Nowadays software engineers not only have to worry about the technical knowledge needed to do their job, but they are increasingly having to know about the legal, professional and commercial context in which they must work. With the explosion of the Internet and major changes to the field with the introduction of the new Data Protection Act and the legal status of software engineers, it is now essential that they have an appreciation of a wide variety of issues outside the technical.
Equally valuable to both students and practitioners, it brings together the expertise and experience of leading academics in software engineering, law, industrial relations, and health and safety, explaining the central principles and issues in each field and shows how they apply to software engineering.
Key Features:
* new and updated edition of a highly successful textbook for students and professional software engineers
* most other books on the subject look at specific languages in software engineering - this looks at specific issues in the context of software engineering
* covers the major changes that have occurred in recent years in the field
Professional Issues in Software Engineering covers all the key issues that students and professionals should have to think about. These include:
* commercial and financial frameworks
* the effect of new technology on employment
* the safety and reliability of computer systems
* health and safety in the workplace
* intellectual property rights in software
* computer contracts
* computer misuse

Intelligent decision support relies on techniques from a variety of disciplines, including artificial intelligence and database management systems. Most of the existing literature neglects the relationship between these disciplines. By integrating AI and DBMS, Computational Intelligence for Decision Support produces what other texts don't: an explanation of how to use AI and DBMS together to achieve high-level decision making.

Threading relevant disciplines from both science and industry, the author approaches computational intelligence as the science developed for decision support. The use of computational intelligence for reasoning and DBMS for retrieval brings about a more active role for computational intelligence in decision support, and merges computational intelligence and DBMS. The introductory chapter on technical aspects makes the material accessible, with or without a decision support background. The examples illustrate the large number of applications and an annotated bibliography allows you to easily delve into subjects of greater interest.

The integrated perspective creates a book that is, all at once, technical, comprehensible, and usable. Now, more than ever, it is important for science and business workers to creatively combine their knowledge to generate effective, fruitful decision support. Computational Intelligence for Decision Support makes this task manageable.

#1 Best Selling Information Security Book by Taylor & Francis in 2019, 2020 and 2021! 2020 Cybersecurity CANON Hall of Fame Winner! Todd Fitzgerald, co-author of the ground-breaking (ISC)2 CISO Leadership: Essential Principles for Success, Information Security Governance Simplified: From the Boardroom to the Keyboard, co-author for the E-C Council CISO Body of Knowledge, and contributor to many others including Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, COBIT 5 for Information Security, and ISACA CSX Cybersecurity Fundamental Certification, is back with this new book incorporating practical experience in leading, building, and sustaining an information security/cybersecurity program. CISO COMPASS includes personal, pragmatic perspectives and lessons learned of over 75 award-winning CISOs, security leaders, professional association leaders, and cybersecurity standard setters who have fought the tough battle. Todd has also, for the first time, adapted the McKinsey 7S framework (strategy, structure, systems, shared values, staff, skills and style) for organizational effectiveness to the practice of leading cybersecurity to structure the content to ensure comprehensive coverage by the CISO and security leaders to key issues impacting the delivery of the cybersecurity strategy and demonstrate to the Board of Directors due diligence. The insights will assist the security leader to create programs appreciated and supported by the organization, capable of industry/ peer award-winning recognition, enhance cybersecurity maturity, gain confidence by senior management, and avoid pitfalls. The book is a comprehensive, soup-to-nuts book enabling security leaders to effectively protect information assets and build award-winning programs by covering topics such as developing cybersecurity strategy, emerging trends and technologies, cybersecurity organization structure and reporting models, leveraging current incidents, security control frameworks, risk management, laws and regulations, data protection and privacy, meaningful policies and procedures, multi-generational workforce team dynamics, soft skills, and communicating with the Board of Directors and executive management. The book is valuable to current and future security leaders as a valuable resource and an integral part of any college program for information/ cybersecurity.

