Planning strategically, designing architecturally : a framework for digital library services

In an era of unprecedented technological innovation and evolving user expectations and information seeking behaviour, we are arguably now an online society, with digital services increasingly common and increasingly preferred. As a trusted information provider, libraries are in an advantageous position to respond, but this requires integrated strategic and enterprise architecture planning, for information technology (IT) has evolved from a support role to a strategic role, providing the core management systems, communication networks, and delivery channels of the modern library. Further, IT components do not function in isolation from one another, but are interdependent elements of distributed and multidimensional systems encompassing people, processes, and technologies, which must consider social, economic, legal, organisational, and ergonomic requirements and relationships, as well as being logically sound from a technical perspective. Strategic planning provides direction, while enterprise architecture strategically aligns and holistically integrates business and information system architectures. While challenging, such integrated planning should be regarded as an opportunity for the library to evolve as an enterprise in the digital age, or at minimum, to simply keep pace with societal change and alternative service providers. Without strategy, a library risks being directed by outside forces with independent motivations and inadequate understanding of its broader societal role. Without enterprise architecture, it risks technological disparity, redundancy, and obsolescence. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this conceptual paper provides an integrated framework for strategic and architectural planning of digital library services. The concept of the library as an enterprise is also introduced

Construction IT in 2030: a scenario planning approach

Summary: This paper presents a scenario planning effort carried out in order to identify the possible futures that construction industry and construction IT might face. The paper provides a review of previous research in the area and introduces the scenario planning approach. It then describes the adopted research methodology. The driving forces of change and main trends, issues and factors determined by focusing on factors related to society, technology, environment, economy and politics are discussed. Four future scenarios developed for the year 2030 are described. These scenarios start from the global view and present the images of the future world. They then focus on the construction industry and the ICT implications. Finally, the preferred scenario determined by the participants of a prospective workshop is presented

Enterprise resource planning in construction: An evaluation of recent implementations

In a large number of construction firms, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have replaced non-integrated information systems by integrated and maintainable software. The implementation of ERP systems in the construction industry is a difficult task. So far, ERP implementations have yielded more failures than successes in this industry. Our study tries to understand the underlying factors that cause success or failure of ERP in construction by analysing how ERP fits into the IT and business strategy of a firm. Empirical research was conducted by a multiple case study of three ERP-implementations in different business environments. Based on the results of this study, propositions are developed that relate factors for the success of ERP in construction to concepts of the existing literature on IT and strategy. These propositions are indicative, but present nevertheless a clear overall tren

Enterprise information security policy assessment - an extended framework for metrics development utilising the goal-question-metric approach

Effective enterprise information security policy management requires review and assessment activities to ensure information security policies are aligned with business goals and objectives. As security policy management involves the elements of policy development process and the security policy as output, the context for security policy assessment requires goal-based metrics for these two elements. However, the current security management assessment methods only provide checklist types of assessment that are predefined by industry best practices and do not allow for developing specific goal-based metrics. Utilizing theories drawn from literature, this paper proposes the Enterprise Information Security Policy Assessment approach that expands on the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) approach. The proposed assessment approach is then applied in a case scenario example to illustrate a practical application. It is shown that the proposed framework addresses the requirement for developing assessment metrics and allows for the concurrent undertaking of process-based and product-based assessment. Recommendations for further research activities include the conduct of empirical research to validate the propositions and the practical application of the proposed assessment approach in case studies to provide opportunities to introduce further enhancements to the approach

Examining the strategic benefits of information systems: A global case study

In the context of the emerging evaluation of Information Systems (IS) as strategic enablers, this paper critically reviews the literature relating to the strategic benefits of IS. Understanding the importance of IS benefits can be significant in the development of strategy in an organisation, although most organisations have diverse environments and, likewise, diverse benefits for decision-makers. Thus, taxonomies of the benefits of IS are produced from both the academic literature and published case studies. In this way, a classification of benefits as they relate to organisational strategic focus has been developed to provide a greater understanding of the benefits needed to obtain a specific focus. The result of this paper is a taxonomy of IS benefits in the strategic focus of IS, using Y bank as a case study. This categorisation can support the evaluation of IS processes, which will, in turn, support decision-makers throughout the planning process

