Information Systems (Business Informatics)

Towards A Process For Total Information Risk Management (TIRM)

by Alexander Borek

Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Quality (ICIQ 2011). Adelaide, Australia.
Co-authors: Parlikad AK, Woodall P.

The importance of information as a resource and competitive factor in today’s society and economy is constantly... more The importance of information as a resource and competitive factor in today’s society and economy is constantly rising. As a consequence, it becomes necessary for organizations to manage the risks that arise from poor information quality (IQ) in the same way other operational and strategic risks are managed. Information is, however, an unique and intangible resource that requires special methods and techniques for managing its related risks. This paper proposes a process for Total Information Risk Management (TIRM) that enables the assessment and treatment of organization-wide information risks in a systematic and effective manner. The TIRM process provides a practical approach that unites the best practices of the IQ and the risk management disciplines. We have tested and refined the TIRM process by extensive application in four in-depth case studies in different industries following a rigorous process development approach.

Exploring the “Crowd” as Enabler of Better Information Quality

by Alexander Borek

Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Quality (ICIQ 2011). Adelaide, Australia.
Co-authors: Wichmann P, Kern R, Woodall P, Parlikad AK, Satzger, G.

In any organization information is one of the key resources and its quality needs to be managed to achieve and sustain... more In any organization information is one of the key resources and its quality needs to be managed to achieve and sustain organizational success. So far, due to high costs of maintaining staff, literature has been focusing on information quality improvements that are driven by technological solutions. However, these solutions have their limits – both technologically and economically as many tasks require human intelligence. In analogy to the “cloud” in cloud computing, the “crowd” is available 24/7 whenever it is needed to provide human-based electronic services in a low cost and very flexible way in micro-task markets like Amazon Mechanical Turk. This paper explores the new opportunities for organizations to improve information quality by looking at the possible areas of application of crowdsourcing. Moreover, we have tested the use of crowdsourcing for information quality improvement in one of the identified application areas, namely natural language processing, in the context of medical record transcription in a health insurance company.

Information Systems Field at the Forks: Relish Diversity or Perish

by Bob Travica

Museophile: A Community for Museum E-commerce

by Jonathan Bowen

Jonathan P. Bowen. In David Bearman and Jennifer Trant (eds.), Proc. MW2002: Museums and the Web 2002, Boston, USA, 17-20 April 2002. Mini-workshop.
Also available as Technical Report SBU-CISM-02-08, SCISM, South Bank University, London, UK, 2002. Also presented at MCN 2002.

Read more: MW2002: Papers: Museophile: a community for museum e-commerce http://www.archimuse.com/mw2002/papers/bowen/bowen.html
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

Large national museums can afford to create their own on-line mass communication services and to undertake e-commerce... more Large national museums can afford to create their own on-line mass communication services and to undertake e-commerce activities themselves. However, for other museums, this can be a daunting prospect, both technically and financially. It is also likely to be much less effective. A solution could be to create an on-line museum community of small to medium sized museums who alone would struggle to make such an enterprise a success but who together, with suitable help, could rival the efforts of national museums. This mini-workshop examines existing example of museum e-commerce and facilities that could be used by museums. It then goes on to propose a possible infrastructure for museums wishing to take their initial steps in e-commerce at low cost and low risk.

Keywords: e-commerce, museums, community, accessibility, World Wide Web

Action-Research and Critical Rationalism: a Virtuous Marriage

by Antonio Dias de Figueiredo

Cunha, P. R. and Figueiredo, A. D. (2002). Action Research and Critical Rationalism: a Virtuous Marriage, in Proc. of the The Xth European Conference on Information Systems, European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Gdansk, Poland, June 2002

The increasing influence of socio-organizational issues in information systems poses serious challenges to the... more The increasing influence of socio-organizational issues in information systems poses serious challenges to the applicability of most traditional research approaches, since the mechanisms from which they derive their rigor and validity become more and more unrealistic in the new contexts. Indeed, traditional problem decomposition, standardization of procedures, and rigorous quantitative measurement under the control of independent researchers often lose sense in such contexts. We analyze action-research as an alternative approach, bearing in mind that its adoption requires careful consideration of the epistemological foundations that legitimate its use. In particular, we address the legitimacy of generalizing from the researcher’s findings, bearing in mind Karl Popper’s critical rationalism, to conclude that a virtuous relationship exists between critical rationalism and the mechanisms from which action-research draws its rigor and validity.

