The Human Factor

Author: Kim Vicente
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307366146
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Book Description
What links the frustrations of daily life, like VCR clocks and voicemail systems, to airplane crashes and a staggering “hidden epidemic” of medical error? Kim Vicente is a professor of human factors engineering at the University of Toronto and a consultant to NASA, Microsoft, Nortel Networks and many other organizations; he might also be described as a “technological anthropologist.” He spends his time in emergency rooms, airplane cockpits and nuclear power station control rooms--as well as in kitchens, garages and bathrooms--observing how people interact with technology. Kim Vicente sets out the disturbing pattern he’s observed: from daily life to life-or-death situations, people are using technology that doesn’ t take the human factor into account. Technologies as diverse as stove tops, hospital work schedules and airline cockpit controls lead to ‘human error’ because they neglect what people are like physically, psychologically, and in more complex ways. The results range from inconvenience to tragic loss of life. Our civilization is at a crossroads: we have to change our relationship with technology to bring an end to technology-induced death and destruction, and start to improve the lives of everyone on the planet. The Human Factor sets out the ways we can regain control of our lives.

The Human Factor

Author: Ishmael Jones
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 159403382X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411

Book Description
After spending decades as an agent to the CIA, Jones unravels the blunders and grave mistakes the U.S. has made over the years and makes the case for much-needed intelligence reform.

The Human Factor of Cybercrime

Author: Rutger Leukfeldt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429864175
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Book Description
Cybercrimes are often viewed as technical offenses that require technical solutions, such as antivirus programs or automated intrusion detection tools. However, these crimes are committed by individuals or networks of people which prey upon human victims and are detected and prosecuted by criminal justice personnel. As a result, human decision-making plays a substantial role in the course of an offence, the justice response, and policymakers' attempts to legislate against these crimes. This book focuses on the human factor in cybercrime: its offenders, victims, and parties involved in tackling cybercrime. The distinct nature of cybercrime has consequences for the entire spectrum of crime and raises myriad questions about the nature of offending and victimization. For example, are cybercriminals the same as traditional offenders, or are there new offender types with distinct characteristics and motives? What foreground and situational characteristics influence the decision-making process of offenders? Which personal and situational characteristics provide an increased or decreased risk of cybercrime victimization? This book brings together leading criminologists from around the world to consider these questions and examine all facets of victimization, offending, offender networks, and policy responses. Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The Human Factor

Author: Archie Brown
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190614919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Book Description
In this penetrating analysis of the role of political leadership in the Cold War's ending, Archie Brown shows why the popular view that Western economic and military strength left the Soviet Union with no alternative but to admit defeat is wrong. To understand the significance of the parts played by Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in East-West relations in the second half of the 1980s, Brown addresses several specific questions: What were the values and assumptions of these leaders, and how did their perceptions evolve? What were the major influences on them? To what extent were they reflecting the views of their own political establishment or challenging them? How important for ending the East-West standoff were their interrelations? Would any of the realistically alternative leaders of their countries at that time have pursued approximately the same policies? The Cold War got colder in the early 1980s and the relationship between the two military superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union, each of whom had the capacity to annihilate the other, was tense. By the end of the decade, East-West relations had been utterly transformed, with most of the dividing lines - including the division of Europe - removed. Engagement between Gorbachev and Reagan was a crucial part of that process of change. More surprising was Thatcher's role. Regarded by Reagan as his ideological and political soulmate, she formed also a strong and supportive relationship with Gorbachev (beginning three months before he came to power). Promoting Gorbachev in Washington as 'a man to do business with', she became, in the words of her foreign policy adviser Sir Percy Cradock, 'an agent of influence in both directions'.

The Human Factor in Project Management

Author: Denise Thompson
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351658980
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Book Description
In the fluid world of changing business environments and variables affecting projects, a style of project management that primarily relies on maintaining the Iron Triangle, that tenuous mix of schedule, scope, and budgets, is no longer the sole path to success. Today’s project management demands a focus on leadership of the kind that anticipates and embraces change, challenges the status quo, and inspires teams. Developing these skills requires a mastery of emotional intelligence, courage, critical thinking, and a desire to become a true leader dedicated to developing success. Whether you are participating in a project for the first time or you’ve been doing projects for decades, you know the very essence of a project is to return value that gains a competitive edge and propels the organization forward into new frontiers. Whether you believe the best results are earned through agile, waterfall, or a mix of methodologies, project leadership is the secret weapon that will maintain and grow professional relevance, knowledge, and value in today’s workforce. Through a series of notable lessons in human history and behavior, The Human Factor in Project Management takes you on a journey of self-discovery to define your capabilities and gaps, while building your leadership skills. In your role as a project manager, project sponsor, product owner, or champion, the book challenges you to question the choices you make in a series of stories where you are the main character. This guide to career and personal growth forces you to look beyond the limitations of a Gantt chart, spreadsheet, or a Kanban board to evaluate the value from every tool you use and every action you take.

