111 research outputs found
Realizing Adaptive Process-aware Information Systems with ADEPT2
In dynamic environments it must be possible to quickly implement new business processes, to enable ad-hoc deviations from the defined business processes on-demand (e.g., by dynamically adding, deleting or moving process activities), and to support dynamic process evolution (i.e., to propagate process schema changes to already running process instances). These fundamental requirements must be met without affecting process consistency and robustness of the process-aware information system. In this paper we describe how these challenges have been addressed in the ADEPT2 process management system. Our overall vision is to provide a next generation technology for the support of dynamic processes, which enables full process lifecycle management and which can be applied to a variety of application domains
Towards a Semantic Data Quality Management - Using Ontologies to Assess Master Data Quality in Retailing
Since its inception Information Systems has relied heavily on older, more established, reference disciplines for much of its theory development and practical application. The relationship between the economic sciences and information quality has been the subject of much of the work recognized through the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Beginning with Simonâs decision-making model published before a discipline known as Information Systems existed, this paper reviews this relationship and the parallel development of information quality and computing capability from an Information System perspective and changing paradigms in economics as recognized in the works of the Nobel laureates. From economic theories based on assumed knowledge, the paradigm is shifting to methods of empirical testing and experimentation. Organizations continue to make operational and strategic decisions. Additionally, now information is being aggregated, warehoused, mined, and analyzed to make a host of societal decisions and to understand economic behaviors through experimentation and empirical analysis
Supporting Electronic Collaboration in Conceptual Modeling
We study collaborative modeling by analyzing conversations and loud thinking during modeling sessions and the resulting models themselves. We identify the basic activities of the modeling teams on the social, pragmatic, semantic and syntactic levels and derive a schema for the pragmatic level. Our main conclusion is that team-based modeling is largely a negotiation process. Drawing on these results we derive an architecture of a system that supports the distributed development of conceptual models
Introducing Peer Review in an IS Analysis Course
Peer reviews were introduced as a teaching technique for the 2002 offering of the course SIF8035 Information Systems at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The students handed in conceptual models which were then double-blind reviewed by three independent peers. The review reports contained scores and defect lists, but were not used for grading. This paper conducts an analysis of the outcomes of the peer review exercises. Several approaches are used, both quantitative and qualitative, investigating the studentsâ performance and perceptions. The main conclusions are: 1) The scores given by the peer reviewers were not reliable enough to recommend their use for grading purposes. 2) The introduction of peer review exercises contributed positively to studentsâ learning in the course â but not equally so for all students. A substantial fraction of the students did so little that it is hard to claim any learning effect. The main reasons for this seem to have been poor motivation and unclear demands. In hindsight, we have discussed the distinguishing properties of three different purposes of peer-reviews that were not clear to us when the course started, and we have identified several possible ways of improving the peer reviews. In spite of the reported problems, experiences are more positive than negative, and it has been decided to continue with peer reviews in the course
Versions and configurations in object-oriented database systems : a uniform treatment
Object-oriented database models usually allow versions only at the most specialized type/c1ass in an inheritance hierarchy. The possibility of having versions at different levels of abstraction provides a richer model and allows a more natural representation of the reality. The presence of objects and its corresponding sets of versions at different levels of a type/class hierarchy introduces the need for handling version mappings. Integrity constraints can be associated to these mappings, restricting the set of possible combinations of versions appearing at different levels of the hierarchy. Sets of versions associated with each levei of an object hierarchy often represent a very large set of possible configurations for that object, which is difficult to be handled directly by the user. In this context, adequate mechanisms are very important to define and build object configurations by means of selections applied to the set of all possible configurations, defined by the combinations of versions. This paper proposes an approach in which versions and configurations may appear at different levels of an inheritance hierarchy, and a uniform treatment is given to these two concepts
Situational Architecture Engineering (SAE) - Improving Strategic Change Through Architecture Methods
Market and environmental requirements call for constant changes in enterprises. To be able to record these changes in a structured way and to manage them it is helpful to use enterprise architectures as stable regulation frameworks. To support the development and the adaptation of the enterprise architectures there are numerous architecture methods (e.g. Zachman Framework, ARIS (Architecture of Integrated Information Systems), TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework), DoDAF (Department of Defense Architecture Framework), BEN (Business Engineering Navigator), Semantic Object Model (SOM)), however, they often lack the necessary flexibility to enable a construction process adaptable to the given situation. This article presents a first approach towards making architecture methods flexible: meta models of the architecture frameworks of selected methods are generated and integrated into a joint meta model. The latter supports the situational adaptability of the enterprise architecture as the architecture method applied has been adapted
How Collaborative Technology Supports Cognitive Processes in Collaborative Process Modeling: A Capabilities-Gains-Outcome Model
We examine which capabilities technologies provide to support collaborative process modeling.