Keywords: action-research, epistemology, information systems, qualitative research

A conceptual model for intermodal freight logistics centre location decisions

by Yasanur Kayikci

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
Volume 2, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 6297-6311
The Sixth International Conference on City Logistics

The persistent growth of freight traffic congestion and air pollution in urban areas and the increase of imbalance and... more The persistent growth of freight traffic congestion and air pollution in urban areas and the increase of imbalance and inefficiency in land use development drive public authorities and users to find alternative logistics solutions to ease the freight traffic problem. Intermodal freight logistics centres play an important role in achieving socio-economic and environmental sustainability by enhancing an optimal integration of different modes to provide an efficient and cost-effective use of the transport system through customer-oriented, door-to-door services while favouring competition among transport operators. An efficient logistics centre structure may lead to a significant profit and return on investment as well as a significantly increased competitive advantage in the market place by meeting strategic commercial objectives, where determination of the location is a key factor in enhancing the efficiency of urban freight transport systems and initializing relative sufficient supply chain activities. Hence, public authorities should consider the importance of this topic by any given decision in terms of strong economical, social and environmental implications before announcing an area as a logistics centre. The objective of this study is to explore the applicability of the way for the development of a conceptual model based on a combination of the fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and artificial neural networks (ANN) methods in the process of decision-making in order to select the most appropriate location. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the concept of proposed model.

Designing for performance - a technique for business model estimation

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Heikkilä, J., Tyrväinen, P., and Heikkilä, M., “Designing for performance – a technique for business model estimation,” E-Business Research Forum (eBRF), Nokia, Finland, September 15-17, 2010. 15 p.

The companies are actively using business modelling to investigate new business opportunities. They are also applying... more The companies are actively using business modelling to investigate new business opportunities. They are also applying various planning tools to design their processes. Unfortunately, there is a lack of techniques that would link these two planning levels. In this article we propose a technique for operational modelling. The technique aims to analyse the business model from a resource-based viewpoint. It lists the service components and provides means for analysing the extra resources and capabilities needed for producing the service. Operational model also helps in estimating the feasibility of the business ideas: It explicitly defines the metrics for measuring the success of the business model in terms of the strategic goals of the organisation. This easy-to-use modelling technique combines business modelling with elements from the enterprise architecture (EA) literature, and can be complemented with more formal business modelling notations and process modelling procedures. Keywords: operational model, business model, business components, business processes

Information Systems Development as a Social Process: Fresh Seed Sown on the Ground of the Discussion

by Christoph Rosenkranz

SRN Working Paper, 2010

Prior research has shown that the social act of adaptation of information systems (IS) by individual human agents is... more Prior research has shown that the social act of adaptation of information systems (IS) by individual human agents is important in order to understand the complex and dynamic processes involved. However, most traditional research largely ignores these issues. DeSanctis and Poole (1994) made an important contribution to the study of social dynamics in IS research with their Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST). Although the concepts have found broad acceptance for the study of IT uses and effects, AST has not been widely used for studying the process of designing IT artifacts and developing IS. In this paper we transfer AST to studying IS development as a social process. We build on Markus and Silver (2008)’s recent redefinition of AST's core concepts “structural features” and “spirit” as technical objects, functional affordances, and symbolic expressions and extend them with relational concepts for agents and activities to a model that describes the IS development process. We illustrate and discuss how IS researchers might use these concepts in IS development studies with examples from case studies in IS development projects in the financial services industry.

On the Challenge of Creating An Attractive Research Master Program: Graduate Education Avant-La-Lettre

by Marco Spruit

Brinkkemper, S., Batenburg, R., Versendaal, J., Wijngaert, L. van de, Helms, R., Bos, R., Jansen, S., Spruit, M., Ravesteijn, P., Huizer, E., Weerd, I. van de, Baaren, E., Plomp, M., Schuur, H. van der (2009). On the Challenge of Creating an Attractive Research Master Program: Graduate Education Avant-la-Lettre. In Bodlaender, H., Duivesteijn, W., Nijenhuis, C. (eds), Fascination for Computation. 25 jaar informatica, 217-240.

In this paper we describe the design and background of the MBI program at Utrecht University. We show how research and... more In this paper we describe the design and background of the MBI program at Utrecht University. We show how research and education are combined in various courses. We provide quantitative data on the program and conclude with some lessons learned. We claim that the step towards a graduate school that unites MSc education with PhD research is not a difficult one.

Characterizing the Evolving Research on Enterprise Content Management

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Tyrväinen, P., Päivärinta, T., Salminen, A., and Iivari, J., “Characterizing the Evolving Research on Enterprise Content Management,” European Journal of Information Systems 15 (6), December 2006. 627-634.

