Ambiguous Knowledge Research Articles

Absorptive capacity efficacy in SMEs: evidence from multiple case studies in the information technology industry

ABSTRACT This study investigates absorptive capacity efficacy in six small and medium enterprises in highly dynamic industries. Findings show that the multi-disciplinary nature of the recipient team improved absorptive capacity efficacy because it reduced knowledge ambiguity as well as knowledge distance. This study also points out the role of residual knowledge to absorptive capacity efficacy, as well as the amplifying influence of means and media that complement absorptive capacity efficacy and lower the influence of contingency factors such as physical, institutional, and cultural detachments.

A New Model for Competitive Knowledge Diffusion in Organization Based on the Statistical Thermodynamics

In this study, we have constructed a new model for competitive knowledge diffusion in organization based on the statistical thermodynamics of physics. In order to achieve the purpose of research, we newly define the absorptive capacity coefficient, the creativity ability coefficient, the depreciation coefficient of knowledge, the ambiguity coefficient of knowledge, and the knowledge affinity coefficient of organizational culture. And various knowledge quantities such as knowledge energy, knowledge temperature, and diffusion coefficient for the knowledge diffusion equation were defined and simulations were carried out by the lattice kinetic method. And, based on the new model, we have successfully studied the impact of the characteristics of members, knowledge itself, and organizational culture on the diffusion of competitive knowledge. The results show that the diffusion velocity of knowledge in the organization increases as the knowledge absorbing ability of the members is larger, and the ambiguity of knowledge has a negative impact on the diffusion of knowledge. The degree of knowledge affinity of organizational culture is a decisive factor in the diffusion and accumulation of knowledge in the organization, and the cultural characteristics of the organization have a much greater influence on the diffusion of competitive knowledge than the personal characteristics of members. Therefore, the organization manager needs to pay more attention to building a better organizational culture than improving personal characteristics. Our research is helpful in analyzing the factors affecting competitive knowledge diffusion and constructing an effective knowledge management system.

THE INFLUENCE OF SPACE ORGANIZATION ON THE PERCEPTION OF THE MONUMENT

The monument is a one of the needs of the inherent society and a means to reflect its ideas and beliefs and authority as well as events that have passed through the ages; Therefore، the monument is related to the transmitted messages and how to analyze and interpret these messages and their recognition by the recipient. This has been reflected in the attention paid to many studies and their disregard of the regulatory environment surrounding the monument (Both natural and industrial) in addition to the appearance the (iconic buildings) and their difference of space organization from the normal monument. Hence the problem of research (the ambiguity of knowledge about the impact of space organization in the perception of monument and monumental buildings alike). Which requires the adoption of a method based on the establishment of a conceptual basis on the monument and spatial organization through the analysis of previous studies for the purpose of completing the vocabulary of the theoretical framework and applied to six research samples in three different countries. The research finds out that the importance of the impact of space regulation in the measure of social communication through its association with the concepts of coexistence and communication. Space regulation involves the organization of borders (both horizontal and vertical). These effect includes the effect of border regulation (horizontal and vertical planes) as well as complementary elements and type of organization (central، linear، annular) in the perception of the monument from two aspects: the recognition of its meaning and its symbol and the realization of its aesthetic properties. And show how different these effects are whether the monument is a monumental building or a monument.

Anxieties of an emerging donor: The Korean development experience and the politics of international development cooperation

This article examines recent knowledge sharing initiatives aimed at promoting South Korea’s development experience as a ‘development alternative’ and questions the coherence of the narratives being shared. Drawing upon an idea first put forward by Anna Tsing , I discuss how South Korea’s development cooperation initiatives occupy a zone of awkward engagement in which multiple meanings of its experience have proliferated and explore the anxieties that this engagement creates for practitioners. In particular, the article finds that practitioner anxiety is informed by a triple set of pressures for Korea to export an alternative development model, extend the overseas activities of domestic businesses, and entertain the ambitions of ruling political blocs. By focusing on questions of anxious engagement and the seemingly strategic ambiguity of knowledge sharing efforts it produces, the article highlights some of the limits and possibilities that shape the promotion of the Korean developmental state as an alternative development model for South–South cooperation and extends the emotional register of literature on emerging donors by questioning discursive claims that privilege empathy and reciprocity as drivers of development cooperation.