We develop a model that explains how technology capabilities impact cognitive group processes,
and how they lead to improved modeling outcomes and positive technology beliefs. We test this
model through a free simulation experiment of collaborative process modelers structured around a
set of modeling tasks. With our study, we provide an understanding of the process of collaborative
process modeling, and detail implications for research and guidelines for the practical design of
collaborative process modeling
A document based traceability model for test management
Software testing has became more complicated in the emergence of distributed network, real-time environment, third party software enablers and the need to test system at multiple integration levels. These scenarios have created more concern over the quality of software testing. The quality of software has been deteriorating due to inefficient and ineffective testing activities. One of the main flaws is due to ineffective use of test management to manage software documentations. In documentations, it is difficult to detect and trace bugs in some related documents of which traceability is the major concern. Currently, various studies have been conducted on test management, however very few have focused on document traceability in particular to support the error propagation with respect to documentation. The objective of this thesis is to develop a new traceability model that integrates software engineering documents to support test management. The artefacts refer to requirements, design, source code, test description and test result. The proposed model managed to tackle software traceability in both forward and backward propagations by implementing multi-bidirectional pointer. This platform enabled the test manager to navigate and capture a set of related artefacts to support test management process. A new prototype was developed to facilitate observation of software traceability on all related artefacts across the entire documentation lifecycle. The proposed model was then applied to a case study of a finished software development project with a complete set of software documents called the On-Board Automobile (OBA). The proposed model was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively using the feature analysis, precision and recall, and expert validation. The evaluation results proved that the proposed model and its prototype were justified and significant to support test management
Linguistic Refactoring of Business Process Models
In the past decades, organizations had to face numerous challenges due to intensifying globalization and internationalization, shorter innovation cycles and growing IT support for business. Business process management is seen as a comprehensive approach to align business strategy, organization, controlling, and business activities to react flexibly to market changes. For this purpose, business process models are increasingly utilized to document and redesign relevant parts of the organization's business operations. Since companies tend to have a growing number of business process models stored in a process model repository, analysis techniques are required that assess the quality of these process models in an automatic fashion. While available techniques can easily check the formal content of a process model, there are only a few techniques available that analyze the natural language content of a process model. Therefore, techniques are required that address linguistic issues caused by the actual use of natural language. In order to close this gap, this doctoral thesis explicitly targets inconsistencies caused by natural language and investigates the potential of automatically detecting and resolving them under a linguistic perspective. In particular, this doctoral thesis provides the following contributions. First, it defines a classification framework that structures existing work on process model analysis and refactoring. Second, it introduces the notion of atomicity, which implements a strict consistency condition between the formal content