A survey on business processes management suites

Over the last decade, processes have become an important asset for daily life in organizations because an adequate Business Processes Management (BPM) of an organization (e.g. software development companies) can help achieve organizational objectives. Especially, it is important to efficiently manage these processes vital for the organizational performance in order to continually improve, therefore increasing productivity and competitiveness within the organization (e.g. software processes in software companies). This management is associated with the process lifecycle and, at present, there are many tools (Business Process Management Suites, BPMS) for managing this lifecycle. However, all BPMSs do not provide full support for this lifecycle what makes it more difficult to choose the right BPMS (according to the needs of the organization). This paper presents a survey on BPMS highlighting each phase of the process lifecycle what enables organizations to compare specific BPMS according to their own organizational objectives. This survey has been carried out using a methodology that combines systematic literature review with quality models. This methodology has been used successfully in other contexts. Finally, this paper also describes how this survey has been instantiated on specific open source BPMSs.Ministerio de Economía y competitividad TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015- 71938-RED

Exploiting tacit knowledge through knowledge management technologies

The purpose of this paper is to examine the contributions and suitability of the available knowledge management (KM) technologies, including the Web 2.0 for exploiting tacit knowledge. It proposes an integrated framework for extracting tacit knowledge in organisations, which includes Web 2.0 technologies, KM tools, organisational learning (OL) and Community of Practice (CoP). It reviews a comprehensive literature covering overview of KM theories, KM technologies and OL and identifies the current state of knowledge relating to tacit knowledge exploitation. The outcomes of the paper indicate that Internet and Web 2.0 technologies have stunning prospects for creating learning communities where tacit knowledge can be extracted from people. The author recommends that organisations should design procedures and embed them in their Web 2.0 collaborative platforms persuading employees to record their ideas and share them with other members. It is also recommended that no idea should be taken for granted in a learning community where tacit knowledge exploitation is pursued. It is envisaged that future research should adopt empirical approach involving Complex Adaptive Model for Tacit Knowledge Exploitation (CAMTaKE) and the Theory of Deferred Action in examining the effectiveness of KM technologies including Web 2.0 tools for tacit knowledge exploitation

Analysis of the Impact and Value of Community Benefit Clauses in Procurement

This research draws on data from a large scale e-survey of public organisations and in-depth analysis of 24 individual contracts

Integration of BPM systems

New technologies have emerged to support the global economy where for instance suppliers, manufactures and retailers are working together in order to minimise the cost and maximise efficiency. One of the technologies that has become a buzz word for many businesses is business process management or BPM. A business process comprises activities and tasks, the resources required to perform each task, and the business rules linking these activities and tasks. The tasks may be performed by human and/or machine actors. Workflow provides a way of describing the order of execution and the dependent relationships between the constituting activities of short or long running processes. Workflow allows businesses to capture not only the information but also the processes that transform the information - the process asset (Koulopoulos, T. M., 1995). Applications which involve automated, human-centric and collaborative processes across organisations are inherently different from one organisation to another. Even within the same organisation but over time, applications are adapted as ongoing change to the business processes is seen as the norm in today’s dynamic business environment. The major difference lies in the specifics of business processes which are changing rapidly in order to match the way in which businesses operate. In this chapter we introduce and discuss Business Process Management (BPM) with a focus on the integration of heterogeneous BPM systems across multiple organisations. We identify the problems and the main challenges not only with regards to technologies but also in the social and cultural context. We also discuss the issues that have arisen in our bid to find the solutions

'Babylonian flats' in victorian and edwardian London

The first half of this paper examines the controversy associated with the building of Queen Anne's Mansions, London's first high-rise flats, erected between 1873 and 1890, and a catalyst for the introduction of height restrictions in the London Building Acts of 1890 and 1894. Subsequent sections consider the building's place in the imagination of Londoners, the marketing of the mansions, which emphasised their height and novelty, and the characteristics of residents, especially as recorded in the 1901 census. The paper concludes by positioning Queen Anne's Mansions in wider debates about living in flats and the acceptability of high-rise buildings in nineteenth-and early twentieth-century London. © The London Journal Trust 2008

Business objects: the next step in component technology?

Component technology seems to be a promising approach towards more efficient software development by enabling application construction through “plug and play”. However, the middleware supporting this approach is still complicated to use and distracts the attention of the component developer from the application domain to technical implementation issues. Business objects are intended to hide the complexities of middleware approaches and provide an easy to use environment for application developers. We conceptualize business object approaches by presenting a common model and survey some major players in the marketplace. We conclude by identifying implications of business objects on information systems engineering.