Innovations in network technologies in the 1990's have provided new ways to store and organize information to be... more Innovations in network technologies in the 1990's have provided new ways to store and organize information to be shared by people and various information systems. The term Enterprise Content Management (ECM) has been widely adopted by software product vendors and practitioners to refer to technologies used to manage the content of assets like documents, web sites, intranets, and extranets In organizational or inter-organizational contexts. Despite this practical interest ECM has received only little attention in the information systems research community. This editorial argues that ECM provides an important and complex subfield of Information Systems. It provides a framework to stimulate and guide future research, and outlines research issues specific to the field of ECM. European Journal of Information Systems (2006) 15, 627–634. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000648

Patterns and Measures of Digitalisation in Business Unit Communication

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Tyrväinen, P., Kilpeläinen, T., and Järvenpää, M., “Patterns and Measures of Digitalisation in Business Unit Communication,” International Journal of Business Information Systems, 1 (1/2), 2005. pp. 199-219.

Business information systems have radically transformed business
processes with the emergence of new digital... more Business information systems have radically transformed business
processes with the emergence of new digital communication forms. However,
employees still communicate verbally and on paper as well. This study analyses
internal and external communication of three business units through an analysis
of 60 to 150 communication genres in each. According to the results, 51% to
59% of internal stored communication was digital adding up to 52–58% when
external communication was included. The degree of internal digitalisation
correlated better with the outbound than with the inbound communication. In
one case, a publication pattern dominated the communication. In another case,
a digitalised supply chain pattern drove the digitalisation. In the third case, the
internal verbal coordination and the publication pattern were both present.
These results suggest that the dominating patterns have major impact on media
selection in organisations and guide the digitalisation and emergence of new
business information systems.
Keywords: digitalisation; business

Evolution of Secondary Software Product Businesses: Momentum of Concurrent Enterprising

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Vertical Software Industry Evolution: Analysis of Telecom Operator Software

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Tyrväinen, P., Mazhelis, O. (Eds.), Vertical Software Industry Evolution - Analysis of Telecom Operator Software Springer, Contributions to Management Science. 2009, 153 p.

The telecom operator software market (OSS/BSS market) is analyzed in this book from the viewpoints of the business... more The telecom operator software market (OSS/BSS market) is analyzed in this book from the viewpoints of the business processes reflecting the telecom business, from the technology viewpoint visible in OSS/BSS interfaces, and from the market viewpoint as presented in market statistics. Chapter 1 presents the scientific background and Chapters 2 and 3 present a detailed analysis. The results have been condensed in Section 4.2 from the business perspective. It presents a default scenario containing both the main past events impacting the OSS/BSS markets and the expected future evolution of this vertical software market, which is created by matching the available market data against the model of vertical software industry evolution and other theories presented. Section 4.3 describes the method used, which can also be applied for other vertical software markets. This preface outlines the main results for the OSS/BSS market from the business perspective.

How Digital is Communication In Your Organization? A Metrics and An Analysis Method

by Pasi Tyrväinen

Tyrväinen, P. and Päivärinta, T., "How Digital is Communication in Your Organization? - A Metrics and an Analysis Method," in Camp, O., Filipe, J., Hammoudi, S., and Piattini, M. (eds.) Enterprise Information Systems V, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Holland, ISBN 1-4020-1726-X, 2004. pp. 258-268.

Defining Organizational Document Metadata: A Case Beyond Standards

by Pasi Tyrväinen

A Data Quality Metamodel Extension to CWM

by José Farinha

Co-authored with: Pedro Gomes, Maria José Trigueiros.
Published in: APCCM '07 Proceedings of the 4th Asia-Pacific conference on Conceptual Modelling - Volume 67

The importance of metadata has been broadly referred in the last years, mainly in the field of data warehousing and... more The importance of metadata has been broadly referred in the last years, mainly in the field of data warehousing and decision support systems. Contemporarily, in the adjacent field of data quality, several approaches and tools have been set out for the purpose of data profiling and cleaning. However, little effort has been made in order to formally specify metrics and techniques for data quality in a structured way. As a matter of fact, little relevance has been assigned to metadata regarding data quality and data cleaning issues. This paper aims at filling this gap, proposing a conceptual metamodel for data quality and cleaning, both applicable to operational and data warehousing contexts. The presented metadata model is integrated with OMG's CWM, offering a possible extension of this standard toward data quality.

Technological Iatrogenesis: New Risks Force Heightened Management Awareness

by Patrick Palmieri

Palmieri, P. A., Peterson, L. T., & Ford, E. (2007). Technological iatrogenesis: New risks force heightened management awareness. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 27(4), 19-24.