Managing the Human Factor in Information Security

Author: David Lacey
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119995337
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Book Description
With the growth in social networking and the potential for larger and larger breaches of sensitive data,it is vital for all enterprises to ensure that computer users adhere to corporate policy and project staff design secure systems. Written by a security expert with more than 25 years' experience, this book examines how fundamental staff awareness is to establishing security and addresses such challenges as containing threats, managing politics, developing programs, and getting a business to buy into a security plan. Illustrated with real-world examples throughout, this is a must-have guide for security and IT professionals.

Intelligence Success and Failure

Author: Uri Bar-Joseph
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019067699X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
The study of strategic surprise has long concentrated on important failures that resulted in catastrophes such as Pearl Harbor and the September 11th attacks, and the majority of previously published research in the field determines that such large-scale military failures often stem from defective information-processing systems. Intelligence Success and Failure challenges this common assertion that catastrophic surprise attacks are the unmistakable products of warning failure alone. Further, Uri Bar-Joseph and Rose McDermott approach this topic uniquely by highlighting the successful cases of strategic surprise, as well as the failures, from a psychological perspective. This book delineates the critical role of individual psychopathologies in precipitating failure by investigating important historical cases. Bar-Joseph and McDermott use six particular military attacks as examples for their analysis, including: "Barbarossa," the June 1941 German invasion of the USSR (failure); the fall-winter 1941 battle for Moscow (success); the Arab attack on Israel on Yom Kippur 1973 (failure); and the second Egyptian offensive in the war six days later (success). From these specific cases and others, they analyze the psychological mechanisms through which leaders assess their own fatal mistakes and use the intelligence available to them. Their research examines the factors that contribute to failure and success in responding to strategic surprise and identify the learning process that central decision makers use to facilitate subsequent successes. Intelligence Success and Failure presents a new theory in the study of strategic surprise that claims the key explanation for warning failure is not unintentional action, but rather, motivated biases in key intelligence and central leaders that null any sense of doubt prior to surprise attacks.

Change Management and the Human Factor

Author: Frank E. P. Dievernich
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319074342
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
Change management and organizational development is unthinkable without people. Human beings form its core as both subjects and objects of change. This volume attempts to cut through to the core of change management, to the people that stand at its heart and focuses on their intrinsic role in change management and organizational development. Topics covered in this volume encompass the human element within organizational change, how this impacts roles, dynamics of team interaction and affects the workplace in teaching and learning settings. It also addresses resistance to institutional and organizational change and the central role that agile management plays in this process.

The Human Factor in the Settlement of the Moon

Author: Margaret Boone Rappaport
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030813886
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

Book Description
Approaching the settlement of our Moon from a practical perspective, this book is well suited for space program planners. It addresses a variety of human factor topics involved in colonizing Earth's Moon, including: history, philosophy, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, politics & policy, sociology, and anthropology. Each chapter identifies the complex, interdisciplinary issues of the human factor that arise in the early phases of settlement on the Moon. Besides practical issues, there is some emphasis placed on preserving, protecting, and experiencing the lunar environment across a broad range of occupations, from scientists to soldiers and engineers to construction workers. The book identifies utilitarian and visionary factors that shape human lives on the Moon. It offers recommendations for program planners in the government and commercial sectors and serves as a helpful resource for academic researchers. Together, the coauthors ask and attempt to answer: “How will lunar society be different?”

The Human Factor in a Mission to Mars

Author: Konrad Szocik
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030020592
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
A manned mission to Mars is faced with challenges and topics that may not be obvious but of great importance and challenging for such a mission. This is the first book that collects contributions from scholars in various fields, from astronomy and medicine, to theology and philosophy, addressing such topics. The discussion goes beyond medical and technological challenges of such a deep-space mission. The focus is on human nature, human emotions and biases in such a new environment. The primary audience for this book are all researchers interested in the human factor in a space mission including philosophers, social scientists, astronomers, and others. This volume will also be of high interest for a much wider audience like the non-academic world, or for students.