are variants on a search box. Research shows that rich-prospect interfaces can offer an intuitive and highly flexible alternative environment for information browsing, assisting hypothesis formation and pattern-finding. This unique book offers a clear discussion of this form of interface design, including a theoretical basis for why it is important, and examples of how it can be done. It will be of interest to those working in the fields of library and information science, human-computer interaction, visual communication design, and the digital humanities as well as those interested in new theories and practices for designing web interfaces for library collections, digitized cultural heritage materials, and other types of digital collections.

The Handbook of Human-Machine Interaction features 20 original chapters and a conclusion focusing on human-machine interaction (HMI) from analysis, design and evaluation perspectives. It offers a comprehensive range of principles, methods, techniques and tools to provide the reader with a clear knowledge of the current academic and industry practice and debate that define the field. The text considers physical, cognitive, social and emotional aspects and is illustrated by key application domains such as aerospace, automotive, medicine and defence. Above all, this volume is designed as a research guide that will both inform readers on the basics of human-machine interaction from academic and industrial perspectives and also provide a view ahead at the means through which human-centered designers, including engineers and human factors specialists, will attempt to design and develop human-machine systems.

Effective use of driving simulators requires considerable technical and methodological skill along with considerable background knowledge. Acquiring the requisite knowledge and skills can be extraordinarily time consuming, yet there has been no single convenient and comprehensive source of information on the driving simulation research being conducted around the world. A how-to-do-it resource for researchers and professionals, Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology brings together discussions of technical issues in driving simulation with broad areas in which driving simulation is now playing a role. The chapters explore technical considerations, methodological issues, special and impaired populations, evaluation of in-vehicle and nomadic devices, and infrastructure evaluations. It examines hardware and software selection, visual database and scenario development, independent subject variables and dependent vehicle, environmental, and psychological variables, statistical and biostatistical analysis, different types of drivers, existing and future key-in vehicle devises, and validation of research. A compilation of the research from more than 100 of the world's top thinkers and practitioners, the book covers basic and advanced technical topics and provides a comprehensive review of the issues related to driving simulation. It describes literally hundreds of different simulation scenarios, provides color photographs of those scenarios, and makes available select videos of the scenarios on an accompanying web site, all of which should prove essential for seasoned researchers and for individuals new to driving simulation.

When a venture seems to be faltering, do you persist and hope that things will get better or do you cut your losses? This may be one of the most important decisions business or project owners may ever have to make. Persistence involves the risk of throwing good money (or resources) after bad, but owners may feel they have too much invested to quit now. Escalation in Decision-Making reveals why social scientists believe that owners may not respond rationally to such predicaments. Instead of exiting when the odds are clearly stacked against them, they re-invest and end up compounding their losses - a phenomenon known as escalation of commitment. The authors, Helga Drummond and Julia Hodgson, also introduce the concept of entrapment, a variation whereby decision-makers passively drift towards insolvency as the cost of changing direction becomes too high. So: A* what drives escalation? A* why do some owners quit whilst others persist until the bailiffs arrive? A* what can we learn from owners' mistakes? A* what makes newcomers believe they can succeed where others are conspicuously failing? These questions of behavioural economics are answered using a narrative that analyses decisions made by market traders facing economic extinction. Many highly successful entrepreneurs started their careers in markets - it was once an almost guaranteed route to prosperity - now market traders are struggling to survive. Although the market traders featured are small entrepreneurs, the ubiquitous phenomenon of escalation at the heart of these stories is widely relevant to practitioners such as project managers in large organizations and to those responsible for managing risk in many situations. Rich in case studies involving real business decisions and dilemmas, Escalation in Decision-Making provides an accessible introduction to the application of theory against a background of growing interest in behavioural economics, now being researched and taught in univ

Among the issues discussed in Applied Economics are world population growth and the economic factors governing international migration: issues that are as pertinent today as when the book was originally published. The problems of defining and comparing industrial and general efficiency in different economies are also discussed, using comparative studies from the UK and USA. The opportunities for analysing the pattern of world trade and the reasons for the varying degrees of national dependence on external trade, as well as the concentration of world export in particular channels are also examined.

