Critical Realm-Based Explanatory Case Study Research in Information Systems

Critical realism has been proposed as an alternative philosophical paradigm to positivism and interpretivism, but few papers have offered guidelines or suggestions for applying this philosophy to actual research methodologies. This article proposes a set of methodological principles for conducting and evaluating critical realism-based explanatory case study research within the information systems (IS) field. The principles are consistent with the ontological and epistemological assumptions of critical realism, which are discussed along with a brief comparison to the contrasting assumptions from positivism and interpretivism. Examples from published case study articles in the IS research literature are discussed in order to demonstrate each principle in more detail

Revolutionizing Operational Excellence: Advancing the Automotive Industry through Lean Principles

Lean principles and practices (LPP) are a set of manufacturing philosophies emphasizing waste reduction, continuous improvement, and value creation. The LPP prioritize customer value, employee involvement, and streamlined processes. The LPP enables a company to enhance efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction, transforming operations into agile, cost-effective, and responsive systems. However, the Malaysian automotive industry faces a challenge in implementing LPP towards achieving operational performance. It includes resistance to change, cultural barriers, inadequate training, legacy systems, limited resources, external economic factors, and supplier issues. Overcoming these challenges requires a strategic and collaborative approach to successfully implement and sustain LPP. Hence, this study aims to investigate critical success factors affecting LPP towards achieving operational performance in the Malaysian automotive industry. This study was conducted by detailed literature reviews by i) defining research questions, ii) identifying relevant databases, iii) conducting keyword searches, iv) assessing and selecting articles, v) summarizing findings, and vi) synthesizing information. This systematic approach ensures a comprehensive and structured review of existing knowledge on LPP. Through the review and discussion, the study exhibits that; stakeholders’ commitment, waste elimination, quality focus (Jidoka), supply chain collaboration, and just-in-time manufacturing Kaizen (continuous improvement) are able to improve the Malaysian automotive industry operational performance. Furthermore, six LPP propositions are presented, and the framework established in this conceptual study highlights the LPP success factors. The conceptual nature of this study provides a preliminary understanding of LPP, where the synergy between external and internal elements must coexist in order for LPP to be successfully implemented. The developed theoretical framework serves as a foundation for future empirical LPP research. Given that this study is one of the few that studies critical success elements of LPP implementation, it should provide useful information for future LLP and automotive industry research. This study provides future scholars with easy access to data on critical success factors of implementing LPP in the automobile industry, which is in line with the SDGs agenda. The authors anticipate this study to have a significant impact on practitioners, particularly automobile manufacturers and other key stakeholders, about the potential benefits of implementing LPP across the automotive industry, particularly in emerging market economies

