University-Government relationship in Ethiopian public universities in the Framework of information asymmetry and goal conflicts

This study examined the university-government relationship with a focus on Ethiopian public universities in the framework of information asymmetry and goal conflicts. Agency theory used to examine organizational thinking and behavior of the agents and the relationship between agent and principal to highlight goal conflicts and information asymmetries. The study employs a parallel convergent mixed research design. A self-developed survey questionnaire was administered to 1474 participants after purposively and randomly selecting participants from the nine public universities. Data on legal issues were collected from purposefully selected legislative documents. Both descriptive (percentage, frequency, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Principal Component Analysis, Regression, Factor loading) were employed. Results show that public universities in Ethiopia experience strong government interference and control in internal affairs that has resulted in information asymmetry problems and goal conflicts. The Ethiopian government fails to materialize steering from distance and self-governance of public universities. It is concluded that the control system of the government did not conceive the loosely coupled, multidimensional features of public universities and failed to institutionalize a sound government-universality relationship. Outcome-based funding and performance indicators be adopted, a balanced autonomy and accountability with clear boundaries be granted, effective governance structures be institutionalized, and a strong supervisory mechanism as major policy implications be established to create an effective university-government relationship

BPM ADOPTION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES IN BAVARIA

Small and medium sized (SMEs) companies are a pillar of the Bavarian economy. With business process management (BPM) providing an important competitive advantage in the globalized economy, the adap-tion of BPM by SMEs has societal relevance. However, the reasons why, or why not, SMEs implement BPM measures are still not fully understood. Previous research addressed this topic either breadthwise as surveys or in depth as case studies, and thus only has a limited perspective. Therefore, in our work, we carry out a mixed method analysis. We conduct 10 case studies to analyse the current state of adoption as well as the reasons for or against implementing further BPM measures. The insights gained guide the design of the subsequent survey. 114 results allow us to evaluate how widespread a particular reason may be. Lastly, the combined discussion of the results of both the case studies and surveys allow us to identify reasons that hinder or foster BPM adoption in SMEs, which are in-depth as well as generalizable. The study results are analyzed to derive propositions to research and practitioners alike that support SMEs to introduce further measures of BPM and improve their global competitiveness. For example, we could identify that BPM is in some cases enforced by customers, that stricter certifications are nec-essary, and that BPM trainings aligned to the needs of SMEs are desirable

VISUALIZING SOCIAL ROLES - DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A BIRD\u27S-EYE VIEW OF SOCIAL NETWORK PRIVACY SETTINGS

The rising usage of Social Network Sites for interacting with contacts from multiple social spheres poses new privacy challenges and increasingly prompts users to manage their online identities. To convey a consistent image of the self when interacting with a group of contacts, at first awareness of previously used social roles is needed. However, existing tools on Social Network Sites to increase such awareness are often spread over different interfaces and the user is left to figure out which contacts have access to which shared items. To address these problems, we introduce the Access Policy Grid, a new visualization offering a bird\u27s-eye view on defined privacy settings that allows identifying social roles and inconsistencies therein. To evaluate our visualization, we present the results of a laboratory experiment involving 32 participants in which we compare the Access Policy Grid to the native Facebook interface. For five out of six research qustions, our results show that the APG outperforms the Facebook interface significantly in terms of at least one of the three investigated aspects (accuracy, confidence, and time-to-task completion)

Evaluation of Action Design Research

Design science research (DSR) is a legitimate research paradigm in the discipline of information systems (IS). One prominent DSR method is Action Design Research (ADR). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the ADR method based on empirical experiences from a research project. We have found that the ADR method is highly relevant to an applied discipline such as IS. It creates a bridge between the organisational perspective and the technical perspective of the IT artefact. Moreover, the ADR method supports the dual mission of developing theory and producing knowledge that supports IS practitioners. The findings also include empirical evidence pointing towards a lack of prescriptive guidance with respect to the challenges such as: how to identify appropriate evaluation strategies, how to identify the abstraction mechanisms required to move from the specific-and-unique to the generic-and-abstract, and how to formulate design principles. Although we found adequate support at the macro level, the ADR method needs more detailed support for operationalisation in practice. To address this issue, we propose a number of guidelines that either seek to improve the ADR method or support those who apply ADR

Potentiale von Enterprise Social Networks und Business Process Management zur Gestaltung effizienter Unternehmen

In dieser Dissertation werden ausgewählte Fragestellungen aus den Bereichen Business Process Management (BPM) und Enterprise Social Networks (ESN) beantwortet. Im Kontext des BPM werden drei Forschungsfragen erarbeitet: (1) In welchem Ausmaß sind BPM-Maßnahmen in klein- und mittelständischen Unternehmen umgesetzt? Welche Faktoren können identifiziert werden, die sich fördernd oder hindernd auf die Umsetzung von BPM-Maßnahmen auswirken? (2) Welche Auswirkungen (z.B. Zeit, Kosten) haben BPI-Pattern in verschiedenen Szenarien? Was sind fördernde und hindernde Faktoren für die Anwendung von einzelnen BPI-Pattern? (3) Wie können kulturelle Eigenschaften anhand von Geschäftsprozessen gemessen werden und wie lassen sich die gewonnen Erkenntnisse in Prozessverbesserungsinitiativen nutzen? Im Kontext des ESN werden ebenfalls drei Forschungsfragen erarbeitet: (1) Was ist der aktuelle Stand der Literatur im Themenbereich ESN und welcher Forschungsbedarf besteht weiterhin? (2) Welche Benefits lassen sich durch den Einsatz von ESN erzielen? Können alle Benefits den traditionellen IT Capabilities zugeordnet werden oder schaffen ESN neue IT Capabilities? (3) Wie kann der Erfolg von ESN im Kontext von "Social Capital" gemessen werden und welchen Nutzen bringt ein entsprechender Messansatz? Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen werden unterschiedliche Forschungsmethodiken angewendet, im Speziellen Literature Review, Survey, Case Study, Design Science, Content Analysis und Experiment. Die Forschungsergebnisse werden in wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen aufgearbeitet, wobei je Forschungsfrage ein Beitrag erarbeitet wird