Healthcare professionals face an increasing threat of litigation from parties whom they have never met in their daily medical practice and who look nothing like the traditional patient. The so-called 'non-patient' may take many forms"for example, a person who is injured or killed by a mentally-ill, physically-disabled or diseased patient; a wrongfully-accused parent in a child neglect/abuse case; or a local authority which is put to the expense of caring for a negligently-treated patient. This book explores the legal principles and conundrums which arise when determining a healthcare professional's liability in negligence towards a wide variety of non-patients. The topic is assuming increasing legal importance and relevance, given the potential for many non-patient claims to give rise to class actions litigation, and in light of the legislative and human rights interventions, and the frequent appellate judicial consideration, which non-patient claims have attracted in recent times. The aim of the book is to have utility for both legal and medical professionals; for academics and students of comparative medical negligence and tort law; and for law reformers who may be interested in adopting certain features of statutory models elsewhere which pertain to some non-patient claims, such as those based upon 'Good Samaritan' conduct. Important parallels or counterpoints from other common law jurisdictions, in which courts and commentators have grappled with the legal complexities of non-patient claims, are also discussed and critically analyzed.

What are the financial and psychological costs of risky behavior in business to the individuals concerned and their organizations? Risky Business provides a perspective on addictive behaviors such as gambling, drug taking and even addiction to work; criminal behaviors such as theft and corruption; and behaviors such as aggression and violence. The authors then look at their implications to employee and organizational health within the context of the workplace environment; an environment that is often synonymous with psychological demands, stress, long hours, overwork and shortages of staff or other essential resources. An essential guide for occupational psychologists, human resource specialists, risk managers and for researchers in this field.

Despite ubiquitous powerful technologies such as networked computers, global positioning systems, and cell phones; human failures in decision-making and performance continue to have disastrous consequences. Electronic Performance Support: Using Digital Technology to Enhance Human Ability, reminds everyone involved in education, training, human performance engineering, and related fields of the enormous importance of this area. Ironically, the more complex technology becomes, the more performance support may be needed, and that's why the extraordinary expertise shared in this book is especially valuable. The authors emphasize the psychological aspects of performance support, the fundamental limitations of human memory, perception, cognition, conation, and psychomotor skills and how they can be reduced through electronic performance support, as one of the most important pursuits of this century. Readers will find the material presented extremely useful because of its generic basis - which underlines much of the contemporary use of electronic technology for supporting people who are engaged in problem-solving activities. At the same time, the book gives examples of the application of electronic performance support in a number of specific domains. Possible future developments for electronic performance support are also discussed. The technological challenges we face today, both globally and locally, are more urgent than most people seem willing to acknowledge, and there is no time to waste putting the ideas expressed in this book into action.

This study explores the reasons behind the different responses of the legal systems of Europe, Japan and the USA in coping with BSE, one of the major food safety crises in recent years. Making reference to the most recent advances on risk perception that cognitive and social sciences, such as legal anthropology and sociology of law, have experimented with, Risk Perception, Culture, and Legal Change examines the role that culture plays in moulding the process of legal change. Attention is focused on the regulative frameworks implemented to guarantee the safety of the food chain against the BSE menace and on the liability responses sketched to compensate the victims of mad cow disease, showing how both these elements have been influenced by the cultural context within which they are situated.