Requirements engineering for computer integrated environments in construction

A Computer Integrated Environment (CIE) is the type of innovative integrated information system that helps to reduce fragmentation and enables the stakeholders to collaborate together in business. Researchers have observed that the concept of CIE has been the subject of research for many years but the uptake of this technology has been very limited because of the development of the technology and its effective implementation. Although CIE is very much valued by both industrialists and academics, the answers to the question of how to develop and how to implement it are still not clear. The industrialists and researchers conveyed that networking, collaboration, information sharing and communication will become popular and critical issues in the future, which can be managed through CIE systems. In order for successful development of the technology, successful delivery, and effective implementation of user and industry-oriented CIE systems, requirements engineering seems a key parameter. Therefore, through experiences and lessons learnt in various case studies of CIE systems developments, this book explains the development of a requirements engineering framework specific to the CIE system. The requirements engineering process that has been developed in the research is targeted at computer integrated environments with a particular interest in the construction industry as the implementation field. The key features of the requirements engineering framework are the following: (1) ready-to-use, (2) simple, (3) domain specific, (4) adaptable and (5) systematic, (6) integrated with the legacy systems. The method has three key constructs: i) techniques for requirements development, which includes the requirement elicitation, requirements analysis/modelling and requirements validation, ii) requirements documentation and iii) facilitating the requirements management. It focuses on system development methodologies for the human driven ICT solutions that provide communication, collaboration, information sharing and exchange through computer integrated environments for professionals situated in discrete locations but working in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary environment. The overview for each chapter of the book is as follows; Chapter 1 provides an overview by setting the scene and presents the issues involved in requirements engineering and CIE (Computer Integrated Environments). Furthermore, it makes an introduction to the necessity for requirements engineering for CIE system development, experiences and lessons learnt cumulatively from CIE systems developments that the authors have been involved in, and the process of the development of an ideal requirements engineering framework for CIE systems development, based on the experiences and lessons learnt from the multi-case studies. Chapter 2 aims at building up contextual knowledge to acquire a deeper understanding of the topic area. This includes a detailed definition of the requirements engineering discipline and the importance and principles of requirements engineering and its process. In addition, state of the art techniques and approaches, including contextual design approach, the use case modelling, and the agile requirements engineering processes, are explained to provide contextual knowledge and understanding about requirements engineering to the readers. After building contextual knowledge and understanding about requirements engineering in chapter 2, chapter 3 attempts to identify a scope and contextual knowledge and understanding about computer integrated environments and Building Information Modelling (BIM). In doing so, previous experiences of the authors about systems developments for computer integrated environments are explained in detail as the CIE/BIM case studies. In the light of contextual knowledge gained about requirements engineering in chapter 2, in order to realize the critical necessity of requirements engineering to combine technology, process and people issues in the right balance, chapter 4 will critically evaluate the requirements engineering activities of CIE systems developments that are explained in chapter 3. Furthermore, to support the necessity of requirements engineering for human centred CIE systems development, the findings from semi-structured interviews are shown in a concept map that is also explained in this chapter. In chapter 5, requirements engineering is investigated from different angles to pick up the key issues from discrete research studies and practice such as traceability through process and product modelling, goal-oriented requirements engineering, the essential and incidental complexities in requirements models, the measurability of quality requirements, the fundamentals of requirements engineering, identifying and involving the stakeholders, reconciling software requirements and system architectures and barriers to the industrial uptake of requirements engineering. In addition, a comprehensive research study measuring the success of requirements engineering processes through a set of evaluation criteria is introduced. Finally, the key issues and the criteria are comparatively analyzed and evaluated in order to match each other and confirm the validity of the criteria for the evaluation and assessment of the requirements engineering implementation in the CIE case study projects in chapter 7 and the key issues will be used in chapter 9 to support the CMM (Capability Maturity Model) for acceptance and wider implications of the requirements engineering framework to be proposed in chapter 8. Chapter 6 explains and particularly focuses on how the requirements engineering activities in the case study projects were handled by highlighting strengths and weaknesses. This will also include the experiences and lessons learnt from these system development practices. The findings from these developments will also be utilized to support the justification of the necessity of a requirements engineering framework for the CIE systems developments. In particular, the following are addressed. • common and shared understanding in requirements engineering efforts, • continuous improvement, • outputs of requirement engineering • reflections and the critical analysis of the requirements engineering approaches in these practices. The premise of chapter 7 is to evaluate and assess the requirements engineering approaches in the CIE case study developments from multiple viewpoints in order to find out the strengths and the weaknesses in these requirements engineering processes. This evaluation will be mainly based on the set of criteria developed by the researchers and developers in the requirements engineering community in order to measure the success rate of the requirements engineering techniques after their implementation in the various system development projects. This set of criteria has already been introduced in chapter 5. This critical assessment includes conducting a questionnaire based survey and descriptive statistical analysis. In chapter 8, the requirements engineering techniques tested in the CIE case study developments are composed and compiled into a requirements engineering process in the light of the strengths and the weaknesses identified in the previous chapter through benchmarking with a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) to ensure that it has the required level of maturity for implementation in the CIE systems developments. As a result of this chapter, a framework for a generic requirements engineering process for CIE systems development will be proposed. In chapter 9, the authors will discuss the acceptance and the wider implications of the proposed framework of requirements engineering process using the CMM from chapter 8 and the key issues from chapter 5. Chapter 10 is the concluding chapter and it summarizes the findings and brings the book to a close with recommendations for the implementation of the Proposed RE framework and also prescribes a guideline as a way forward for better implementation of requirements engineering for successful developments of the CIE systems in the future

Participatory training approach of sharing knowledge and research results for better adoption of organic cocoa agroforestry systems

