Summary A reliable leading indicator should possess the following properties: (1) The movements in the indicator series should resemble those in the business cycle reference series. (2) The relation between the reference series and the indicator should be statistically significant and stable...

Software testing is time consuming and a costly activity. Effective generation of test cases is necessary in order to perform rigorous testing. There exist various techniques for effective test case generation. These techniques are based on various test adequacy criteria such as statement...

This paper applies non-linear methods to analyze and predict the daily VIX index which is one of the most important stock indexes in the world. The aim of the analysis is to quantitatively show if the corresponding time series is a deterministic chaotic one and if one or more days ahead...

A particularly difficult, but important, challenge in the design and development of contemporary information systems is dealing with complexity. Although complexity has been richly discussed from various perspectives in the literature, there is limited guidance on how to address complexity in...

Virtual worlds are three-dimensional, computer-generated worlds in which team collaboration can be facilitated through the use of shared virtual space and mediated using avatars. This article examines the effect of task complexity on team collaboration. A puzzle game in Second Life was used as...

The emergence of public relations as an academic and practitioner discipline has benefited from input from many sources: social science, behavioural science, engineering, philosophy, business and management. One of the main theoretical underpinnings is systems theory, with parallels being drawn...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explicate chaos theory metaphorically from a social science perspective to expand upon a relatively new theoretical framework for crisis communication in the public sector. Using the 2002 Washington, DC, area sniper shootings as a case study, the...

In the new millennium, organisations are going through rapid changes and the role of strategic management is challenged. When the organisation is threatened by environmental changes such as crises or competition as a result of information technology development or increased customer demands, the...

Using chaos theory as a point of departure, this comparative study of systematic samples of public relations, communication and marketing directors of tourism organisations in both the USA and Spain identifies the types and the number of crises that these organisations experienced from 1992 to...

Purpose – An article “from the future” illustrating the trend away from serious strategy and planning in American companies. Design/methodology/approach – Making use of previous learning and work with numerous clients to illuminate certain aspects of the context within which business...