"Vivek Kale has written a great book on performance management that focuses on decision-making; on continuous, incremental improvement; and on identifying common patterns in becoming a more intelligent organization." -James Taylor, CEO of Decision Management Solutions and author of Real-World Decision Modeling with DMN "Introducing the concepts of decision patterns and performance intelligence, Vivek Kale has written another important book on the issues faced by contemporary organizations."-Gary Cokins, author of Predictive Business Analytics and Performance Management: Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk, and Analytics Enterprise Performance Intelligence and Decision Patterns unravels the mystery of enterprise performance intelligence (EPI) and explains how it can transform the operating context of business enterprises. It provides a clear understanding of what EPI means, what it can do, and application areas where it is practical to use. The need to be responsive to evolving customer needs and desires creates organizational structures where business intelligence (BI) and decision making is pushed out to operating units that are closest to the scene of the action. Closed-loop decision making resulting from a combination of on-going performance management with on-going BI can lead to an effective responsive enterprise; hence, the need for performance intelligence (PI). This pragmatic book: Introduces the technologies such as data warehousing, data mining, analytics, and business intelligence systems that are a first step toward enabling data-driven enterprises. Details decision patterns and performance decision patterns that pave the road for performance intelligence applications. Introduces the concepts, principles, and technologies related to performance measurement systems. Describes the concepts and principles related to balance scorecard systems (BCS). Introduces aspects of performance intelligence for the real-time enterprises. Enterprise Performance Intelligence and Decision Patterns shows how a company can design and implement instruments ranging from decision patterns to PI systems that can enable continuous correction of business unit behavior so companies can enhance levels of productivity and profitability.

A valuable tool for establishing and maintaining system reliability, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) has proven to be very effective in reducing unscheduled downtime for companies around the world. So much so that OEE is quickly becoming a requirement for improving quality and substantiating capacity in leading organizations, as well as a required area of study for the ISO/TS 16949. Breaking down the methodology from a historical perspective, The OEE Primer: Understanding Overall Equipment Effectiveness, Reliability, and Maintainability explores the overall effectiveness of machines and unveils novel methods that focus on design improvement-including hazard analysis, rate of change of failure (ROCOF) analysis, failure rate finite element analysis (FEA), and theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ). It covers loss of effectiveness, new machinery, electrical maintenance issues, Weibull distribution, measurement techniques, and mechanical and electrical reliability. The book also: Discusses Reliability and Maintainability (R&M), not as tools to be used in specific tasks, rather as a discipline Covers the application of OEE as an overall improvement tool Assesses existing and new equipment from classical, reliability, and maintainability perspectives Includes downloadable resources with more than 100 pages of appendices and additional resources featuring statistical tables, outlines, case studies, guidelines, and standards Introducing the classical approach to improvement, this book provides an understanding of exactly what OEE is and how it can be best applied to address capacity issues. Highlighting mechanical and electrical opportunities throughout, the text includes many tables, forms, and examples that clearly illustrate and enhance the material presented.

This book discusses business architecture as a basis for aligning efforts with outcomes. It views BA as complementary to enterprise architecture, where the focus of technological initiatives and inventories is to understand and improve business organization, business direction, and business decision-making. This book provides a practical, long-term view on BA. Based on the authors' consulting experience and industrial research, the material in this book is a valuable addition to the thought processes around BA and EA. The lead author has direct and practical experience with large clients in applying APQC capability framework for undertaking multiple enterprise-wide capability assessments.

Most information systems textbooks overwhelm business students with overly technical information they may not need in their careers. This textbook takes a new approach to the required information systems course for business majors. For each topic covered, the text highlights key "Take-Aways" that alert students to material they will need to remember during their careers. Sections titled "Where You Fit In" and "Why This Chapter Matters" explain how the topics being covered will impact students on the job. Review questions, discussion questions, and summaries are also included. This second edition is updated to include new technology, along with a new running case study. Key features: Single-mindedly for business students who are not technical specialists Doesn't try to prepare IS professionals; other courses will do that Stresses the enabling technologies and application areas that matter the most today Based on the author's real-world experience Up to date regarding technology and tomorrow's business needs This is the book the author-and, more importantly, his students-wishes he had when he started teaching. Dr. Mallach holds degrees in engineering from Princeton and MIT, and in business from Boston University. He worked in the computer industry for two decades, as Director of Strategic Planning for a major computer firm and as co-founder/CEO of a computer marketing consulting firm. He taught information systems in the University of Massachusetts (Lowell and Dartmouth) business schools for 18 years, then at Rhode Island College following his retirement. He consults in industry and serves as Webmaster for his community, in between hiking and travel with his wife.