Distributionally Robust Fault Detection by using Kernel Density Estimation

In this paper, a method of distributionally robust fault detection (FD) is proposed for stochastic linear discrete-time systems by using the kernel density estimation (KDE) technique. For this purpose, an H2 optimization-based fault detection filter is constructed for residual generation. Towards maximizing the fault detection rate (FDR) for a prescribed false alarm rate (FAR), the residual evaluation issue regarding the design of residual evaluation function and threshold is formulated as a distributionally robust optimization problem, wherein the so-called confidence sets are constituted to model the ambiguity of distribution knowledge of residuals in fault-free and faulty cases. A KDE based solution, robust to the estimation errors in probability distribution of residual caused by the finite number of samples, is further developed to address the targeting problem such that the residual evaluation function, threshold as well as the lower bound of FDR can be achieved simultaneously. A case study on a vehicle lateral control system demonstrates the applicability of the proposed FD method.

Підхід до побудови та використання моделі предметної області ризиків стратегічних рішень організації

A Conceptual Model is proposed for Problem Area of Strategic Decisions’ Risks within Organizational Management Systems (OS) being a result of selection, addition and interpretation operations caused by the proper Risk Object specifics and applied to the elements of regular conceptual basis for risk treatment within the other domains. The Model includes such the Concepts: Decision , Consequences for both Decision and OS ; Source , Factor, Aspect and Event of Risk , Vulnerability, Hazard , Affected Property and their interrelations. Based on the Model proposed for Strategic Decision life cycle and integration of well-known Strategic Management practices the System of Strategic Decisions Risks Management Measures is considered being represented as actions with hazards, threats, vulnerabilities, risk objects and consequences. The Usage of Conceptual Model proposed is demonstrated for the Method elaboration of knowledge ambiguity- caused Risks Assessment for the decisions of Expertise using different business groups and «Value Tree» model. The Method is based on the model, where the set of knowledge ambiguity-caused Risk Factors is formalized. The Factors’ Sources are the elements of expert problem statement. Factors‘ types are the types of non-coherent knowledge interrelations, Vulnerabilities relate to experts activity nature, Hazards are caused by the systems of expert estimates in use producing Risk Events during the process of decision life cycle. Each Risk Aspect is specialized with decision Properties being Risk targets due to Risk Events. The Method produces Risk estimates to conclude about expertise satisfactoriness and to enable selection the least risky form of its process organization. Enhancing and using of Conceptual Model proposed for Strategic Decisions Risks is advantageous for tools elaboration to support Defense Planning processes with the mechanisms of ontology based experience operation concerning with Problem Situations and Anti-crisis Measures. Problems in programming 2019; 4: 75-91

Moving beyond hand hygiene monitoring as a marker of infection prevention performance: Development of a tailored infection control continuous quality improvement tool

Infection control practice compliance is commonly monitored by measuring hand hygiene compliance. The limitations of this approach were recognized in 1 acute health care organization that led to the development of an Infection Control Continuous Quality Improvement tool. The Pronovost cycle, Barriers and Mitigation tool, and Hexagon framework were used to review the existing monitoring system and develop a quality improvement data collection tool that considered the context of care delivery. Barriers and opportunities for improvement including ambiguity, consistency and feasibility of expectations, the environment, knowledge, and education were combined in a monitoring tool that was piloted and modified in response to feedback. Local adaptations enabled staff to prioritize and monitor issues important in their own workplace. The tool replaced the previous system and was positively evaluated by auditors. Challenges included ensuring staff had time to train in use of the tool, time to collect the audit, and the reporting of low scores that conflicted with a target-based performance system. Hand hygiene compliance monitoring alone misses other important aspects of infection control compliance. A continuous quality improvement tool was developed reflecting specific organizational needs that could be transferred or adapted to other organizations.