and the textual content of a process model. Based on an explorative investigation, we reveal several reoccurring violation patterns are not compliant with the notion of atomicity. Third, this thesis proposes an automatic refactoring technique that formalizes the identified patterns to transform a non-atomic process models into an atomic one. Fourth, this thesis defines an automatic technique for detecting and refactoring synonyms and homonyms in process models, which is eventually useful to unify the terminology used in an organization. Fifth and finally, this thesis proposes a recommendation-based refactoring approach that addresses process models suffering from incompleteness and leading to several possible interpretations. The efficiency and usefulness of the proposed techniques is further evaluated by real-world process model repositories from various industries. (author's abstract
IngĂ©nierie et Architecture dâEntreprise et des SystĂšmes dâInformation - Concepts, Fondements et MĂ©thodes
L'ingĂ©nierie des systĂšmes d'information s'est longtemps cantonnĂ©e Ă la modĂ©lisation du produit (objet) qu'est le systĂšme dâinformation sans se prĂ©occuper des processus d'usage de ce systĂšme. Dans un environnement de plus en plus Ă©volutif, la modĂ©lisation du fonctionnement du systĂšme dâinformation au sein de l'entreprise me semble primordiale. Pendant les deux derniĂšres dĂ©cennies, les pratiques de management, dâingĂ©nierie et dâopĂ©ration ont subi des mutations profondes et multiformes. Nous devons tenir compte de ces mutations dans les recherches en ingĂ©nierie des systĂšmes dâinformation afin de produire des formalismes et des dĂ©marches mĂ©thodologiques qui sauront anticiper et satisfaire les nouveaux besoins, regroupĂ©s dans ce document sous quatre thĂšmes:1) Le systĂšme dâinformation est le lieu mĂȘme oĂč sâĂ©labore la coordination des actes et des informations sans laquelle une entreprise (et toute organisation), dans la diversitĂ© des mĂ©tiers et des compĂ©tences quâelle met en Ćuvre, ne peut exister que dans la mĂ©diocritĂ©. La comprĂ©hension des exigences de coopĂ©ration dans toutes ses dimensions (communication, coordination, collaboration) et le support que lâinformatique peut et doit y apporter deviennent donc un sujet digne dâintĂ©rĂȘt pour les recherches en systĂšme dâinformation.2) Le paradigme de management des processus dâentreprise (BPM) est en forte opposition avec le dĂ©veloppement traditionnel des systĂšmes dâinformation qui, pendant plusieurs dĂ©cennies, a cristallisĂ© la division verticale des activitĂ©s des organisations et favorisĂ© ainsi la construction dâĂźlots dâinformation et dâapplications. Cependant, les approches traditionnelles de modĂ©lisation de processus ne sont pas Ă la hauteur des besoins dâingĂ©nierie des processus dans ce contexte en constant changement, que ce dernier soit de nature contextuelle ou permanente. Nous avons donc besoin de formalismes (i) qui permettent non seulement de reprĂ©senter les processus dâentreprise et leurs liens avec les composants logiciels du systĂšme existant ou Ă venir mais (ii) qui ont aussi lâaptitude Ă reprĂ©senter la nature variable et/ou Ă©volutive (donc parfois Ă©minemment dĂ©cisionnelle) de ces processus.3) Les systĂšmes dâinformation continuent aujourdâhui de supporter les besoins classiques tels que lâautomatisation et la coordination de la chaĂźne de production, lâamĂ©lioration de la qualitĂ© des produits et/ou services offerts. Cependant un nouveau rĂŽle leur est attribuĂ©. Il sâagit du potentiel offert par les systĂšmes dâinformation pour adopter un rĂŽle de support au service de la stratĂ©gie de lâentreprise. Les technologies de lâinformation, de la communication et de la connaissance se sont ainsi positionnĂ©es comme une ressource stratĂ©gique, support de la transformation organisationnelle voire comme levier du changement. Les modĂšles dâentreprise peuvent reprĂ©senter lâĂ©tat actuel de lâorganisation afin de comprendre, de disposer dâune reprĂ©sentation partagĂ©e, de mesurer les performances, et Ă©ventuellement dâidentifier les dysfonctionnements. Ils