Recent changes in healthcare delivery as mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are forcing providers to focus on technology as a way to improve the health of the population, while engaging patients and encouraging them to take accountability for maintaining their own health. One way of doing this is through the use of mobile health (mhealth) technologies that allow physicians to monitor patients in real time and access important medical records from anywhere. Connecting millions of patients with caregivers like never before, mhealth technology is changing healthcare delivery for good. Emerging Technologies in Healthcare provides detailed descriptions of the latest mhealth technologies. It outlines the role of mhealth for self-care and remote care and describes the differences between telemedicine, telehealth, and telecare. The book justifies the use of mhealth technology for meeting regulatory standards of care and explains how analytics and social media are being used to improve the delivery of healthcare. It addresses healthcare reform and risk management in healthcare and concludes by discussing future directions for healthcare technologies. The book is written by a leader in the application of analytics in the healthcare industry. Her extensive background in nursing and hospital administration provides her with the opportunity to share unique insights on how to apply technology and innovation to improve the management of today's healthcare systems.

Its scale, flexibility, cost effectiveness, and fast turnaround are just a few reasons why crowdsourced testing has received so much attention lately. While there are a few online resources that explain what crowdsourced testing is all about, there's been a need for a book that covers best practices, case studies, and the future of this technique. Filling this need, Leveraging the Wisdom of the Crowd in Software Testing shows you how to leverage the wisdom of the crowd in your software testing process. Its comprehensive coverage includes the history of crowdsourcing and crowdsourced testing, implementation practices, and future trends. The book discusses best practices in implementation-explaining what, when, and how to crowdsource in a testing effort. It also includes case studies that illustrate how both product and service companies have successfully applied crowdsourcing in their testing programs. Explaining how to use the combined advantages of crowdsourcing and cloud computing for software testing, the book examines various engagement models in which you could implement crowdsourced testing. It addresses effective defect management in crowdsourced testing and considers both the business and engineering aspects of crowdsourced testing. The book explores the challenges, limitations, and situations when crowdsourced testing will not work and provides powerful best practices for mitigating the constraints and challenges, including how to build a crowdsourcing platform to test software products. Covering career opportunities for crowd testers, the book concludes by taking a look at the need to build a crowdsourced testing ecosystem, who the players of such an ecosystem would be, and who would need to champion such an effort.

Although program management has received much attention in recent books, program governance remains a relatively new subject. While selected books and standards touch on this important topic, few are devoted to program governance as a subject. This book fills that need. Program Governance provides a thorough understanding of governance while reviewing the underlying theories. The first book dedicated to this subject, it caters to the needs of practitioners, researchers, and students of management and governance. The book provides a holistic view of program governance while covering multiple elements of program governance. Topics covered include the governance structure, governance roles, governance functions, governance mechanisms, factors influencing the governance framework, and different domains of programs that come under the jurisdiction of a governance framework. The book presents the author's own program governance framework, called the Contingent Governance Framework for Programs (CGFPrgTM), which is adaptable to suit different program contexts. This adaptability ensures that the different elements of governance, including structure and mechanisms, are aligned with program requirements. Such alignment results in an efficient and effective environment with an increased probability of program success. The text supplies references to research and case studies to help readers understand key concepts in more detail. It also includes objectives at the end of each chapter to help readers gauge their knowledge of the subject. The book clarifies the linkage/dependencies between program governance and other governance levels, such as international governance and corporate governance, which have a strong influence on governance framework for programs. It also explains the difference between the dynamics of temporary organizations, such as projects and programs, and permanent organizations. This distinct

Whether you use budget, schedule, quality, or other criteria, the statistics by think tanks, institutes, associations, and other trade organizations all point to one inescapable conclusion: your project has a greater chance of getting into trouble than staying out of it. Based on the lessons learned by the author during a quarter of a century of leading projects to successful conclusions, Managing Projects in Trouble: Achieving Turnaround and Success unveils the five secrets to ensuring success-even for projects seemingly doomed to fail. Using numerous flow diagrams and checklists, it explains how to take action in ways that will increase the likelihood of success and minimize the possibility of failure. Specifically, it shows you how to: Recognize the symptoms of troubled projects Revisit your project's vision and execute an improved vision Examine all options for turning your project into a reality Choose the options most appropriate to your situation Supplying step-by-step guidance through each phase, the book explains how to spot the symptoms of troubled projects early on and arms you with time-tested techniques to address the problems that will inevitably emerge. Each chapter includes a case study that illustrates real-world implementation of the actions and steps discussed as well as a checklist to help ease the transition from project failure to surefire success. Learn the five secrets for turning troubled projects around detailed in this book-or continue what you're doing at your own peril.

