Technology and Innovation Commons^™

Genuinely Service-Oriented Enterprises: Using Work System Theory To See Beyond The Promise Of Efficient Software, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

The concept of service-oriented enterprise has great potential. Taken literally, however, it raises many issues, including practical difficulties of creating a service-oriented enterprise in the computer science sense and the huge leap from flexible IT infrastructure to an enterprise that is genuinely oriented toward providing services for customers and employees. This paper is a conceptual contribution showing how work system theory can help in seeing analysis and design issues beyond technical architectures that have dominated research to date. After summarizing background concepts related to service, service systems, and the vision of service-oriented enterprises, this paper explains how work system theory …

The Knowledge Cube: Scaffolding For A Body Of Knowledge About Information Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper answers calls for a body of knowledge (BoK) for the IS field. Its new approach for thinking about a BoK provides a path for addressing a longstanding problem in the IS discipline. The paper proposes organizing knowledge as a three dimensional "knowledge cube" that goes beyond compilations of categories of knowledge, sets of generalizations, and sets of documents. The structure of the knowledge cube is based on recognition that "work system in general" is a general case whose subordinate cases include information system in general and project in general. In turn, the special cases have their own special …

A Work System Front End For Object-Oriented Analysis And Des, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper proposes that basic ideas from the work system theory (WST) and the work system method (WSM) might become a front end to object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD). After describing the background motivation and summarizing work system concepts, it uses a hiring system example to show how two tools from WSM can be used as a front end for OOAD, in effect, a step before creating use case diagrams. Potential benefits of this approach stem from a business-oriented question, "how can we improve this work system's performance," rather than an IT-oriented question, "how can we create an IT artifact …

Metamodel For Service Analysis And Design Based On An Operational View Of Service And Service Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper presents a metamodel that addresses service system analysis and design based on an operational view of service that traverses and integrates three essential layers, service activities, service systems, and value constellations. The metamodel's service-in-operation perspective and underlying premises diverge from a view of service systems as systems of economic exchange that has appeared a number of times in the journal Service Science.

In addition to the metamodel itself, this paper's contributions include an explanation of eight premises on which it is based plus clarifications concerning concepts such as service, service system, customer, product/service, co-production and co-creation of value, …

Exploring The Temporal Nature Of Sociomateriality From A Work System Perspective, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper uses work system theory (WST) to explore the temporal nature of sociomateriality. It summarizes concepts related to WST and sociomateriality, and notes sociomaterial aspects of WST. It uses static and dynamic views of a work system toexamine six examples that can be classified in one of three time frames, minutes-to-hours, days-to-weeks, and months-to years. The result is a straightforward interpretation of systems and related events across all of the time frames, which exhibit different types of phenomena related to adaptations, workarounds, emergence of informal work patterns, and sequences of formal projects. After approaching sociomateriality from a perspective not …

Using The Work System Method With Freshman Information System Students, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

To date, the use of the work system method in information systems curricula has demonstrated that postgraduate students can benefit from this approach when examining a business situation involving an information system. To contrast the experiences of post-graduate students with work experiences, in this paper we report on use of a simplified version of the Work System Method in a freshman Information Systems course and study how students without work or technical knowl-edge performed when analyzing IT-reliant work systems in business settings. We reflect on an introductory information systems course that included a work system analysis assignment, and we examine …

Challenges For Service Science, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Service science is still in a formative stage, with many basic ideas still in flux and significant disagreements about definitions and implications of basic concepts. This paper suggests directions for progress in relation to eight problematic areas within service science. It uses five typical medical services to question typical definitions of service and service system. It suggests that service science should not privilege servitizing over productizing; that a series of design dimensions whose end-points are often associated with products or with services are more useful than yes/no distinctions between products and services; that the concept of "the customer" should be …

Simulating School Closure Policies For Cost Effective Pandemic Decision Making, Ozgur M. Araz, Paul Damien, David A. Paltiel, Sean Burke, Bryce Van De Geijn, Alison Galvani, Lauren Ancel Meyers

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

Background: Around the globe, school closures were used sporadically to mitigate the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. However, such closures can detrimentally impact economic and social life.

Methods: Here, we couple a decision analytic approach with a mathematical model of influenza transmission to estimate the impact of school closures in terms of epidemiological and cost effectiveness. Our method assumes that the transmissibility and the severity of the disease are uncertain, and evaluates several closure and reopening strategies that cover a range of thresholds in school-aged prevalence (SAP) and closure durations.

