Formal modelling of organisational goals based on performance indicators

Every organisation exists or is created for the achievement of one or more goals. To ensure continued success, the organisation should monitor its performance with respect to the formulated goals. In practice the performance of an organisation is often evaluated by estimating its performance indicators. In most existing approaches for organisation modelling the relation between performance indicators and goals remains implicit. This paper proposes a formal framework for modelling goals based on performance indicators and defines mechanisms for establishing goal satisfaction, which enable evaluation of organisational performance. Methodological and analysis issues related to goals are also discussed in the paper. The described framework is a part of a general framework for organisation modelling and analysis.     

A normative programming language for multi-agent organisations

The specification of multi-agent organisations is typically based on high-level modelling languages so as to simplify the task of software designers. Interpreting such high-level specifications as part of the organisation management infrastructure (OMI) is a difficult and cumbersome task. Simpler and more efficient tools need to be used for this. Based on primitives such as norms and obligations, we introduce in this paper a Normative Programming Language (NPL)??a language dedicated to the development of normative programs. We present the interpreter for such a language and show how it can be used within an organisation management infrastructure. While designers and agents can still use a high-level organisational modelling language to specify and reason about the multi-agent organisation, the OMI interprets a simpler language. This is possible because the high-level specifications can be automatically translated into the simpler (normative) language. Our approach was used to develop an improved OMI for the Moise framework, as described in this paper. We also show how Moise??s organisation modelling language (with primitives such as roles, groups, and goals) can be translated into NPL programs. Finally, we briefly describe how this all has been implemented on top of ORA4MAS, the distributed artifact-based organisation management infrastructure for Moise.     

The implementation of enterprise resource planning packages in different organisational and national cultures

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages provide generic off-the-shelf business and software solutions to customers. However, these packages are implemented in companies with different organisational and national cultures, and there is growing evidence that failure to adapt ERP packages to fit these cultures leads to projects that are expensive and late. This paper describes research that synthesises social science theories of culture to handle the impact of culture on ERP package implementation more efficiently. It describes a knowledge meta-schema for modelling the surface and the deeper manifestations of culture. It reports an empirical study into the implementation of SAP R/3's sales and distribution (SD) module in a large pharmaceuticals organisation in Scandinavia and the UK. Results provide evidence for an association between organisational culture and ERP implementation problems but no direct evidence for an association between national culture and implementation problems. Furthermore, results demonstrate that these diverse implementation problems can be caused by a mismatch between a small set of core values indicative of a customer's organisational culture. At the end of the paper, our predictions are reviewed, conclusions are made about them and about the work of the key authors of national and organisational culture, and future work is discussed.     

Coordination Between Production and Commercial Planning: Organisational and Modelling Issues

Coordination between commercial activities and production has long been identiffied as a cause of major difficulties within a company which is structured according to the main functions. Various analytical frameworks have tried to elucidate the organisational, information processing and incentive issues raised by this problem. Using the example of an agro-food company seeking new organisational forms while its markets were becoming increasingly deregulated, the design of material planning systems as the main managerial driver for reforming the organisation is identied. The critical role of modelling in an intervention process focused on planning design is discussed and the question as to why innovative efficient organisational forms can be devised this way is explained.     

A study of the relationship between institutional policy,organisational culture and e-learning use in four South African universities

This article investigates the relationship between policy (conceptualised as goals, values and resources), organisational culture and e-learning use. Through both qualitative and quantitative research methods, we gathered data about staff and student perspectives from four diverse South African universities representing a selection of ICT in education policy types (Structured and Unstructured) and organisational cultural types of “collegium, bureaucracy, corporate and enterprise” (McNay, 1995). While our findings show a clear relationship between policy and use of ICTs for teaching and learning, organisational culture is found crucial to policy mediation and the way that e-learning use is embedded within the organisation. We conclude that although a Structured Corporate institutional type enables the attainment of a “critical mass” within e-learning, Unstructured Collegium institutions are better at fostering innovation. Unstructured Bureaucratic institutions are the least enabling of either top down or bottom up e-learning change.     

Measuring where it matters: Determining starting points for metrics collection

Defining useful metrics to measure the goals of a software organisation is difficult. Defining useful metrics to measure the causes of the (failure) to fulfil those organisational goals is even more difficult, as the diversity of potential causes makes their measurement illusive. In this article, we describe a method to select useful software metrics based on findings from qualitative research. In a case study, we apply this method to a previously conducted study of project post-mortem reviews to assess the validity of our prior claims. For this we collected data on 109 new software projects in the organisation in which we conducted the previous case study.     