One of the most significant and yet largely overlooked factors influencing performance and workplace problem solving in many large organizations is that of national culture. Managers, and the organizations for which they work, need to be able to understand the influence of cultural values and beliefs on performance in order to identify appropriate solutions; strategies appropriate in one part of the world may be ineffective or even counter-productive in another. Bryan Hopkins' ground breaking book relates the concept of cultural dimensions, as developed by writers such as Hofstede and Trompenaars, to the performance engineering approaches of Gilbert and Mager and Pipe, to show how strategies for solving workplace performance problems need to consider the cultural composition of the workforce. It then provides a practical structure for problem solving within the context of an international, multi-cultural environment. This is a book for both managers working in an international setting or for those in national organizations who are dealing with the challenge of culturally diverse workforces. It's also a book for governments seeking to understand the potential implications of national culture on civilian or even military interventions.

This book reports the most recent, advanced, successful, and real applications of ergonomics in order to improve the human well-being and performance in a short term, as well as the organizational performance in a long term. The book is organized as follows: Physical Ergonomics. This section reports case studies where physical risk factors are presented in the workplace, such as physical risk factors including uncomfortable body postures, repetitive movements, force application, manual material handling, and physical environmental conditions. In addition, case studies must report applications from physical ergonomics methods, for instance, RULA, REBA, OWAS, NIOSH, JSI, Suzane Rodgers, ERIN, among others. Cognitive Ergonomics. This section reports the implementation of ergonomic tools, techniques, and methods in real case studies. These applications are aimed to know, decrease, and control cognitive and psychological risk factors, such as mental workload, information processing, situation awareness, human error identification, and interface analysis. These applications may include the following methods NASA-TLX, SWAT, CWA, SHERPA, HET, TAFEI, SAGAT, SART, SACRI, QUIS, SUMI, to mention a few of them. Macro-ergonomics. This section is focused on the analysis, design, and evaluation of work systems. It reports case studies where risk factors are beyond a specific workstation. These risk factors may include supervision styles, teamwork management, task variety, social relationships, organizational culture, organizational communication, technology, work schedules, and motivation, among others. In addition, case studies report the application of macro-ergonomic methods, such as MOQS, focus group, participatory ergonomics, HITOP, MAS, and MEAD, among others.

Hailed on first publication as a compendium of foundational principles and cutting-edge research, The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook has become the gold standard reference in this field. Derived from select chapters of this groundbreaking resource, Human-Computer Interaction: Design Issues, Solutions, and Applications focuses on HCI from a privacy, security, and trust perspective. Under the aegis of Andrew Sears and Julie Jacko, expert practitioners address the myriad issues involved when designing the interactions between users and computing technologies. As expected in a book that begins by pondering "Why we should think before doing," you get an interdisciplinary resource that explores the relationship between people and technology.

Taking an application-oriented approach, these exercises encourage students to apply rigorous analyses to collected data, and provide results through formal professional reports. The book contains nearly three dozen exercises covering workplace environment, work analysis, information processing, physiological issues, and systems evaluations. Some are pencil and paper exercises, some are stopwatch studies, some require special laboratory equipment, and others are field exercises. The book gives technical background on each topic and provides equipment needs, experimental design, and data sheets, as well as guidance on analysis and detailed instructions on report writing.

Written by a hazardous materials consultant with over 40 years of experience in emergency services, the five-volume Hazmatology: The Science of Hazardous Materials suggests a new approach dealing with the most common aspects of hazardous materials, containers, and the affected environment. It focuses on innovations in decontamination, monitoring instruments, and personal protective equipment in a scientific way, utilizing common sense, and takes a risk-benefit approach to hazardous material response. This set provides the reader with a hazardous materials "Tool Box" and a guide for learning which tools to use under what circumstances. Dealing with hazardous materials incidents cannot be accomplished effectively and safely without knowing the effects these materials have. Volume Three, Applied Chemistry and Physics, is not about teaching chemistry and physics. It is about presenting these topics at the level that emergency responders will understand so they can apply the concepts using a risk management system. FEATURES Uses a scientific approach utilizing analysis of previous incidents Offers a risk-benefit approach based upon science and history Provides understanding tools for your Hazmat Tool Box Simplifies physical and chemical characteristics Utilizes chemistry and physics to identify hazards to responders