A DIFFERENT VOICE TRY TOUGH-MINDED MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Today's rapidly changing, global, competitive business environment requires that an enterprise optimize its operations and leverage its data, information, and knowledge resources better than ever before. the result is an ever-increasing demand for data, information, and knowledge about the enterprise, its operations, and about its customers, suppliers, and business partners. the database management system is the key component of the information systems infrastructure of the modern enterprise that is focused on meeting this demand. the database management system is an organized store of the enterprise' data that provides ever-increasing capabilities for adding value to data by turning data into information; by turning this information into knowledge; and by sharing data, information, and knowledge securely throughout the enterprise.     

Expert systems in organizations: Legal and ethical considerations

Information technology is not only driving productivity worldwide, but also is creating many structural and processing changes within organizations. Alterations in people's work habits and in their relationships in the workplace create many questions, which may become critical organizational problems in the future if they are not identified early. These questions are ethical or legal in nature, and their understanding is vitally important Within the realm of artificial intelligence systems, a significant amount of attention is received by the domain of expert systems, which enhance or replace existing organizational decision‐making processes. This article highlights some of the basic considerations arising within the organizational setting as a result of expert systems utilization.     

Technological and organizational change in the Brazilian computer industry: A case study

Abstract

This article gives an account of the results of a case study undertaken at a pioneer and particularly prominent firm in the Brazilian computer industry: COBRA — Computadores e Sistemas Brasileiros SA.

The study is part of a research project¹ whose main goal is the identification of viable organizational and technological options that could enhance the performance of firms in the Brazilian electro‐electronics industry. Among the more important findings, it was observed that the firm has the potential to evolve to a more flexible structure, in keeping with the new requirements of the probable future market scenarios within its sector.

Everything indicated, however, that the main constraining factors for bringing about such a structure were connected with the firm's culture and beliefs and with the indirect influence of the National Policy of Information Technology upon these. An hypothesis was put forward for an organizational model, and the necessary supportive computerized technology, which could be particularly appropriate in view of the impending deregulation, of the Brazilian computer industry. Also, in the scope of the current discussion on the restructuring of this industry in terms of a greater concentration, an alternative to the prevailing school of thought was proposed, and for whose success the organizational model at issue purports to be particularly relevant.     

A FORMAL MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL ARGUMENTATION: APPLICATIONS OF INFORMAL LOGIC TO A COMMITTEE MEETING

Although the association between management and argumentation has been a longstanding one, very little research has been undertaken in formal modeling and simulation of the organizational setting and use of argumentation. Argumentation is still considered by most researchers to be undertaken between isolated individuals or within political communities. This paper aims to provide a first attempt at an organization-level model of argumentation. The model has been implemented as a computer program and has been used to simulate a committee meeting.     

Leveraging the IT competence of non-IS workers: social exchange and the good corporate citizen

Organizational IT competence is fundamental to achieving strategic value through technology investments. Importantly, as business users continually gain experience with enterprise systems and a new generation of tech-savvy workers enters the labour force, IT competence is increasingly distributed beyond the IS department. Despite its strategic potential however, IT competence residing within the functional areas of the firm is essentially untapped until it is volunteered by functional area knowledge workers. Addressing the changing landscape of IT competence across the enterprise, the current study examines factors that drive business professionals to volunteer their IT competences to the firm. This research introduces the concept of IT competence volunteering, which is conceptualized as a form of organizational citizenship behaviour that is not explicitly contracted by the firm and may not be directly rewarded. Guided by social exchange theory, a multi-foci model is introduced that positions IT competence as well as workplace exchange relationships as antecedents of IT competence volunteering intention. Overall, the study's results empirically demonstrate the important impacts that user-IS department exchange and perceived organizational support have on the business professional's intention to volunteer his/her IT competence to the firm.     

Matching information technology and organizational structure: an empirical study with implications for performance

In information systems and organization theory research, the alignment or fit between information technology (IT) and organizational structure has long been hypothesised to be a sine qua non for success. However, few solid results have been found linking this relationship to enterprise level performance, as problems abound in defining and measuring IT, performance and the fit between technology and structure. In view of this, an empirical study was conducted among 108 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms, using a comprehensive instrument to measure overall IT sophistication along two dimensions, namely IT usage and IT management. Taking organizational size and environmental uncertainty into account, it was found that IT sophistication is positively related to structural sophistication, IT usage is positively related to organizational performance, and the relationship between IT management and structural sophistication is stronger among the better-performing firms than among the worst-performing firms.     