Security practitioners must be able to build cost-effective security programs while also complying with government regulations. Information Security Governance Simplified: From the Boardroom to the Keyboard lays out these regulations in simple terms and explains how to use control frameworks to build an air-tight information security (IS) program and governance structure. Defining the leadership skills required by IS officers, the book examines the pros and cons of different reporting structures and highlights the various control frameworks available. It details the functions of the security department and considers the control areas, including physical, network, application, business continuity/disaster recover, and identity management. Todd Fitzgerald explains how to establish a solid foundation for building your security program and shares time-tested insights about what works and what doesn't when building an IS program. Highlighting security considerations for managerial, technical, and operational controls, it provides helpful tips for selling your program to management. It also includes tools to help you create a workable IS charter and your own IS policies. Based on proven experience rather than theory, the book gives you the tools and real-world insight needed to secure your information while ensuring compliance with government regulations.

From the Foreword: "This book lays out much of what we've learned at AT&T about SDN and NFV. Some of the smartest network experts in the industry have drawn a map to help you navigate this journey. Their goal isn't to predict the future but to help you design and build a network that will be ready for whatever that future holds. Because if there's one thing the last decade has taught us, it's that network demand will always exceed expectations. This book will help you get ready." -Randall Stephenson, Chairman, CEO, and President of AT&T "Software is changing the world, and networks too. In this in-depth book, AT&T's top networking experts discuss how they're moving software-defined networking from concept to practice, and why it's a business imperative to do this rapidly." -Urs Hoelzle, SVP Cloud Infrastructure, Google "Telecom operators face a continuous challenge for more agility to serve their customers with a better customer experience and a lower cost. This book is a very inspiring and vivid testimony of the huge transformation this means, not only for the networks but for the entire companies, and how AT&T is leading it. It provides a lot of very deep insights about the technical challenges telecom engineers are facing today. Beyond AT&T, I'm sure this book will be extremely helpful to the whole industry." -Alain Maloberti, Group Chief Network Officer, Orange Labs Networks "This new book should be read by any organization faced with a future driven by a "shift to software." It is a holistic view of how AT&T has transformed its core infrastructure from hardware based to largely software based to lower costs and speed innovation. To do so, AT&T had to redefine their technology supply chain, retrain their workforce, and move toward open source user-driven innovation; all while managing one of the biggest networks in the world. It is an amazing feat that will put AT&T in a leading position for years to come." -Jim Zemlin, Executive Director, The Linux Foundation This book is based on the lessons learned from AT&T's software transformation journey starting in 2012 when rampant traffic growth necessitated a change in network architecture and design. Using new technologies such as NFV, SDN, Cloud, and Big Data, AT&T's engineers outlined and implemented a radical network transformation program that dramatically reduced capital and operating expenditures. This book describes the transformation in substantial detail. The subject matter is of great interest to telecom professionals worldwide, as well as academic researchers looking to apply the latest techniques in computer science to solving telecom's big problems around scalability, resilience, and survivability.

With this book, managers and decision makers are given the tools to make more informed decisions about big data purchasing initiatives. Big Data Analytics: A Practical Guide for Managers not only supplies descriptions of common tools, but also surveys the various products and vendors that supply the big data market. Comparing and contrasting the different types of analysis commonly conducted with big data, this accessible reference presents clear-cut explanations of the general workings of big data tools. Instead of spending time on HOW to install specific packages, it focuses on the reasons WHY readers would install a given package. The book provides authoritative guidance on a range of tools, including open source and proprietary systems. It details the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating big data analysis into decision-making and explains how to leverage the strengths while mitigating the weaknesses. Describes the benefits of distributed computing in simple terms Includes substantial vendor/tool material, especially for open source decisions Covers prominent software packages, including Hadoop and Oracle Endeca Examines GIS and machine learning applications Considers privacy and surveillance issues The book further explores basic statistical concepts that, when misapplied, can be the source of errors. Time and again, big data is treated as an oracle that discovers results nobody would have imagined. While big data can serve this valuable function, all too often these results are incorrect, yet are still reported unquestioningly. The probability of having erroneous results increases as a larger number of variables are compared unless preventative measures are taken. The approach taken by the authors is to explain these concepts so managers can ask better questions of their analysts and vendors as to the appropriateness of the methods used to arrive at a conclusion. Because the world of science and medicine has been grappling with similar issues in the publication of studies, the authors draw on their efforts and apply them to big data.

eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction 2016 collects the papers presented at the 11th European Conference on Product & Process Modelling (ECPPM 2016, Cyprus, 7-9 September 2016), The contributions cover complementary thematic areas that hold great promise for the advancement of research and technological development in the modelling of complex engineering systems, encompassing a substantial number of high quality contributions on a large spectrum of topics pertaining to ICT deployment instances in AEC/FM, including: * Information and Knowledge Management * Construction Management * Description Logics and Ontology Application in AEC * Risk Management * 5D/nD Modelling, Simulation and Augmented Reality * Infrastructure Condition Assessment * Standardization of Data Structures * Regulatory and Legal Aspects * Multi-Model and distributed Data Management * System Identification * Industrialized Production, Smart Products and Services * Interoperability * Smart Cities * Sustainable Buildings and Urban Environments * Collaboration and Teamwork * BIM Implementation and Deployment * Building Performance Simulation * Intelligent Catalogues and Services

This book's author, Byron Love, admits proudly to being an IT geek. However, he had found that being an IT geek was limiting his career path and his effectiveness. During a career of more than 31 years, he has made the transition from geek to geek leader. He hopes this book helps other geeks do the same. This book addresses leadership issues in the IT industry to help IT practitioners lead from the lowest level. Unlike other leadership books that provide a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership, this book focuses on the unique challenges that IT practitioners face. IT project managers may manage processes and technologies, but people must be led. The IT industry attracts people who think in logical ways-analytical types who have a propensity to place more emphasis on tasks and technology than on people. This has led to leadership challenges such as poor communication, poor relationship management, and poor stakeholder engagement. Critical IT projects and programs have failed because IT leaders neglect the people component of "people, process, and technology." Communications skills are key to leadership. This book features an in-depth discussion of the communications cycle and emotional intelligence, providing geek leaders with tools to improve their understanding of others and to help others understand them. To transform a geek into a geek leader, this book also discusses: Self-leadership skills so geek leaders know how to lead others by leading themselves first Followership and how to cultivate it among team members How a geek leader's ability to navigate disparate social styles leads to greater credibility and influence Integrating leadership into project management processes The book concludes with a case study to show how to put leadership principles and practices into action and how an IT geek can transform into an effective IT geek leader.

Software testing is at a very important crossroad, where it is going back to the roots on certain fronts while moving inexorably forward. For instance, test automation is growing in prominence, but manual testing is becoming a niche; we are increasingly collaborating with the developers, breaking the bounds of unrealistic independence in testing, and bringing in true conscious quality. At such an important stage, it is important to take stock of the past, present, and future to define both the direction the discipline will take as well as the careers it will entail for testers. This book looks at a range of topics covering where we are in the product development landscape today, what are the varied disciplines at play, what are the influencing factors bringing in a change in software testing, why is such change important, what did the past look like, what is current decade turning out to be like, and where are we heading. As for future, it looks at it both from near-term and long-term perspectives. It also considers whether the testing fraternity is ready to take on such changes and are empowered enough to do so, or are there gaps that need to be filled. The book closes with perspectives from industry experts on what is in store for the software testing discipline and community in the coming years. After reading the book, you will be confident that you can take on what is in store for testers in the coming years. You will also be positioned to help the industry move to the next level, and influence change not just amongst testers but also in the product engineering industry level as a whole.

Intelligent Image and Video Compression: Communicating Pictures, Second Edition explains the requirements, analysis, design and application of a modern video coding system. It draws on the authors' extensive academic and professional experience in this field to deliver a text that is algorithmically rigorous yet accessible, relevant to modern standards and practical. It builds on a thorough grounding in mathematical foundations and visual perception to demonstrate how modern image and video compression methods can be designed to meet the rate-quality performance levels demanded by today's applications and users, in the context of prevailing network constraints. "David Bull and Fan Zhang have written a timely and accessible book on the topic of image and video compression. Compression of visual signals is one of the great technological achievements of modern times, and has made possible the great successes of streaming and social media and digital cinema. Their book, Intelligent Image and Video Compression covers all the salient topics ranging over visual perception, information theory, bandpass transform theory, motion estimation and prediction, lossy and lossless compression, and of course the compression standards from MPEG (ranging from H.261 through the most modern H.266, or VVC) and the open standards VP9 and AV-1. The book is replete with clear explanations and figures, including color where appropriate, making it quite accessible and valuable to the advanced student as well as the expert practitioner. The book offers an excellent glossary and as a bonus, a set of tutorial problems. Highly recommended!" --Al Bovik