Iatrogenesis is a term typically reserved to express the state of ill health or the adverse outcome resulting from a... more Iatrogenesis is a term typically reserved to express the state of ill health or the adverse outcome resulting from a medical intervention, or lack thereof. Three types of iatrogenesis are described in the literature: clinical, social and cultural. This paper introduces a fourth type, technological iatrogenesis, or emerging errors stimulated by the infusion of technological innovations into complex healthcare systems. While health information technologies (HIT) have helped to make healthcare safer, this has also produced contemporary varieties of iatrogenic errors and events. The potential pitfalls of technological innovations and risk management solutions to address these concerns are discussed. Specifically, failure mode effect analysis and root cause analysis are discussed as opportunities for risk managers to prevent problems and avert errors from becoming sentinel events.

KEYWORDS: Healthcare; health information technology; computerized physician order entry; decision support system; bar coding; patient safety; complexity theory; complex adaptive systems; medical error; adverse event; sentinel event; innovation; technology; risk management; failure mode effect analysis; root cause analysis; Medical Nemesis; Ivan Illich; Rogers; diffusion of innovation.

Natural Language Alignment As a Process – Applying Functional Pragmatics in Information Systems Development

by Christoph Rosenkranz

Co-authored with Marianne Corvera Charaf. Nominated for best paper award. Published in: Proceedings of the 18th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2010). Pretoria, South Africa, 2010.

Focusing on information systems development (ISD) as a language development and formalization process, many... more Focusing on information systems development (ISD) as a language development and formalization process, many researchers have conceptualized language as the venue for the establishment of research concepts in ISD. Moreover, natural language plays a crucial role in ISD because it is probably the most commonly used mode for communication between stakeholders and - at the same time - the most volatile because of its inherent ambiguity. Taking this into consideration, we claim that the effectiveness of ISD depends on the ability to manage how people deal with language in practice and reach language alignment in a concrete ISD process. At the core of our research lies the analysis of the underlying structure of interaction through which stakeholders achieve language alignment in the requirements specification process. Therefore, by adapting the theory of Functional Pragmatics and by conducting a hermeneutical analysis of how linguistic communication in an actual ISD project is shaped and regulated, we develop a pattern for semantic alignment that enables the reconstruction of critical, linguistic sense-making processes. In doing so, we contribute to the growing field of research on the role of natural language in ISD by examining the processes and factors contributing to language effectiveness.

The Variety Engineering Method: Analyzing and Designing Information Flows In Organizations

by Christoph Rosenkranz

Co-authored with Roland Holten, published in 'Information Systems and e-Business', 2010.

In every organization, various decisions have to be made continuously, from the simple choice, which customer order to... more In every organization, various decisions have to be made continuously, from the simple choice, which customer order to be processed next, to the serious question, whether to select a new supplier or to cancel an existing one. All of these decisions are supported by the provision of relevant information. Therefore the efficiency of a value chain is strongly influenced by the accurate setup of information flows. To make organizations more effective and efficient, one needs to understand what information flows are currently available and how information flows should be designed for a given organization. However, there is hardly any methodology available in order to analyze and redesign information flows in organizations in a structured way. Using the design science research framework, we develop a method for the analysis and design of information flows in organizations. Our research on the Variety Engineering Method (VEM) attempts to develop a method to analyze, diagnose and design information flows. VEM is built based on systems theory and cybernetics, especially the Viable System Model. VEM has been tested internally, and evaluated externally through field studies. In this paper, we present VEM in detail and discuss some general issues involved in its development, including the application of concepts form method engineering and evaluation in field studies.

Measuring Application Domain Knowledge: Results from a Preliminary Experiment

by Christoph Rosenkranz

Co-authored with Roland Holten and Harald Kolbe. Accepted at the 31st International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2010), St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 12-15. December 2010.

Conceptual models are used in IS development for capturing and specifying requirements. However, the mere... more Conceptual models are used in IS development for capturing and specifying requirements. However, the mere understanding of the syntax or semantics of a modeling language is not the most crucial factor. More relevant is pragmatic knowledge about the application domain. The problem that this paper addresses is how one can verify that a shared understanding of the application domain exists. In our study we show that domain-specific languages are an indicator for separating novices from experts in a given application domain. Novices and experts can be distinguished based on the domain-specific language they use. We demonstrate that these different language communities can be observed empirically by employing latent semantic analysis (LSA) as an instrument and by measuring semantic similarity. The separation of groups using LSA is also possible if the terminology, the application domain, or the expert-layperson-status of the examined group are unknown. Therefore the separation based on domain-specific languages is independent of the domain under consideration or the prior knowledge of the researcher. This provides a useful measurement instrument for studying the role of application domain knowledge in future research.