Understanding enterprise systems-enabled integration

A key touted benefit of enterprise systems (ES) is organizational integration of both business processes and data, which is expected to reduce processing time and increase control over operations. In our 3-year longitudinal case study of a phased ES implementation, we employed a grounded theory methodology to discover organizational effects of ES. As we coded and analyzed our field data, we observed many integration effects. Further analysis revealed underlying dimensions of ES-enabled integration. ES-enabled integration varied depending on the relationship between the integrated business units (similar plants, stages in a business process, or dissimilar functional areas) and on whether processes or data were integrated. Turning to the literature, we realized that Thompson's three types of interdependence, pooled, sequential, and reciprocal, captured the business relationships revealed in our data. Thus, we describe the salient characteristics of ES-enabled integration using Thompson's interdependence types applied to process and data integratio n. We also identify dimensions of differentiation between business units that contribute to integration problems. Viewing our field data through the lens of these salient characteristics and dimensions of differentiation provided theoretical explanations for observed integration problems. These findings also help managers understand and anticipate ES-enabled integration opportunities and problems.     

Individuals’ Innovation Response Behaviour: A Framework of Antecedents and Opportunities for Future Research

Innovation response behaviour is defined as individuals’ novelty‐supporting or novelty‐impeding action when navigating innovation initiatives through the organization. A typology of innovation response behaviour is developed, distinguishing between active and passive modes of conduct for novelty‐supporting and novelty‐impeding behaviour, respectively. The antecedents of innovation response behaviour are delineated based on West and Farr's five‐factor model of individual innovation. Moreover, we argue that within organizational contexts, individuals often fail to implement their ideas due to innovation barriers, perceived as factors that are beyond their control. Based on the theory of planned behaviour, we reveal how these barriers influence individuals’ intentional and exhibited innovation response behaviour. Propositions about proximal and distal antecedents of individuals’ innovation response behaviour are derived. Proposing a research framework to study the organizational process of innovation from an actor‐based perspective, this paper intends to link existing research on individual innovation with the process of innovation at the organizational level, explicitly accounting for the socio‐political dynamics and arising managerial problems associated with successful innovation implementation within organizational realities. Implications for research in innovation management are discussed and avenues for future research outlined.     

CHALLENGING MANAGERIAL DILEMMAS OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

In recent decades, business conditions have changed dramatically. In the global competitive environment, enterprises as business systems (BSs) can survive in the long term by permanently improving their business. Usually, BSs have limited resources and they face hard conditions; but they can significantly improve their business results if they manage their business operations better. The new challenges require a thorough innovation of management in general, including operations management (OM) as management of their own business operations. Generally, we can define OM as a synergetic entity of the design, operations, and improvement of the internal and external organizational, technical, informational, resources, and other systems that create product and service combinations in any type of enterprise. But in theory and business practice, we can find different approaches to research on OM and different definitions of OM. Therefore, the main interest-based and science-based dilemmas of modern OM include the questions of how to more holistically define OM and how to more holistically understand different definitions of OM. We see a possible solution to these dilemmas in a requisitely holistic consideration of the simultaneous existence of different understanding of OM for different purposes.     

Measuring organizational impacts by integrating competitive intelligence into executive information system

Despite the progress that has been achieved using modern methods of decision support, competitive intelligence is one of the most economical methods of instrument for executive information system with a relatively high rate of effectiveness. The objectives of this study are (1) to investigate the conception of competitive intelligence and the furtherance of competitive intelligence on the executive information system stage; (2) to form an innovative structural equation modelling for executive information system through the perspectives of competitive intelligence; (3) to examine the influences of competitive intelligence on executive information system and organizational performances. Questionnaire survey methodology was applied to receive data from executives in Taiwan. The process, the product of competitive intelligence, and organizational performances were observed as three considerable axles in this investigation. The results reveal testimony that competitive intelligence is positively related to organizational performances, indicating that competitive intelligence does influence the behavior of decision-making both of enterprise executives and the entire organization. The findings of this study disclose that integrating competitive intelligence activities exert a complete function on executive information system for enterprise executives.     

The adoption and design methodologies of component-based enterprise systems

One of the major investments of information technologies in large companies in the past decade has been the enterprise system. Although the enterprise system has the advantages of managing and integrating almost all of the business processes in the whole company, there have been strong criticisms that the enterprise system often imposes its own logic or business process on a company and lacks flexibility and adaptability in today's dynamic business environment. The goal of this paper is to outline a new approach in enterprise system development. We analyse the factors that affect the adoption of enterprise systems. Market and business changes, and advances in information technologies call for a more flexible, open, and scalable enterprise architecture. We describe the process that Dell Computer Corporation took in adopting its component-based enterprise system architecture. The Dell example has demonstrated the importance of fit between business information systems and fundamental organizational dimensions of the company including strategy, business environment, and organizational structure. We also discuss the design methodologies for component-based enterprise system design. We take a coordination perspective, both at the software level and the organizational level, in addressing the design methodologies for component-based enterprise system development.     

Enterprise applications diffusion within organizations: A social learning perspective

We used a social learning explanation to explain the diffusion of an enterprise application (EA) within an organization. We viewed the implementation of EA as a pattern of key users’ behaviors to examine the effect of self-generated and external sources of influence. Such behavior is progressively developed over time. Our study was based on investigating two business areas in a single company. From our investigation, we determined that the key users’ behaviors toward EA diffusion were influenced by both cognitive factors and organizational stimuli. Although the organizational environment was similar for both sites, one area performed better than the other in diffusing the system.     