Patient decision aids: a content analysis based on a decision tree structure

IntroductionThis paper presents the preliminary results of a decision-tree analysis of Patient Decision Aids (PDA). PDAs are online or offline tools used to structure health information, elicit relevant values and emphasize the decision as a process, in ways that help patients make more informed health decisions individually or with relevant others.MethodTwenty PDAs are randomly selected from the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) (https://decisionaid.ohri.ca/AZlist.html) approved list. An evaluation tool is built bottom-up and top-down and results are described in terms of communicating uncertainty, completeness of the decision tree, ambiguous or misleading phrasing, overall strategies suggested within personal stories.ResultsTwelve of the analyzed PDAs had branches of the decision tree which were not discussed in the tool and 6 had logically ambiguous phrasing. Many tools included dichotomous options, when the option range was wider. Several options were clustered within the “Do not take/Do not do” option and thus the PDA failed to provide all comparisons necessary to make a decision. Some tools employ expressions that do not differentiate between lack of information and known negative effects. Other tools provide unequal amounts or non-comparable bits of information about the options.ConclusionThese results indicate a very loose range of interpretations of what constitutes an option, a treatment, and a treatment option. It thus emphasizes a gap between theory and practice in the evaluation of PDAs. Future developments of PDA evaluation tools should keep track of missing decision tree branches, accurate communication of uncertainty, ambiguity, and lack of knowledge and consider using measures for evaluating the completeness of the option spectrum at an agreed period in time.

Energy Saving Operation of Manufacturing System Based on Dynamic Adaptive Fuzzy Reasoning Petri Net

The energy efficient operation of a manufacturing system is important for sustainable development of industry. Apart from the device and process level, energy saving methods at the system level has attracted increasing attention with the rapid growth of the industrial Internet of things technology, which makes it possible to sense and collect real-time data from the production line and provide more opportunities for online control for energy saving purposes. In this paper, a dynamic adaptive fuzzy reasoning Petri net is proposed to decide the machine energy saving state considering the production information of a discrete stochastic manufacturing system. Fuzzy knowledge for energy saving operations of a machine is represented in weighted fuzzy production rules with certain values. The rules describe uncertain, imprecise, and ambiguous knowledge of machine state decisions. This makes an energy saving sleep decision in advance when a machine has the inclination of starvation or blockage, which is based on the real-time production rates and level of connected buffers. A dynamic adaptive fuzzy reasoning Petri net is formally defined to implement the reasoning process of the machine state decision. A manufacturing system case is used to demonstrate the application of our method and the results indicate its effectiveness for energy saving operation purposes.

메이지기 근대적 의약담론의 성립과 ‘뇌병(腦病)’의 치료

This paper examines perceptions of the brain and neurological system in modern Japan, and the characteristics of medical discourse, including drug treatment that developed during the Meiji period. To understand the perceptions of the medical establishment during this period, this paper investigates the correlation between brain cognition and sales of Kennogan(健腦丸), which was renowned as a cure for neurasthenia, headaches, and constipation, and the introduction of medical knowledge related to the brain and neurological system, as well as the efficacy of medication. Around the 1870s, “modern medicine” appeared shortly after the Meiji government began to regulate health care. Medical knowledge imported from the West increased in the mid and late nineteenth century. At the same time, public interest in the brain and neurological system led to increases in sales of medicines thought to cure various neurological system-related ailments. In this paper, I focus on the use of a patented medicine called Kennogan, sales of which increased during the Meiji period in Japan, in conjunction with the pursuit of modernization and progress that characterized this period. As can be seen by a review of the literature, increased medical knowledge of the brain and nervous system in Japan at this time led to the widespread assumption that mental illness was the result of brain and nervous system disorders, which could be treated. The treatment method was taking medicine. Also, the ambiguity of medical knowledge at the time promoted drug sales. On the contrary, the government’s policy for mentally ill patients influenced drug advertisements and sales. Gradually, the development of psychiatry brought about a change in the efficacy of patented medicines for the brain and nervous system. The present paper illustrates the relationship between the establishment of medical knowledge in modern Japan and the medical culture that developed during the process of the transformation from a traditional medical culture to a westernized and modernized culture in the Meiji period.

Knowledge Acquisition in International Strategic Alliances: The Role of Knowledge Ambiguity

Although prior research has emphasized the importance of international strategic alliances, we have incomplete understanding of how and why some firms succeed in acquiring knowledge from foreign partners, but others fail. We advance understanding of this important issue by examining (1) two key antecedents of knowledge ambiguity (the perceived difficulty of understanding the causal effects of partner’s knowledge and the use of such knowledge) and (2) by identifying how firms can partly overcome the negative effects of knowledge ambiguity on knowledge acquisition in international alliances. Drawing on organizational learning theory, our analysis not only shows (and explains how) knowledge ambiguity affects international knowledge acquisition through the interaction with absorptive capacity, but also identifies what alliance partners can do to reduce knowledge ambiguity and overcome some of its negative consequences, such as choosing foreign partners with a similar institutional context and building strong relationships with such partners.