In view of the growing presence and popularity of multicore and manycore processors, accelerators, and coprocessors, as well as clusters using such computing devices, the development of efficient parallel applications has become a key challenge to be able to exploit the performance of such systems. This book covers the scope of parallel programming for modern high performance computing systems. It first discusses selected and popular state-of-the-art computing devices and systems available today, These include multicore CPUs, manycore (co)processors, such as Intel Xeon Phi, accelerators, such as GPUs, and clusters, as well as programming models supported on these platforms. It next introduces parallelization through important programming paradigms, such as master-slave, geometric Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) and divide-and-conquer. The practical and useful elements of the most popular and important APIs for programming parallel HPC systems are discussed, including MPI, OpenMP, Pthreads, CUDA, OpenCL, and OpenACC. It also demonstrates, through selected code listings, how selected APIs can be used to implement important programming paradigms. Furthermore, it shows how the codes can be compiled and executed in a Linux environment. The book also presents hybrid codes that integrate selected APIs for potentially multi-level parallelization and utilization of heterogeneous resources, and it shows how to use modern elements of these APIs. Selected optimization techniques are also included, such as overlapping communication and computations implemented using various APIs. Features: Discusses the popular and currently available computing devices and cluster systems Includes typical paradigms used in parallel programs Explores popular APIs for programming parallel applications Provides code templates that can be used for implementation of paradigms Provides hybrid code examples allowing multi-level parallelization Covers the optimization of parallel programs

A proliferation of new technologies has lulled many into thinking that we actually have to think less about how we communicate. In fact, communicating and collaborating across time, distance, and cultures has never been more complex or difficult. Written as a series of bulleted tips drawn from client experiences and best practices, Leading Effective Virtual Teams: Overcoming Time and Distance to Achieve Exceptional Results presents practical tips to help leaders engage and motivate their geographically dispersed project team members. If you're a leader of any type of virtual team and want to help your team members collaborate more effectively, then buy this book. You will learn how to: Build trust and cultivate relationships, virtually, across your team Design and facilitate virtual meetings that are focused and engaging Influence without authority Motivate and galvanize a virtual team for top performance Blend asynchronous and synchronous communications for better virtual collaboration Navigate cross-cultural and generational differences in the absence of vital visual cues Assess skills, strengths, aptitudes, and preferences from afar Handle other tough issues that can trip up virtual teams The ideas in this book are based on Nancy Settle-Murphy's decades of experience working as a change management consultant, facilitator, and trainer for project teams around the world. Designed to be read section by section in any order, this book shares approaches and techniques to help you address some of the toughest challenges virtual team leaders face, including keeping team members engaged from afar.

The third book in the Healthcare Payment Systems series, Prospective Payment Systems examines the various types of prospective payment systems (PPS) used by healthcare providers and third-party payers. Emphasizing the basic elements of PPS, it considers the many variations of payment for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, long-term hospital care, and rehabilitation facilities along with other providers. The book describes the anatomy of PPS, including cost reports, adjudication features and processes, relative weights, and payment processes. It outlines the features and documentation requirements for Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs), the Medicare Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs), Medicare HHPPS, Medicare Skilled Nursing Resource Utilization Groups (RUGs), and private third-party payers. Provides a framework for understanding and analyzing the characteristics of any PPS Discusses Medicare prospective payment systems and approaches Includes specific references to helpful resources, both online and in print Facilitates a clear understanding of the complexities related to PPS-covering specific topics at a high level and revisiting similar topics to reinforce understanding Complete with a detailed listing of the acronyms most- commonly used in healthcare coding, billing, and reimbursement, the book includes a series of case studies that illustrate key concepts. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges with PPS-including compliance and overpayment issues-to provide you with the real-world understanding needed to make sense of any PPS.