permettent aussi de reprĂ©senter un Ă©tat futur souhaitĂ© afin de dĂ©finir une cible vers laquelle avancer par la mise en Ćuvre des projets. Lâentreprise Ă©tant en mouvement perpĂ©tuel, son Ă©volution fait partie de ses multiples dimensions. Nous avons donc besoin de reprĂ©senter, a minima, un Ă©tat futur et le chemin de transformation Ă construire pour avancer vers cette cible. Cependant planifier/imaginer/se projeter vers une cible unique et, en supposant que lâon y arrive, croire quâil puisse exister un seul chemin pour lâatteindre semble irrĂ©aliste. Nous devons donc proposer des formalismes qui permettront de spĂ©cifier des scenarii Ă la fois pour des cibles Ă atteindre et pour des chemins Ă parcourir. Nous devons aussi dĂ©velopper des dĂ©marches mĂ©thodologiques pour guider de maniĂšre systĂ©matique la construction de ces modĂšles dâentreprise et la rationalitĂ© sous-jacente.4) En moins de cinquante ans, le propos du systĂšme dâinformation a Ă©voluĂ© et sâest complexifiĂ©. Aujourdâhui, le systĂšme dâinformation doit supporter non seulement les fonctions de support de maniĂšre isolĂ©e et en silos (1970-1990), et les activitĂ©s appartenant Ă la chaĂźne de valeur [Porter, 1985] de lâentreprise (1980-2000) mais aussi les activitĂ©s de contrĂŽle, de pilotage, de planification stratĂ©gique ainsi que la cohĂ©rence et lâharmonie de lâensemble des processus liĂ©s aux activitĂ©s mĂ©tier (2000-201x), en un mot les activitĂ©s de management stratĂ©gique et de gouvernance dâentreprise. La gouvernance d'entreprise est l'ensemble des processus, rĂ©glementations, lois et institutions influant la maniĂšre dont l'entreprise est dirigĂ©e, administrĂ©e et contrĂŽlĂ©e. Ces processus qui produisent des âdĂ©cisionsâ en guise de âproduitâ ont autant besoin dâĂȘtre instrumentalisĂ©s par les systĂšmes dâinformation que les processus de nature plus opĂ©rationnels de lâentreprise. De mĂȘme, ces processus stratĂ©giques (dits aussi âde dĂ©veloppementâ) nĂ©cessitent dâavoir recours Ă des formalismes de reprĂ©sentation qui sont trĂšs loin, en pouvoir dâexpression, des notations largement adoptĂ©es ces derniĂšres annĂ©es pour la reprĂ©sentation des processus dâentreprise.Ainsi, il semble peu judicieux de vouloir (ou penser pouvoir) isoler, pendant sa construction, lâobjet âsystĂšme dâinformationâ de son environnement dâexĂ©cution. Si le sens donnĂ© Ă lâinformation dĂ©pend de la personne qui la reçoit, ce sens ne peut ĂȘtre entiĂšrement capturĂ© dans le systĂšme technique. Il sera plutĂŽt apprĂ©hendĂ© comme une composante essentielle dâun systĂšme socio-technique incluant les usagers du systĂšme dâinformation technologisĂ©, autrement dit, les acteurs agissant de lâentreprise. De mon point de vue, ce systĂšme socio-technique qui mĂ©rite lâintĂ©rĂȘt scientifique de notre discipline est lâentreprise. Les recherches que jâai rĂ©alisĂ©es, animĂ©es ou supervisĂ©es , et qui sont structurĂ©es en quatre thĂšmes dans ce document, visent Ă rĂ©soudre les problĂšmes liĂ©s aux contextes de l'usage (l'entreprise et son environnement) des systĂšmes dâinformation. Le point discriminant de ma recherche est l'intĂ©rĂȘt que je porte Ă la capacitĂ© de reprĂ©sentation :(i) de l'Ă©volutivitĂ© et de la flexibilitĂ© des processus d'entreprise en particulier de ceux supportĂ©s par un systĂšme logiciel, dâun point de vue microscopique (modĂšle dâun processus) et macroscopique (reprĂ©sentation et configuration dâun rĂ©seau de processus) : thĂšme 2(ii) du systĂšme dâentreprise dans toutes ses dimensions (stratĂ©gie, organisation des processus, systĂšme dâinformation et changement) : thĂšme 3Pour composer avec ces motivations, il fallait :(iii) sâintĂ©resser Ă la nature mĂȘme du travail coopĂ©ratif et Ă lâintentionnalitĂ© des acteurs agissant afin dâidentifier et/ou proposer des formalismes appropriĂ©s pour les dĂ©crire et les comprendre : thĂšme 1(iv) se questionner aussi sur les processus de management dont le rĂŽle est de surveiller, mesurer, piloter lâentreprise afin de leur apporter le soutien quâils mĂ©ritent du systĂšme dâinformation : thĂšme
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