An industrial case study on the use of UML in software maintenance and its perceived benefits and hurdles

UML is a commonly-used graphical language for the modelling of software. Works regarding UML’s effectiveness have studied projects that develop software systems from scratch. Yet the maintenance of software consumes a large share of the overall time and effort required to develop software systems. This study, therefore, focuses on the use of UML in software maintenance. We wish to elicit the practices of the software modelling used during maintenance in industry and understand what are perceived as hurdles and benefits when using modelling. In order to achieve a high level of realism, we performed a case study in a multinational company’s ICT department. The analysis is based on 31 interviews with employees who work on software maintenance projects. The interviewees played different roles and provided complementary views about the use, hurdles and benefits of software modelling and the use of UML. Our study uncovered a broad range of modelling-related practices, which are presented in a theoretical framework that illustrates how these practices are linked to the specific goals and context of software engineering projects. We present a list of recommended practices that contribute to the increased effectiveness of software modelling. The use of software modelling notations (like UML) is considered beneficial for software maintenance, but needs to be tailored to its context. Various practices that contribute to the effective use of modelling are commonly overlooked, suggesting that a more conscious holistic approach with which to integrate modelling practices into the overall software engineering approach is required.     

Building the hybrid organisation through ERP and enterprise social software

This research traces the implementation of an information system in the form of ERP modules covering tenant and contract management in a Chinese service company. Misalignments between the ERP system specification and user needs led to the adoption of informal processes within the organisation. These processes are facilitated within an informal organisational structure and are based on human interactions undertaken within the formal organisation. Rather than to attempt to suppress the emergence of the informal organisation the company decided to channel the energies of staff involved in informal processes towards organisational goals. The company achieved this by harnessing the capabilities of what we term a hybrid ERP system, combining the functionality of a traditional (formal) ERP installation with the capabilities of Enterprise Social Software (ESS). However the company recognised that the successful operation of the hybrid ERP system would require a number of changes in organisational design in areas such as reporting structures and communication channels. A narrative provided by interviews with company personnel is thematised around the formal and informal characteristics of the organisation as defined in the literature. This leads to a definition of the characteristics of the hybrid organisation and strategies for enabling a hybrid organisation, facilitated by a hybrid ERP system, which directs formal and informal behaviour towards organisational goals and provides a template for future hybrid implementations.     

Factors affecting employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour in the virtual organisation from the perspectives of well-being and organisational behaviour

Drawing on the concept of organisational behaviour, this research augments the concepts of social capital theory and organisational culture with one pioneering precursor and mediator, the sense of well-being, to develop an integrative understanding of the factors affecting individuals' knowledge-sharing behaviour within the more complex context of the virtual organisation of Taiwanese Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs). A field survey of 131 employees from the selected virtual organisation was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the outcomes empirically. Our research offers a persuasive body of evidence supporting the notion that increasing employees' sense of well-being can successfully form a bridge that can connect social capital tendency, organisational culture and employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour. Surprisingly, and contrary to common belief, the integrated model shows that social capital tendency seems to play a more important role than organisational culture in affecting employees' sense of well-being within the virtual organisation in a Chinese cultural context. Consequently, this research reveals the subtle interplay of employees' sense of well-being, social capital tendency, organisational culture and knowledge-sharing behaviour, while the in-depth analysis provides strong support for knowledge management research and practice.     

Expert system technology in organisational process domain modelling

Abstract: Organisational processes are repetitive, time-consuming and interdependent, requiring several members to interact for successful completion. Moreover, when organisations change their operating procedures it becomes difficult to carry out even routine tasks because of the confusion and lack of communication. By studying the organisational processes and the knowledge required to execute them, we can create generic process models that could be stored persistently in a repository. This process repository can serve as a corporate knowledge base, which could be accessed by intelligent computer assistants for automating organisational processes. This paper presents a framework of intelligent assistants that can emulate the behaviour of human agents in organisational problem-solving. The generic process models can also be customised to meet the changing needs of the organisation. We present a domain modelling approach to organisational process modelling and an expert system for customising process models. The paper also describes the architecture and design of the proof-of-concept prototype that supports organisational process modelling, as well as process execution through intelligent computer assistants.     

Impact of human operators on communication network dependability

There is a scarcity of scientific literature about the characteristics of the control work and its demands in the critical domain of telecommunication. The motivation of the paper is to shed light on the context and content of the human operators’ work in maintaining the dependability of telecommunication networks. A case study was accomplished in a large telecommunication company. The research focused on clarifying the impact of human operators on the dependability of telecommunication network. Interviews confirmed earlier assumption among members of the communication network operations (CNO) community that the human operator has an important impact on the network dependability. Specific sources of errors in daily work were identified and strategies of avoiding erroneous action were described. By utilising core-task analysis and modelling approach, we defined generic control demands of the CNO work domain, and operators’ ways of coping with these demands. Regarding human dependability of communication network operations, a combination of resilient and proactive ways of acting is needed. Due to daily changes in the network and the continuous increase of its complexity, specifically change management on both organisational and work practice levels was required. The study is restricted to one Finnish telecommunication company, which limits possible empirical generalisation of the findings.     

A multiple narrative approach to information systems failure: a successful system that failed

We discuss the introduction of an information system where the dominant coalition claimed project success. While the key users did not use the system as intended and the project goals were not achieved, the project committee reported success to the top management board. Using a multi-methodological approach, we can follow how different stakeholders attributed different meanings to the system introduced over time. The rhetorical tools used are analysed using a narrative methodology. We draw on the social construction of technology and use the concept of relevant social groups to understand the different interests influencing the organisational dynamics. We complement this approach by employing the concepts of organisational power and cultural fit between the new system and the different subcultures. We found that this multiple approach explains well how the acceptance of the new software processes was interpreted differently within the organisation, and also by the software supplier. Although limited, our case study reveals the process of socially constructing the success or failure of an information system using this multiple research approach. We compare our results with the literature on IS failures and we consider the value of combining constructionist and critical approaches through a narrative methodology.     