Knowledge uncertainties in environmental conflicts: how the mussel fishery controversy in the Dutch Wadden Sea became depoliticised

ABSTRACT Policy-makers and scientists often expect that controversies in public policy can be solved by gathering more knowledge, even though this linear model of expertise is widely criticised in social studies of science. To shed more light on this expectation, the role of scientific uncertainties in controversies on mussel fishery in the Dutch Wadden Sea (1990–2016) is investigated. The analysis shows that mussel fishery regulation decisions were primarily based on government authority, not on scientific knowledge. Expectations of policy-makers and scientists on conflict resolution by more research were not met, because the knowledge debate was politicised over ambiguous knowledge claims. The controversy was depoliticised by a political covenant between the conflicting parties. The case study confirms that science-based knowledge fails to guide policy-making as expected in the linear model, and demonstrates how science plays important strategic, procedural and instrumental roles in structuring interactions between stakeholders in nature protection conflicts.

Structural reliability and stochastic finite element methods

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of uncertainty quantification methods supported by evidence-based comparison studies. Uncertainties are widely encountered in engineering practice, arising from such diverse sources as heterogeneity of materials, variability in measurement, lack of data and ambiguity in knowledge. Academia and industries have long been researching for uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods to quantitatively account for the effects of various input uncertainties on the system response. Despite the rich literature of relevant research, UQ is not an easy subject for novice researchers/practitioners, where many different methods and techniques coexist with inconsistent input/output requirements and analysis schemes.Design/methodology/approachThis confusing status significantly hampers the research progress and practical application of UQ methods in engineering. In the context of engineering analysis, the research efforts of UQ are most focused in two largely separate research fields: structural reliability analysis (SRA) and stochastic finite element method (SFEM). This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of SRA and SFEM, covering both technology and application aspects. Moreover, unlike standard survey papers that focus primarily on description and explanation, a thorough and rigorous comparative study is performed to test all UQ methods reviewed in the paper on a common set of reprehensive examples.FindingsOver 20 uncertainty quantification methods in the fields of structural reliability analysis and stochastic finite element methods are reviewed and rigorously tested on carefully designed numerical examples. They include FORM/SORM, importance sampling, subset simulation, response surface method, surrogate methods, polynomial chaos expansion, perturbation method, stochastic collocation method, etc. The review and comparison tests comment and conclude not only on accuracy and efficiency of each method but also their applicability in different types of uncertainty propagation problems.Originality/valueThe research fields of structural reliability analysis and stochastic finite element methods have largely been developed separately, although both tackle uncertainty quantification in engineering problems. For the first time, all major uncertainty quantification methods in both fields are reviewed and rigorously tested on a common set of examples. Critical opinions and concluding remarks are drawn from the rigorous comparative study, providing objective evidence-based information for further research and practical applications.

Inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and firms' radical innovation: A moderated mediation analysis

Inter-organizational knowledge acquisition has become an increasingly important strategy for firms to improve their levels of innovation. Building upon the knowledge-based view (KBV) and the organizational learning perspective, and using data from 376 high-tech Chinese firms, we examine the underlying mediating mechanisms and contextual conditions in the relationship between inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and firms' radical innovation. Our results demonstrate that inter-organizational knowledge acquisition has a significant positive impact on firms' radical innovation. We also find that realized absorptive capacity mediates the relationship between inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and firms' radical innovation. Moreover, we discover that knowledge ambiguity negatively moderates both the direct and indirect effects of inter-organizational knowledge acquisition on firms' radical innovation through realized absorptive capacity. Our findings contribute to open innovation research by discussing the mediating mechanisms of how inter-organizational knowledge acquisition can be converted to firm innovation via realized absorptive capacity. Our results also provide fine-grained insight into the contingent role of knowledge ambiguity, and how its interaction with inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and realized absorptive capacity can have profound effects on firms' innovativeness.

Domain‐specific language for automatic generation of UML models

The majority of flaws found in software originates in the system requirements specification stage. The use of domain-specific languages has shown to be a valuable resource in this part of the process, since they help to establish communication standards, enable automation and bring productivity and quality gains, in spite of their limited vocabulary. This study proposes the implementation of language of use case to automate models (LUCAM), a domain-specific language that allows specification of textual use cases and semi-automated generation of use case diagrams, class diagrams and sequence diagrams through LUCAMTool. To verify the feasibility of the proposed solution, tests were performed in both simulated and real environments so as to comprise a variety of scenarios observed in systems development. The approach assists in the requirement analysis and modelling, minimising existing problems in natural language specification, such as the dependence on the knowledge of specialists, uncertainty, ambiguity and complexity.