Internet enterprise organization strategy based on FPGA and machine learning

Internet has been a favorable theme for numerous studies and reports over the past decade. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of the use of the Internet marketing campaign, and its performance results generated by the system is. Machine learning physical organization is a network, which can be any operation within the sensing range, transmission and processing capabilities. FPGA growth in the use of machine learning organization and start to change our daily lives. Use your organization's business can help improve business efficiency. However, enterprises are facing many challenges these organizations to integrate traditional ecosystem. We conducted an extensive literature review in this study to determine the social integration with FPGA technology issues enterprise information systems. We provide guidelines, strategies and best practices for IT staff and management to be integrated into the FPGA organizational success of the enterprise information system.     

Kludges,the NSOBAPO Factor,and Other Randomly Retrieved Notions

Abstract

Today's rapidly changing, global business environment requires that an enterprise optimize its value chain in order to reduce costs, reduce working capital, and deliver more value to its customers. the result is an ever-increasing demand for the efficient interchange of data between systems within an enterprise, and between the enterprise's systems and those of its customers, suppliers, and partners.     

Training as regulation and development: An exploration of the needs of enterprise systems users

The view of the organization as a system that ‘processes’ information or ‘solves’ problems is at odds with the dynamics of change associated with the development and use of IS in an organization. A significant consequence of this mismatch is in training that does not meet the needs of either the user or management communities, giving rise to sub optimal organization performance and inertia. We explored such issues by examining recent research into organizational development and training. The particular challenges presented in the development and implementation of large-scale enterprise systems were explored to reveal a discontinuity in the constructs underpinning a development. A theoretic model that bridged some of the gaps between the bodies of research was developed and a brief empirical study provided a proof of concept for the model. The paper concludes with a discussion of the model's implications for theory and practice.     

基于Web Service的企业集团综合运营管理

传统的ERP系统是针对单一企业的管理体系和业务流程设计的。然而,企业集团的经营模式和生产方式与单体企业相比发生了根本性的变化,这种变化必然导致企业资源规划的变革和发展。提出研究适应于企业集团特点的资源计划系统,即集团资源规划(GRP)系统。设计了GRP元数据集成方案以解决企业集团中的信息共享问题,在此基础上实现了一种基于Web Service的GRP系统体系结构。     

The relationship between information technology acceptance and organizational agility in Malaysia

We examined the influence of information technology (IT) acceptance on organizational agility. The study was based on a well-established theoretical model, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We attempted to identify the relationships between IT acceptance and organizational agility in order to see how the acceptance of technology contributes to a firm's ability to be an agile competitor. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to analyze the data. Results from a survey involving 329 managers and executives in manufacturing firms in Malaysia showed that actual system or technology usage had the strongest direct effect on organizational agility. Meanwhile, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of IT influenced organizational agility indirectly through actual systems or technology use and attitudes towards using the technology. The results have several implications for IS management.     

元数据管理策略的比较研究

本文讨论了元数据及元数据管理的若干问题,并通过对几种元数据管理策略和元数据交换标准的比较,来分析元数据管理的发展方向,以及实现元数据管理的方式和具体步骤。     

Managing organizational identity in the e-commerce industry: An ambidexterity perspective

In the e-commerce industry, organizations should maintain an enduring and stable organizational identity to gain long-term success while also adapting quickly to the increasingly volatile environment in order to ensure profitability and survival. These ongoing paradoxical challenges concerning the management of organizational identity have been left unaddressed in existing literature. Drawing upon the literature related to organizational ambidexterity and organizational identity, this paper proposes two theoretical frameworks for systematically examining the ways in which organizations, especially those in the e-commerce industry, should manage their organizational identities by leveraging four balancing forms of organizational ambidexterity. Based on these two models, we comprehensively analyzed the case of D.com, which is China's most successful online ticket vendor. Our study not only contributes to the field of knowledge surrounding organizational identity and ambidexterity but also provides a detailed means for practitioners to manage organizational identities at both the strategic and operational levels within the e-commerce industry.     

A hybrid multi-scale model for thyroid nodule boundary detection on ultrasound images

A hybrid model for thyroid nodule boundary detection on ultrasound images is introduced. The segmentation model combines the advantages of the “á trous” wavelet transform to detect sharp gray-level variations and the efficiency of the Hough transform to discriminate the region of interest within an environment with excessive structural noise. The proposed method comprise three major steps: a wavelet edge detection procedure for speckle reduction and edge map estimation, based on local maxima representation. Subsequently, a multiscale structure model is utilised in order to acquire a contour representation by means of local maxima chaining with similar attributes to form significant structures. Finally, the Hough transform is employed with ‘a priori’ knowledge related to the nodule's shape in order to distinguish the nodule's contour from adjacent structures. The comparative study between our automatic method and manual delineations demonstrated that the boundaries extracted by the hybrid model are closely correlated with that of the physicians. The proposed hybrid method can be of value to thyroid nodules’ shape-based classification and as an educational tool for inexperienced radiologists.