Informing strategic IS change: Towards a ‘meta-learning’ framework

This paper combines theoretical models on organisational and Information Systems (ISs) change with the experiential theorising of practitioners from a case study site. Contemporary strands of IS and organisational change literature were reviewed, grouping common themes into planning, leadership, learning and culture approaches. This theoretical basis was extended through a case analysis of an IS organisation in the banking industry which had undergone wide ranging and successful strategic change. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with senior experienced change practitioners from across the organisation. Three propositions on IS and organisational change theory were developed from the finding for this research. Firstly, IS change is a subset of organisational change which is frequently noted and argued through existing academic or ‘espoused’ change theories. Secondly, whether successful or unsuccessful, strategic change is in itself a rich learning experience which may be leveraged through experience, intuition and self-reflexion. Thirdly, managers develop their own ‘theories in use’ of change based on experiential learning and apply them in a highly context specific ‘informed’ way. The main contribution of the research is a ‘meta-learning’ framework for informing IS strategic change which suggests valuable theoretical insights, a practitioner implementation process and proposals for further research directions and limitations.     

A Framework for Integrating Non-Functional Requirements into Conceptual Models

The development of complex information systems calls for conceptual models that describe aspects beyond entities and activities. In particular, recent research has pointed out that conceptual models need to model goals, in order to capture the intentions which underlie complex situations within an organisational context. This paper focuses on one class of goals, namely non-functional requirements (NFR), which need to be captured and analysed from the very early phases of the software development process. The paper presents a framework for integrating NFRs into the ER and OO models. This framework has been validated by two case studies, one of which is very large. The results of the case studies suggest that goal modelling during early phases can lead to a more productive and complete modelling activity.       

CAVEAT Exemplar: Participatory Design in a Non-Profit Volunteer Organisation

This paper reports a university course-based case study undertaken with a volunteer organisation. Our goals were to explore the use of participatory design in a non-profit volunteer setting; to reflect on the experience of learning and applying participatory methodologies; and to create a prototype, using off-the-shelf database software, that could become a sustainable organisational information system. We found system design methodologies that stress cooperation and consensus especially appropriate when working with volunteers, who expect control over their work in exchange for their time and effort. The Future Workshop was particularly valuable in developing group insight into work and consensus around system priorities. The study resulted in a prototype which has evolved, through in-house refinement, into a working system.     

A reference model of virtual service production networks

Virtual organisation of collaborative networks frequently demands for information and communication technology to support coordination of cross-organisational business process chains. Service-oriented software technologies provide promising means to regulate and enforce coordination of cross-organisational software service interactions but miss organisational abstractions and methodology. This paper proposes a conceptual reference model of collaborative network coordination that satisfies flexibility and agility requirements of virtual organisation by building on common software service abstractions and lifecycle methodology. In particular, the model focuses collaborative service networks and introduces the concept of virtual business service that represents business service processes as software service abstractions and supports flexible regulation and agile enforcement of their coordination by means of software service lifecycle methodology. For demonstration and evaluation purpose, we present a case study of service-oriented systems analysis for virtual organisation of a collaborative e-science network that adopts our conceptual reference model.     

Task allocation and the balancing of task demands in the multi-man-machine system--some case studies

Various forms of team organisation are described. These are based on the concepts of vertical and horizontal structure. Task factors of complexity and organisation are introduced and their relationships with various forms of multiman-machine system are discussed. Experimental work is briefly described and then two case study analyses of operational systems are presented. The first, an examination of airport air traffic contol, illustrates how a multiman system can be reorganised to yield a more balanced distribution of task demands. The second, a study of an ambulance control room, shows the implucations for team organisation of a shared computer data-base. These case studies demonstrate that the concepts developed in the laboratory context can be applied to operational multiman-machine systems.     

Peering through the lens of high-reliability theory: A competencies driven security culture model of high-reliability organisations

To improve organisational safety and enhance security efficiency, organisations seek to establish a culture of security that provides a foundation for how employees should approach security. There are several frameworks and models that provide a set of requirements for forming security cultures; however, for many organisations, the requirements of the frameworks are difficult to meet, if not impossible. In this research, we take a different perspective and focus on the core underlying competencies that high-reliability organisations (HROs) have shown to be effective in achieving levels of risk tolerance consistent with the goals of a security culture. In doing so we draw on high-reliability theory to develop a Security Culture Model that explains how a firm's supportive and practical competencies form its organisational security culture. To refine and test the model, we conducted a developmental mixed-method study using interviews and survey data with professional managers involved in the information security (InfoSec) programs within their respective HROs. Our findings emphasise the importance of an organisation's supportive and practical competencies for developing a culture of security. Our results suggest that organisations' security cultures are a product of their InfoSec practices and that organisational mindfulness, top management involvement and organisational structure are key to the development of those practices.