Challenges and influential factors in ERP adoption and implementation

The adoption and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is a challenging and expensive task that not only requires rigorous efforts but also demands to have a detailed analysis of such factors that are critical to the adoption or implementation of ERP systems. Many efforts have been made to identify such influential factors for ERP; however, they are not filtered comprehensively in terms of the different perspectives. This paper focuses on the ERP critical success factors from five different perspectives such as: stakeholders; process; technology; organisation; and project. Results from the literature review are presented and 19 such factors are identified that are imperative for a successful ERP implementation, which are listed in order of their importance. Considering these factors can realize several benefits such as reducing costs and saving time or extra effort

Investigating factors influencing the decision making process for ERP adoption and implementation: An exploratory case study

The rapid developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have resulted into a borderless business environment along with an amplified market competition. Traversing through such a trend globally, organisations have significantly focused on adopting and implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to automate their prime business processes, enhance organisational productivity with lower costs and prompt service delivery to fulfil consumer demands. Thus, ERP systems are considered as a principal source to provide imperative information vital for strategic decision making process. On the contrary, ERP systems adoption and implementation is also highly considered as a challenging and expensive process that not only requires rigorous efforts but also demands to have an exhaustive investigation of influential factors that are critical to the adoption and implementation of ERP systems. A plethora of research studies have been theorised exploring factors influencing the decision making process for ERP adoption and implementation; however, the authors claim that these studies are not filtered comprehensively in terms of the different perspectives. Notwithstanding, the implications of such research have yet to be assessed, leaving scope for timeliness and novel research. This paper thus focuses on the ERP critical success factors from five different perspectives such as: stakeholders; process; technology; organisation; and project based on the literature analysis. These perspectives comprise of 24 factors that are imperative for a successful ERP adoption and implementation, which are validated through a qualitative single case study based research. The empirical findings illustrate that these factor help realise significant benefits such as reducing costs and saving time or extra effort

The use of information systems for logistics and supply chain management in South East Europe: Current status and future direction

This research aims to investigate the current status and future direction of the use of information systems for logistics and supply chain management (LSCM) in South East Europe. The objectives are threefold: (1) to identify major challenges and developments on the use of information systems for LSCM by enterprises, (2) to examine the actual level of satisfaction of current policy on LSCM, and (3) to reveal the actual need of enterprises in South East Europe on effective use of information systems for LSCM. Mixed methodology of literature review and questionnaire survey is adopted in this research. Data collected from 79 enterprises are analysed using descriptive analysis in SPSS. The findings suggest that enterprises in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro, face similar challenges but all are in different stages of developments of LSCM. Their use of information systems explains their heavy focus on supply chain partnership and weakness in demand chain partnership. Major findings suggest that companies and governments alike in that region do not seem to be ready for playing a significant and demanding role in global supply chains. Current deficiencies, including limited abilities in building valuable forward relations, weak strategic planning and organisation, and infrastructural problems, are major obstacles for fast development in LSCM. At the same time though, traces of changing mentalities do exist, setting the ground for improved performance and ultimately for a better position in global business

Production of lipopeptide biosurfactant by Kurthia gibsonii KH2 and their synergistic action in biodecolourisation of textile wastewater

Textile dyes are recalcitrant molecules and contain a high level of chemicals and colour which poses a serious challenge to surrounding environments. Therefore, this study aims to produce biosurfactant and investigate the synergistic action on decolourisation of textile dyes by the combination of bacteria and biosurfactant. An effective dye degrading strain and biosurfactant-producer, Kurthia gibsonii KH2, was isolated from textile wastewater using molasses as the only source of carbon and energy. The isolates were identified and screened for biosurfactant production using haemolytic activity, oil spreading technique, drop collapse test and emulsification index. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum (FTIR) and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) analyses were carried out to detect the type of biosurfactant. The effect of different physicochemical parameters on textile wastewater decolourisation was assessed within 24 h. The Kurthia gibsonii KH2 showed positive results for haemolytic activity, oil spreading technique, and drop collapse test. The emulsification test (E24) revealed that Kurthia gibsonii KH2 had a higher emulsification index of 63%. FTIR and TLC analyses indicated that the biosurfactant was a lipopeptide and was formed with a yield of 2 gL−1. The synergistic activity of Kurthia gibsonii KH2 and lipopeptide biosurfactant resulted in decolourisation levels of 85% at 100 mg/L concentration and pH 7 was recorded at 168 h of incubation. The high attributes of these combinations and the phytotoxicity tests implied that the metabolites were less toxic, making it a promising option for the biodecolourisation and biodegradation of industrial textile wastewater and various environmental conditions