Analytic Philosophy and the World of the Play by Michael Y. Bennett

Reviewed by: Analytic Philosophy and the World of the Play by Michael Y. Bennett David Krasner ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY AND THE WORLD OF THE PLAY. By Michael Y. Bennett. Routledge Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies series. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2017; pp. 156. In Michael Bennett's thoughtful book, analytic philosophy and dramatic performance share a balancing act between data and potentiality. In the case of analytic philosophy, as explained by Bertrand Russell's landmark essay "On Denoting," logic, mathematics, and epistemology emphasize "knowledge about" and "acquaintance about"—that is, unambiguous (definite data) and ambiguous (indefinite potentiality) knowledge. Definite knowledge employs empiricism (something happens, leading to general knowledge about); indefinite (or subjunctive) knowledge employs logic (something might, should, or could happen, providing an acquaintance about). In theatre the oscillation between definite and indefinite knowledge, or between reality and possibility, coincides with Coleridge's famous maxim, "willing suspension of disbelief." Productions depend on audiences' "willingness" to accept theatre's situated-ness between reality and modality (possibility). Bennett asserts that "fictional entities … exist analogously to 'possible worlds'" (7). The book's fundamental claim is that possible worlds enable theatrical productions to present "the world of the play [through] the developed idea of 're-creation'" (9). Among Bennett's salient points is that theatre is, or should be, a laboratory for analytic philosophers to examine language, reality, and the imagination; theatre also provides a vehicle for considering distinctions among what is, might be, ought to be, and, for theatre, could be "re-created." He confects the various threads of theatre and analytic philosophy, whereby possible worlds initiate theatrical productions. For Bennett, "the world of play is a 're-creation' of our world" (2; emphasis in original). It is neither a reflection, copy, imitation, nor mirror of nature, nor is it a metaphysical abstraction divorced from reality; rather, theatre is a fungible operation recreating modalities of possible worlds. Modal logic, for Bennett, straddles the lines among necessity, reality, and possibility, sharing with fiction (literature or drama) constructs analogous to possible worlds. Theatrical re-creation, then, is what Bennett describes as a "messy" interface between fiction and reality in which a dramatic character has a "dual existence on the page and stage" (10). Characters share characteristics of reality, but reside onstage in their subjunctive sphere of possibility. The book is structured in two parts: part 1 "outlines the problems" of comparing analytic philosophy with theatre, then "develops the (proposed) solutions"; part 2 "applies the proposed solutions" to numerous examples (18). This structure enables the author to proceed systematically from problems inherent in his comparison between analytic philosophy and theatre, to its usefulness in practical terms. In the first part Bennett describes theatrical characters as "dialectical-synecdochic objects," encompassing an "entire range of re-creation" (31; emphasis in original). Dialectical-synecdochic objects exist "as a 're-creation' of our world, through a particular combination of synecdochic elements, which are actually existing subjects and predicates" (38). An actor (might, could, would) proceed according to possibilities (predicates); audiences observe productions through the dialectic process of deciphering reality (what is) and possible worlds (what might be). Audiences compare what is given in the world and what is presented onstage, with reality and possibility existing simultaneously through the imagination. This theory implicitly privileges director-producer over author-writer, because directors can recreate the production-performance as the urcreation of a play. Bennett is sensitive to dramatic texts, but eventually comes down on the side of the director, and by extension the actor, because both are able to create a wide range of interpretive and spontaneous choices (possible worlds). The actor and director are, in a sense, creating possibilities of the character: the actor, guided by the director, embodies the role not merely as a surrogate, or simulacrum, of reality, but rather as a re-creator of various possible worlds, since the role has been and will likely be inhabited by many actors over time, with each performer re-creating the role anew, and by extension creating new and possible worlds. Part 2 examines theatre not as a momentary presence, but as a "past subjunctive," conceptually providing "an accurate description of the temporality of theatre both in the dramatic text and in...