Results: Assuming a willingness to pay per quality adjusted life-year (QALY) …

Measuring An Organisation’S Innovation Climate: A Case Study From Singapore, Siu Loon Hoe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Purpose: The article aims to discuss the six key factors that were proposed and included in the design of a customized innovation climate questionnaire. Design/methodology/approach: The implementation case study of an innovation climate survey for a Singapore‐based real estate group is presented. In particular, the design of the questionnaire and selection of key factors to be measured are discussed. Findings: While not a “rigorous” instrument in the academic sense, the article can guide managers and organization development professionals to better gauge an organization's innovation climate and deepen the understanding of innovation culture. Originality/value: This article contributes to the existing innovation …

Knowledge Management In A Project Environment: Organisational Ct And Project Influences, Taya Polyaninova

Articles

During a project implementation various forms of information and experience are generated within the organization. If this accumulated knowledge is not recorded and shared amongst other projects, this knowledge will be lost and no longer be available to assist future projects. This may lead to increased future projects costs as resources, time and money will be wasted on redefining the knowledge that once existed within the company. By not capturing and redeploying this knowledge, the quality of a project’s deliverables may adversely suffer. First the publication reviews the concept of project knowledge management. It defines the reasons for managing project …

2011 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Social Media For Social Good, Charlie Harris

Fair Trade Universities' National Convergence

No abstract provided.

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …

Extending A Systems Analysis Method For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Despite having been explored, described, theorized, and measured in hundreds of IS research articles, frequent difficulties related to user participation and business/IT communication persist in relation to project management, specification of requirements, implementation in organizations, business/IT alignment, and IS failures. We report on an extension of a long term design sci-ence research project that previously demonstrated a possible path toward ad-dressing these longstanding problems by empowering business professionals to analyze systems in business terms rather than in formalisms for IT specialists. Previous research demonstrated that most of 75 working business professionals with extensive business experience were able to use the …

Using Work System Theory To Achieve Greater Business Value From Erp By Exploring Alternative Design Spaces, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper explains how various aspects of work system theory (WST) can be applied to achieve greater business value from ERP by assuming that the underlying "design spaces" encompass much more than the features, configuration, and limitations of ERP software. It uses WST concepts to identify directions for achieving business value that might not be considered thoroughly in ERP implementations that focus primarily on converting from legacy software to ERP software.

This paper starts by summarizing basic premises concerning the relationship between work systems and ERP. Focusing on the context of ERP usage, it explains the elements of the two …

Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This contribution to the SIGPHIL workshop on reconciling the social and technical in IS research proposes a sociotechnical approach that addresses many issues related to the long-standing duality of the social/human versus the technical/material. It shows that a sociotechnical approach based on work system concepts 1) highlights and potentially bypasses extremely basic ontological stumbling blocks in IS research, 2) incorporates many of the topics and concerns of the original sociotechnical school, 3) illuminates issues related to the duality of the social/human versus the technical/material, and 4) addresses these topics using concepts and terminology that are much easier to understand than …

The Work System Method: Systems Thinking For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

The Security Implications Of Ubiquitous Social Media, Chris Rose

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Social media web sites allow users to share information, communicate with each other, network and interact but because of the easy transfer of information between different social media sites, information that should be private becomes public and opens the users to serious security risks. In addition, there is also massive over-sharing of information by the users of these sites, and if this is combined with the increased availability of location-based information, then all this can be aggregated causing an unacceptable risks and unintended consequences for users.

Transition To Is Project De-Escalation: An Exploration Into Management Executive's Influence Tactics, Gary Pan, Shan Ling Pan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper seeks to understand the factors that shape management executives' influence behaviors and the influence tactics that may be utilized during de-escalation of commitment to information systems (IS) projects. De-escalation is potentially a more important issue than escalation because de-escalation provides remedies for the ills of escalation. Therefore, it is important to understand how project stakeholders' commitment to troubled IS projects may be transformed under management executives' influence, hence allowing project teams to carry out their de-escalation activities. Here, we adopt theories of leadership, politics, and interpersonal influence, as our lenses to examine the management executive's influence behaviors during …

Hotel Revenue Management: Investigating The Interaction Of Information Technology And Judgmental Forecasting, I-Pei Claire Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditionally, forecasting has included human judgment and/ or guessing. The process has often been described as “guesstimation.” For instance, people are easily affected by user interface issue or rewarding policies during this process. The purpose of the study is to study and understand how revenue managers and other decision makers “make noise” during forecasting, especially when utilizing the advanced RMS, and to offer constructive suggestions to overcome the issues related to human judgment. In other words, the main objective of this study is to analyze the known influential factors for the interaction of revenue managers’ judgment and RMS tools by …

A Case Study Of Rfid Adoption By A Malaysian Logistic Company : An Application Of The Technology Appropriation Model., Wilson Tiong Lin Koh

Student Works (2010-2019)

This paper presents a model of radio frequency identification (RFID) adoption by a Logistic Service Provider (LSP) in the logistic industry Malaysia. Due to lack of models associate with the RFID adoption in logistic industry Malaysia, the model was developed. The study uses the case study research approaches to perform an inductive investigation on the RFID adoption by the local LSP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted primarily with the IT director and research officers who advocated the RFID’s pilot test project. The technology appropriation model of RFID adoption was developed in this study is useful to determine the success of RFID …

Developing A Culturally Responsive Classroom Collaborative Of Faculty, Students, And Institution, Paul J. Colbert