The Complete Guide for CISA Examination Preparation delivers complete coverage of every topic on the latest release of the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam. The author is an IT security and auditing expert and the book covers all five exam domains. This effective self-study system features chapter learning objectives, in-depth explanations of each topic, and accurate practice questions. Each chapter includes exam tips that highlight key exam information, hands-on exercises, a summary that serves as a quick review, and end-of-chapter questions that simulate those on the actual exam. Designed to help candidates pass the CISA exam easily, it also serves as an ideal on-the-job reference. Richard E. Cascarino, MBA, CIA, CISM, CFE, CRMA, is well known in international auditing. Richard is a principal of Richard Cascarino & Associates. He has over 31 years' experience in audit training and consulting. He is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and has presented courses throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the USA. Richard is a Past President of the Institute of Internal Auditors in South Africa, was the founding Regional Director of the Southern African Region of the IIA-Inc. and is a member of ISACA, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, where he is a member of the Board of Regents for Higher Education. Richard was Chairman of the Audit Committee of Gauteng cluster 2 (Premier's office, Shared Services and Health) in Johannesburg and is currently the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Department of Public Enterprises in South Africa. Richard is also a visiting Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, author of the book Internal Auditing: An Integrated Approach, now in its third edition. This book is extensively used as a university textbook worldwide. In addition, he is the author of the Auditor's Guide to IT Auditing, Second Edition and the book Corporate Fraud and Internal Control: A Framework for Prevention. He is also a contributor to all four editions of QFINANCE, the Ultimate Resource.

This is not another how-to guide for program managers or another reiteration of the Project Management Institute s standards for program management. Instead, Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics examines various leadership approaches and illustrates the value of effective leadership styles in Program Management for achieving program and project success.
Identifying critical success factors specific to program management, the book focuses on effective leadership styles and the power of teamwork in exceeding expectations. It starts by examining various leadership styles and traits providing helpful insights on the tough choices leaders are often forced to make. It describes effective methods to help leaders work with stakeholders and team members to set visions and objectives so that program goals are achieved with greater frequency.
Next, the book further examines teams and explains how to bring people from various experience levels, geographic diversity, and cultural backgrounds together setting aside their own personal objectives and instead working towards a common goal and vision. Presenting recent research on leadership, it highlights the situational factors that leaders face and offers approaches enabling leaders to modify their style from one based on personal choice to one that can adapt to overcome the challenges that will arise.
From there, the book describes how to build and maintain a High Performing Team (HPT). It also describes how to instill a competitive spirit and culture of cooperation and mutual respect in your team to make sure your team remains focused on the right things.
This book is an ideal resource for anyone who understands the value of the tools provided by PMI(r) and is searching for the factors that separate good program and project managers from truly great ones. If you are focused on self-actualization and continuous improvement, then this is the book that can help drive your program initiatives to the highest possible standards.

How can machine learning help the design of future communication networks - and how can future networks meet the demands of emerging machine learning applications? Discover the interactions between two of the most transformative and impactful technologies of our age in this comprehensive book. First, learn how modern machine learning techniques, such as deep neural networks, can transform how we design and optimize future communication networks. Accessible introductions to concepts and tools are accompanied by numerous real-world examples, showing you how these techniques can be used to tackle longstanding problems. Next, explore the design of wireless networks as platforms for machine learning applications - an overview of modern machine learning techniques and communication protocols will help you to understand the challenges, while new methods and design approaches will be presented to handle wireless channel impairments such as noise and interference, to meet the demands of emerging machine learning applications at the wireless edge.

SHELVING GUIDE: Project Management This hands-on guide is written for project professionals seeking to find an optimized way of performing project management. It provides answers to such critical questions as: Why should an organization apply project management? What is the value of project management in the broader context of an organization? Is project management as successful as some advocates suggested or is it a waste of time and resources because of the many extensive and bureaucratic processes? Which project management approach should our project team adopt: predictive or adaptive, waterfall or rolling water, extreme programming or Scrum? This book aims to provide an optimized view of project management by balancing and blending competing methodologies (e.g., traditional versus Agile), lengthy methodologies and broad principles, processes and practices, and the need to understand versus the need to apply. It includes project management templates, an integrated case study illustrating how to apply tools and concepts, and a glossary of key terms. Optimizing Project Management is for both aspiring and practicing project management professionals. It covers the core concepts, practices, and skills that are useful for developing new ideas, planning activities, implementing projects, and conducting planning and controlling of schedule, budget, and scope. The text is particularly useful for students, project professionals wanting to refresh their knowledge, and those pursuing project management certifications. This book is aligned with common project management standards such as the Project Management Body of Knowledge and the ISO 21502: Project, Programme and Portfolio Management - Guidance on Project Management.