Some practical approaches to a course on paraconsistent logic for engineers

ABSTRACTThis paper describes a non-classical logic course primarily indicated for graduate students in electrical engineering and energy engineering. The content of this course is based on the vision that it is not enough for a student to indefinitely accumulate knowledge; it is necessary to explore all the occasions to update, deepen, and enrich that knowledge, adapting it to a complex world. Therefore, this course is not tied to theoretical formalities and tries at each moment to provide a practical view of the non-classical logic. In the real world, the inconsistencies are important and cannot be ignored because contradictory information brings relevant facts, sometimes modifying the entire result of the analysis. As consequence, the non-classical logics, such as annotated paraconsistent logic – APL, are efficiently framed in the approach of complex situations of the real world. In APL, the concepts of unknown, partial, ambiguous, and inconsistent knowledge are referred not to trivialise any system in analysis. This course presents theoretical and applicable aspects of APL, which are successfully used in decision-making structures. The course is divided into modules: Basic, 2vAPL, 3vAPL, 4vAPL, and Final Project.

Reasoning from imperfect knowledge

One reason why there is a lack of cross-references between articles on knowledge representation in the Cognitive and the Information Sciences is that cognitive scientists are interested in descriptive models of how people reason whereas information scientists are interested in prescriptive models to help people reason. Formal ontologies such as the Suggested Upper Merged Ontology aid human reasoning by providing (1) an accurate knowledge base, (2) a formalization of the knowledge base as axioms, and (3) a logic to derive new information through deductive reasoning. However, all systems confront obstacles when reasoning from imperfect knowledge consisting of ambiguous, conditional, contradictory, fragmented, inert, misclassified, or uncertain knowledge. We use work from the Cognitive and the Information Sciences to analyze obstacles for both computers and people when confronted with ambiguous, contradictory, misclassified, and uncertain knowledge. A concluding section considers both practical and theoretical applications of ontologies in the Cognitive Sciences.

Reconciling ambiguity with interaction: implementing formal knowledge strategies in a knowledge-intensive organization

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look at the actions autonomous knowledge workers perform to implement formalized knowledge strategies as part of an accreditation. Design/methodology/approach Using a strategy-as-practice framework, this paper follows a qualitative approach to study the implementation of a standard in a business school. The data collection was carried out over a 14-month period, with access to interviews, observations, meetings minutes and other institutional information. Findings Even though faculty members received similar information, the standard was implemented in different and conflicting ways. Three themes explain these differences: different approaches to ambiguous knowledge management practices, enablers and inhibitors of knowledge sharing and different conceptions of continuous improvement. Research limitations/implications As this was a single case, findings are not broadly generalizable. The research is based on rich data over a prolonged period, albeit in a very specific setting where unique actor and structural characteristics are not generally representative of the wider business and organizational environment. The nature of the university setting is quite unique. Although possible links to other fields which share some specific similarities with universities are provided, the contextual limitations are acknowledged. Accordingly, the work is presented as a basis for future enquiry when investigating implementation, especially activity-based research within knowledge-intensive organizations. Practical implications This paper provides a deep analysis of the actions knowledge workers perform when implementing standards promoted by organizational directives. It exposes tensions and conflicts among knowledge workers when implementing a standard. Our model is the basis for insights on how managers can balance the tensions of creative change and stable structure. Originality/value This paper describes how ambiguity and human interactions can reveal a deeper understanding of the different stages of standards implementation. It provides a model that uses the level of ambiguity and structure to explain how knowledge workers interacted in groups and as a whole can implement Assurance of Learning.

Risk assessment in new software development projects at the front end: a fuzzy logic approach

New software development (NSD) has inherent complexity, uncertainty, and risk. Risk analysis and mitigation is perhaps the most critical activity in an NSD project, yet such risk evaluation is often not adequately performed. To reduce the high failure rate of NSD projects, managers require more effective tools for evaluating and managing NSD project risks. Limited by both the nature and timing of NSD, risk evaluation is associated with data, information, and imprecise or ambiguous knowledge. Fuzzy logic is well suited for analysis in this situation. Thus, a fuzzy risk impact rating (FRIR) was developed for determining the total project risk exposure level for an NSD project according to risk attributes associated with the project, such as organizational environment, users, requirements, project complexity, team, and planning and control. The FRIR is composed of attributes’ possible ratings and corresponding severity levels, and is aggregated using fuzzy weighted average. As an illustration, the development of a new electronic toll collection project by a Taiwanese company is evaluated. This evaluation evidences that the fuzzy logic-based risk evaluation model can efficiently aid managers in dealing with ambiguity, imprecision, and complexity in NSD risk evaluation.