Agroforestry systems offer many benefits, such as diversifying incomes and reducing input costs. However, planning and managing diversified systems is knowledge intensive, and needs constant observation and adaptation to specific contexts by the farmers. Therefore, sharing knowledge between farmers, technicians and researchers critical for adoption of agroforestry systems that fit the respective situation and objectives. The dynamic agroforestry community has developed some principles that can be applied for regenerating degraded land with agroforestry systems by combining a variety of species, focussing on diversity and synergies instead of simplification and competition. These concepts, together with practical experiences, and research results are a complex set of information to be complemented with local knowledge of farmers (e.g. on species’ use, available resources, local markets). Here we share experiences from elaborating training materials and conducting a training of trainers based on research findings on cocoa agroforestry and practical experiences from working with dynamic agroforestry systems and organic cocoa for more than 25 years. We used a set of training materials and methods for awareness raising for the environmental and social benefits of agroforestry systems, for example simplified research methods like infiltration measurements. Some practical visualizations e.g. for erosion on surfaces after slash-and-burn vs. slash-and-mulch, or dry run exercise for the installation and development of dynamic agroforestry plots. These methods help to understand processes that are happening on larger spatial or temporal scale. Field visits to research plots as well as farmers fields and discussions based on associated data were central. In conclusion, sharing of scientific results combined with practical and visual experiences give technicians the confidence to multiply the experiences with their farmers. While demoplots are crucial for working with farmers, additional videos describing the design and management of agroforestry systems, farmers’ testimonials, and some research results directly from the field can be helpful

Medical Cyber-Physical Systems Development: A Forensics-Driven Approach

The synthesis of technology and the medical industry has partly contributed to the increasing interest in Medical Cyber-Physical Systems (MCPS). While these systems provide benefits to patients and professionals, they also introduce new attack vectors for malicious actors (e.g. financially-and/or criminally-motivated actors). A successful breach involving a MCPS can impact patient data and system availability. The complexity and operating requirements of a MCPS complicates digital investigations. Coupling this information with the potentially vast amounts of information that a MCPS produces and/or has access to is generating discussions on, not only, how to compromise these systems but, more importantly, how to investigate these systems. The paper proposes the integration of forensics principles and concepts into the design and development of a MCPS to strengthen an organization's investigative posture. The framework sets the foundation for future research in the refinement of specific solutions for MCPS investigations.Comment: This is the pre-print version of a paper presented at the 2nd International Workshop on Security, Privacy, and Trustworthiness in Medical Cyber-Physical Systems (MedSPT 2017

Distributed Learning System Design: A New Approach and an Agenda for Future Research

This article presents a theoretical framework designed to guide distributed learning design, with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness of distributed learning systems. The authors begin with a review of the extant research on distributed learning design, and themes embedded in this literature are extracted and discussed to identify critical gaps that should be addressed by future work in this area. A conceptual framework that integrates instructional objectives, targeted competencies, instructional design considerations, and technological features is then developed to address the most pressing gaps in current research and practice. The rationale and logic underlying this framework is explicated. The framework is designed to help guide trainers and instructional designers through critical stages of the distributed learning system design process. In addition, it is intended to help researchers identify critical issues that should serve as the focus of future research efforts. Recommendations and future research directions are presented and discussed

A HCI principles based framework to assess the user perception of web based Virtual Research Environments. Special issue on Capacity building for post disaster infrastructure development and management

Due to various challenges and opportunities such as globalisation of research agenda and advancements in information and communication technologies, research collaborations (both international and national) have become popular during the last decade more than ever before. Within this context, the concept of Virtual Research environments(VRE) is an emerging concept looking at addressing the complex challenges associated with conducting collaborative research. Even though concept of VRE is at its infancy, it is important to assess user perception about those, both to establish its success of uptake and future development strategies. However, to date, there is no formal method established to evaluate VREs .This paper reports a strategy adopted within an international collaborative research project (EURASIA) to evaluate its custom built VRE, VEBER, using the well known Computer Human Interaction principles

Imagining Corporate Sustainability as a Public Good Rather than a Corporate Bad

Corporations have been criticized for their environmental misdeeds for over a century, so it is not surprising that many view corporate approaches to sustainability with skepticism. Reports of green-washing and other forms of misleading advertising by a handful of corporations only serve to reinforce this negative perception.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Designing an information system for updating land records in Bangladesh: action design ethnographic research (ADER)

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Information Systems (IS) has developed through adapting, generating and applying diverse methodologies, methods, and techniques from reference disciplines. Further, Action Design Research (ADR) has recently developed as a broad research method that focuses on designing and redesigning IT and IS in organizational contexts. This paper reflects on applying ADR in a complex organizational context in a developing country. It shows that ADR requires additional lens for designing IS in such a complex organizational context. Through conducting ADR, it is seen that an ethnographic framework has potential complementarities for understanding complex contexts thereby enhancing the ADR processes. This paper argues that conducting ADR with an ethnographic approach enhances design of IS and organizational contexts. Finally, this paper aims presents a broader methodological framework, Action Design Ethnographic Research (ADER), for designing artefacts as well as IS. This is illustrated through the case of a land records updating service in Bangladesh