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

Culture is integral to the learning process. It is the organization and way of life within the community of students and teachers and directs the way they communicate, interact, and approach teaching and learning. Although founded in particular values and principles, the academy, like most organizations, is impacted day-to-day by its culture. Yet, the traditional higher education institution has not been designed to operate within a racially or ethnically diverse student population. The social, political, economic, and cultural forces that support the institution influence the teaching and learning environments. To better address cultural diversity in the classroom, faculty must first …

Itil (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Implementation And Success Factors In Msc Status Organizations : An Exploratory Study., Kashif Ibadullah Khan

Student Works (2010-2019)

Information technology is a strategic key enabler for organizations to gain competitive advantages to increase the economic value of the firm. The CIOs (Chief information officers) and IT managers are facing escalating challenge to deliver IT services with strategic partnership aligned with business priorities. Organizations are now expecting IT departments to adopt systematic approaches for efficient delivery of IT services to guarantee smooth operations. Standards enable IT organizations to improve productivity, business/IT synergies and cost savings. Solutions constructed on standards direct organizations to achieve goals with less degree of risk. This is where ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) service management framework …

Application Of Open-Source Enterprise Information System Modules: An Empirical Study, Sang-Heui Lee

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Although there have been a number of studies on large scale implementation of proprietary enterprise information systems (EIS), open-source software (OSS) for EIS has received limited attention in spite of its potential as a disruptive innovation. Cost saving is the main driver for adopting OSS among the other possible benefits including security and reliability, transparency of development process, etc. Due to the costly implementation of proprietary EIS, small- and medium-sized organizations have given attention to OSS as an alternative. OSS EIS can also help create a competitive advantage by enabling organizations to customize their information systems by modifying the open-source …

Understanding The Values Of Mobile Technology In Education: A Value-Focused Thinking Approach, Hong Sheng, Keng Siau, Fiona Nah Fui-Hoon

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mobile technology has mobilized the human interaction in all dimensions by supporting mobile collaboration. as collaboration is key to learning in today's educational environment, mobile technology has tremendous potential in supporting and improving education and its delivery. Given that mobile technology for education is a new phenomenon that is gaining popularity, the values of using mobile technology to support education need to be further researched and better understood. in this research, we used the Value-Focused Thinking approach to interview students and instructors to identify the values of education that are enabled by mobile technology. These values are represented in the …

2010 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Reviewing The Role Of Systems Analysis In Data Networks And The Possible Role For System Theories Going Forward, Grant Kirby

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Data networks have been a very important catalyst in the growth of business in the US. As data networks became more complex in the 1970s and 1980s it was necessary to implement system analysis methodologies for the more complex networks. Over the last three decades data networks have become increasingly more complex and organizations and governments are increasingly more dependent on their services. The new applications and services being ushered in this next decade may well render current methodologies ineffective. The goal of this talk is to begin the dialogue about how system theories might make significant contributions to the …

Information Technology Diffusion With Influentials, Imitators, And Opponents: Model And Preliminary Evidence, Hasan Cavusoglu, Nan Hu, Yingjiu Li, Dan Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Information technology (IT) innovations follow a diverse set of diffusion patterns. Early diffusion models explaining technology diffusion patterns assumed that there is a single homogeneous segment of potential adopters. It was later shown that a two-segment model considering two groups of adopters explains variations in diffusion patterns better than the existing one-segment models. While the two-segment model considers a group of adopters promoting adoption by exerting a positive influence on prospective adopters, it does not consider the members of society who aim to inhibit the adoption process by exerting a negative influence on prospective adopters. In fact, most IT innovations …

Hospitality Marketing Mix And Service Marketing Principles, David Bojanic

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Concept of Marketing is based on the Premise that Firms Should Determine Consumer Wants and Needs Before Designing Products and Services. This Consumer-Orientation Results in Greater Demand for a Firm's Products and Services and Higher Levels of Customer Satisfaction after the Purchase. Marriott International Followed This Approach in Developing their Courtyard and Residence Inns Hotels. for Example, the Courtyard Concept is Supposed to Attract Business Travelers and Transient Customers Who Do Not Really Like Staying at Hotels (Wind Et Al, 1992; Hart, 1986). the Researchers Recruited Individuals for Focus Groups Representing These Two Market Segments to Determine the Hotel …

An Empirical Study On The Benefit Of Split Loads With The Pickup And Delivery Problem, Maciek Nowak, Chelsea C. White, Ozlem Ergun

Information Systems and Operations Management: Faculty Publications & Other Works

Splitting loads such that the delivery of certain loads is completed in multiple trips rather than one trip has show to have benefit for both the classic Vehicle Routing Problem and the Pickup and Delivery Problem. However, the magnitude of the benefit may be affected by various problem characteristics. In this paper, we characterize those real world environments in which split loads are most likely to be beneficial. Based on practitioner interest, we determine how the benefit is affected by the mean load size and variance, number of origins relative to the number of destinations, the percentage of origin-destination pairs …